Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes

Chapters

Interlude: New Information
Heartless: Traverse Town
Heartless: Gummi Ship
Heartless: Wonderland
Heartless: Crash Landing
Heartless: Tarzan's Lesson
Heartless: Hero Training
Heartless: Return to Traverse Town
Heartless: Sands of Agrabah
Heartless: The Cave of Wonders
Heartless: Depths of Monstro
Heartless: Summons and Cups
Heartless: Under the Sea
Heartless: Sea Problems
Heartless: This is Halloween
Heartless: Facing the Boogeyman
Heartless: Book Knowledge and a Cup
Heartless: The Desert Assassin
Heartless: The London Phantom
Heartless: Danger of Hollow Bastion
Heartless: Terrible Disaster
Heartless: Annoying Distraction
Heartless: Regrouping
Heartless: One Winged Angel
Heartless: Return to Hollow Bastion
Heartless: End of the World
Heartless: Facing Ansem
Interlude: Separation
Interlude: Darkworld's Surprises
Interlude: Pieces Moving
Chain/Days: Getting to Work
Chain/Days: Different Missions
Chain/Days: The Other Nobodies
Chain/Days: Namine
Chain/Days: Changes
Chain/Days: Invasion
Chain/Days: Vexen's Plan
Chain/Days: Earth and Illusion
Chain/Days: Reunion
Chain/Days: The Anomaly
Chain/Days: New Development
Chain/Days: Delve into the Darkness
Chain/Days: Day Off
Chain/Days: Roxas' Awakening
Chain/Days: Fateful Meeting
Chain/Days: Back to Work
Interlude: Regrouping and Training
Interlude: Summer's End
Nobody: A New Adventure
Nobody: The Land of Dragons
Nobody: Visiting the Underworld
Nobody: Hades' Plans
Nobody: Castle of Light
Nobody: Light of the Past
Nobody: Pirates and a Curse
Nobody: Cursed Treasure
Nobody: Return to Agrabah
Nobody: Back to the Cave of Wonders
Nobody: Strange Halloween
Nobody: Oogie's New Plot
Nobody: Pride Lands
Nobody: An Old Friend
Nobody: Peace in Atlantica
Nobody: Heartless War
Nobody: Reborn Dragon
Nobody: Interrupted Dance
Nobody: Important Distraction
Nobody: Change of Heart
Nobody: Regrouping
Nobody: The World That Never Was
Interlude: Unexpected Arrivals
Interlude: Truths
Interlude: Declaration of War
Interlude: Xigbar's Decision
Interlude: Visiting the Forge
Interlude: Newfound Power
Interlude: Imprisoned Darknesses
War: Interrupted Cooking
War: Stopping Hades Again
War: World of Toys
War: Fighting in the Toy Store
War: New Friends, New Enemies
War: Interrupted Festival
War: Monsters and Emotions
War: Danger in the Facility
War: Icy World
War: Songs, Ice, and Darkness
War: Back to the Caribbean
War: Battle on the High Seas
War: Heroes of San Fransokyo
War: Dawn of Heroes
War: The Calm Before the Storm
War: Drums of War
War: Light and Dark Collide
War: Fate of the World
Interlude: Heading Home
Interlude: Ponyville
Epilogue: Towards a Bright Future
Prelude: Piercing the Veil
Heartless: New Acquaintances
Heartless: Trouble in Neverland
Chain/Days: New Encounter
Nobody: Return to Hollow Bastion
Nobody: Facing Shan-Yu
Nobody: Old Friend, New Attitude
Nobody: More Games
War: Visiting an Old Friend
Interlude: War's Aftermath

Interlude: New Information

Sombra stared at the image that was in front of him, observing his form as he thought about a few things, such as the fact that he was definitely alive now, his body was made out of flesh and blood, instead of magic and smoke or even the bits of his soul that he had been lasted into after his defeat. The problem with his body, however, was that it was the wrong body, and not because of the bipedal form he had been given, rather it was due to the fact that he happened to be the opposite gender of what he had been born with, which confused him as he stared at his brand new reflection. There was no reason for whatever had given him this body to give him something that wasn't his, though it did make him wonder for a moment if he had been merged with the mare he had possessed, since he didn't see her anywhere, before wondering if he had merged with Radiant, since she had been there as well. After thinking about that Sombra quickly determined that this wasn't due to him being joined with either mare, otherwise he would have felt either of them inside his new form or heard either of them inside his head, which told him that Fluttershy and Radiant were elsewhere and that their paths were likely to cross again at some point.

After looking at himself some more Sombra turned away from the mirror, as it was odd looking at the wrong body he had been given, and focused on the space that was around him as he focused his attention on the now silent figure that was watching him in the void he was standing in.

"Mysterious entity, or whoever I'm talking to, you would have had my thanks for the body, but... well, you actually gave me the wrong body." Sombra stated, though as he said that he discovered that his voice was more feminine than what he was expecting, plus he was definitely younger than his old form, even though it was hard to gauge just how young he was right now, since he had no experience with this type of body.

The World is confused, as it assumed that you would be happy with your new body, the Entity replied, because that was the temporary name that Sombra was giving whatever was talking to him right now, as he was unable to pinpoint the direction that it was coming from, though he wasn't too surprised that 'The World' was surprised by his remark, and it is curious as to why you would say it gave you the 'wrong body'. The World says that when it discovered you, after appearing out of thin air with two other hearts, your heart was possessing another's form... it made the assumption that you, too, were female and created your new body based on that assumption.

"I can see that." Sombra said, to which he raised a hand towards his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, because this wasn't what he was expecting when he decided to use the portal to travel to a place to gain the power to conquer the rest of Equestria, not to mention all of Equus, before he thought of something that might improve his situation as he lowered his hand, "Since the World gave me this form, wrong as it is, it can restore me to my original gender right?"

...Yes... the World says that it can fix this mistake, but, since it doesn't have any material of a male from your race, it will take some time before it can do anything. the Entity answered, which didn't fill Sombra with confidence, as it made him question the power of the being that was currently watching over him, especially since it seemed like the World like how he looked like now and didn't want to undo what it had done, despite his personal feelings on the matter, For the moment the World is suggesting that you think of yourself as female and address yourself as such, as it is sure that it will save you from having to answer some awkward questions when you speak with other individuals.

"Really?" Sombra remarked, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing, that the force that gave him his incorrect body was essentially telling him that he should suck it up and just get used to being female, though it could be him overthinking what was going on right now, causing him to sigh as he resigned himself to his fate, as he was sure that using feminine terms was going to drive 'her' insane at some point, all while she lowered her voice so only she could hear herself, "This is starting to feel more like a punishment with every passing moment."

However, do not despair, as the World is going to grant you the knowledge on how to move your new body, so you can walk as the humans do. the Entity continued, which was either due to the World telling it that there was more it was giving Sombra, or it had heard her personal remark and wanted to correct part of what was going on right now, and this time she really had no idea which option was correct.

Sombra raised an eyebrow as she heard that, because everything the Entity said just made her that much more confused and interested in where the portal had brought her, before she paused as she felt a surge of information filter into her head, basic knowledge on how to move around. She stood still for a few seconds, going over the new knowledge that had been given to her, before she found something interesting, some of the movements were more oriented towards combat, as if the World was expecting her to head out on some sort of quest. In the following moment she decided to follow what her brand new memories were telling her, where Sombra raised her left leg for a moment and took a step, then a second and a third, before breaking out into a jog and then a run around the area to get used to her new body. The way she was able to move at the moment made it look like she had been born in this form and that she hadn't been gained it from another power, which she found to be a good thing in the long run, since it meant no one would stop her and ask questions.

Even with that newfound knowledge in her mind Sombra found that there were still some kinks to be worked out, because she was used to having a male body to run around and fight in, despite the fact that most of the time she used her magic to deal with her foes or those who displeased her. There were a few instances where she actually had to fight in melee combat, and she had trained herself to do so to the best of her ability, though there was a difference between being able to move in armor, with a powerful frame, to moving with her new body. She was certain that the mounds on her chest weren't very helpful and might get in the way of combat, if she was lucky to see any after suffering under the World's changes, but she decided to keep her mouth shut on the matter, least she annoy the World. Such a thing made her go over the new memories she had been given, to see if there was something she might have missed that would get rid of some of her annoyance with this situation, as it almost felt like this might be a punishment for her lust for power.

Such a thing caused her to stop for a time as she considered the pieces of information she had gleamed from just the new memories she had been given, as it really seemed like there was a grand plan in mind and that her arrival, not to mention the arrival of Fluttershy and Radiant, might have changed the World's grand plans.

"Let me guess: there's a price for this body and the memories?" Sombra inquired, which made sense to her, because she had gained something in this exchange and the World had gained nothing, save for attitude from her since this was the wrong body, meaning there was more that the Speaker, as that was what she had decided to call the entity, needed to tell her and she wanted to know what the pair would ask of her.

The World says that there is no price for your gifts... especially in the face of it's error... rather, it would ask you for a favor: to find the Kingdom Key's chosen wielder. the Speaker replied, which was interesting to Sombra, as the silent observer had revealed what she had been expecting, that it wanted her to do something for it, while also finding that it did make sure she knew that it had acknowledged that it made an error with her body, However, if you agree to this favor, you will need power to defend yourself and information about the foes you will no doubt encounter on the way.

Sombra raised a hand to her chin for a moment as she considered the information, as her main interest was the power that might be offered to her, especially since it had caused her to possess Fluttershy and pass through the portal, even though that plan had sort of failed given the fact that Radiant had knocked herself into the possessed mare and brought all three of them to this place, causing her to grin for a few seconds.

"Very well then, I'll play ball. What is this power you speak of? What enemies will I face?" Sombra asked, which might be seen as a bad thing to some, her asking questions in a rapid manner while focusing purely on the power she might gain, but right now this seemed less like a punishment, like she assumed a few moments ago, and more like a pause in her life, before she thought about a few other things that needed to be asked before she left this place, "And what's this about the 'Kingdom Key' and it's 'Chosen One'? Also, where's the pony I took control of and the one who came with us?"

For a moment nothing happened, like the Speaker was conversing with the World, before she felt a surge of energy that was in the area he was in and found that two orbs had appeared near her, one possessing a golden color with a simple looking crown icon on it, while the other was a deep red, almost crimson or blood red, though as she raised a hand towards the first one it shocked her before disappearing, giving her nothing.

The World has studied your heart and has offered you a unique power. the Speaker stated, where Sombra studied it for a time and found that it didn't react like the golden orb, the crimson one just floated there, as if waiting for her to absorb it into her being, though by 'heart' Sombra guessed that the World and the Speaker meant her actual soul, but decided not to bother asking more questions, The World calls this power 'Boundless Necromancy', the ability to capture the hearts of your enemies and absorb them, adding their power to your own.

Sombra paused as she heard that, as it was basically a cheat power, something that would eventually give the user a bunch of ridiculous powers, especially since some people might have skills that this one could copy and give to him, causing a grin to appear on her face as he touched the crimson orb and let the power surge into her body.

The enemies you will face are known as the 'Heartless', physical manifestations of the darkness in one's heart who have no emotions and seek to swallow the planets of the World in darkness. the Speaker continued, where Sombra found that a few shadowy specs appeared near her position, transforming into small humanoid creatures that had rounded heads and a pair of antennae on their heads, though their bodies seemed to be made out of pure darkness or shadows, Only one type of weapon can permanently defeat the Heartless and free their captive hearts, special weapons called the 'Keyblades', while all other types merely displace the hearts until they reform into their Heartless forms... but...

"I cannot wield a Keyblade, right?" Sombra remarked, as it made sense when she thought about the other sphere that had been presented to her, as it seemed like the World had intended to give her the means to protect herself and also give her the power to grow to face the greater Heartless that no doubt existed in another part of the universe, even though it had to be disappointed in her not gaining a Keyblade, where she held a hand out and the darkness vibrated for a moment, "Let's correct that, shall we?"

Back when she was the ruler of the Crystal Empire, and even before that, she had utilized several weapons to help her with her conquest and Sombra knew she had the perfect one for the job, where a lone pole, as tall as she was, rushed out of the vast darkness before coming to a stop in her hand. It wasn't a staff or even a lance, as there was a crescent bladed head resting at the top, a dark silver colored blade that had instilled fear into those who saw it in the past, save for Celestia and Luna, and once it was in her hand she spun it and shifted her stance. She found that a few new memories quickly joined the ones she had been given a few moments ago, as in the World had realized what weapon she had picked and wanted to make sure she knew how to use it while in this form, something she wasn't about to argue with since it was clear to her that the World wanted her to succeed. Once she had a greater understanding of how to move with the weapon in this body, all so she didn't hurt himself while she was lashing out at his foes, she looked at the Heartless that were in front of her and found that they had been watching her the entire time, mostly waiting until the World and the Speaker were done giving Sombra the keys to her success.

Sombra found that the little Heartless only scurried around the ground and jumped at her when she was a certain distance away from them, though as her scythe sliced through one of her foes she found that it was cut in half, reduced to a puff of smoke as nothing emerged from it. As Sombra thought about that she turned on the other three shadows and let her scythe cut through all of them, leaving nothing but puffs of smoke, something that caused the Speaker to speak up as she wondered what was going on right now, since the Heartless weren't releasing hearts. What she discovered was that her current foes had been of the pureblood type, as in they were just beings of darkness who didn't have hearts, meaning the ones she wanted to target were the 'emblem' type, which had an interesting chained heart icon on them. The World then summoned a few of those foes for her to fight, cracked egg looking foes that seemed passive, but she realized that it was a measure to lure their foes into a false sense of security so they could claim the hearts of their targets, and all four of them had the emblem on their bodies.

This time around when she slashed through the first foe, splitting the Heartless in half, Sombra found that a pink orb was released from her defeated foe, which had to be a heart she realized, before finding that the others were coming at her and she attacked them without delay. Such a thing allowed her to free three more hearts, where they floated in the air for a time as Sombra made sure that the area was clear, just to confirm that her training was over, as she had confirmed that she could fight well with her new body. After that she paused for a couple of seconds as she stared at the strange orbs, which she guessed were about the size of her head, before tapping into the power she had been given as an eerie dark mist surrounded the orbs and quickly devoured all four of them without missing a beat. The coloration of the mist was familiar to her, because it was the same color as the darkness that seeped out of her eyes when she used her dark magic, something she would have to test to see if she could still use her old powers, before discovering that her new skill had given her an internal storage area of sorts for her to store all of the captured hearts in.

In that moment she focused her mind on what she wanted to do as she absorbed the four hearts, where she felt a surge of power a few seconds later, a rush that died down rather quickly, only to find a blue transparent window appeared in front of her, something that had a lot of words on it that interested her greatly as she carefully studied it.

"Let's see, I have strength, stamina, magical power... I'm guessing that means intelligence... agility, natural defenses... feels like a game." Sombra commented, because during her time in Ponyville she had passed by several stores and one of them had what it called a 'board game' inside it, something about a campaign against monsters and other evils, where she quickly recalled seeing something like this on the box before she resumed her journey to the odd crystal castle.

Based on what she could tell each heart she absorbed, or soul to be more exact, gave her a boost in power by adding what seemed to be points to each of her 'stats', meaning that each foe likely had a particular attribute they would boost if she captured and absorbed their soul. The little egg Heartless, for example, seemed to lean more towards the luck stat, as it had a plus with the number four next to it, something that caused her to close the odd window and open it again, all to find that the addition was gone, meaning it would only show up when she was absorbing new souls, a temporary sign of sorts she guessed. With the number of stats she could add power to Sombra assumed that there were a significant amount of Heartless scattered around the universe, no doubt in different forms and shapes to justify what she was seeing right now, meaning it would take some time for her to boost some of the more specific stats. She was slightly annoyed of the fact that the pureblood Heartless didn't have hearts for her to take, as it was power that couldn't be added to her own, but decided that the emblems would be more than sufficient for her needs.

While she had been expecting this to be easy, as in she would come in with her own powers and decimate everything in her path to get the power she had been after, Sombra was now understanding that this wouldn't be as easy as she had originally assumed, something that caused her to smile, as a challenge was far better than going after really easy prey, causing her to think about the other topics they had to discuss.

"Okay, so I've proven that my weapon can liberate the hearts from the Heartless, that my new power can capture those newly freed hearts, and that I can absorb them." Sombra stated, speaking into the darkness once more, as she assumed the Speaker was silently watching as she familiarized herself with the skills that would allow her to survive her encounters with the Heartless, though she did dismiss her scythe, which she could summon whenever she wanted, since there were no foes around her right now, "So tell me: what's this about the 'Kingdom Key' and it's 'Chosen Wielder'?"

The Kingdom Key is an important weapon of the Realm of Light, the physical plane of the World, and it has chosen a very special individual to wield it. the Speaker replied, where Sombra found that the air in front of her shifted for a moment before discovering an image long weapon that looked like a key that had been turned into a blade, with a protective area of sorts that rested around the handle, no doubt to make sure the user's hands were safe, I know this weapon doesn't look like much, but it is incredibly special and the Heartless will do everything in their power to take down the one chosen to wield it.

"I think I see where this is going: this favor involves me tracking down the wielder and ensuring that they survive whatever journey they embark on... right?" Sombra inquired, though she did note that the Speaker wasn't giving her a lot to work with, as while she was being given great information she was also being left in the dark about certain things, meaning either the World had no idea how to give her what she wanted or she was meant to figure everything else out on her own.

The World wishes for you to find the Kingdom Key's wielder, that is true, but you are free to do whatever you want after you accomplish your goal. the Speaker answered, which was an interesting thing for Sombra to hear, since she had been of the opinion that the World would have preferred that she ensure the wielder completed whatever quest or journey that they would be embarking on in the near future, The World does not wish to dictate how you live your life: if you wish to join the wielder on their quest, you can do so... if you want to leave them to pursue your own goals, that is fine... if you wish to be lazy, and have a slow life, that is acceptable as well. The World does say that they hope you'll join the wielder on their quest, as you would be facing countless Heartless until they reached their final goal, but the choice is up to you.

Sombra had to resist the urge to chuckle, as the World made it seem like they didn't care what she picked, but in reality the mysterious figure wanted her to join the unknown wielder on their journey and even made sure that she knew about all of the Heartless she would face, as if hoping that her lust for power would entice her to go with the wielder.

"And what about Fluttershy? She passed through the portal with me, so shouldn't she be here?" Sombra inquired, not that she cared what happened to the mare all that much, she was just curious as to why the shy pony had been missing during the various short training sessions she had been given since gaining her new body, and thinking of her caused her to think about Radiant as well, "Also, where is Radiant Hope?"

The World decided that it would be best to have you three train in separate areas, before sending all of you to the place that all wayward travelers end up in. the Speaker replied, causing Sombra to raise an eyebrow in interest, because if the World had given her this broken power, and was almost encouraging her to go out and use it, it only made her all the more interested in what sort of skills Fluttershy and Radiant might have been given, As it stands the ones called 'Fluttershy' and 'Radiant Hope' have already finished their training and have been sent ahead of you... you are free to find them, if that is what you wish.

Sombra thought that was odd, as she had assumed that the World would want her to find the other hearts that had come from her world, like a punishment for bringing them here in the first place, but decided that it might be best to not speak on the matter, since she might run into either of them later on, since it seemed like they were going to be dropped off in the same location.

"Very well. Send me to the place that wayward travelers end up in and I'll see what I can do." Sombra stated, because she already knew what she was going to do, she was going to find this wielder and use them to gain unlimited power, because a Keyblade meant more chances to free the hearts from the grasp of the Heartless and more chances for her to capture all the more power for herself.

Sombra heard nothing else from the Speaker as a surge of energy wrapped around her and suddenly a large black circle just opened below her hooves, where she fell into what appeared to be a dark passage, though she could only grin as she wondered what might be on the other side and what sort of powers she would gain in the near future.

Heartless: Traverse Town

Sombra found that she didn't have to wait too long on her journey to whatever area the Speaker or the World wanted her to start her search in, as the dark passage she was falling through opened up and let her safely land in what appeared to be a district of a quaint town. By that she meant it was slightly unusual, with an eatery off to her left, a locked door further on her right, two slightly tall trees in front of her, a large wooden door behind her, and a set of stairs further in front of her that lead to a shop of some kind, not to mention more of the town. She found that there was no one in the area, meaning no one had witnessed her arrival out of thin air, though as she glanced up at the passage it sealed itself not a moment later, which told her that she was on her own, something she was fine with since it allowed her to focus on her quest, even though she was sure the Speaker would contact her once the World was done with her true body. She did note that the night sky was currently out, meaning it was likely the point in time that most of the residents were asleep, and there were a lot of stars in the sky, where she had to assume that one of them was Equus, the world she came from.

After thinking about that she walked away from the gate that was behind her, mostly because it was time for her to see what else this place had to offer and see if there were any Heartless to take out as she sought out the one who carried the Kingdom Key, who might take forever to track down since she hadn't been given any information on who her target was or what they looked like.

As she thought about that, however, she heard the gate she had landed in front of open and turned her head for a just a moment, only to discover two strangers that were totally strange to her, as one seemed to be an anthropomorphic duck, sort of like her new form he guessed, wearing what he guessed was a blue mage's chest piece or a sailor's outfit. Next to the duck was a tall figure that was some sort of dog Sombra had never seen before, with black fur and droopy looking ears, though he was wearing a green shirt, a black jacket, and yellow pants with shoes over his feet, making him look like he actually belonged in this world. In addition to those two she noticed a third companion, an actual dog that was of a breed she had never seen before, who was either owned by one of the pair or they were on their way to track down it's owner, though it did rush over to her for a moment, with what she assumed was an incredibly happy look on it's face. The duck didn't seem to care all that much as he and the other figure continued into the city, mentioning a 'key' as he walked, though in the next few seconds the tall dog came to a stop as he glanced up at the night sky, but when a surprised look appeared on his face Sombra followed his gaze as he pointed at the sky.

In that instant one of the stars went out, which, if she recalled the information she had been given correctly, meant that the Heartless had devoured a world, since that seemed to be a great way to claim a massive number of hearts at once, but she also found that the pair continued deeper into the town, while the dog went off in another direction, leaving the tall dog to call for 'Pluto' before continuing onward.

"So, they're looking for the Kingdom Key as well... interesting." Sombra remarked, though the tall dog mentioned a 'Leon' as he and his companion departed from the area she was in, meaning it might be in her best interest to follow them and see if there was more she could learn from whatever they were doing, only for her to find the odd dog running by as he followed the pair.

As she stood there, however, Sombra found that a young boy, based on the body that looked like it was close to what her new form looked like, just of the gender she expected her body to be, who wore a red pair of shorts, large yellow shoes that seemed too big for someone like him, spiky brown hair, a red shirt with a white and black open jacket over it, and he had a necklace with a silver crown of sorts at the end of it.

"This is totally weird... I'm in another world!" the boy stated, where Sombra could tell that he was excited by this fact, as if it had been his goal to leave the planet he called home goodbye for a time so he could travel from world to world, which was an interesting goal in his eyes, before she and the boy's eyes met, "Wow... what in the world are you?"

"I am Sombra, and I am an Equestrian, if you must know." Sombra replied, though she knew that the kid's curiosity would get the better of him at some point, as he seemed far too naive for his own good, but for the time being she figured there was no harm in speaking to him, "And you are?"

"Sora. I'm looking for my friends: Riku, a boy with a yellow vest and blue pants, and Kairi, a girl who wears a white top with a black one underneath and purple biker shorts." the boy said, causing Sombra to raise an eyebrow for a moment, as she found it a little humorous that the boy, Sora he reminded himself, was planning on asking random strangers if they might have seen his missing friends, though if he was from the world that had just gone out there was a chance his friends had been devoured by Heartless.

"Sorry, haven't seen them. I'm looking for someone as well, but I have no description to go on." Sombra stated, where it was easy for her to tell that Sora was disappointed by the fact that she hadn't seen Riku or Kairi, though she decided not to say a single word about it as she considered what she should be doing next, since the Kingdom Key was out there and she had to track it down.

Sora, on the other hand, figured that since Sombra was also looking for someone, and would know them the moment she laid eyes on whoever it was she was looking for, they could join forces and find those that were important to both of them, as if it was a perfectly normal thing to say to a random stranger. In the end Sombra decided that it might be worth traveling with him for a time, as there was something about him that seemed like it might bring her one step closer to finding the person she was currently searching for, to which the pair started to explore the rest of the area. In addition to the eatery there was an Item Shop, which happened to be run by three younger ducks that looked a lot like the one she had seen previously, who explained that they sold useful items, like potions and ethers, but since they had no Munny, the currency Sombra guessed, they couldn't buy anything. The other structure she had seen previously, which the duck and tall dog had walked by, was an Accessory Shop and it was run by an older human who called himself Cid, who had been interested in having new customers and was disappointed to find that all he had were two fourteen year olds to talk to.

Sombra found that the world they had been teleported to was called 'Traverse Town', a final destination of sorts for those lucky individuals who survived their worlds being devoured by darkness, which ignited the excitement in Sora's eyes as he confirmed that this was an entirely new world for him to explore.

"Fascinating... the town expands to meet the needs of it's residents, meaning it grows endlessly." Sombra remarked, as that meant there were individuals here from when the Heartless first started their rampage, or at least she assumed so since Cid's information was interesting to think about, before finding that Sora was more focused on exploring the town and she quickly followed after him without delay.

Since the first district was a bust, as there were three according to what Cid told them, the pair moved into the second one and found a man running for his life, only to trip and fall to the ground as the darkness claimed him, a fact Sombra was able to confirm as the figure's heart emerged from his body. In the following moment it was swallowed by the darkness and took on a new form, a Heartless that was slightly taller than the Shadows and seemed to wear armor on it's head, arms, and feet, like a soldier of some kind, though it jumped and disappeared as soon as it was formed. As the soldier left the area Sombra watched as a white surge of energy washed over the man's lingering body and transformed him into some sort of odd white creature that had an incredible degree of flexibility, as it moved around for a moment before disappearing as well, though it confirmed something for Sombra, something the Speaker and the World had neglected to tell her. Once someone's heart was swallowed by the darkness, and was transformed into a Heartless, their empty body, a husk of it's former self, would transform into another type of being, meaning each person had the potential to become two creatures once the darkness told hold of them.

It was an interesting thing to discover, that such a thing could happen to the people of the World, though as she thought about that information she and Sora found a number of the Shadows gathering around them, meaning enemies were here as well, to which she shifted her stance and called forth her scythe, only to pause as she noticed that Sora also had a weapon. It wasn't any old weapon, like a sword or a wooden stick he had found before his world had been swallowed by the darkness, rather it was the very object she was looking for, the Kingdom Key, causing Sombra to be surprised for a moment, as she wasn't expecting to find it and it's wielder so soon into her quest. Sora was more focused on the Heartless that were around them, confirming that he had seen them on his home world before he appeared in Traverse Town, so he had no idea that Sombra had looked at his weapon in surprise for a moment, though after discovering that fact Sombra turned her attention to their enemies. As she dodged an incoming attack she took a chance to study Sora's movements and found that they weren't great, but they weren't that bad, as he had some idea of how to move with a weapon, even though he liked to thrust his Keyblade at his chosen foe as his first move, then follow that up with a few swings.

She quickly guessed that Sora's fighting style was designed to potentially stun enemies with the first swing before lashing out at them, if that was what he was going for, before she focused on the other Heartless as she slashed through a few Shadows, only to find that they disappeared like what she had seen during her training session. Part of her was slightly disappointed in not finding any emblem Heartless, since those were the ones that would allow her to grow her power, but she also knew that beggars wouldn't be choosers and had to hope that she'd find some in the future. While she thought about that, however, she noticed that when Sora was definitely inexperienced, as there were instances where one of the Shadows would hit him in the side or would jump onto his back, taking advantage of his lack of combat experience, but he did his best to deal with them. Sombra considered what she was seeing and knew that Sora had the potential to learn and become a decent warrior, there was just a lot of training he had to do to become stronger, something they could deal with in the future, hence why she turned her focus back to the Shadows.

As they dealt with the Shadows, however, Sombra noted that the second district of the town was more like the first, it was full of shops and even had a housing area off to one side, not to mention an inn of some kind on the left side of the area, but all of it was interesting to take in as she followed Sora as he explored the town.

One of the areas they passed through had a number of gears and other mechanical items inside it, while she was slightly surprised to see that one of the houses was unlocked so anyone could walk in, causing Sora to do so and found a pair of sad adult dalmatians inside it, but no puppies. Sombra quickly discovered that there were ninety-nine puppies that were supposed to be in this place, as there was a small journal detailing the exact number, meaning each one likely had a collar on that had a number on it, to help with the counting, and she determined that the puppies were scattered across the universe, given the purpose of this town. The alley on the other side of the house happened to have more Shadows for them to fight, in fact for every two Shadows she and Sora took down more seemed to take their place, meaning they had to be careful least they get overwhelmed, though it was possible to wipe out an entire group to give them some peace for a short period of time. With that in mind they continued to explore the town, finding that there really wasn't anything major for them to do or even see, save for discovering that the third district had all sorts of power inside it, likely powering the rest of Traverse Town, only to find that the first district had Heartless for them to fight as well, like they were infesting this world at long last.

As the pair reached the area in front of Cid's shop, however, they found that the Heartless seemed to back off for a time, to which Sombra found that there was someone else in the area with them, a tall figure with short brown hair, a black vest that was over a white shirt, black pants that reached black shoes, and his vest had a white furred collar.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere... and they'll keep coming, so long as you continue to wield the Keyblade." the figure said, where he raised a finger and pointed at Sora's weapon for a moment, causing the pair to glance at him for a couple of seconds, since there was no telling if he was a friend or foe, where Sombra gripped her scythe's handle as she waited to see what the man planned on doing next, since she knew that others were after the Kingdom Key and he might be one of them, "But why? Why would such an important weapon choose a kid like you? Regardless of why you were picked, you need to hand it over... now!"

"There's no way I'm letting you take this from me." Sora stated, where both he and Sombra shifted their stances and readied themselves for battle, which was a smart move in Sombra's mind, because with the lack of information the man had given both of them it was still hard to tell if he was friend or foe, so his companion's decision to defend himself was smart.

The man said nothing as he pulled out his own weapon, what appeared to be an altered sword of some kind with what had to be the oddest looking guard Sombra had ever seen before, as if two weapons had been merged into a single entity, but that didn't stop the pair from being ready for the impending battle to start. Sombra found that the man focused most of his attention on Sora, no doubt because he carried the Kingdom Key, where his attacks were quick and to the point, as if he was testing the young warrior before more of the Heartless showed up to take them out. Sora found that this was a hard foe to fight, as he dodged his attacks like they were nothing and even blocked a few more with his blade, and that didn't include the fact that he was able to call flames into his empty hand before firing it at whoever he deemed to be the more important threat. Sombra found that she was the one that faced that attack, as the man wanted to keep her away from Sora as he tested him, though she wasn't about to let him get his way as she ran from point to point, dodging the few fireballs that were sent at her while swinging her scythe at the figure when an opening presented itself to her, finding that her foe either dodged or used the edge of his weapon to repel her attacks.

As Sombra landed nearby the figure delivered a powerful slash to Sora's chest and knocked him to the ground, though she found no blood or anything from where the boy was struck, like it was a none lethal attack of some kind to knock him out, to which she quickly rushed over to stand between the figure and Sora.

"Stand aside. My business is with the Keyblade's Chosen One." the figure stated, showing Sombra that he knew who the boy was, even though he was interested in the weapon that he carried, and he held his blade at the ready, just in case he had to take someone else down before continuing with his mission.

"Honestly, you haven't given us a good reason to listen to you." Sombra replied, where she focused her mind for a couple of seconds as she called forth her dark power as she shrouded Sora in a dark barrier, which was good to know since this was one of her greatest strengths, all while a familiar dark mist emerged from her eyes, "I'll say this once: back off."

"Yeah, back off." another voice said, where Sombra found a young girl, around her and Sora's age, rushing out of an alley and coming to a stop near where she was positioned, who had the same body that she had and happened to be wearing black shorts and a matching black top, before she came to a stop and faced the figure that Sombra was facing.

In the next moment Radiant Hope, as that was who the newcomer was since Sombra recognized her coloration anywhere, held out her hand and a blue crystalline bow appeared in her left hand as a quiver appeared on her back, which seemed to be her weapon, causing Sombra to turn her attention to the stranger once more.

"What in the... why is Darkness protecting Light?" the man asked, which was understandable in Sombra's eyes, because she had been known by many titles back when he was ruling over the Crystal Empire, namely a variation of the 'Sovereign of Darkness', and with how she looked like how, with the dark mist coming out of her eyes, that likely told the man that she was far more than he bargained for, especially with the sudden arrival of another foe.

"My business is my own. All you need to know is that I seek the wielder of the Kingdom Key, just like you." Sombra stated, a fact that reminded her of the statements she had been told back in whatever realm she had ended up in previously, she could do anything she wanted once she found the one who carried the Kingdom Key, a task that had accomplished itself in no time at all, no doubt not what the World intended, all while Radiant raised an eyebrow as she kept her gaze on the figure she had been fighting.

"Then why not come with us? We can talk things out, in an area that's safe." a new voice said, where Sombra and Radiant turned their heads for just a moment and found that it came from a girl who seemed to be a little older than both of them and Sora, who had short black hair and a metal band around her forehead, a short green top that revealed her belly to everyone, tan shorts that were somehow shorter than Sora's, and a few other odds and ends that looked like she was a stealth person of some kind.

"...Sure... I don't see why not... but the moment I sense treachery, from either of you, I'm leaving." Sombra said, though as she said that she did leave part of her statement unsaid, as those who tried to trick her in the past either ended up dead or were doomed to be slaves in the mines, so for these two she wanted them to know that she'd attack them if they tried to betray her, without actually saying the words out loud, all while leaving Radiant to make her own decision should such a thing come to pass.

The man said nothing as he nodded his head, as he was grateful for his companion's arrival since he doubted he could face all of the dark power that had suddenly appeared in front of him, because he figured that there was more hidden inside the figure that had stopped him in his tracks, and that wasn't counting the new arrival. Sombra eased herself into a neutral stance as her opponent did the same, all while Radiant lowered her bow, before she snapped her fingers and the barrier came undone, which allowed them to walk over to Sora's position without delay, since the pair felt that enemies were closing in on them. The man picked up Sora, after putting away his own weapon, while Radiant joined the ninja girl to scout out the area, though Sombra grabbed the Kingdom Key by the blade as she dismissed the mist that was around her eyes, as she was more worried about the blade than anything else, especially due to the fact that she didn't trust the pair right now and wanted to keep this out of their hands. The ninja girl, on the other hand, made sure that the coast was clear before leading the way back into the second district of the town, which told Sombra that she and Sora must have passed by their safe house at some point in time, likely causing the pair to follow after them after they noticed the Kingdom Key.

She was curious as to what the pair had to say, that much was true, and she was curious as to what Radiant might say to her once they were safe, though at the same time she kept her guard up, as there was no telling when more Heartless would show up and she wanted to be ready for anything, all while wondering what might happen next.

Heartless: Gummi Ship

After convincing Donald and Goofy to take them on as well, since Sombra intended to stay by Sora's side due to the fact that the young boy carried the Kingdom Key, Leon approached the group and informed them that he, Yuffie, and Aerith had prepared some items for them to take with them.

"Here, we put this together after discovering the Kingdom Key." Yuffie said, where she produced a few items, the first being a tan pouch that contained a small amount of Munny, five hundred to be exact, while the second was a larger pack that held a number of provisions, such as preserved food, a couple of potions, and even a few elixirs, "If you need anything else, be sure to visit the shops in town, as they've got some pretty nice stuff in stock... sure, some of it can be a bit pricey, but it is worth the expense to keep yourselves safe from harm."

"Thanks for the tip. We'll be sure to put all of it to good use." Radiant replied, as she knew that the currency would be used in no time at all, even though it did make her wonder how they could get more Munny since she had a feeling that they would need to visit the various shops multiple times over the course of their adventure.

"Good luck out there. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread, but I suspect that you six will do just fine on your own." Leon remarked, though while part of him really wanted to take the Kingdom Key and find a more worthy wielder, as that part of him still doubted Sora's abilities, the rest of him knew that Sora could handle the adventure that he and the rest of his group would embark on, if their battle against the armor Heartless was any consideration.

After talking to Leon and his friends, who walked over to one of the walls to watch over them in case more enemies came to attack them, Donald informed Sora, Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant that their ship, the Gummi Ship, was docked just outside this world. Such a thing caused them to raise their eyebrows for a moment, as it didn't seem possible, where he told them that the main gate for Traverse Town had magic around it that beckoned the lost of the various worlds to this district, to welcome them to a safe location. All worlds were like that, they had magical barriers around them that certain spells interacted with, allowing travelers to safely move from the space between worlds to the surface of the world, and there were special 'warp zones' in each world that allowed travelers to return to their vessels. This was due to the fact that not all worlds had gates for travelers to enter and leave through, so the circular areas in question served that purpose, to which Sombra raised an eyebrow for a moment, as this was the first time any of them had heard of such a thing.

Donald explained why this was the first time they were learning this information, as the residents of the worlds weren't supposed to know that there were any others out there and those that traveled the worlds were supposed to keep the 'world order', by blending into the residents of the world, whatever they might be.

"So I'm guessing that since we can't see these zones, the Gummi Ship doesn't recognize us as travelers?" Sombra asked, as she hadn't seen a single zone like that in her time exploring Traverse Town, and based on the confused looks on Radiant and Fluttershy's faces she could tell neither of them had seen them either, which meant the same was true for Sora.

"Correct. All I need to do is cast a temporary spell on all of you so you can follow us to the Gummi Ship, which will allow us to log the four of you as travelers." Donald stated, though as he said that Sombra got the feeling that the duck still didn't want her or Radiant to come with them, since they weren't Keyblade wielders like Sora and Fluttershy, even though the latter was still shocked by this discovery.

Sombra and the others stood there for a moment as Donald raised his wand for a moment, where they watched as a slight shimmer appeared around their bodies without delay, and based on the smile Donald gave them it seemed like this meant his spell had worked. With that in mind he and Goofy brought them to Traverse Town's main gate and accessed the magical barrier, allowing the pair to vanish without delay before Sora, Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant disappeared as well, which showed them that Donald's spell worked like a charm. The area that they appeared in happened to be a decent sized dome area that had three chairs facing what seemed to be the controls of the ship, confirming that the pair had been looking for only the Kingdom Key's wielder and no one else, though beyond the dome rested the depths of space, filled with the stars they had seen previously. As Donald stepped up to the console, however, Sombra glanced back and found a circular sphere behind them, a large one at that, that had what appeared to be Traverse Town, the first district to be exact, taking up the majority of the space, a representation of the world they had just been wandering around.

That told Sombra more than she was expecting, as the transparent barrier, the sphere, vanished without delay and left the rest of the world floating there, meaning each world would be represented by a piece of what they had to offer, or maybe an important landmark, causing her to wonder what other worlds they might discover. At the same time she and the others took a few seconds to study the Gummi Ship, as it was an odd vessel made up of red and yellow blocks, with a few orange ones mixed into everything, while having a pointed tip, small white fins to help with flying, and who knew what else. After glancing out at the rest of space, and Sora roused himself from being stunned by what they were seeing, the pair that owned the ship beckoned them over to the opposite edge of the cockpit and tapped a button, where they found that part of the floor sunk for a time and allowed everyone to see that the Gummi Ship was bigger on the inside. By that Sombra found that there were doors leading to what Donald explained were the bedrooms, in fact she counted six doors that could serve such a purpose, one leading to a bathroom, a dining area for everyone to relax in, a kitchen that the duck claimed could serve the finest food, and a few others.

As they walked, however, Sombra found that there was an odd marking on one of the bare walls, the Cutie Marks of both Fluttershy and Radiant resting together, causing her to turn towards them for a moment as Radiant gestured for her not to say anything, likely something the three of them needed to talk to before doing anything else.

Once the tour was done the group returned to the controls and Donald showed them how they could warp down to the world that they wanted to visit, where some energy gathered around them and everyone teleported back to the main gate of the first district, where Sombra found Leon's group was still there, no doubt keeping an eye on them before they were ready to leave for another world. After they were back where they started Donald revealed that he also had a gift for all of them, identical tomes that could be filled with all sorts of magical knowledge, like the sort of thing that apprentices would be given to study, where it didn't take Sombra long to open it and discover that there was a single spell in it. Donald, as if expecting such a thing, informed all of them that he wanted to start them off small, as too much power could corrupt the user or just be too much for the person to use, so by giving everyone one spell to start with, to practice before getting a new one, they could learn control. The first spell they could learn was 'Fire', which was the one that he had used while they fought all of the Heartless after he, Goofy, and Fluttershy crashed into her, Sora, and Radiant, meaning they had a good idea on how to use it, while Goofy promised that he'd show them some of his skills later, since they might be able to learn a few from watching him use them.

"I'm assuming that this is everything we need to know... or is there something else?" Sombra inquired, because after all of the information they had been told, and the items they had been given, she had to assume that it was getting to the point where they should start their adventure by using the Gummi Ship to head to a whole new world.

"There's one other person we need to talk to before we leave, plus you guys need to meet Jiminy." Goofy replied, where he gestured to something that was close to the ground, a cricket that was standing on two legs, wearing a suit and hat, and had what appeared to be a journal.

"I am Jiminy Cricket, and I'll be keeping track of your adventures in my trusty journal." the cricket said, which told Sombra that there was going to be more odd things for them to see as they visited the other worlds, especially if one of those new things happened to be a cricket that could talk and write, though it seemed like he had a skill that allowed him to remain hidden from sight, until he made himself known to people.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Jiminy." Fluttershy said, which reminded Sombra of something she had overheard before the Crystal Empire's barrier had fallen, the shy one was supposed to be well versed in dealing with animals, though she was unsure if that would be helpful in the adventure they were about to embark on.

Sombra noticed that Radiant was quiet, but said nothing about it as Donald beckoned for them to come with him, where they quickly discovered that his destination was a red door with flame designs on it, resting in a back portion of the third district they had been in earlier. As they approached it Donald called forth his staff and blasted it with a bit of fire, where the icon on it lit up and pulsed like it was a living flame, before he walked forward as the others found that it slid up into the area above the frame, allowing them to enter a new area of the town. What they discovered was that it was a large area that almost seemed out of place, as it was a dark cavern with what appeared to be a lake with a decent sized island or patch of land in the middle of it, with what appeared to be a house that had a roof designed to look like a wizard's hat for some reason. The path leading to the main door seemed to be a series of moving stones that they had to jump their way across, which was easy to do if everyone did it one by one, since the stones weren't large enough for all of them to be on at the same time, while the main door seemed to be barricaded with cloth over it, but there was a side entrance they could use to enter it.

What they discovered was that there was nothing inside the building, as if no one had been here for years, while there was a raised circular area in the center of the chamber, all while Sora just seemed to focusing on a wall for some reason, only to come back to reality as Radiant tapped on his shoulder and caused him to look at her.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" a new voice asked, where everyone turned towards the opening they had used to get into the structure and found that a tall figure in a light blue robe, with a long white pointed beard while holding onto a short wand in one hand and a briefcase in the other, was standing there, looking at them, "I'll be honest, you arrived far sooner than I expected. I know you must have questions, but allow me to answer a few right now: I am Merlin, a sorcerer of some skill, and I spend most of my time traveling... so it is good to be home. Here, allow me to get unpacked before we talk further."

Sombra and the others watched as Merlin took his place in the center of the room, set his briefcase down, and then used his wand to direct his magic as he did a little dance, allowing them to observe as items, pieces of furniture, emerged from the container, enlarged to their original form, and set themselves down all over the room they were in, quickly making it a nice living area in no time.

"Ah, much better. Now then, Donald and Goofy, your King has requested my aid in preparing you for the rest of your long journey, providing magic lessons to you and the Keyblade's Chosen One." Merlin continued, where he looked pleased with his handiwork, placing everything in it's correct place with such amazing precision, showing off his years of skill, before he turned towards the group and found that there were more than he was expecting to see, "Oh my, and who might all of you be?"

"I am Sombra, along with Sora, Fluttershy, and Radiant Hope. Also, it's not the 'Keyblade's Chosen One', rather it's the 'Kingdom Key's Chosen One', which happens to be Sora." Sombra stated, while at the same time Sora stepped forward as he called forth his Keyblade, something that made Merlin study it for a time, as this had to be the first time he had seen such a weapon, either in a long time or the first time ever.

"I see. Well, at least you found the very Key that we were looking for." Merlin said, with what appeared to be relief quickly appearing on his face, showing that he didn't care what the weapon was called in the slightest, meaning that as long as they had the one that everyone was interested in, which Sora was currently holding, he was content to allow them to go about their business, before he remembered something, "Oh, one more thing: you see the small carriage on the floor? It is the home of the good Fairy Godmother, who has also been called in to help you on your adventure. Other than that you can start training whenever you like."

Sora decided to take him up on the offer immediately, either because he was interested in the idea of using magic or he wanted to learn how to do everything that was offered to him, to which Merlin lowered part of the ceiling for them, as in it made a platform for them to climb onto so it could take them into the house's attic space. Merlin joined the group in the attic and explained that he had a number of helpful spells that would allow them to practice to their hearts content, as in he could create copies of some of his furniture and animate them to make moving targets, while at the same time he had another spell that granted them unlimited mana while they were in this room. Sombra found that to be an overpowered sort of skill and almost felt insulted that Merlin would introduce himself as a 'sorcerer of some skill', since this reminded her of Star Swirl the Bearded, who was busted in magical terms for a unicorn of his era, like how Twilight Sparkle was the same for her era. While she thought about that Merlin beckoned for Sora to come closer as everyone else stood nearby, as he simply wanted only those interested in training inside the large ringed area, while he and the observers remained in a safe area so they weren't hit by any magical spells.

Such a thing allowed Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant to see how to use the spell they had been given, as they had to gather a bit of their magic before loosing the spell from their weapon, since Sora fired fireballs from the tip of his Keyblade while he focused on the moving furniture. Merlin told them why that was, as one's weapon served as a focus for novice magic users to learn how to tap into their magical power, though he also explained that most of the experienced practitioners could, in fact, cast magic without the need of their wands or staffs, but the majority of them preferred using a focus since it made a lot of things easier for them. He and the Fairy Godmother, for example, had learned how to use magic with their wands and remained that way for most of their lives, while the likes of Yen Sid, another powerful sorcerer, only used his hands, it was just a matter of preference, so he was sure that, once they had enough experience in using magic, the group would figure out their own unique paths. With that in mind Sombra found that Fluttershy could use the top of her staff to do the same thing, as she figured that all three of them could spend some time practicing as well, since there was no telling when one of them might need an edge in battle, while Radiant had to point the tip of her bow at her targets, just like how she had to use the tip of her scythe.

Of course she and Radiant also had an unfair advantage over everyone else, as they still had their horns, so they were able to shift their magic into their off hands and throw it or even summon it as a separate entity that exploded on their targets, where Merlin nodded as he watched them, showing that he seemed impressed by their unique abilities.

After some time training, as everyone wanted a few moments to practice the new magic that had been given to them, the group thanked Merlin for his time, where he gave them a light chuckle as he told them it was his pleasure to have such good students, before they returned to the ground floor. From there the group returned to the first district and found that Leon's group had moved around, as in it looked like they were sitting at the tables that were to the left of where he fought Sora and Sombra earlier, either relaxing or waiting for something to eat. Donald, as per usual, didn't seem to care all that much as he made his way back to the Gummi Ship, causing the others to follow after him since no one wanted him to take the ship without them, as Sombra was sure that the duck would leave them behind if he found the chance to do so. The only good thing about this was that Goofy's presence with Sora and the others prevented Donald from leaving, since both of them were a team on a mission and he didn't feel like leaving his comrade behind, meaning everyone else was able to pass through the main gate and return to the Gummi Ship.

Once everyone was aboard Goofy told them that they'd figure out who got what bedroom later as he showed Sora to the console that controlled the entire ship, as having another pilot would be great and he seemed to think the boy would be a good one, while Donald went into the kitchen to prepare something, leaving Sombra to follow the other two back down to the area with their marks.

"We weren't ready to say anything about this in front of the others, but the World has given us a few benefits." Radiant explained, though as she said that both she and Fluttershy raised their hands towards the marking and Sombra watched as a golden oval, a magical portal, opened before her eyes, leading to what appeared to be an open area with a mountain off to their left, a forest to the right, a river ahead of them, and who knew what else, "The World told me that it granted Fluttershy something special and I asked her about it earlier while the others were talking about Sora's quest, though you were distracted by something else. Go ahead, tell him."

"I, um, was given two skills, in addition to my Keyblade: 'Tower Farming' and 'Animal Friendship'." Fluttershy said, though as she said that both she and Radiant walked through the portal, causing Sombra to follow as she found that it seemed to be a pocket dimension of some kind, before she pulled out a ball shaped device that allowed her to summon a group of five white rabbits that were larger than the ones back home, but not by too much, "I was told that I could grow by learning how to fight, hence the Keyblade, but... I can also grow by planting and harvesting anything in this world, so we won't have to buy certain things, plus I gain more power for every critter I befriend. I can even call on some to aid us in battle, but so far all I have are these worker rabbits."

"I see." Sombra commented, as she had to assume that the rabbits would help Fluttershy in whatever farming she would be doing, which told her that the World must have given her a really crappy skill and then gave her a second one to give her a better chance of getting stronger, before she glanced at Radiant, "What about you?"

"It gave me 'Grand Walking' and 'Equipment Creator', basically meaning the more I explore the various worlds the greater I grow, plus I gain power by creating accessories for everyone... along with this." Radiant answered, where she held a hand out for a moment as a weapon materialized before their eyes, where Sombra stared at the light blue crystalline guard that protected the handle, with a light blue crystalline blade that matched the length of the Kingdom Key and a bladed area that looked like a snowflake that matched the color of the blade and had golden sections, "I, too, gained a Keyblade while I was training, one the World called 'Diamond Dust', like how Fluttershy's is the 'Divine Rose'. Did the World give you one as well?"

"No, I was not given the honor of wielding such a weapon... also, my skill is essentially 'the more enemies I take out, the stronger I get'." Sombra said, where she had to raise her eyebrow for a moment as she stared at Radiant's blade, since it made her wonder why she didn't use it back when they were dealing with the Heartless and the Armor, though at the same time she decided to lie to the pair about her new ability, just to keep her true ability a secret.

Radiant frowned for a moment, as it sure sounded like Sombra was lying to them, why she had no idea, though before she had a chance to question it they heard a sound as Donald noticed the portal and questioned where it came from, though he cut himself off as he beckoned for them to follow him to the kitchen. The trio glanced at each other before Fluttershy told the rabbits to settle in, as she'd be back at some point to get started on her area of the world, since Sombra assumed that the mountain was for Radiant and her material gathering. With that done they crossed through the portal again and found that a frame formed around it, likely keeping the area secure so nothing from the other side invaded the ship, but for the time being they headed to the kitchen and discovered that both Goofy and Sora were there as well. There was a bowl of soup resting on the counter, as he wanted to make sure it was good for everyone before he made a bigger batch, and he made sure to give everyone a spoon, only for Sombra to stop Radiant and Fluttershy as she found that it seemed to stretch weirdly as Sora tried to eat it.

She then shoved the bowl into Goofy's hands, so he could dispose of it, before looking around the kitchen for a moment, to which she pulled out a couple of fruits, vegetables, and a few other items, and got to work as she moved to the cutting board and started working on something. It was a diced fruit dish she had eaten a few times in the past, after she took the throne of the Crystal Empire, combined with a light soup that would keep them going as well and some vegetables that were lightly cooked after being diced. Radiant raised one of her eyebrows for a moment as everyone observed Sombra's actions, moving all sorts of items around to make the dish she was focused on, as this was the first time she had seen Sombra do anything like this, yet she seemed totally focused, as if she was in her element or something. Despite not knowing the various items of the kitchen that were around her Sombra guessed at each of their functions rather easily, even though Goofy also told her everything she needed to know, and they found that it wasn't long before she served several plates of her finished meal to everyone.

The group sat at the dining table that was near the kitchen and Sombra found that they sampled the light meal, where it was easy to see that it was well received, not that such a thing was hard to do since Donald's attempt was completely foul in comparison, causing her to lightly chuckle as she joined them in enjoying the meal.

"Wow, this is delicious. Where did you learn how to cook?" Goofy asked, because part of it reminded him of some of the dishes and meals that he and Donald had enjoyed back in the castle, before the King disappeared to track something down, and he could see that everyone else was enjoying the meal.

"Believe it or not, but I'm actually self taught." Sombra replied, which was actually the truth, she had learned from reading a number of books, watching the kitchen staff of various places, and even made a few dishes of her own before taking over the Crystal Empire, before she glanced at the duck for a moment, "Donald, are you enjoying the meal?"

"It's alright... it just needs some work to be really good." Donald stated, showing that he was definitely sore over Sombra having a better and more received meal than what he had made while they were doing whatever it was that they were in the middle of earlier, though his words caused Sombra to resolve to show him something better next time.

Sora immediately told everyone that Sombra was in charge of food preparation, causing some of them to chuckle since it meant Donald would have to find something else to do, though at the same time Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant found themselves wondering what was next on their grand adventure.

Heartless: Wonderland

After the meal, and cleaning the dishes, Goofy laid out which room everyone would have, as there was a shield icon on his, a wand for Donald's, and the odd crown for Sora, while Sombra found that Fluttershy's and Radiant's had their Cutie Marks on their doors, leaving just a shadowy mark on her door. She quickly discovered that the rooms were large enough to house a bed and some clothing containers, with a bit of room to walk around in, plus a small circular window that allowed them to peer out into space, but other than that there wasn't anything else for them to be interested in. Such a thing told her that the occupants of the ship were likely supposed to sit in the cockpit all day, watching the pilot fly through the space between worlds, though she was grateful that the lower level seemed separated from the rest of the Gummi Ship, as in when the pilot moved she found that this level remained the same. Sombra had to guess that it had something to due with not wanting to piss off anyone else who might be on the vessel, so the two levels were totally different in how they reacted to space, but she also knew it meant nothing to Fluttershy and Radiant, thanks to their private world.

The shy one had started work on her farm without wasting time, where she even said that some of the items could go into whatever dishes Sombra made in the future, while Radiant was creating an area where she could do her own work, due to the fact that it seemed like the World had left her some supplies as well. By that she meant that there was a chest of items that looked like Radiant was supposed to set up a workshop of some kind, which made sense given what she had told them previously, though for the most part there wasn't much for Sombra to do since she didn't have a skill like the pair did. She did observe the pair for a time, finding that the worker rabbits were definitely doing everything in their power to prepare the ground for planting and seemed to be devising ways to move water to the crops, showing that they were definitely not normal rabbits. At the very least it looked like the pair seemed to be enjoying themselves, causing her to leave the realm for a time and turn her attention to the Gummi Ship, or at least see the controls in action as she returned to the cockpit and found that Sora was ready for takeoff.

It took Sora a few moments to get the controls right, where Goofy made sure to correct him whenever he did something wrong so they didn't crash into any worlds or obstacles while they flew through space, though once Goofy thought he was ready the ship finally departed from Traverse Town. There was a navigation panel that allowed him to see everything that was around them, detailing where hazards and obstacles were, such as asteroids, panels from enemy vessels, debris, and whatever else had been left in space, some of which caused Goofy to tell Sombra about the weapon system that was part of the ship. The guns were supposed to be used to clear out items that they couldn't avoid, like asteroids, but at the same time the ones who worked on the Gummi Ship, a pair of chipmunks called Chip and Dale, made sure that they knew that the weapons could protect them as well, in case enemy ships attacked them. Apparently one of the ways for the Heartless to travel from world to world happened to be by using their own Gummi Ships, something Donald and Goofy had seen on their way to Traverse Town, meaning Sora would have to keep an eye out for them while they were traveling.

Goofy also informed her that it would likely take a day or two to reach the next world, meaning they could rest, relax, do a bit of training, or do whatever they wanted, where Sombra decided to spend a couple of hours just sitting in one of the new chairs that had been added to the cockpit, as there were three new ones behind the ones Donald and Goofy were sitting in.

Such a thing allowed her to see what Goofy had been talking about, Sora could use the console that was in front of him to move the ship around and use the weapons to blast a few asteroids that were coming their way, where she found that there were what appeared to be large coral pieces forming a path of sorts, which Sora was following. No one had any idea why the coral even existed in the first place, though Donald informed them that other parts of the World were different, because Chip and Dale informed him that there was an area that had what appeared to be a large energy twister right in the center of it, or somewhere near the center. While Sora carefully flew through space, despite his excitement to be on his way to another brand new world, Sombra pulled out her new spell tome and placed a hand on it, where she activated her dark power for a few seconds before pulling her hand back. When she opened the book she found that a number of new spells had appeared in the back of the tome, all dark magic spells that matched every dark spell she had learned over the years before she put her plan into action, causing her to smile for a moment, as it meant that they could be used in this world.

Sombra was sure that she could find some use for a number of the dark spells she had learned in the past, though it only made her that much more excited to see what the next world had to offer them as they searched for Riku, Kairi, and King Mickey while hunting down the Heartless before more worlds fell to their dark power.

Two days later Donald loudly announced that they had reached the next world, causing Sombra and the others to leave their respective parts of the ship and only came to a stop when they reached the cockpit, where they found that the world that looked like it had a red and light red checkerboard design on it with some structures in the shape of hearts. After the group looked at it for a few moments Sora looked at the console again and tapped a button, which Goofy reminded them was a cloaking device to make sure no one on the world could see the ship, to help preserve the order of the worlds, since they weren't supposed to tell anyone about the rest of the worlds. With that in mind Donald waited for Sora to be ready before he teleported them down to the new world, where they appeared in what seemed to be a long vertical tunnel that was full of furniture that had odd shapes, like they were bending or something, though they happened to be in the air and just floated down like it was nothing. The furniture that was below them seemed to be imprinted in the ground itself, an odd thing for sure when Sombra thought about it, and based on what she could see there seemed to be another tunnel that seemed to be the only way forward.

As they landed, and Goofy turned around from his relaxing position to crash into the floor, they found a white rabbit in a suit and carrying a large watch run by, mentioning something about being 'late' and that the 'Queen would have his head for sure', as he headed down the tunnel and disappeared.

"Sounds like something big is happening." Fluttershy said, though at the same time she helped Goofy onto his feet as the others glanced around the decent sized chamber and confirmed that there were no other entrances, though Sombra felt there was one, besides the vertical passage, behind them somewhere, one only the denizens of this world could use to move from place to place.

Sombra had to agree, it seemed like the rabbit was worried about missing something, hence why she and Sora followed the passage and found a door that ended up having a few more behind it, until it brought them to a large room that was arranged weirdly, plus they and the others were now giants in comparison to what was around them, only to watch as the rabbit, now small, ran by a small door and it closed behind him.

"Wow... how did he get so small?" Sora asked, because he was sure that it was impossible for someone to shrink that fast, without stopping to cast spells or anything, and while the others glanced around the area, with Sombra seeing a couple of small areas that might be openings that connected two points together, he crouched to stare at the door.

"No, you and your friends are simply too big." a voice said, where they discovered that it came from the door itself, rather the doorknob since it was animated and could talk to the group, a fact that allowed them to see that it's keyhole was it's mouth, given how it stretched while he was talking, especially when he yawned, "Must you be so loud? You woke me up!"

The group glanced at each other as Goofy apologized and asked him what he meant, where the Doorknob revealed that there was a potion for them to take to shrink themselves, which happened to appear on a table that popped out of the floor and caused everyone to stare at it for a couple of seconds. Sora, eager to explore the new world, quickly made his way around the others and took a quick swing of the potion that had a down arrow on it, where Sombra and the others found that he shrunk down to the size of the rabbit in a matter of seconds. With that in mind the group took turns taking a quick drink of the potion and then passed it to the next person in line, shrinking down to Sora's size without delay as the room became gigantic, though once everyone had their turn a new enemy showed up, a small red robe wearing Heartless that had no arms or legs. This particular foe had a round head and a yellow hat, though it did have the power to launch fireballs at it's foes, so with three of them appearing in the first wave the group quickly dodged the incoming projectiles and struck down the group of enemies with relative ease, as they were like the Shadows, going down in two to three hits.

Fluttershy had a name for these foes, the 'Nocturne', as they seemed to move around like they were musical notes, though as the others listened to her Sombra made sure to snatch all of the freed hearts, absorbing one to find that it gave her a small boost to her magical power, so a lot of them would be a significant boost.

Of course those three were only the beginning, as more Shadows, Soldiers, and a few Nocturnes appeared in the room, but as Sombra slashed her way through some of them, and her darkness snatched all of the freed hearts, she found that there was no other way out of the room, save for one that was hidden behind an oddly placed bed. She pointed that out to Sora, who dispatched with a pair of Shadows before returning to the table, where he picked up the other bottle and sampled it for a moment, allowing him to grow back to his original side before turning towards the bed. Everyone else watched for a few seconds as he actually shoved the bed back into the wall, how Sombra had no idea and decided to blame it on the rules that this world operated by, though before they moved forward the group waited for Sora to shrink back down to their size so all of them could head through it together. Once he caught up to them the group headed into the passage and found that it was shorter than they were expecting, as it was more like a minute or two of walking before they reached the opening that allowed them to enter another part of the new world.

What they discovered was that the area in question appeared to be a mixture of a garden and a court area, as there was a judge chair, an area for an announcer to speak in, a defendant area, and even an area for a small jury, though the guards seemed to be animated cards, each with one of the four symbols on their surface, and there was a girl standing before the judge, like she was on trial, all while the white rabbit blew a trumpet.

"Court is now in session!" the rabbit stated, where they could see that he was huffing like mad, which made sense due to the fact that he had been rushing through who knew what to reach the raised stand he was standing on, though while the girl asked what was going on a slight glare from a overweight female figure, a ruler no doubt, stopped the rabbit from giving an explanation as he returned to his task, "Her Majesty, the Queen of Hearts, presiding."

"This girl is the culprit, there is no doubt about it!" the Queen of Hearts stated, where Sombra found that she wore a red and black dress that looked like a chess board, with a golden crown on top of her head and a heart shaped gravel, and it was far too easy for her to see that the Queen was used to getting her way, reminding her of herself before her defeat, "And the reason is... because I say so, that's why! Tell me, Alice, do you have anything to say in your defense... besides the usual 'I've done nothing wrong'?"

The girl dressed in a blue dress, Alice apparently, paused as she faced the Queen, as she was starting to realize that she was going to be blamed for whatever had brought upon this court session, all while Radiant noticed that Sora seemed a little annoyed by what he was seeing.

"Well then, if you have nothing to say in your defense, we can get on with things: the court finds the defendant guilty as charged!" the Queen continued, showing that she was mostly ignoring Alice, who Sombra could feel some light inside, a force that was pure and untainted by darkness, while the girl tried, in vain, to convince the Queen that she was wrong in thinking she was a criminal, "For the crimes of assault, and the attempted theft of my heart... OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

In that moment Sora, without any regard for what Donald was trying to tell him, rushed out and told the Queen that she was wrong in thinking that Alice was the culprit, along with the fact that they knew the true criminal and that they could obtain the evidence she demanded that they present to prove their tale. Sombra really had no idea why Sora would dare to do such a thing, but at the same time she had to admit that this was best, instead of worrying about the order of the worlds they could just invade whatever was going on and help resolve things. If they said nothing about all of the worlds, and presented themselves as travelers, she reasoned that most people would look the other way and not question what they were doing there, just like how the Queen didn't seem to care about where everyone came from, rather she was far more interested in their evidence. Of course she also imposed a limited time period for them to find the evidence that would 'convince' her that Alice was innocent, though to keep the girl from fleeing she was imprisoned in what looked like a small birdcage next to the Queen's judge chair, so she could keep an eye on her.

Sombra could tell that there was a path to the Queen's castle that they couldn't see, it was shrouded by the nature of this world, like the Queen and her guards had a way to open it when this session was complete, though since there was only a single opening left she, Sora, and the others walked through it and found themselves in a dark wooded area.

"This place is so weird." Radiant remarked, because it seemed like the rules of this world were different from what she and the others were used to, especially when considering the potions that could change one's size with a quick drink from the endless items, since six people had drank from them and Sora was still able to use one to return to their small size.

In the following moments they found what appeared to be a cat's head, looking different from what they were used to and having a wide crescent smile on his face, phasing into existence, then disappearing, only to reappear somewhere else for a few seconds before appearing on a large tree trunk to their right, with a pink body with purple stripes standing on top of his head.

"Oh, hello there. Who are you?" Fluttershy asked, though as she said that the others glanced around the forest for a time, as Sombra could no doubt feel more Heartless lingering in the shadows, allowing her to focus on the odd cat for a couple of moments, because if everything else was different she was sure the cat would be the same as well.

"Who, indeed. Poor Alice... soon to lose her head, and she's not guilty of a thing." the cat replied, where he stepped off of his head and reattached it to his shoulders, making him more like a cross between a human and a cat, even if he acted like the latter far more than the former, all while the others listened to him without saying anything, "The Cheshire Cat has the answers you seek... but doesn't always tell. For you see, the answer, the culprit, and the cat all lie in darkness... but for you, my dear, the answer is clear: the culprits have scattered, leaving their innocent comrades behind. Four pieces of evidence have been left behind, three are a cinch to find, the fourth... well, not so much... but I will reward you if you can find all four of them."

Sombra, being used to the darkness and things like the 'Cheshire Cat', knew that it was wise to not openly trust the cat, but, at the same time, his information was all they had to go on, so she and the others decided to explore the rest of the forest as they kept their eyes open for the evidence boxes, pink gift containers accordingly to Fluttershy. Of course they had to deal with the Heartless, more Shadows and Soldiers, allowing Sombra to reach out with her darkness to capture each heart that was freed, all while finding that both Fluttershy and Radiant refrained from using their Keyblades in battle. She already knew that the former had a hard time actually fighting, if what she had seen in Traverse Town was any indication, while Radiant seemed to be keeping hers hidden until she was sure Donald could be trusted, due to his poor actions when he and Goofy found Sora. As they dealt with the first two groups of enemies, however, Sombra also found why the Cheshire Cat had said that three of the boxes would be easy to find, as one was hiding behind some tall blades of grass that seemed like they were trying to form a protective area for a few flowers, causing her to collect it as they continued on their way.

Another box was literally just around the corner, as they walked up to an area that had what appeared to be decent sized mushrooms for them to climb on, without the heads breaking, and the box was on a platform that looked like it was part of the forest, like a lily pad growing on a stalk. While they explored Fluttershy found a larger chest on one of the stalks and was surprised by what was inside it, three of the ninety-nine missing dalmatian puppies, numbers 16, 17, and 18 based on what their collars said, though for the time being she decided to keep them inside her Animal Sphere. It was a safe place for her to keep the animals she could tame, based on what Sombra determined from what she had said, though she also said that she could switch that feature on and off as she desired, so for the puppies this would be a safe haven until they got back to the ship. She and Radiant understood what Fluttershy was saying, she was going to use their private are to house the puppies until they returned to Traverse Town, causing them to nod their heads as they found Sora climbing up the stalks to get up into what seemed to be the highest place around.

By following him, however, they found that one of the thicker trees had an opening that somehow teleported them back into the room that the Doorknob rested in, though they dropped down onto the stove that had been in the room and found the third of the four boxes, allowing Sombra to add it to the others they had found.

With that in their possession they quickly returned to the forest, having to pass through the court area again since there was no quick way back, and the group confirmed that Sora really enjoyed exploring new worlds, as he found his way to another large chest in the forest, this one having a large gummi block inside it. From there they discovered that there was a large boulder blocking one of the exits and another one had no stalk for them to jump to, as there was a gap between the one it was connected to and those near the thick tree, though Fluttershy was willing to help lift everyone onto the stalk, one at a time, so they could enter it together. The opening she allowed them to access brought them, once more, to the Doorknob's room, though this time they dropped down onto a water facet that was large enough for all six of them, in their small forms, to safely land on it, though fortunately the cabinet off to their right had the fourth and final box, which brought a smile to their faces. Sure enough the Cheshire Cat appeared on the facet for a moment, congratulated them on finding all four boxes, and presented them with his gift, the Blizzard spell, which went into their tomes as Sombra tried it out, finding that it allowed her to fire off what appeared to be snowflakes at a wall, though she was sure that this was the basics of the spell.

After acquiring the spell, and the last box, the group dropped down to the floor without delay and quickly headed through the door they had used a few times so far, allowing them to return to where the Queen of Hearts was waiting, where Sora indicated that they were ready, causing one card to escort everyone but him and Sombra to the jury stand.

"Now then, show me this 'proof' you have collected." the Queen commented, her tone showing them that she wasn't too eager to believe them, and when the four boxes they had collected were presented Sombra could see it didn't impress her at all, especially when she summoned a fifth box, used a bit of magic to bring them all together, and them returned all five to the line in a new setup, "Checking all five will be a waste of my time and patience, so you, boy, will choose the one that you want to present. You have one minute to decide."

"Sora, do you trust me?" Sombra inquired, because she knew there was nothing stopping her from sharing her opinion with the young boy, the Queen had said nothing about her talking during the minute, where Sora nodded his head for a few seconds as she lowered her voice, "Fourth box, trust me."

Sora nodded as he made his way down to the boxes, make it look like he was studying them, before tapping the fourth one in the line, though as it opened a Soldier appeared from inside it, who stood there for a moment as it looked around, unsure of what was going on, before noticing the Queen and rushed at her, causing Sombra to grab it and silence it with a swing of her scythe. The Queen, despite clearly having evidence of someone who wanted her demise, declared that due to Article 29, which decreed that 'anyone who defies the Queen is guilty', meaning that it really didn't matter what they did to clear Alice's name, she was guilty in the Queen's eyes and so was the group, since they dared to help the girl out. With that in mind several sections of the area sunk into the ground and a short sandstone tower appeared across from where the Queen was resting, where a few guards pulled on some wooden cranks and raised Alice's cage into the air, meaning they would have to free her before doing anything else. Fortunately it looked like the Queen didn't do anything to the others, as Radiant and the others were able to jump out of the box they were in before joining her and Sora, where everyone pulled out their weapons and went on the offensive as a number of cards tried to defend the tower.

As it turned out this 'battle' couldn't even be called one, as Donald, Radiant, and Fluttershy held the cards back with both their magic and weapons, Goofy helped Fluttershy out so she could gain more confidence in battle, while both Sora and Sombra tore the tower apart with their weapons, much to the dismay of the cards. The tower itself was brittle and was far too easy for just two of them to destroy, though pouches of Munny ended up being scattered from the structure, almost as if the Queen had built the thing with currency and not actual materials, though Sombra realized why after a few more seconds. One of the sections she cut through happened to have a Shadow lurking on it, just like one Sora knocked off of the structure, almost as if the Heartless were trying to stop the tower from being used for some reason, and she found that a couple of them were carrying the pouches, like they were stealing from the Queen or something. It made her take a moment to wonder what they were up to, before she felt a surge of dark energy and turned towards the cage as the rest of the tower collapsed, where everyone turned and watched as the cage returned to the ground, even the Queen had to look over the ledge of her seat to see what was going on.

When the cage turned around, however, they found that Alice was gone, the Heartless had sent another one to grab her while everyone was distracted by the battle, where the Queen declared that all of them, cards and intruders, were to find the culprit and bring them before her, meaning the group could leave without delay, only for Fluttershy to bring them back into the odd forest, just in time to see a rock fly out of a flower.

"Is something wrong?" Goofy asked, because he had noticed how distracted Fluttershy was when Alice was taken and that made him interested in what she might have noticed that everyone else hadn't noticed, which was followed by a familiar face appearing on the boulder, as it was the Cheshire Cat.

"Cheshire says there's a 'large shadow' somewhere in this kingdom." Fluttershy said, showing them that she must have talked with the cat while everyone was distracted with Alice's sudden disappearance after her 'trial', causing the others to realize that she was referring to a powerful Heartless, just like the Armor in Traverse Town.

As she said that a group of Heartless, consisting of some Soldiers and Nocturne, appeared to attack them, along with a fat tall figure who looked like a ball with arms and legs, a Large Body she guessed, though what was interesting was that the newest one couldn't be hit from the front, rather they had to attack it's back to bring it down. Sombra, naturally, absorbed the heart that was freed from it and found that it also granted her a defensive boost, something that was good to know as her power latched onto the rest of the hearts and captured them, allowing her to add more to her growing collection while they moved deeper into the forest. When another Large Body showed up Sombra discovered something else, they could, in fact, hurt that type with attacks to the chest, they just had to be magical attacks since Donald's magic tore through it as the others dealt with the other Heartless, another useful piece of information to add to what they had learned since the start of their adventure. While they fought their enemies there was one last thing they discovered, Radiant found a couple of small square capsules that happened to have materials in them, like elemental shards and even potions, meaning that part of her abilities had to be active, given what they had seen so far, which told Sombra that she'd be able to start making items in the near future.

The path they were following returned them to the blocked passage from before, which had to be where the boulder the flower spat out must have come from, before they found that it brought them to a two story cottage with a long table set for many out in front of it, with a painting of two odd figures at the head of it. Next to the painting of a sad person and an equally sad rabbit person was a sign telling people to have a 'merry unbirthday' and that sitting on the seats would give them gifts, where Sora decided to be nice and sat almost across from the painting, choosing the seat to it's right, looking from the opening that brought them here. After the others sat in random seats, as there were six more to pick from, they found that it rained pouches of Munny and capsules that had potions in them, items everyone picked up and put away as Sombra noted that the painting changed to the two people being happy. Following that they found that they could open the nearby door, the house's door, only to find themselves on the ceiling of the Doorknob's room, where Sombra found a number of lights that were out and realized that to find the Boss Heartless they were going to need to drive it out into the open.

With that in mind Sombra used her new fire spell to light the pair of lights that were on the ceiling, leaving the Heartless to the others for a few moments, though she wasn't too worried since her darkness snatched each heart that was freed as she ignited both lights, before she felt a surge of darkness near the table.

"There we go, the way is open." Sombra said, dropping down on a Large Body and wiped it out with a flurry of ice, using the Blizzard spell while the others dealt with the rest of their enemies, though once that was done Sora nodded to show he understood what was going on as he found a panel to open.

The opening in question brought them back to the Queen's court area, on top of one of the hedges, where they found a chest that had three more dalmatians, numbers 13, 14, and 15, allowing Fluttershy to safely collect them before all six of them headed back into the Doorknob's area. When they entered the first chamber, however, everyone found the Cheshire Cat sitting on the table and that a dark barrier suddenly appeared once everyone was inside the room, though that was followed by both bottles on the table disappearing as the cat realized something big was coming. Sure enough a tall dark Heartless descended on the room, struck part of the ground, before hopping over the table as everyone got ready for a fight, all while Sombra noticed that the creature was taller than the table, had odd diagonal arms that looked like steps for some reason, and a tall round hat of some kind on it's head. It happened to have two batons that it juggled around while looking at them, though it could also swing them around like they were swords, plus it could even ignite them with flames to do additional harm to whoever it hit, causing everyone to scatter as they finally engaged it.

What Sombra discovered was that it was far too easy to dodge the incoming attacks, because they were mice compared to the colossal monster that had come down to fight them, so if someone ducked down they could avoid being hit by the next attack, regardless if they were in the air or on the ground. At the same time it looked like the Trickmaster, as that was the name she was giving it, was easy to stun, as a single powerful hit to it's chest would cause it fall to it's knees and open it to a massive amount of damage since five of them would strike it at the same time. Fluttershy, of course, continued to use her staff and barrier spells to help prevent everyone from taking damage, opting to fly around the air to give her a far better view of everything, and since there were so many warriors to fight, each doing their own thing, the Trickmaster had no choice but to target those that were close to it. Sombra even found that the Blizzard spell would put out the flames on it's batons, weakening it even further, causing her to grin as she rushed around the ground and slashed into the Heartless as it tried to hurt them, eventually knocking it to the ground.

As the Trickmaster dissolved Sombra collected it's heart, before pausing as she found what appeared to be a shard of a fragmented heart that left the Heartless as well, a powerful dark shard that had to belong to a dark being, a negative one in some manner, while also having a sense of wonder inside it.

"Fascinating. Who do you belong to?" Sombra commented, as she had no idea who could have possessed such a powerful fragment, but instead of outright absorbing it into her being, like the other hearts, she set aside a private portion of her inner storage area and stored the fragment inside it for the time being, so she didn't accidentally absorb it as well, not until she had the completed thing.

Sure enough the Doorknob started to wake up from his sleep, or partly wake up since he sounded like he was going to fall back asleep at any moment, and asked about the racket, though as that happened one of his yawns revealed that there was a faint blue keyhole deep inside his own keyhole mouth. As he yawned, however, a light appeared within him and the Kingdom Key reacted, gathering light at it's tip while Sora stared down at it for a couple of seconds, before it yanked itself up and fired a beam of blue energy into the smaller keyhole for a second or two. That was followed by a locking sound being heard, as if the Kingdom Key had just locked something important, and as the smaller keyhole disappeared a gummi block fell to the ground, something Radiant picked up and added to their collection. As the Cheshire Cat congratulated the group on their success over the Trickmaster, however, Sombra realized what their overall goal should be, they needed to find what appeared to be the heart of the world and seal it so it was safe from the Darkness, all while looking for those that everyone else was looking for.

Such a thing caused her to smile, because it meant that they had another reason to visit each world and see what they had to offer, something that only made her that much more interested in what the future held for her, the group, and the rest of the worlds.

Heartless: Crash Landing

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy sat in the cockpit, continuing through space as they headed for whatever world was nearby, Radiant and Fluttershy returned to their world for a time, where Sombra found that the puppies were going to be placed in part of the residence that the pair were building. It was more of a workspace than actual housing, since they had rooms and beds in the Gummi Ship, though she could tell that they were planning on adding beds as well, just in case they exhausted themselves with their various tasks, a worthwhile addition in her mind. Half of it was positioned near the area that Radiant wanted to build a mine in, as she needed materials and it seemed like the best way was to use her time gathering them in a natural way, even though Sombra knew she'd spend some of her time studying the items they had acquired from the various Heartless. The other half was currently being used to house the dalmatian puppies until it was time to return them to their parents in Traverse Town, something that caused Fluttershy to smile as she made sure they had everything they might need, before turning her attention to the field that the worker rabbits were working in.

Sombra had to admit that it was an interesting thing to see, they were like miniature farmers as they carefully tended to the area that Fluttershy was working in, aiding her in planting seeds and watering other areas, all while protecting the crops that were already growing, meaning this place would produce things faster than a normal field.

Since she didn't care to do that sort of work Sombra returned to her room and sat on her bed for a time, where she held a hand out and called forth the fragmented heart piece they had recovered from the mad world they had visited, a world that she only now realized was something Discord, the Spirit of Disharmony, would have made. She thought about it and quickly determined that since most of her focus was on the new world, and the strangeness of the Queen of Hearts with the rest of the oddness, she hadn't made the connection until this point, which she would have to work on in the future. Right now her focus was on the strange fragment she had obtained after defeating the Trickmaster, because the power inside it was great, more than she was expecting, and it only made her wonder how strong the full heart would be once all of the pieces were finally recovered. With that thought in mind she confirmed what she had thought earlier, that for the time being the fragment would be stored in a smaller inner storage area so it wasn't accidentally absorbed like the rest of the hearts she had recovered so far, allowing her to focus on everything else that had happened so far.

In addition to studying the hearts that were in her possession, and thinking about who the fragmented heart might belong to, Sombra found that Fluttershy delivered some of the items she had grown to the kitchen, allowing her to taste what appeared to be cherry tomatoes, rather good ones when she tried one. Since Donald clearly couldn't cook, and the rest of the group didn't seem to want to give the duck another chance, Sombra decided to take this part of her new life seriously, where she used their rather limited supplies to make the best meals that she could, while preserving items so they could be used in the future. Such a thing told her that they were going to have to return to Traverse Town before long, because the ship, while outfitted for more than three people, wasn't stocked for more than three, so having six was going to cut down on their supplies faster than if there were only three or even four. Fortunately Fluttershy's farming provided some relief to the situation they were in, adding the cheery tomatoes and other items to the pantry, especially when she gained the seeds of other items to plant in her farm, allowing Sombra to focus on what was currently going on.

After another day of flying through space, however, Sora informed everyone that they were getting closer to another new world, where Sombra and the others finished what they were doing before regrouping in the cockpit, where they found that this one looked like a vast jungle.

"A jungle world... fascinating." Sombra commented, as this would no doubt provide them with all sorts of new challenges and foes to overcome, plus maybe even give them some new items for the ship, in regards to materials and maybe even a few food items to replace some of their stores.

"Maybe your King or my friends are down there." Sora said, because he was keeping his hopes high, especially since they hadn't found any of them on the last world, which was why he was already starting the landing sequence like Goofy had taught him when they first boarded the ship.

"In a backwater place like that? No way!" Donald stated, where Radiant and Fluttershy found that he tapped some controls to cancel out the process Sora had started, something that caused the boy to frown at him for a moment as he started the process once more, causing them to glance at Sombra for a moment.

Sure enough Donald jumped onto Sora in an attempt to stop him from sending them down to the world that was in front of them, causing the pair to struggle against each other for a couple of moments, before the duck knocked Sora's back into the console as he was thrown away. That caused the teleport system to engage at random, without any set area for all of them to be dropped in, where Donald and Goofy paused for a few seconds before vanishing as they were warped down to a random part of the world's surface. Sombra and the others barely had time to react as the same happened to them, as the ship's system wrapped around them and warped them down to the world that Sora wanted to explore, though he found that they appeared in the air above what appeared to be a large wooden house at the peak of a massive tree. With that in mind Sombra found that she and Sora were close to each other, just how Radiant and Fluttershy were close to each other, where she wrapped her magic around herself and Sora as they fell, forming a spherical barrier to protect them, all while Fluttershy used her wings to save herself and Radiant.

Such a thing caused them to smash through the roof of the house and came to a stop in what appeared to be the living space of the structure, with fragmented wood falling all around them, where Sombra kept the barrier up for a couple of seconds, just to be sure there was nothing else to worry about, before dropping the barrier as Fluttershy landed outside with Radiant right behind her.

"Thanks for the save." Sora said, as he was grateful for the assistance in staying safe, though at the same time he really had no desire to know how much pain he would have been in had Sombra not been there with her magic, causing him to look around for a time as Fluttershy made sure they were fine.

As they regrouped, however, a yellow and black spotted leopard jumped down into the area and attacked them, as in an actual animal, a predator no less, wanted them dead, though as most of them readied their weapons, intending to defend themselves, Fluttershy glared at it with a stare Sombra had never seen before, causing the beast to jump back and rush into a corner as she approached it.

"No way... she knows the Stare?" Sombra remarked, something that made her reevaluate her opinion on the shy one for a few seconds, because with that sort of power in their arsenal it meant she might be able to tackle some greater foes, or at least when she felt like it, before noticing that Sora had raised an eyebrow, "It's something from our home world, a power I had believed to be a myth... I'll tell you what I know later, once we're back on the Gummi Ship."

It looked like Fluttershy was lecturing the leopard, if the fearful look on the animal's face was any indication, confirming that she was definitely more useful than Sombra had originally assumed, though as they seemed to reach some sort of understanding a tall man rushed into the house, who seemed to be wearing a loincloth and nothing else, though he did seem muscular from his time in the jungle and carried a spear.

"Sabor, danger." the man said, holding his spear while looking at the leopard, where the cat let out a light growl for a few seconds, showing that they must be rivals or something, or mortal enemies as Sombra studied the man, who had long brown hair that seemed to have clumps, like he never combed it or anything.

"Ah, she's not that bad." Fluttershy replied, causing the man to just stare at her as Fluttershy had the cat, Sabor, sit for just a few seconds, where Sombra watched as the leopard did so, as the animal realized that the shy one wasn't someone it could just bully or assault, before she pulled out the animal sphere and tapped Sabor on the forehead, which was when the leopard vanished and appeared inside the device.

Sombra wasn't too sure what the two had talked about, but apparently it was enough to convince the leopard that it was better off in Fluttershy's hands, meaning there had to be more to the special farming area than what she had been told, all while noticing that Sora was interested in the man. It was clear that the stranger must have grown up without any humans to interact with, meaning this place must have belonged to his parents and they had been slain, maybe by the Sabor due to how focused he had been when he stared at the leopard, but Sora still thanked him for the aid. The man listened to him for a few moments, repeating phrases like 'this place' or even 'friends' when the boy gestured to himself for a moment, a fact that caused him to start asking about the others, before switching to Riku and Kairi, since Donald didn't deserve any recognition after his stunt. In fact it looked like Sora thought that one of them might be here, since he glanced behind the man for a moment, though the interesting thing was that he claimed that Sora's friends were actually here, before doing something odd, he uttered a few sounds that sounded like he was trying to mimic a gorilla.

Eventually they reached an agreement, the man, Tarzan apparently, was going to bring them to those he assumed were the ones Sora was asking about, where he walked out of the house and the group followed after him, since there might be a chance for them to find people to talk to so they could figure out what was happening to this world. At the same time Fluttershy, despite the fact that Donald caused all of this to happen, wanted to find the missing pair before they thought about leaving this world, something that Tarzan didn't seem to pay attention to, or maybe he thought they were like the people he knew. Following that their new acquaintance leapt off the area below the house, dropping down into an area that everyone followed him into, even though that caused them to slide down a rather large and long branch that seemed to head down towards the ground floor of the jungle. With Tarzan leading the way it was easy for them to make their way to what appeared to be a camp, because at the end he jumped off the branch and landed at the edge of a camp, one that had a bunch of suitcases, materials for people who were out in the field, a makeshift kitchen, a few tents, a grandfather clock that kept track of time, and who knew what else.

The oddest part was that there were slide cards scattered here and there, something the group ignored as Tarzan stopped inside one of the tents, where they found a young lady, roughly around the age of those they had seen in Traverse Town, who was dressed for the jungle, instead of a city, who Tarzan called Jane.

"Hm, you definitely aren't related to Tarzan. None of you are." Jane commented, as she had been interested in them the moment she laid eyes on Sora, more because she was a scholar based on what Sombra was seeing right now, though she, Radiant, and Fluttershy were more interesting to the lady than Sora was, "And you three, I've never seen anyone like you before. Tell me, are you here to study the gorillas as well?"

"That's highly doubtful, Miss Jane." a new voice said, where they turned and found a man with a firm stance walking into the tent, dressed more like either a guide of some kind or a hunter, the latter due to the weapon in his hands, something Leon had called a gun when Sombra asked about his weapon, though Goofy and Donald were walking behind him, though as Sora and Donald started to dance and hold hands they remembered the disagreement and turned away from each other, "They are more like a circus of clowns, in all honesty... not much use for hunting gorillas I'm afraid."

"Hunting gorillas? But that... that's so mean and cruel!" Fluttershy stated, as it sounded like the man was hunting them for sport, and purely for that aspect since he seemed to have some disdain for what they were doing right now, and she could see that most of the others weren't too pleased with this discovery.

"Mr. Clayton, we're studying the gorillas in their natural habitat. We are not hunting them." Jane remarked, which made sense when Sombra looked at every inch of the camp, it was designed for a bunch of researchers and not hunters, so the man, Clayton, must have kept his true motives a secret until he let his true goals slip on accident, before she sighed as she found that her guide headed out into the camp.

While Sora and Donald had their feud Goofy revealed that they had found a gummi block, meaning there was a chance Mickey had been here, causing the two torn companions to declare that they were both staying, despite what the other thought, causing Sombra to sigh as she talked to Jane for a few moments. Apparently, as part of their research, they were trying to show Tarzan slides of things that he should have seen back when he was just a baby, back when he was part of society before his family moved here, and they had lost the slides while scouring the suitcases for them. That meant that somewhere in the camp there were a number of slides for them to collect, which was followed by her, Radiant, and even Fluttershy to head out and track them down, choosing to leave Goofy with Sora and Donald so they could mend their now damaged bonds, while Tarzan just watched in interest. As it turned out there were only a couple of slides to find, some on top of the tents and caused Fluttershy to fly around, where Sombra found that Clayton stared at her with shock in his eyes, while Radiant found a few more on top of some crates and another happened to be in the kitchen area, used as a bookmark for a cooking book.

With the slides in hand the trio returned to the main tent and handed them over to Jane, who inserted them into the device she was using and turned it on, revealing a number of images to Tarzan, all of which he didn't seem to understand, save for the gorilla, but there was one Sora seemed to recognize, a large castle that towered over everything else.

"So, what about my friends?" Sora asked, because after a few minutes of showing slides to Tarzan he had expected him to show some sign of understanding what they were asking, but right now he didn't have any answers for them, which meant they needed to check out the rest of the jungle at some point.

"Young man, we've been in this jungle for some time now and haven't seen anyone else until today... which means that, if your friends are really here, they're with the gorillas." Clayton remarked, showing that, while he didn't have the same desire for research that Jane had, and the rest of their team had, he was interested in discovering how to get to the gorillas, and any other creature of interest that might provide a good hunt, "Unfortunately, only Tarzan knows where they are and he continues to refuse to take us to them."

"Yeah, because he knows you might hurt them." Radiant stated, though she intentionally kept her voice low, so only Sombra could hear her talk, since they were standing side by side while watching what was going on, while noticing that Tarzan did seem to glance at them for a couple of seconds.

"Mr. Clayton, you can't be serious. Tarzan would never..." Jane started to say, though the rapid turn that Clayton did told all of them that she knew when to talk and when not to talk, and when the hunter was like this it was best to not get in the way, something most of the group noticed easily while Clayton didn't seem to notice or care for that matter.

"Oh really? Then take us there, Tarzan. Take us to the gorillas... go-ril-las." Clayton stated, intentionally cutting up the word in a way so that someone like the wild man could understand what he wanted, where Tarzan stared at him for a moment before glancing at the newcomers for a few more seconds.

In the end Tarzan stated that he would take them to Kerchek, which had to be the leader of the gorillas in the jungle, and started to move without delay, though the oddest thing about all of this was the sheer lack of Heartless, as Sombra really expected there to be some, especially after Wonderland. The others shared her thoughts on the matter, because if there were no Heartless on this world it either meant that the Keyhole, as Sombra was calling the final lock Sora had sealed back in the previous world, for this particular world had been sealed already or the Heartless had yet to invade this place. Sombra knew that if the latter was true they could save this world rather easily, even if she was hoping for more Heartless to take all of their stolen hearts, but for the time being she guessed she could accept some peaceful moments before clashing with more enemies. The path Tarzan ended up taking was through a nearby river, which had some hippos for them to jump on the backs of for just a few moments, and they didn't seem to care in the slightest, before climbing up to an area that had a large number of vines for them to swing on to reach other parts of the jungle, only to stop outside what appeared to be a bunch of branches forming an area for them to talk in.

Sombra decided that most of them would stay outside, with her magic shrouding them for a time, meaning Tarzan could enter the area with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, where they found two gorillas, a large male and a smaller female, staring at them as they eventually came to a stop in front of them.

"Kerchek, please listen to me." Tarzan said, where it sounded like this might be his gorilla parents, those that raised him after the loss of his human parents, and that they might have had a falling out of some sort after Tarzan started interacting with Jane and the others of her group, as he held a hand out towards the trio behind him, "I know the nesting grounds are sacred and secret, but I trust them. You see, I want to help them because... because... well, they need us."

Kerchek, as it turned out, actually turned his head and glanced to the upper right of where he was standing, almost as if he was showing that he looked down on Tarzan's request, before he departed from the area without even saying a word, letting his actions speak for themselves. The female, on the other hand, seemed sad by this turn of events and even seemed to be disappointed, either in Kerchek or Tarzan, it was hard to tell, before she sighed and followed after her mate, though Sombra could tell that they were heading towards the tree house. That either meant there was something there that they wanted to protect or Kerchek was silently suggesting that it was a good place to speak without Tarzan's human friends coming and ruining the moment, but it hardly mattered which option was right. This meant they had to climb back up to the tree house, figure out what in the world the gorilla wanted, and then do whatever else was needed for them to wrap up their visit to this world, since there was no telling what Clayton or the gorillas might do next.

In the end Sombra could only wonder what they might discover as they explored the rest of the jungle world they had found, and, more importantly, if she and the others would even find any Heartless to fight on this world, causing themselves to brace themselves for whatever might happen next.

While that was going on a black robed figure walked through the white halls of the castle that his group lived in and used as their base of operations, only coming to a stop when he reached the summit, where he found another human standing near the edge of the peak, one who had silver colored hair that reached the middle of his back.

"You called for me, Boss?" the walker inquired, coming to a stop a couple of steps behind his superior, who was standing there with his arms raised towards their ultimate goal, the large heart shaped object that could be seen from nearly every inch of the world they, and the rest of their forces, called home.

"Indeed. Xigbar, your last report said that a new Keyblade wielder had been found. Is that true?" the silver haired person replied in kind, something that was followed by the walker pulling his hood back to reveal a man with dark hair that was tied up in a ponytail, which had several streaks of silver here and there, whose right eye was covered by an eye patch and he had a scar on the lower left of his face.

"You bet the report is true, and I've got even better news: the dusks observing Traverse Town have informed me that there are two wielders, not one." the walker, Xigbar, stated, which was good news for their group as a whole, because having two Keyblades in play meant that things were really moving in their favor and that they might be able to complete their goal a lot faster now that more wielders were on the board, casing him to smile as he glanced at their end goal, "Kingdom Hearts must be overjoyed to have such an abundance of hearts to add to it's current existence."

"That is good news, except for one thing: Kingdom Hearts is starving." the boss stated, as he had been observing the heart shaped object for some time and noticed something that would worry the rest of their group, despite their lack of hearts, and right now the only one he wanted to share this information with was his most trusted ally.

"Man, you must have gained a heart, but that's a... hilarious... joke?" Xigbar said, though as he said that he glanced at what his superior was looking at and realized something as well, that with all the Heartless that must have been slain by now, and all of the hearts that must have been freed along the way, he expected Kingdom Hearts to be much larger than it was, but it looked like it hadn't grown since the dusks delivered their report, "No way... where's the flow of hearts? There should be a large number of hearts gathering in our Kingdom Hearts."

"I do not know. Something, or someone, has halted the release of hearts." the boss replied, where his expression revealed that he was saddened by this discovery, something Xigbar knew he was good at faking since their kind didn't have hearts and that meant he was merely mimicking the motions, but it was pretty convincing in his eye, "Xigbar, I want you to speak with Vexen and assign him to keep an eye on the new Keyblade wielders... if they are unable to release hearts, then we will need the Replica Program to bear fruit much sooner than we intended, and studying the current wielders will help him complete his objective. I will speak with Saix and inform him of the mission myself, and that Vexen is not to be assigned to any new missions until he's completed this task. Also, I want you to go out and see if you can find anything that might be stopping the hearts from reaching Kingdom Hearts... the sooner we solve this problem, the better."

"I understand, Lord Xemnas." Xigbar said, though at the same time he glanced at Kingdom Hearts for a moment, because he honestly couldn't believe what he was seeing right now and knew that if the others learned of this discovery they would be outraged, which was why he had been called in since he was Xemnas' most trusted ally among their ranks, "I can't believe this... just when we're finally able to start making some real progress, our Kingdom Hearts stops growing... fantastic."

Xemnas knew that Xigbar was unhappy with this discovery, just as he was unhappy with seeing the flow of hearts stop all of a sudden, though with two wielders fighting the Heartless now he also knew there was a good chance that Vexen might be able to make more replicas, other than the one they required. If that was the case they could produce a force of wielders to scour the worlds and free an unlimited number of hearts, allowing them to weave together their Kingdom Hearts much faster than what they were currently seeing. Such a thing would please the rest of their group and even the rest of their kind once they reached that point, but for now they had to focus on figuring out what was causing the lack of hearts and stop it, before it did any real damage to their precious Kingdom Hearts. He trusted Xigbar to scour the known worlds, tracking down the one person or thing that was causing this disturbance, he just had to be patient for a time and was sure that they would be rewarded for their efforts, hence why he turned his attention to his Kingdom Hearts once more.

He knew their goal was well within reach, he just had to be patient and wait for the hearts to join the force that was in front of him, and he was content to wait as long as necessary to reap the rewards for completing his Kingdom Hearts at long last.

Heartless: Tarzan's Lesson

After Kerchek and his mate left the area that Tarzan had brought the group to, something he clearly wasn't supposed to do based on what Sombra could see, though such a thing didn't stop Clayton from heading up one of the mossy paths that were nearby, following the pair with the intent to hunt them clear in his eyes. Tarzan was clearly conflicted by this, since it meant either betraying his gorilla family or embracing his new human friends, and while he might not have an answer to his own questions right now he resumed moving so he could speak with his gorilla father again, or so he likely hoped. Sombra and the others simply stayed at the back of the pack as they made their way up the trees and across the vines that were in their way, heading back up to where the tree house rested, all while finding that there were still no Heartless for them to take care of. While this was fine with everyone else, since it provided a period of rest of sorts, it made her sort of regret even coming to this world in the first place, given what her own goals were, though she decided to say nothing as they made their way towards the old tree house.

As it turned out Clayton was one of the fastest among their number, no doubt because his desire to hunt gorillas was far more than anything else in his body, and when he reached his destination Sombra found that he was already aiming his gun at a gorilla that was in the tree house, only to be startled by Donald and Fluttershy shouting next to him.

"You big meanie! What are you doing?!" Fluttershy remarked, where everyone else found that the young gorilla, who had been playing with a globe of the world, stopped what it was doing before reaching the upper level, where it's parents were waiting, who seemed to be looking down at them with a disappointed look on their faces, or Kerchek's anyway, "Apologize to the gorillas. NOW!"

"I... well, I... I saw a large snake on the window frame and decided to take it out! I was not aiming at the gorilla, I was in the middle of trying to save it's life!" Clayton stated, as if lying would do anything to help convince them that he was telling all of them the truth, which was kind of impressive given the fact that he was caught red handed in trying to kill a gorilla, but he was convincing no one with his act.

Tarzan, for the most part, was interested in Kerchek and his gorilla father didn't seem to care about his adopted human son bringing a hunter to this place, especially since it looked like Clayton had fired at Tarzan's sibling, given how the small gorilla hid behind the mother gorilla for a time. It was easy to tell that the displaced man was conflicted, as part of him really wanted to believe that Clayton had good in him and that this was all a simple misunderstanding, despite what they had just seen, while parts of him were no doubt angry at his sibling being fired at, though he kept his face calm while his eyes were focused on the hunter. Fluttershy wasn't happy with him either, since she saw him more like a bully and less of a decent human being, just like how Jane was a good person, where she and Radiant got the man moving as Sora and the others kept their eyes on him as they started the journey back to the camp. Sombra brought up the rear, keeping an eye on everything while using her powers to keep track of the presence of any dark presences that might be in the world, just in case the Heartless started to invade the world at long last, and she already knew where one was located.

Clayton's hatred for them, ruining his aim and messing with his mission here, was causing his inner darkness to slowly awaken and she could tell that it was starting to leak out, as she could sense the Heartless starting to seep into the world, no doubt appearing in other portions of the jungle to hunt down more hearts. It was an amusing turn of events, that they were the ones that were, in a way, bringing the Heartless to this world by forcing one of the inhabitants to channel more of their inner darkness and attract the creatures that wanted to gather more hearts. Such a thing meant that there would be more of those white husks at some point, who didn't seem to do anything based on what she had seen so far, but the main part about this was that she and the others would be able to do battle with the Heartless in due time. It was hard to say if Clayton even knew about his inner darkness growing, as it wasn't something most people knew about in Sombra's experience, but at the very least they could use his newfound darkness to her advantage, especially since it meant they might find the world's Keyhole at some point.

As they returned to Jane's tent, however, they found that she was also pretty annoyed with the hunter as well, since this ruined all of their chances at studying the gorillas and learning more about them, and with everyone turned against him it was easy to see that Clayton was enraged, causing him to storm out of the tent.

"I'll go keep an eye on him while you tell Jane about what happened." Sombra said, because the growing darkness in the hunter's heart meant that it was only a matter of time until something bad happened to him, not that she cared, rather she was more interested in what might happen to someone like Clayton.

"It's the Heartless, right?" Radiant inquired, something that caused the others in their group to pause for a moment, as if speaking about them might cause more of them to show up at some point, plus she knew that Sombra was able to sense the dark beings to some degree, like what they saw back in Traverse Town.

"Possibly. I just want to be sure of that before we do anything else." Sombra replied, once more lying to the others as she knew the information she had to herself, though she did want to verify that the Heartless were searching for hearts, as it would drastically change how they went about things if they didn't do as they were told.

As Radiant nodded her head Sombra headed outside, where she made sure that the flap was closed before moving off to one side of the camp, to ensure that Clayton couldn't see her as he marched deeper into another part of the jungle, which seemed to have a bamboo area for some odd reason. She focused on mind for a moment as she darkness washed over her form, transforming her into a dark mist that was what the majority of the ponies likely remembered her as, given that she had only regained her true form for a few moments before she was utterly destroyed. With that in mind she moved into the trees and silently followed Clayton, finding that he was talking about how he was going to track down the gorillas and hunt them into extinction, that he was going to find them 'somehow', and she could practically feel him allowing all of his dark desires to come to the surface again. As that happened Sombra heard something move in the bamboo and so did Clayton, who put his pipe on a nearby boulder in the middle in the clearing he had stopped in as he raised his gun towards the trees, showing that he was going to shoot whatever came at him, only to fire at a blue monkey Heartless that tanked the shot without slowing down.

The monkey knocked Clayton to the ground and Sombra watched as it tore into the man's chest, darkness colliding with darkness, where his eyes went white before his head hit the ground and his heart was released from his body, just like what she had seen back in Traverse Town, all while the monkey got off of him and bounced into the jungle. Sure enough Clayton's heart was devoured by darkness and took on a new form, where Sombra observed as it transformed into a large lizard that looked like a chameleon, a light green colored creature with unique black markings on it's body, in addition to the emblem mark, with a white horn on it's forehead and a tan underbelly. The interesting thing about this Heartless was that it seemed to be different from the others, as the creature glanced at itself, almost as if Clayton was somewhat aware of what had happened to him, though any panic he might have felt at this situation was swallowed by the darkness, as if it wanted him to be the feral monster. At the same time a surge of white energy washed over the empty body, though where Sombra was expecting one of those white creatures to appear she found that the power lifted Clayton into the air as his eyes returned to normal, save for how lifeless they seemed, as if he was a zombie now.

She found that the chameleon was watching this as well, observing as the power faded and the body stood there like it was unaware of it's surroundings, causing her to realize that without it's heart, and all of the experiences Clayton had been through, it was unsure of what to do. The chameleon stared at the empty body for a few seconds before it noticed the creature looking at it, where the beast walked over to Clayton's body, picked up the dropped gun, which was actually rather impressive as Sombra watched it happen, and placed it in it's former body's hands. Zombie Clayton looked at the chameleon for a few seconds, causing the Sneak, as Sombra was going to call it, started to mimic some movements for his former body to do so he could move around and actually do things, where the two stared at each other before Zombie Clayton started to mimic the motions. She found that the Sneak even taught Zombie Clayton how to fire the gun, which didn't seem to need ammunition anymore, before a number of blue monkey Heartless appeared nearby, likely caught off guard by the fact that Clayton, in their eyes, was still standing, but as the Sneak gestured to them the monkeys bowed to both figures.

Together Zombie Clayton and the Sneak, joined by a force of monkey Heartless, headed into the jungle, no doubt to do as the hunter had desired before his heart was claimed by the dark beings, causing her to make her way back to the camp as more Heartless started to appear in the world, where she reformed into her physical form and entered the tent, where she found all eyes turn towards her.

"We've got trouble: the Heartless have appeared, and I'm afraid they've gone after Clayton." Sombra said, where she could see that most of the group was surprised by the arrival of Heartless, while Jane was concerned for the guide of her group, before she heard the sound of someone in danger, something Sora agreed with as he headed outside.

Sure enough they found some of the monkey Heartless tormenting some gorillas that apparently thought they would be safer here, among the humans, where Fluttershy called forth her power and surrounded them with a barrier, allowing the rest of the group to attack what she called 'Powerwilds'. Sombra found that it was due to a power the monkeys had, they could slide at foes and when Goofy guarded against one they discovered that the monkey did push him back a bit, though that didn't stop them from lashing out at the Heartless monkeys. At the same time Sombra found that absorbing one of their hearts granted her a bit of a boost to her agility and to her strength, confirming the 'power' part of the name that had been given to their new enemies, before she found a barrier appear behind her as Fluttershy blocked what appeared to be a rock from hitting her. That was where they found another type of monkey Heartless, this one being pink with a yellow ribbon on it's head, along with a slingshot and golden hoops in it's ears, though the way it bounced caused her to realize that the shy warrior was going to call them 'Bouncywilds'.

As she thought about that, however, Sombra found that Fluttershy's Keyblade seemed to open up, as the rose seemed to be in the middle of blooming, as if signifying her growing into a warrior or something, but she decided not to worry about that as they fought off the Heartless. In addition to that they discovered that Sabor came out as well, no doubt called to do battle with the dark creatures thanks to Fluttershy's other power, though the interesting thing was that those animals that she befriended and summoned could actually free hearts as well. Sombra was starting to realize something, that many the abilities that both Fluttershy and Radiant had were definitely not useless, in fact she now understood why they had been given them in the first place, they made the pair more powerful than even she expected. Such a thing only made her take a moment to wonder what sort of power Radiant would show when she finally revealed the combat side of her abilities, but for the time being they dealt with all of the Heartless as Sombra collected their hearts before they could escape.

When the area was cleared of enemies the gorilla actually handed them one of the gummi blocks that Goofy and Donald had found earlier and beckoned for them to follow, meaning more of her family were under attack and she knew that it was in their best interest to trust the group to deal with the monsters.

As they fought the Powerwilds and the occasional Bouncywild, however, Sombra could tell that Tarzan was wary of Sabor, as if he expected her to turn on him or something, but the leopard didn't care in the slightest as she tore into the Heartless that the gorilla brought them to. One group happened to be where Sombra watched Clayton go down, where Sora and the rest of the group found his pipe, confirming what she had said upon her return to the tent, while another gorilla was beyond that area, in what appeared to be a dead end, and Fluttershy was happy to help take down the Heartless bothering it. After that they returned to the camp and found that Jane and Tarzan's sibling, who was recognized by everyone rather easily, had been hauled off by some of the monkey Heartless, though by the looks of it they were headed towards the tree house. None of the vine areas that they had climbed through earlier had any foes for everyone to worry about, though they did find some in Tarzan's old home, from when he was being raised by his birth parents, and the gorillas that were under attack were more than happy to have them come to their aid.

Jane and Tarzan's sibling, as it turned out, happened to be near the final gorilla they had to assist, who was in one of the larger areas of the jungle that the group had seen, a fairly large rocky area that was overgrown with moss, vines, and even grass, plus a large black blob that Sombra slashed apart with her scythe.

"I don't understand why Mr. Clayton is doing this... it's like he's an entirely different person now." Jane commented, as she told them about how the monkey creatures had hauled her and the smaller gorilla to an area that the hunter was waiting in, she even described how different he was from the person she knew, and the fact that he spared Tarzan's sibling was so he could go after Kerchek, or at least that was her reasoning.

"Well, we'll go deal with him and the Heartless." Sora stated, as that was the truth, he and the others would deal with the enemies that had come to this world, and, more importantly, figure out whatever was going on with Clayton, even if it meant beating some sense into him.

The group barely waited for Jane to respond as they headed for the one place that seemed to be the best for cornering one's prey, the dead end area, and, sure enough, the group found Clayton and some monkey Heartless getting ready to attack Kerchek's group, only to be stopped as Sora and Fluttershy called out for them to stop.

"Not Clayton!" Tarzan stated, though as he said that two things happened as Zombie Clayton turned towards them, the first being that the gorillas got out of there before they were harmed, the second being that he made the same sounds when he was talking to Sora back in the tree house for the first time, "Not Clayton!"

Sombra found that the fight was basically a joke, as Zombie Clayton's ability to finely move his body and fire his weapon left much to be desired, opening the way for them to first eliminate the remaining monkey Heartless, so Sombra could snatch all of their freed hearts, before knocking their foe into the wall that was behind him. When that happened he shifted his stance and the rock wall shattered, revealing that there was more to the area, in fact there was a waterfall not too far off in the distance that they could see, though doing that caused Tarzan to rush him and prompted the Sneak, who had smashed the rocks apart, to knock him backwards. As Tarzan recovered, however, Zombie Clayton climbed onto the back of the Sneak as the two started to clash with the group, where everyone found that while the creature was invisible, as it seemed to bend the rays light to render it invisible, it did provide a challenge of sorts since they had to wait for the Sneak to attack first, just to be sure it didn't hit them back like it did to Tarzan. Unfortunately it didn't look like it had the power to maintain that part of it's power for too long, as the first couple of hits forced it to phase back into reality, allowing them to lash out at the beast before it could do much as they also avoided the shots that came from Zombie Clayton.

When they dealt enough damage to their foe Sombra and the others watched as Zombie Clayton stepped back, as he fell off his mount at some point, only to be crushed by the Sneak's body, where she noticed that small white and black bits flaked off of the former body as it faded away, though she made sure to capture the heart.

The gorillas, as it turned out, were more than happy to assist them in their quest, as Kerchek picked Sora up and threw him up onto the level that was beyond where they fought the pair of enemies, prompting some of the others to do the same to Goofy and Donald, while letting Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant make their way up on their own. Tarzan joined them as he beckoned for them to follow, even though he also brought along Jane, leading them through a cave that was behind the waterfalls, as there was more than one in the area by the looks of it, before stopping in what appeared to be a large area of some kind. Such a thing allowed them to see one thing of importance, as it looked like the Keyhole was resting nearby, but as Sora looked around he realized something, his friends weren't here at all, despite what Tarzan had said, prompting the gorilla man to utter the same phrase again. The interesting thing was that the waterfalls actually echoed far down the path that brought them here, allowing them some beautiful noise as they thought about what Tarzan was saying, before most of the group realized what Tarzan was trying to teach them.

His statement, as Jane was able to replicate, meant 'heart' and that he meant 'friends in your heart', causing him to look at all of them for a few moments as they thought about what he was trying to tell them, before he turned his gaze back to the heart of the area.

"Friends, same heart... Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no see friends... no heart, no friends." Tarzan stated, as if he might have solved one of the greatest mysteries of the world, where Sombra had to think about what he had said and what it meant as Sora sealed the Keyhole, allowing her to collect another heart fragment in the process, this one possessing the same dark emotional sensation while representing one's desire.

"One down, more to go." Sombra said, as there were many more worlds for them to explore and more Keyholes to seal, a fact she knew the others understood well enough, though as Sora and Donald apologized to each other, and Goofy picked up another new gummi block, an idea came to mind on how to punish the duck, "Also, Donald, for the stunt you pulled you aren't getting desert for a week!"

Donald was shocked by this turn of events, while the others knew to have a laugh, as if figuring that Sombra would go easy on him after the second or third day, though it only made all of them wonder what the future held for them and whatever world they ended up visiting in the near future.

Heartless: Hero Training

Following their visit to Tarzan's world, which Fluttershy had taken to calling 'Deep Jungle', the group continued on their way as Sora reported that they seemed to be heading back in the direction of Traverse Town, though there was another world on the way there, or at least the scanners seemed to indicate such a thing. Sombra found that Fluttershy had to spend some time in the other world with Sabor, telling the leopard to not eat the rabbits that were tending to the field, where the cat seemed to understand what she was being told and made Fluttershy happy with this discovery. While she did that both she and the rabbits tended to the field that they were working on, where she had a smile on her face as they added a number of seeds to the ground, as Jane had insisted on them taking some items with them, food items and even a pair of cooking books that she handed to Sombra. One of them happened to be recipes that one might find at a family gathering or in an ordinary life, while the other happened to be full of recipes that were focused on baking and deserts, something she could look up on later, once they had more supplies for her to work with.

While Radiant joined Fluttershy in their world, however, Sombra returned to her room and shut the door behind her for a time, where she held a hand out and summoned the two fragmented heart pieces she had recovered so far, both filled with dark negative energy while having a piece of one's being inside them, such as the sense of wonder and desire. It was an interesting thing to discover, that someone could be so powerful that their heart would be fragmented like this and still have such wonderful power, and yet she knew that where there were two pieces, not a coincidence, there was bound to be a third and maybe even a fourth. Such a thing caused her to make the fragments float around her for a time, while also pulling out a few of the hearts she had captured so far, allowing her to study both and make some comparisons while everyone else was distracted by moving towards another world. The pieces belonged to some powerful figure whose heart had been lost to the darkness, though it was also fragmented and all of the pieces had been scattered across the worlds of the World, though it was weird to have found two of them so close to each other.

In the end she returned all of the hearts, fragmented and whole, to their respective places in her collection, allowing her to focus other things, mostly studying the other thing they got while visiting Tarzan's world, a new spell had appeared in her tome, the Cure spell, something that would allow them to heal themselves or each other without having to use a potion while in the middle of a fight.

With that thought in mind she focused on one of the walls of the ship and held a hand out, where she found that the odd material seemed to understand what she was thinking about as an opening appeared before her eyes, forming a large area that looked a lot like Merlin's training area. Sombra's reasoning for this was due to the fact that they had no idea how long the journey from world to world would be, so this would allow them to prepare and be ready for whatever the future held for them, which she was sure the others would appreciate later on. As she thought about that Sombra returned to the kitchen for a time and started preparing a light supper for everyone to enjoy, where she mixed some of the food that Jane had given them into what they had and what Fluttershy provided, giving them a filling light meal. While she worked, however, the ship came to a stop somewhere safe, as Sora made sure to put his lessons on flying it to use and made sure they were out of harms way when it came time to sleep, allowing everyone to gather near Sombra without delay.

Other than that there wasn't too much for them to be distracted by, where Sombra found that the others did use her new training area, all while she assumed that the World might have understood what she was doing and aided her, and on the morning of the third day they found the next world they would be exploring, what appeared to be a coliseum with golden or brass statues of warriors outside the main gates.

"A coliseum... an actual fighting arena." Sombra remarked, speaking as they warped down to the world's surface after Sora put the ship into it's protective mode, where she smiled for a moment as she wondered if their foes would be Heartless, instead of other warriors from this world.

"So does this mean we'll be fighting all the time in this world?" Sora inquired, where he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, though if they fought against the Heartless he figured it was a good thing, since it would be good practice for whatever the other worlds might throw at them in the near future, causing him to glance at the area as he found that the ground was sand, there were large statues everywhere, and lit braziers.

"Most likely... and, depending on how large the arena is, my bow will be useless." Radiant said, which meant that this had to be the world where she revealed her Keyblade to the others, since Sora, Donald, and Goofy had no idea there was a third blade in their group, potentially four if Sombra was hiding one from everyone, something she suspected was true since she and Fluttershy had their own.

"I hope this is like our visit to Tarzan's place, a nice trip without any Heartless." Fluttershy added, telling the others what her opinion on the situation was, though at the same time she was as ready as she could possibly be, since there was no telling what sort of dangers or trials might be waiting for them this time around.

The group, finding nothing to do outside the structure that was in front of them, entered the coliseum's lobby, finding that it was a decent size, had places that trophies could be stored in, a fairly large stone block resting on one side, and what looked to be a short half goat figure working on a sign, as his lower body was furred and ended in hooves.

"You got good timing as always. Give me a hand, will ya? I need you to move that pedestal over there... got to get this place spruced up for the games." the creature said, pointing at the block that they had spotted upon entering the area, which was followed by Sora walking over to the stone and making an attempt to push it out of the way, only to find that it didn't move at all, as if it weighed far more than anything else he had encountered so far.

"Man, this thing is far too heavy." Sora remarked, something that caused the others to walk over and make an attempt to push it out of the way, all save for Sombra, because if the others couldn't do it she wasn't about to waste time pushing on a stone that was resting there for a good reason, as she was sure it was hiding this world's Keyhole.

The creature, surprised by such a statement, continued to assume that someone else was in the chamber with him as he turned to face them, only to be caught off guard as he found the six of them standing there, meaning he was expecting one person and not a bunch of strangers. He confirmed that this was a coliseum, a so called 'world famous' one at that, and that, according to him, this place was only available to heroes, something Sombra found to be stupid, because if what he said was true then this place wouldn't be famous at all, it would be forgotten as people sought out more welcoming arenas to battle in or watch battles in. With that in mind he also informed them that his time was already tied up with the preparations for the games, so he didn't want to deal with 'pip-squeaks' like them, and when he noticed the frown on Sora's face he told all of them that heroes were apparently coming from all over to compete in the games, to fight ferocious monsters. Apparently he thought that none of them were hero material, as if he was focusing on Sora and no one else, though it only made Sombra wonder if he had some past experiences with travelers like them and that he knew what to do when talking to people like them when they showed up.

Such a thing made Sombra think for a moment, because if there were travelers before them, which she suspected there had to be given how Leon's group reacted to her information on the Keyblades, something that caused her to nod to Sora as he held a hand out and summoned the Kingdom Key.

"As you can see, we have a Keyblade wielder among our ranks. Should be more than enough for you, right?" Sombra asked, because if she was right, and she had a feeling that she was, than this had to be the key that would chance the creature's mind on allowing them to fight in the arena.

"Oh no, not one of those things again! Three of you came through ten years ago, get tricked by Hades into entering the games, and then disappear like you never existed!" the creature stated, as if the previous wielders had done something bad before leaving for another world, though Sombra really doubted that being tricked by someone really counted toward his anger for people with Keyblades, "You know what kid, you remind me of the runt of their group... similar hair style and look to boot, name was Ventus... maybe an older brother or something. His friends were called Terra and Aqua. Ring any bells?"

"I swear I've heard the names, but... none of this is ringing any bells." Sora replied, though as he raised his hand for a few seconds, letting it rest above his heart, Sombra understood that he must have been really young when the old wielders visited his planet, hence why he didn't remember what the creature was talking about, "However, I can't shake the feeling that I've been to someplace like this before."

The creature, introducing himself as Philoctetes, or Phil for short, and that he was a satyr, though he spent the new couple of minutes studying each of them, judging them as to whether or not they were worthy of being heroes, and right now he had Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the 'no' category. He seemed undecided on what to make of both Fluttershy and Radiant, though when it came to Sombra, who was the furthest thing from a hero, Phil seemed to think that she had the ability to be a heroine of the highest caliber, to the point where she might be on Hercules' level. The look in his eyes, however, told Sombra all she needed to know, there was something about her new body that Phil was drawn to, despite the fact that both of her companions from her world were similar, but Sombra was able to use that to her advantage by convincing Phil to allow them to train with him for a time. They wanted to compete in the games, that was a true statement, but since the satyr didn't seem to like the others too much she figured that he could afford to instruct them and maybe have them spar for a time, especially since having new recruits might be good for those who watched the games.

Phil, despite what he said to Sora, was willing to go along with Sombra's idea and ushered them through the opening that was on the other side of the chamber, leading them to an outer area that had a fairly large stage in the center of it, stands on both sides that were empty at the moment, and barrels off to the side that could be moved however they needed. His method of training, as it turned out, was to have the stage shift, sections raising and forming platforms for people to use in an effort to prove themselves to him and to any other recruits that happened to be here. With that in mind he had them take turns running different courses, taking in the bodies of the people that were in front of him and arranging things to test them, though he also had a challenge for them, that being that they had to take down the barrels in a certain amount of time, least he judge them negatively. Sombra figured it was a reasonable request, because if they couldn't handle this simple test there was no way they could handle the actual arena and whatever foes they ended up fighting against, while at the same time Phil cheered them on and encouraged the others, along with offering criticism to make sure they knew where to improve.

Sombra knew that Phil wasn't expecting them to be anything great, though the satyr did his best to hold in his surprise as the group demonstrated their skills to him, because after dealing with the hazards of three worlds, each different from the others, they had gained some decent experience, until it was her turn. Sombra smiled as she summoned her scythe as she focused on the barrels that were around them, as Phil told everyone that the timer would only start when they moved, so it gave her time to plot her course, before an even better idea came to mind. The rule was that they only had to destroy the barrels and he had allowed them to use whatever powers they deemed appropriate, hence why Fluttershy had flown around while using magic and Radiant used her arrows, or how Goofy had bounced his shield around the barrels, causing her to focus on her dark magic for a time. As she shifted her stance Radiant paused as she noticed the darkness coming from her eyes, a familiar eerie power that many in their home world feared with all their heart, something that the rest of their group noticed as well, since this was the first time Sombra was using it in front of Sora's group.

Phil's jaw dropped as he watched what happened next, as Sombra took a step forward and vanished, which was swiftly followed by slashes appearing on all of the barrels that had been set up for her, and when she reappeared at the edge of the arena and swung her scythe the targets were broken instantly, setting a record that no one could beat.

"So, Phil, are we heroes in your eyes?" Sombra asked, because while she was sure the majority of them didn't measure up to the heroes of this world, hence the training to prove themselves, everything they had done should have told him that they were willing to put forth the time and effort to reach the level he was after.

"Yeah, sure, whatever you say. Here, I'll even throw in a new spell for you to practice." Phil replied, confirming something Sombra had thought, the satyr was very attracted to the opposite gender and when he saw someone he liked he seemed to do everything in his power to make them happy, so while it was a little gross to be viewed in such a way she was fine with it, as this meant they could get around whatever hoops he wanted them to jump through.

The spell he granted them was the Thunder spell, an interesting spell for sure that seemed to have an area that it struck, meaning it could hit multiple targets if they wanted it to do so, and he handed over paper tickets that he called 'Entry Passes', thus allowing them to enter whatever games happened to be going on. Sombra was sure they had broken some rule by getting Phil to hand them over without much effort, but she wasn't too worried about that, especially since the satyr allowed them to enter the preliminaries of the games that would be starting in the next few minutes. With that piece of information in mind they regrouped in a waiting area and recovered from their short training, where everyone was very happy with what had happened, since it meant they could show Phil that his trust in them wasn't misplaced, but he made sure to tell them that some 'real weirdos' had signed up. The group glanced at each other for a few moments as each of them understood what that meant, the Heartless had to be here and a hidden villain was the one responsible for them entering the games, meaning they would have to fight them to reach the finals.

Sure enough when Phil called for them to fight in the arena, where Sombra was sure it was for people performing for the gods themselves, they discovered that it was definitely a bunch of Heartless, Soldiers and Nocturnes to be exact, which all of them were fine with as they prepared for battle.

Radiant, true to her word, switched her bow for her Keyblade as she slashed through one of the Soldiers, surprising both Donald and Goofy in the process, since this made three wielders in their group, and caused them to glance at Sombra for a moment, as if expecting her to pull one out at some point, causing her to shake her head in a 'no' manner. It was a fair thing for them to think, that the three newcomers were all wielders and that two were hiding their weapons until now, but Sombra was the odd one out of the group, no Keyblade to speak of, though her scythe was more than enough as her foes fell before her might. Of course this presented a good opportunity for her to capture more hearts before they escaped, so while she joined the others in taking care of their enemies her dark power made sure to snatch every single heart that was released from the Heartless, which would no doubt annoy the villain lurking in the shadows. Other than that there wasn't much for them to worry about as they cleared out the first group of enemies with ease, allowing them to rest for a couple of moments before having to worry about the next match Phil had in store for them.

Such a thing allowed them to see a young man, roughly around Leon's age, who had a flowing red cape, a yellow claw on his left hand, along with a black demonic wing on the left side of his back, though he carried a buster sword into battle, one that had bandages all over it, a blond haired warrior that Phil told them was called 'Cloud'. Phil also told them that they wouldn't be able to watch him fight at all, the games had two arenas for the two halves of the tournament, so while this one was the one that Sora's group would be fighting in the other one was where Cloud would be clashing with his own foes. With that in mind they continued to fight the Heartless that were sent against them, more of the minor and lesser foes like Shadows and Soldiers, plus some Nocturnes mixed into some of the groups, all while Phil mentioned how he wished that Hercules, the greatest hero he had trained, was here to see them in action. There was even a Large Body in one of the groups, causing them to deal with all of the smaller enemies before worrying about it, but other than that they really had nothing to worry about when they found that their foes were just the smaller and weaker Heartless.

Eventually they reached the moment that they were interested in, them going up against Cloud, who seemed like he was dealing with his own problems, though at the same time he held his weapon at the ready before coming at them, showing that he was more than ready for a fight. Sora was pushed backwards before he even had a chance to do anything to this foe, meaning he was far more experienced than any of them thought, but that was fine with Sombra as she used the edge of her scythe's head to block the incoming attack. She had to admit that this wasn't an easy thing to do, the buster sword had a lot of power behind it, which Cloud was swinging around like it was a stick or a regular sword, though she was glad to do such a thing, as powerful foes were good for them to make sure they were growing. Everyone else stood back for a moment as the pair clashed with each other, weapons meeting as sparks flew, where Sombra could tell that Cloud was in the middle of testing her, like he was trying to figure out how she could use such potent darkness and not get lost inside it's vast darkness.

Before they could go too far into the fight, however, a large black three headed dog appeared on the other end of the arena and growled at them as it knocked Cloud into the floor, only to promptly surrender as Fluttershy got him to roll onto his back so she could rub his belly.

"Man you guys are weird... though I guess we'll have to put the games on hold for now." Phil remarked, though he had no idea what to make of the situation he had found himself in, with junior heroes, as he was going to call them until he was sure they were ready to be called 'heroes', decimating his games to the point that he needed something better for them to fight, not to mention one of them, the weakest in his opinion, taming Cerberus of all creatures, making her the second of the six in his mind now, "Well then, um... congrats, junior heroes."

Sombra could only chuckle as she saw the scene that was in front of her, as Fluttershy was definitely making things more interesting for all of them, all while helping Cloud onto his feet after using Cure on him, though this only made them far more eager to see what the future held for them.

Heartless: Return to Traverse Town

After chatting with Phil for a time, and giving Fluttershy time with 'Cerbi', her name for the three headed dog that had come out to attack them, Sora and the others returned to the Gummi Ship, only after she told him to behave and that she would have some treats the next time she came by. Sombra knew that she was sad to not take the dog with them, even though it would be a heart attack for the other animals that lived in their work world, but a part of her knew that, at some point in time, the shy one would come back and take the dog away from whoever owned it. Other than what happened with Cerbi there wasn't anything for them to worry about, so they were able to board the ship and depart from the Coliseum without much delay, though Sombra had a large smile on her face as she returned to her room for a new moments. This world was going to be one of her favorites, she could tell that much at a glance, because a villain was working behind the scenes to do 'something', a fact she didn't care about at all, rather she was more interested in the endless hordes of Heartless that they could fight in the various games.

The Coliseum was an endless source of hearts, meaning it was a place where she could grind her abilities if she desired such a thing, and it only made her wonder what the future held for them when they returned to the world in the future, since they still needed to find the Keyhole at some point.

Such a thing made her realize that she had yet to actually absorb many of the hearts she had obtained over the course of the last couple of worlds, save for the more powerful ones like the Trickmaster and the Sneak, before realizing that, in their haste due to Donald's fight with Sora and it's aftermath, she had forgotten something. The heart that had turned into the Sneak was still in her possession, in fact she pulled it out to confirm that it was still in her collection, before absorbing it like the first couple she had acquired during her time testing it's power out, adding the power inside it to her own. From what she could tell Sneak's power came from it's agility, even though that was a decent boost on it's own, meaning if they had arrived later, when Clayton's heart had more darkness inside it, the Heartless he eventually created would have had more power to offer her, before a familiar blue window appeared in front of her. She had seen it during her time training before she had been sent to Traverse Town, though instead of having a message from either the World or the Speaker, like she was expecting, it contained an interesting piece of information that she wasn't expecting to discover.

The message was 'You have obtained the Chameleon skill', where she found that she could do as the Sneak did, bend light to fade into her surroundings, something that caused her to grin as Sombra realized what it meant, that she could steal even the skills of their enemies and add them to her arsenal.

She wasn't the only one that used the new training area to improve themselves, as she found that Fluttershy and Radiant came in to train as well, the former being trained in how to use her Keyblade more effectively, plus ease her into the fact that not all battles could be ended by just petting or calming down animals. Of course such a thing still surprised Donald and Goofy, since they were expecting there to only be one wielder in their group, then they found two thanks to Fluttershy, and now there were three of them, and Donald was still expecting Sombra to pull out a Keyblade in the future. It was amusing to see that the duck thought she was pulling his leg and having a joke at his expense, though Sombra knew that such a thing wasn't that simple, not after seeing what happened back when she tried to grasp the first power the World had offered her, the power to summon a Keyblade. There was some crucial piece of the puzzle she was missing, some aspect of herself that had yet to be uncovered, that had prevented her from calling forth such a weapon, something she would have to uncover for herself before she could make progress in that regard, before deciding to worry about it later.

Sombra also got a chuckle out of scaring Donald as she cancelled the chameleon skill and appeared out of thin air, which was a shock to those who didn't know her true, potential, before she returned to both her studies and the fact that she was their cook, something she honestly wasn't expecting to do and yet found some measure of joy in.

Eventually they found that their next destination was a familiar one, Traverse Town, as Sora couldn't figure out how to get to any of the other worlds Donald and Goofy had told them about, like the Gummi Ship was missing a component, so for the time being he figured that returning to their starting point was a good thing. Fluttershy made sure to gather the couple of puppies they had recovered during their visits to the other worlds in her companion sphere, keeping them safe until they were able to reach their house, since there was no telling how many Heartless might be wandering around the town, especially after they beat the Armor up. The first district was just as they remembered it, people were hanging out, talking or just having fun doing whatever they wanted, while finding that Yuffie was standing by an odd shaped mail box like she was waiting for someone, potentially them since her group had helped them before finding Donald and Goofy. Other than that there didn't to be anyone new for Sora and the others to interact with, meaning no new worlds had gone dark due to the Heartless devouring their own hearts, which had to make Sora happy that they were making progress.

With how normal everything was, and no one panicking over potential danger in the other districts, Sombra almost felt that the world was far safer than the last time they were here, though what stopped that thought in it's tracks was the simple fact that she could feel the darkness growing in the town, no doubt frantically searching for the Keyhole.

"Hey guys! We've been wondering when you would come back." Yuffie said, waving them over as some of the people just looked the other way, showing that they were more interested in their own goals and didn't want to get involved with her, which was fine with Sombra since it meant they could go about their business without having to worry about people listening in on the conversation, "I take it you've seen a couple of worlds now?"

"Oh yeah, though we need to restock our supplies and figure out how to get to the other worlds." Sora replied, which was the truth, since he had no idea how they were supposed to get to continue their adventure, or quest if one was asking either Donald or Goofy, something that prompted him to pull out one of the gummi blocks they had picked up.

Yuffie looked at it for a few moments and told them to show it to Cid, he was the expert on that sort of thing, though at the same time she asked for a list of supplies so she could go get them for the group, because they were doing good work and figured that she and her friends should repay the group of six in some manner. She was, of course, surprised by the fact that most of it was food items, ingredients and everything needed to prepare meals, where Radiant informed her that there had been a development, Sombra had some decent cooking skills and was using them on their ship. Yuffie looked at them for a moment before nodding her head, though before departing she told the group that Cid was back in his shop, as he was planning on having his manager take over for an extended period of time, as he figured that they would need some help at some point in time. Leon and Aerith, on the other hand, were hanging out in an underground area that they could access from either the alley behind the hotel they had talked in or from a path in Merlin's place, though she did tell them that Cid might have a delivery for them to make in compensation for working on their ship.

Cid, as Yuffie had said, was inside his shop and his manager was out getting things ready for when it was time for them to switch for a time, though he instantly knew the gummi pieces that Sora showed him and called them idiots for not even realizing that these were navigation blocks. Sombra had to remind him that four of them had never seen a gummi block, much less a gummi ship, until meeting Donald and Goofy, causing Cid to sigh as he nodded his head, showing them that he understood her point and didn't want to fight them over who was right and who was wrong. True to what Yuffie said he was willing to install the navigation pieces, in exchange for them delivering a simple book to Merlin, as he knew that they had encountered him and figured this was the best way for Sora to repay him, causing the boy to agree without delay, as it was a good deal. The book in question was called 'Winnie the Pooh' and had a picture of a yellow bear with a red shirt on, though as Sora took hold of it Sombra realized something, it seemed to be it's own world, like the contents of the book were real to the characters inside it, making her wonder if the Heartless would be drawn to it.

As she thought about that they heard a loud chime that Cid told them was supposed to be the bell at the gizmo shop in the second district, something he didn't care about all too much and said that they could check it out if they wanted, after delivering the book to Merlin.

Instead of going straight to Merlin's place the group headed into the second district to return the puppies to their parents, where they found that the Heartless were definitely wandering around, yellow Nocturnes that cast thunder at them, like how the red ones used fire and the blue used blizzard. Such a thing interested Sombra a little, because these enemies were either learning the same elements at the same time that she and the others were, given how the yellow ones came out after acquiring the base thunder spell, or the Heartless already knew that magic and their growing power was causing more to come out into the open. In the end it didn't matter to her as she slashed her way through the Heartless and took their freed hearts, as she found more and more Nocturnes waiting for them, plus red and blue ones, which caused some of them to lash out with their own magic to stun the Heartless so the others could take them down. Other than that there didn't seem to be any other enemies for them to face, which was weird as Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant looked around for any other Heartless that might be lurking in the shadows, allowing them to reach their destination without wasting too much time.

The dalmatian parents were happy to have some of their puppies back, even though there were far more missing, though after checking the area for enemies the group made their way into the third district and entered Merlin's portion of the town, jumping over the rocks to enter his house.

"Oh, so Cid asked you to deliver the book... I'm not surprised, since you seem quite capable at protecting yourselves from our enemies." Merlin said, where he took the book from Sora and looked over it, finding that it matched his specifications on how he wanted it restored, before turning his attention to the group that was watching him, "I found this book once upon a time, back when I encountered three young Keyblade wielders, and it was damaged some time ago, hence why I had Cid repair it for me. I do not know what sort of book it is, but you are more than welcome to look into it whenever you want."

"Maybe later. For now, we have to chat with Leon before worrying about whatever world we're heading to next." Sora said, as while he was interested in the book, and whatever might be inside it, his focus was on seeing what Leon had to say on what happened during their visits to the other worlds and what it meant to seal the Keyholes, since he knew more than he and his friends did.

Merlin nodded for a moment and revealed the staircase leading down into the lower area that Leon was in, where the six companions headed down the steps for a time and found a rocky cavern below the house, where the man was training with his blade as Aerith stood near him, only to stop when they noticed the group.

"We took longer than you might have been expecting, but we ended up visiting three worlds and sealed two Keyholes on the way." Sombra commented, figuring that they should at least get the main parts of the conversation out of the way, as it would no doubt interest the pair and might grant them more information on where Traverse Town's Keyhole might be lurking, all while the others stood around her, "We couldn't find one, but I'm sure we'll discover it in due time... and while we're here we'll try to find Traverse Town's as well."

"Good. This means two worlds have been saved from the Heartless, as locking their Keyholes prevents the Darkness from devouring them whole, like what happened to Sora's world." Leon replied, though while his expression remained the same he was happy with this discovery, as it meant they could save more worlds and, maybe, bring an end to the danger that took over the world that he and his own group had come from, "We've been searching for the Keyhole to this world since we got here, to prevent it from falling to darkness, but the only thing the four of us have figured out is that it's somehow connected to the gizmo shop, which we have been unable to investigate."

The group found that Leon had nothing else to say and Aerith was focused on making sure he didn't exhaust himself with his training, causing Sora and the others to leave the underground area and return to the second district, where most of the group remained near the fountain as Fluttershy flew up to an upper area that was above the shop.

"I see the bell, but it looks like it's been boarded up." Fluttershy stated, as there was a tall wall of wood planks that were between a platform they could stand on and where the bell was resting, though by studying them for a moment she was sure that a swift strike from her Keyblade might dislodge some of the planks, "I'm... I'm going to break the boards."

Sombra and the others watched from below as they heard her strike the boards, actually meaning it based on what they heard, before she rang the bell and the fountain came to life with fire as it's icon spun to a new image, the second ring gave them a tree icon, and the third brought one more icon that clearly had the Keyhole on it... though as Fluttershy flew down to the others they found a large Heartless drop down into the arena.

"Wait, is that the armored Heartless?" Sora asked, staring at the armored foe that was in front of them, though as he and the others readied themselves he noticed that this one was more silver with red and blue sections, causing him to realize that his assumptions were wrong, it had to be a whole new one, "No, it's a new foe."

In that moment Sombra and the other Equestrians lashed out with their magic, striking the Silver Armor in the chest and forced it backwards, making her wonder if it was stronger than the other or if it was just weak as well, though before it had a chance to recover the others struck it with their weapons. It fought the same as the previous version they had clashed with, causing them to dodge out of the way of attacks that they were familiar with, struck it with even stronger attacks than the last time they fought it, and Sombra even left a gash on it's back. All of those attacks eventually caused it to stall for a moment, like it had taken enough for them to break it down, before it shifted it's stance, placing it's hands on the ground while lifting itself until it was upside down, 'Reverse' Armor as Sombra thought about it, especially since the feet turned into new hands and the helm opened to show yellow eyes. Somehow it's attacks were stronger than before, like it had been keeping itself in check or something, but, at the same time, none of them were caught off guard by that fact as Radiant and Goofy smashed the new legs, Donald and Fluttershy crushed the arms, and Sombra and Sora used the wound on it's chest to utterly ruin it.

Sombra was sure that this was due to the fact that it was six on one, with some of them having embraced their powers as a whole, though it hardly mattered as Reverse Armor released it's heart and dissolved, allowing her to capture the heart as Sora quickly sealed the Keyhole before it could be used by the Heartless.

"That takes care of that. Come on, we should tell Leon and the others the good news." Radiant remarked, though she found it amusing that not long after their friends mentioned Traverse Town's mysterious Keyhole, something they couldn't find in all of their years of looking, she and her companions were able to find it and lock it within about ten minutes, which only made her curious as to what the future worlds might offer them.

With victory on their minds Sora, Sombra, and the others made their way back to the third district, so they could return to Leon and see if he could find the others so they could give them the good news, only to find some Soldiers wandering in front of the fountain, but before they could deal with them a boy matching Sora's description of Riku slashed through the trio with a Keyblade that looked like a black wing of some kind.

"I found you at last, Sora." Riku stated, all while Sombra made sure to snatch the freed hearts, since she didn't want them to go to waste, despite the fact that the boy was focused solely on Sora right now, before he realized that there were more in the group than he noticed when he first spotted his friend, even if said friend proceeded to yank his mouth around.

"Riku! It is you!" Sora said, with possibly the greatest smile on his face that he could muster right now, because they had just found one of his missing friends and, somehow, his friend was also carrying a Keyblade, or at least he assumed it was one since it freed the hearts of the Soldiers, "Where's Kairi? Did you find her?"

"No, not yet. Who are your friends?" Riku asked, something that told Sombra that the boy might not be pleased with the fact that his friend had found so many new friends since their separations, like he might assume Sora didn't care about Kairi and might do something stupid in the near future.

"Well, there's Fluttershy, Radiant Hope, Donald, Goofy, and Sombra." Sora replied, though in that moment an idea came to mind as he realized something, Riku had his own Keyblade and that meant that Donald had to let him come with them, even if he and Goofy were only after the Kingdom Key, "You should totally come with us. You see, we have this awesome ship that let's us travel from world to world, we've met some interesting people during our search for you and Kairi, and Sombra's an awesome cook... trust me, her food is beyond what our parents made us in the past."

As Donald started to say something about how Riku couldn't come with them, however, Sombra smacked him in the back of the head, stunning the annoying duck as she stepped forward, causing the boy to look at her for a time, and by that she meant focus on her and no one else.

"Ignore Donald, he's yet to understand the rules we've set up. In all honesty, you should come with us, as Sora would love to have you as part of the team." Sombra stated, where she held a hand out towards the boy, figuring that being friendly, the one aspect she had no real experience in, would help convince Riku to join them, especially since she could feel the dark power that was inside him, confirming Sora's tale on what happened to him before their world was devoured.

"I... um... right, of course... you're hot..." Riku replied, something that surprised Sombra for a moment, because now she was getting positive responses to her body from the opposite gender, especially a boy that was right around her new age, and she could tell that Riku was fighting new emotions that he had likely never felt before this point, due to the surprised look on his face as he realized what he had said and the slight blush he tried to hide from everyone else.

Sombra smiled and thanked him as she got him to join the group for a time, allowing them to continue on their way to Merlin's place, though while Riku followed them, maybe falling for her for some reason, she could only wonder what this might mean for them and their adventures.

Heartless: Sands of Agrabah

After finding Riku, and he agreed to come with them, the group found that Leon and Aerith were leaving Merlin's place, which meant that this was perfect timing as Leon beckoned for them to follow, bringing them to a building that was near the entrance of the third district, where Cid and Yuffie were waiting. This appeared to be a meeting place of sorts, since there was a table and bed with next to nothing else in the living room, allowing Sora's group to tell their new friends that they had found Traverse Town's Keyhole and sealed it after beating up the Heartless that appeared near it. Such a thing came as a bit of good news to the group, even though they were interested in Riku, since none of them had assumed Sora would find one of his friends in the town after all the searching he did earlier, though neither boy knew where Kairi was, meaning they had more worlds to explore. To that extent Cid informed them that the new navigation gummies had been installed, he added a couple of armor pieces to keep them safe, and he beefed up their weapons, as the portion of space they were heading to next was supposedly tougher than the portion Traverse Town was in.

While they were talking Riku told them that he had been teleported to an entirely different world, one full of darkness and an imposing castle that was surrounded by water, something Leon's group recognized as Hollow Bastion, the base of operations for Maleficent, an evil and vile witch that caused them to flee their home world, and her allies. He had found a way to climb up to the entrance of the castle and, through sheer luck, found a dark gateway that the witch used to warp from one place to another, as it brought both of them here, but he had no idea where she had gone. Sombra sensed that he was lying about a few things, that there was more he didn't want to say right now, but decided not to say anything as she took note of their main target world, Hollow Bastion, a world that would be fun to take down when they finally found a way to land there. For the time being Riku was planning on taking them up on their offer, because Kairi was still out there, on any of the remaining worlds that they might visit, and he was going to help Sora find her so they could explore the rest of the worlds together.

With that in mind the group bid their Traverse Town friends farewell, since there wasn't too much more for them to learn at the moment, and returned to the Gummi Ship, where Riku looked at the inside as they teleported aboard, though while Sora got them underway to one of the new points on the map, Warp Zones Cid had called them, Sombra got to work on manipulating the material into another room.

"How are you doing that?" Riku asked, because while he was interested in the ship, and seeing Sora pilot it, he figured he could see more of it before they got underway, even though the portal to another world seemed totally strange to him, and what Sombra was doing was interesting.

"Magic, mostly." Sombra replied, though at the same time she realized that this would be the last time she would be able to do such a thing, at least until they figured out how to expand the existing material that was available to them, and she had a feeling Cid might have something in mind if she asked him about the topic.

Riku raised an eyebrow for a moment before joining Sora in the cockpit, where he got a glimpse of how to use the controls that moved the ship around, all while his friend targeted one of the Warp Zones that was nearby, as he was eager to see what a new world had to offer them. Following that Sombra checked the kitchen and found that Yuffie had been true to her word, it was beyond stocked and she was sure they would have food for a few weeks, especially with Fluttershy's part being part of the equation, causing her to chuckle as she got to work. Riku got a taste of her cooking when it was time for dinner, where he had the same reaction that Sora had when he and the others ate the meal that was prepared, finding that it was far better than what their parents had made and that he agreed with Sora, Sombra was definitely the chef, as he knew he couldn't make anything like this. Sombra chuckled and thanked him, just like she had done when the others said the same thing, though even then she had more ideas in mind for what to prepare in the future, especially with all of the options that were available to her with a fully stocked pantry.

While they traveled through space, however, Radiant pulled Sombra aside for a time, making sure no one would disturb them in the privacy of the farm dimension, and told her all about the female body so she'd know about things to expect, stunning Sombra for a time before she regained herself, thanked Radiant, and got back to work.

Eventually they reached a rift in space that caused Sora to stop the ship in it's tracks, where they found that it was a large swirling vortex off to the left side of the ship, as they had flown in the direction of Wonderland after leaving Traverse Town again, though after glancing at the others, who nodded, he piloted them into the rift. It took a few moments before they appeared in another part of space, where Sombra noted a slight purple tint to the space around them, which had to be the ship itself reacting to this portion of the space between worlds, though after that Sora got the ship moving again as all of them kept an eye out for any new worlds. Everyone knew that it would take another day or two to reach the next world that they would explore, though none of them dared to rush Sora as he made sure the ship got there intact, though he had to admit that Cid's upgrades worked like a charm, as he was able to deal with any trouble with ease. Riku spent most of his time training in the arena Sombra had set up, allowing him to get more prepared for whatever the next world might throw at them, even though working as a team was something he would have to learn while in the field.

When they finally found the next world, however, Sombra found that it appeared to be a sandy desert area that had some odd looking large palace on it and an odd lion head on the bottom side, though Sora simply activated the ship's systems before teleporting them down to what appeared to be the start of a city.

"A city in a desert... I wonder how they survive out here." Fluttershy commented, though at the same time a couple of new enemies appeared out of the darkness, figures as tall as Sora while wearing cloth armor that looked like it was designed to handle the harshness of whatever was outside the city's walls, though the emblem on their bodies told the group exactly what these enemies really were.

"Heartless! Defend yourselves!" Riku stated, which was followed by him and Sora calling their weapons out without even a second of delay, causing the others to follow Sombra's lead as they stared at the Bandits that were in front of them, and as soon as everyone was ready they rushed at their dark enemies.

The Bandits actually had swords, unlike some of the other Heartless that didn't have weapons, so when they fought those ones Sombra and the other melee warriors found that they had to parry incoming attacks before lashing out at these foes, and even then sometimes they had to deal with the Shadows that joined them. It was an interesting change of pace, since most of their enemies didn't have anything more than their bodies to throw at the group, and they reacted accordingly, blocking attacks before lashing out at them, even though they found that there were more inside the other streets that made up the city they were in. Sombra found that Riku's skills were fair, as he slashed at the Heartless and parried some of their attacks, opening the way for Sora to remove them with a swing of the Kingdom Key, though while they moved even deeper into the city they found an area off to their right that brought them to what appeared to be a hidden place that overlooked most of the city. The oddest thing was that there was a moving carpet that was pinned down by a piece of furniture, where the Equestrians realized that it had held some sort of magic inside it, though Sora and Fluttershy, being the kind individuals they were, lifted the furniture and let the carpet remove itself from where it had been trapped.

It even stopped for a moment and bowed towards them, as if in thanks, before taking off into the unknown, though in the following moments Sora found a keyhole in the side of a wall and insert his Keyblade into it, where they heard a click that told them something had opened somewhere else.

With that in mind the group returned to the city streets for a time as they dealt with more Heartless that rushed at them, where Sombra made sure to capture the freed hearts before they disappeared, and when she absorbed a Bandit's heart she found that they possessed a mix of strength and agility. As they searched for an alternate way to enter the area that was in front of the palace, since the main opening was boarded with planks and other items and no one wanted to waste their magic on it, Radiant spotted a few large red shaped pots that ended up growing four spider legs and attacked them, only for them to find it was another Heartless as she slashed it apart and a heart escaped. Sombra made sure to snatch it as well, even though this allowed them to know that Pot Spiders were a thing as well and that it had only agility to offer, a slight disappointment for sure, but it was better than nothing she supposed as she joined the others in searching for the path forward. Fluttershy kept an eye out for any other smaller keyholes that would open up more of the city for them to explore, though for the most part they tore through the Heartless, where Sombra found that Riku struck at what she had to assume were weak points, in his eyes anyway, and that it only made her wonder how good their teamwork would be in the future.

When they entered one of the side passages, however, Sombra heard a slight noise and turned her head towards an area that had a few boxes stacked in a way to be a hiding spot and located a young lady, roughly around their age or maybe a little older, who wore a blue dress that showed off her midriff.

"Don't worry, the Heartless are gone." Sora said, as he spotted the figure as well and hoped that she was willing to listen to them, instead of running off and potentially getting trapped by some unknown evil figure, because if this was what she was doing he had to assume there was a villain to beat up somewhere.

"Gone? That's good to hear. I am Jasmine, and my father is the Sultan of Agrabah," the girl, Jasmine, replied, where they figured that the 'Sultan' title meant the same as a king, meaning that she was technically the Princess of this area, though at the same time both Sombra and Riku seemed to be keeping an eye out for potential dangers, "however, my father has been deposed by Jafar, his Royal Vizier, who now controls the city with an iron fist... and he has dark allies that are looking for a 'Keyhole'."

"Must be Maleficent." Riku commented, where Sombra nodded her head, as it matched what they heard back in Traverse Town, the evil witch was traversing the worlds to find the Keyholes so the Heartless could devour them whole, but there had to be something more than that, causing him to focus on her again, "Is there anything else Jafar might have said while he was looking for you?"

"Only that he and his dark ally are looking for seven special princesses and a 'final Keyhole'." Jasmine replied, something that caused Sombra to raise an eyebrow for a moment, because that could only mean one thing, as it had to be a lock on the Realm of Darkness, the opposite of the Realm of Light that they were living in, and if that was true unsealing the Final Keyhole would place everything in total danger, Darkness seeking to devour the whole World, "Aladdin helped me escape, but he left some time ago to go take care of something... I do hope he's alright."

"Aladdin? Where might I find this street rat?" a new voice asked, where Sombra glanced up at an upper walkway with the others and found a black robed figure with a golden staff, Jafar she reckoned, staring down at them, and based on what she was seeing it sure looked like he recognized her, despite the fact that they had never met before, "Jasmine, my fair princess, allow me to find you more suitable company... a pack of rats won't do."

"Funny, if you aren't careful this 'rat' will bite back." Sombra remarked, where she launched herself up to the area that Jafar was standing in and slashed at him, finding that he used his staff to parry the head of her scythe, though as she landed off to the side she gestured to the others and got them to start moving with Jasmine, because if Maleficent wanted her then it was a good idea to keep her safe, "Let's see what you got, Jafar."

Instead of fighting her, like she was hoping, the sorcerer just summoned the Heartless and disappeared, causing Sombra to sigh as she slashed through the Bandits and Soldiers before they had a chance to fight back, before collecting their hearts as she made her way into the city to track down the others. When she caught up with them, however, she found that Jasmine was going to hide somewhere else in the city until they tracked down Aladdin, as he would surely know how to bring down Jafar, so the group decided to let her go on the promise that she stayed safe, especially since she told them that Aladdin was likely somewhere outside the city. With that in mind she followed them outside the city and found that there was next to nothing outside the main walls, save for more and more sand with sandy weather, but since the Princess was asking them to find someone to take down Jafar they guessed they could go along with it. Riku, of course, asked what this had to do with finding Kairi, where Sora told him that everyone they ended up helping usually had some information for them, which was the truth, but it was never about Kairi, though he figured he'd keep rolling the dice until he found her, showing his friend that he had bound two adventures together.

As Riku thought about it they found the carpet from earlier and watched as it landed in front of them, where it seemed to want them to ride it, but since there were so many of them Sombra picked herself, Riku, and Radiant up with her magic as Fluttershy flew with her wings, allowing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to ride the carpet.

The area it brought them to was dimmer than anything that was around it, with what appeared to be a young man in a open purple vest and a small monkey being dragged into the enter of a pool of quicksand, or being pulled to their deaths, which explained the carpet's worry, it's master was dying. Upon touching down outside the pool of quicksand Sombra and the rest of the team got to work, where they found that wave after wave of Bandits, and just them, pulled themselves out of the sand before attacking the group as a whole. Sombra and the others were more than willing to show them the error of their ways, taking each Bandit down like they were nothing, though as Sombra captured their freed hearts she discovered that for each Bandit they defeated two more took it's place, meaning there was a chance that they could be overwhelmed if such a thing were to go down. It provided her with an impressive amount of hearts to capture, that much couldn't be denied, though the seemingly endless waves of enemies would eventually cause them to stop in their tracks, making her wonder if it was time for her to unleash her power and wipe out everything that was around her.

That decision wasn't made by her own choice, rather it was due to Aladdin himself, as he yanked himself free from the pit of quicksand before readying something that happened to be a golden lamp, of a design Sombra and the others hadn't seen before, and he rubbed it for a moment for some reason.

"Genie... get rid of these guys!" Aladdin stated, where a bunch of blue smoke emerged from the lamp and revealed what appeared to be a blue skinned creature with a golden bracer on each arm, though that was followed by the creature saying something about a wish, it being the first one, and then snapped his fingers to dispose of the Heartless, allowing them to stand down as Aladdin collected his monkey.

"That... was impressive." Sombra remarked, though she realized that the blue creature was definitely something she and the others weren't expecting to see, but it did make her remember some of the tales she had heard from the other lands that bordered Equestria, as one claimed to have something similar to this.

Aladdin, despite the fact that he had to use the creature to save everyone, thanked both them and the Genie as they left the area they had found him in, where he explained that he was hunting legendary treasure from the Cave of Wonders, which was where he found both the magic carpet and the lamp, though when he tried to explain it the Genie stopped him.

"Please, kid, leave this to the professionals: with the lamp in hand anyone can call forth the Genie of the Lamp! Simply rub the lamp and have any three wishes granted." Genie stated, where they found that he liked to move around a lot, create more of himself to help demonstrate whatever he was talking about, plus he liked to get close to whoever controlled the lamp, meaning he must have been confined to it for a long time, "So, Master, what will your second wish be?"

"Maybe we should talk about this on the way to Agrabah? Jasmine is in danger." Sombra said, though she had to admit that the idea of having the power to call forth a Genie and grant several wishes interested her, especially since there was no way to know the limits of the creature without asking, and despite herself she could already imagine what she'd do if she got her hands on Genie's lamp.

Aladdin, upon hearing that Jasmine was in danger, got on the carpet as everyone headed back to Agrabah, as it was time to save Jasmine and stop Jafar in his tracks, even though it made them wonder what Maleficent was planning and if they would be able to stop her plans in the future, causing them to focus on Jafar before worrying about the future.

Heartless: The Cave of Wonders

On their way back to Agrabah they found that Genie was interested in hearing what other wishes Aladdin might have for him, meaning he was likely hoping to get all three granted in the shorted amount of time possible, where the man took a moment to think about it before humoring him. He proposed that maybe Genie could make him a 'fabulously wealthy prince', confirming that he was interested in dating Jasmine and that he needed to be above his current station in life to even have a chance at earning her affections, and possibly the approval of the Sultan. Genie, of course, thought it was a great idea and told Aladdin that if he make the wish he would have a hundred servants and a hundred camels that would be loaded with gold, to help fulfill his fantasy, plus an elephant that would be his official ride into the city and he even had a song in mind to sell his princely status. Aladdin told him to hold off on the wish for the time being, as he wanted to make sure Jafar was dealt with and Jasmine was safe before using such a wish to impress everyone, causing Genie to nod his head as he made a note of that in his head, no doubt continuing to mentally plan how to grant Aladdin's wish.

As they flew through the air, with Aladdin worried about Jasmine and Genie doing his best to keep his ideas to himself for the time being, Sombra glanced off into the sands, sensing a powerful Heartless in the vast desert, but since it seemed to be far out of the way she decided not to worry about it for the time being.

One thing they noticed was how Genie adored the great outdoors, flying through the air without a care in the world while making sure to be near Aladdin every now and then, where they learned that while he had phenomenal cosmic power, to do nearly anything he wanted, it also came with an itty-bitty living space, the lamp. He informed them that without a master there was no way for him to leave the lamp like he was doing right now, and with how his lamp was usually returned to the Cave of Wonders after granting three wishes, a fact he wasn't looking forward to, he was lucky to see the light of day every century or two. In fact, now that he was thinking about it, Genie was sure it had been longer than that when he thought about the last time he had been called from the lamp to grant three wishes, he just couldn't remember how long the gap was this time around, causing Sora to frown as he imagined how miserable Genie's life had to be. He wasn't the only one that had such a thought, as Aladdin asked if it was possible to use a wish to free someone like Genie from their lamp, as in grant them freedom, and Genie said that it should be possible, though it would severely reduce his powers, but, in his mind, it was worth it for the chance at a somewhat normal life again.

As they reached the outer wall of Agrabah, and started to land, Aladdin made up his mind, he promised to use his third and final wish to free Genie from his lamp, causing Genie to have the biggest smile imaginable as he hugged his current master, a friend in his eyes, before returning to his portable prison for a time.

Once they stepped into the city, however, the group found more Heartless waiting for them, namely the Bandits, though in addition to them there was also a number of Fat Bandits, the Large Bodies dressed in clothing that matched the world they were in, which fought just like their counterparts did. The only difference that Sombra spotted was that the Fat Bandits could breathe fire or even turn that fire into fireballs that it launched from their mouths, an interesting thing to set them apart from each other, especially since it required them to dodge out of the way before attacking them. Of course there were also a number of Pot Spiders lurking around the city, something that surprised Aladdin since this wasn't the state he had left the city in when he decided to check out the Cave of Wonders, but that didn't stop him from using his own curved sword to fight them off. Sure, his weapon wasn't as effective as the weapons everyone else was using at the moment, but he was able to weaken some of the Heartless so someone else could finish them off, all while Sombra's darkness carefully snatched each heart that was freed as she cut down a Fat Bandit and joined the others as they moved deeper into the city.

As they explored the city Aladdin returned to his hideout, the very place the group had stopped for a few moments before discovering where Jasmine was hiding, just in case Jasmine was there, but she wasn't, though Genie did mention that he had heard of the Keyhole before, he just couldn't remember where it was supposed to be. Another thing they discovered were a trio of black robed figures with dark purple mushrooms on their heads, a new type of Heartless based on the emblems that were on their chests, which were far more aggressive than all of the other enemies and even spewed poison into the air in front of them to harm their foes. Not only that but they could become invulnerable to harm for a short period of time, which told the group that they had to be careful when dealing with the Black Fungus, though when one of them was struck down they found an item container with some mysterious goo inside it, while another had a mold of some kind. Radiant told them that she was sure these were items to be turned into accessories, something she had been working on for some time, so these were good items to have obtained, since it meant she would be able to produce some results in the near future, that much she was sure of.

Eventually, after activating a few more of the locking mechanisms that were scattered around the part of the city that the hideout was in, the group found Jafar confronting Jasmine in front of the blocked path that lead to the palace, and, sure enough, there were plenty of Bandits around him, guarding the area so he could work, causing Sora and the others to drop down on them and attack the Heartless.

"Ah, it would appear that the street rats have come out of their holes. I will not allow you to bother us anymore." Jafar said, though the look of concern that was on his face implied that he knew Sombra, at least, was strong and could force him to back off, meaning he had to be careful about how he approached dealing with the group, hence why he seemed to be of the opinion that more Heartless was better.

Aladdin, apparently worried about the numbers that were in front of them, decided to rub Genie's lamp while everyone was distracted and tried to get him to save Jasmine, though as he picked her up, however, a red parrot stole the lamp and delivered it to Jafar, banishing Genie back to the lamp for a time as Jasmine fell into a Pot Spider, before the sorcerer just vanished without a trace.

"Great, he's got the key to finding the Keyhole. We had better move fast." Sombra remarked, where she found that the Pot Spider connected to a number of other similar Heartless and formed a new creature, with a blue head of some sort at the front and a blue bottom at the end, like a Pot Centipede, though she knew Jasmine wouldn't be inside them, as she felt a surge of magic that seemed to teleport her out of here.

Hurting the Pot Centipede was actually really easy, in comparison to some of the enemies they had fought before, due to the fact that all they had to do was strike it's head and rear a few times, eventually causing it to collapse and scatter the pots for a time. With that done all they needed to do was lash out at the Pot Spiders and crush them with ease, allowing them to chip away at the main body's length to give them some more room to work with, all while staying away from it's whiskers, since those seemed to be how it attacked. Such a thing meant the group was able to bring it down with ease, a fact that made Sombra wonder why Jafar even called for it when it was only worth a two to three minute head start, not to mention the fact that he knew Genie's power was important and didn't want to waste it on teleporting himself to his final goal. Aladdin, of course, didn't stick around as he started to make his way back to the Cave of Wonders, as he had a very good feeling that that was where they would find Jafar, causing the others to follow after him as Sombra snatched the heart of the Pot Centipede before following after them.

Since time was of the essence Sombra forced Aladdin to stop for a moment before weaving her magic around them, only for Riku and the others to be surprised as they warped out of the city and appeared where they found Aladdin, which just so happened to have a large tiger head made out of sand now, with darkness in both of it's eyes.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked, though at the same Sora and Aladdin attacked the Cave's eyes, as the latter indicated that this was, in fact, the Cave of Wonders, meaning Jafar had put another obstacle in their way to stop them from reaching him, all while the others fended off the Bandits that decided to attack them as Riku held a hand out.

"Yes, just... not used to teleporting so many people at one time." Sombra replied, where she took the hand and stood up, though that was a somewhat true statement, using magic to teleport so many at the same time could take a toll on the user's body, something she might be able to get around if she absorbed the hearts of the magical Heartless.

Riku, having no idea if that was true or not since magic was unknown to him, decided that it was best to just nod his head for a moment before they joined the fight, where they found that the only real attack the Cave's head had was firing blasts of darkness out of it's eyes, that targeted one of them. Depending on who it was targeting the warrior in question would either dodge out of the way or Fluttershy would use her barrier magic to block the attacks in their tracks, allowing the rest of the team to damage the darkness in it's eyes before ultimately freeing it completely. With the head freed from Jafar's dark grasp the group followed Aladdin into the mouth, heading down a passage that looked like an actual throat, before all of them came to a stop when they saw what their new ally had been dealing with when he claimed the lamp. It was a large ornate structure that rested underground, with all sorts of twists and turns according to Aladdin, as it looked totally different than he remembered, meaning things changed when someone reached a certain point, but he suspected that he could figure out how to get to the lamp chamber.

In addition to that there was one other type of enemy for them to worry about, a short Heartless that had wings and could fly, while dressed in aviator clothing oddly enough, though with all of the steps and raised sections in the chamber they were able to deal with them fairly easily. There were a number of traps that they had to keep an eye out for, such as the large rolling boulder that dropped into a hole and appeared in another area, slots in the walls that spewed fire or water on intruders, and moving platforms that could be dangerous if they weren't careful. Riku noticed a couple of sets of stairs that seemed to head down into another level and Aladdin informed them that there was a water filled cavern below the Cave of Wonders, or it had been built into the structure when it was first formed, and suspected that they might find an item or something that would aid them in their mission. Fluttershy joined Aladdin in exploring the lower level, leaving the others to hold the level they had stopped on since there was no reason to move forward without everyone being present in case they found Jafar, which served as a good break when no Heartless came to bother them.

While everyone stood there, however, Sombra heard what had to be sections of the various levels shifting, meaning the pair had found a way to manipulate the Cave of Wonders to open new paths or raise sections for them to use once they returned to this area, and it wasn't long before the pair did so.

"You know, you guys should come treasure hunting with me in the future... I'm sure the Cave will make something that is far harder for all of you the next time you decide to come down here." Aladdin said, his tone informing them that, while this was still a pressing issue and he didn't have too much time to relax, he was grateful for their aid and was hoping that they might be up for doing this again in the future, when Jasmine's life and the safety of Agrabah weren't on the line.

As Sombra opened her mouth to say something, in fact it looked like she wasn't the only one who wanted to say something, they heard a new sound that sounded like the earth was being broken down, meaning Jafar was closing in on the Keyhole while everyone stopped to relax. With that in mind they entered what appeared to be one of the main treasure rooms of the Cave of Wonders, as there was far too much gold, jewelry, and gemstones, plus whatever else the maker of the Cave had put into the piles of gold that rested all around them. Of course the only one of them had was drawn in by the allure of gold was Donald, he seemed the most susceptible to gold' allure, though everyone was able to shake him out of it as they continued down another passage that would bring them to the end of the Cave of Wonders, or at least that was what Aladdin said as they followed it. At the end of the passage Sora, Sombra, and the others found that it did lead them to the end of the Cave, a large circular area with a few places for people to stand on, with a ringed center oddly enough, and to their left they found a carved out area that happened to have this world's Keyhole exposed for them to lock it, with an unconscious Jasmine on the ground and Jafar standing over her body.

The downside, as it turned out, was that there was a far more powerful dark figure standing near Jafar, where the amount of darkness that was coming from her could only mean one thing, this had to be Maleficent, the main villain that needed to be taken out to restore some peace to the worlds, and upon seeing them she simply teleported herself out by using an oval shaped portal made out of darkness.

"Jafar, let Jasmine go!" Aladdin stated, once more showing his concern for the love of his life, something they had come to expect from him, though at the same time everyone else stood at the ready as several of them stared at the Keyhole that was behind their opponent, because if they sealed that they could stop his dark plans.

"Not a chance, my dear boy, for you see she is one of the seven princesses that somehow hold the power to open the final Keyhole." Jafar stated, though at the same time he made sure that Jasmine was resting nearby the Keyhole before raising his staff to create a barrier between it and them, meaning to get to it they had to deal with him first, before he raised the lamp as Genie floated nearby with a sad look on his face, "Now then, Genie, my second wish: Crush them!"

Genie apologized for what he was about to do as he attacked the group, doing his absolute best to not hit any of them, all while Jafar floated around the chamber and hurled magic at everyone and anyone, causing Sombra to call forth her power as Sora and the other melee warriors found a way to get to him. The two magic users let loose with their spells, Sombra mostly defending herself from fireballs and lightning bolts as she sought an opening to use, firing shards of ice when she found a hole in her opponent's defenses, causing the sorcerer to growl as he moved. At the same time Sora, Goofy, Riku, Radiant, and even Fluttershy found ways to get at him while Donald joined her in assaulting the sorcerer with magic, where it was far too easy for them to see that they were overpowering him, especially since he was looking for ways to increase his power or do something to bring them down. Such a thing caused an idea to form in her mind as she glanced at Genie, because if he was bound to his lamp it made her wonder if they could trap Jafar in a similar manner and then leave him in the depths of the Cave of Wonders, never to see the light of day.

Such a thing caused her to go on the offensive once more as she launched more focused fireballs at her foe, pushing him backwards before Sora knocked his staff from his hands, causing them to stand at the ready as he realized that he had been beaten, for the time being anyway.

"Give up Jafar. You might be a powerful sorcerer, but even your power has limits." Sombra remarked, causing the others to nod their heads for a moment as Aladdin got ready to head over to where Jasmine was resting, showing them that she was more important than anything else to him.

"That is true, you are all strong... but I still have one more wish: Genie, I want you to transform me into an all power Genie!" Jafar stated, because if he couldn't beat them with his current power he figured that unleashing the true power of what a Genie possessed on them would be the best course of action, especially since it meant he could do other things as well, once he was done with his task of collecting Jasmine.

Sure enough Genie granted his wish, causing red energy to dance around Jafar's body as he grew to be the same size as the blue creature, his skin turning red as it bulked up, causing the floor to break as they found a chamber filled with lava and some platforms resting below them. As Jafar descended, however, Sombra followed as the others looked on from afar, as there was no reason for everyone to go down there when she clearly had a plan, though as all of the smoke cleared they could hear Jafar's evil laugh as he completed his transformation into a red genie. Of course that came with two things that he didn't expect, the binding bracers on his wrists that prevented him from using his power however he wanted, which was the whole purpose of this wish, and an ebony black lamp that his tail was connected to. As Jafar realized that fact, however, he was too late to do anything as Sombra snatched the new lamp and ordered him to return to his prison, though as Jafar did that he also grabbed onto the parrot that seemed to be his, sealing both of them inside the lamp that she placed off to the side.

As she returned to the others she found that Jasmine had been consumed by darkness, Maleficent's no doubt, though Sora did seal the Keyhole, prompting the Cave to shudder and shake, though Fluttershy had an idea as she borrowed Genie's lamp and wished them all to safety, teleporting them from the Cave and dropping them into Aladdin's hideout.

Sombra approved of her quick thinking, though while Aladdin mauled over his options, wishing for Jasmine's safe return or freeing Genie and leaving the task of finding the princess to his new friends, Fluttershy convinced him to allow them to use the lamp for a bit. Genie was perfectly fine with that, where her other two wishes were purely for more animals for her part of their private area, namely a mate for Sabor and a few others to help make the world feel more complete, where she was overjoyed by her sphere filling with new creatures and she thanked him several times. Radiant, on the other hand, decided to ask for helpers that were like the worker rabbits, but different so they didn't get them mixed up, where Genie granted her a force of short lizard like creatures called kobolds, who were up for mining, crafting, and whatever else she wanted. Both Donald and Goofy wanted to speak with their King, something Genie couldn't help with since he couldn't find him, while at the same time Sombra wished to have all of Jafar's possessions, because she figured that studying his magic might help all of them in the future, in case they came across someone else like him.

Sora and Riku, on the other hand, only had one wish and that was for Kairi to be found and brought to them, where Sombra noticed a faint light in Sora's chest for a few seconds as Genie apologized, as it seemed like he couldn't grant that wish either, though it did tell the boys that there was more to see and more to do before they found their friend.

"Genie, the deal stands: I wish for your freedom." Aladdin stated, where they watched as the binding bracers came undone, the lamp dissolved into nothingness, and his tail split into two legs while giving him red pointed shoes and the local pair of pants, showing them that he was free to do whatever he wanted.

As Genie celebrated, however, Sombra knew that the battle was far from over, as Maleficent had at least one of the seven targets she needed to open the Final Keyhole, meaning they had to track down the others and protect them to stop her dark scheme from becoming a reality, causing her to wonder what the future might hold for them.

Heartless: Depths of Monstro

Following their saving of Agrabah, even though Aladdin was sad that he couldn't save Jasmine and couldn't come with the group while they continued their adventure, Sora and the others returned to their ship and set off for another world to explore in the hopes of finding Kairi, or tracking down Maleficent's main base. While Sora did that Fluttershy happily returned to the private world and released the animals she had gotten from making a wish on Genie into the world, where Sombra found that a number of birds, a couple of monkeys, and the other leopard joined the mix. Such a thing seemed to be fine with Sabor, since it meant she wasn't lonely, though it also meant that Fluttershy would be busy making sure all of the new animals knew the rules of this world, especially since she didn't want them eating the worker rabbits, who, for the most part, seemed curious about the new additions. At the same time Sombra found that Radiant's group of workers, a force of ten kobolds that were roughly about half her height and seemed enthusiastic about working with her, since they took only a few seconds to introduce themselves, as Genie was kind enough to give them names, before they picked up their mining equipment and got to work.

The leader of the group, a kobold with a light black body and a red underbelly, took charge of the others as she worked with Radiant to set up a base for the newcomers, where Radiant pulled out the designs for the area and worked with Flare, the kobold in question, to set up some living quarters for the group.

Sombra, on the other hand, spent her time in either the training chamber she had created or relaxing in the living area for a time, the latter being before worrying about making meals for everyone, though the former allowed her to study the magic book Donald had given her and the others. What she discovered was that there were two new spells in their arsenal, those being Fira and Blizzara, and when she used them against some of the dummies it was easy for her to see that their range was longer than their base form and that both spells were larger than before. Such a thing told her that all of the spells that they would be collecting during their adventure seemed to have a tier system, which meant that there had to be a height to their power, before she looked at the other spells they had learned since starting their adventure and had to wonder where they'd find the advanced spells. As she looked at the magical tome, however, she found a pair of pages that greatly interested her, one for 'gravity' magic and one for 'time' magic, which was both incredible and very interesting, all while making Sombra wonder where in the worlds they would discover those spells.

This discovery also made her wonder if there were more magical tiers than just the second tier she had discovered thanks to beating Jafar, as she had to assume that the sorcerer's defeat and imprisonment had caused the tome to fill out more, as three tiers seemed more reasonable than just two.

While she did that Riku came into the training area to spar with her, where she used her magic to form a blade that was like Aladdin's, since the scythe would be too much for him and she didn't want to create something like a Keyblade, so this was her best option at the moment. Sombra played defensive with him, letting him make the first move since she wanted to see how he fought while they weren't in the middle of battle, because he and Sora had fought each other a lot in the past, with wooden sticks and wooden swords, meaning an actual weapon was still new to him. With that in mind she did her best to find the kinks in Riku's defenses that would allow her to turn the practice session on it's head, knocking him to the ground before explaining where he could improve, which only seemed to cause him to nod as he got back up without delay and come at her again. Sombra was still sure that there was something in his mind when the boy looked at her, like he was attracted to her new body and form, and part of her found it to be nice, though for the time being she trained with Riku for a time and let him improve, even though she also extended the offer to the others, to make sure they were ready for whatever the future held for them.

It was morning of the next day when Sora called for everyone to gather, because it seemed like they were nearby a whole new world, though Sombra found that to be weird that two were so close to each other, only to be surprised when she and the others returned to the cockpit, just in time to see a massive deep blue whale fly through space.

"And here I thought I had seen everything." Sombra commented, as she wasn't sure what to think about the scene that was in front of them, that a massive whale was flying through space like it was a ship or something, though everyone was taken aback by what they were seeing right now.

"I thought Monstro had been lost with our world... I wonder what he's doing out here?" Jiminy remarked, informing them that this creature was actually known to him, though that either meant his world was large enough to host such a beast or it had found a way to make itself bigger after fleeing it's world before it was devoured by the Heartless.

"I don't care! Stay away from it!" Donald stated, showing everyone that he didn't care about the whale at all, and that he was far more interested in tracking down whatever world Sora had been heading towards earlier, all while the beast flew about them like it was actually in a massive sea and not the vastness of space.

"Um... I don't think we have much of a choice." Riku said, where he and the others noticed that the whale was opening his mouth as he turned towards their ship, allowing Sombra to see what appeared to be a faint shimmering void beyond the beast's teeth, meaning if they were eaten their ship would likely be dropped into a new world, Monstro's insides.

Sure enough Riku's opinion on the matter was proven to be correct, because despite Sora taking control of the ship and moving them to flee from Monstro, the whale caught up to them in no time and ate the Gummi Ship with ease, causing all of them to be warped out of the ship as they dropped down into his mouth. What was odd was that they landed in what seemed to be the dry edge of his mouth, and not near the tongue or the nearby liquid, though as everyone looked around at all of the wooden platforms, and wrecked wooden ships that hadn't been totally eaten yet, item containers came flying out of a chest above them. Sombra, seeing them coming, caught them with her magic as the others got a good glimpse of who was doing such a thing, which turned out to be an animated wooden puppet that happened to be the size of a small boy, wearing some sort of attire that none of them had seen before, save for Jiminy. This was apparently Pinocchio, who was Geppetto's son given life, and before their world had been swallowed by darkness he had been following the puppet on his misadventures, especially to Pleasure Island, where he was nearly turned into a donkey, though he was thankful to see that Pinocchio had returned to normal.

Pinocchio, for the most part, ignored them as he pulled out a gummi chunk and started to carry it down into the depths of Monstro's mouth, where they found that he was heading for a mostly intact ship, or at least the front half of it, that was lodged into the jaw near the throat, or what Sombra assumed was the throat.

"Um, I suggest we help Pinocchio and get out of here soon... there's no telling when Monstro might eat us, and everything else in his mouth, for real." Fluttershy commented, as she was the one with the most experience when it came to animals, even though a whale might be outside her comfort zone given where she lived, but even then Sombra and Radiant knew to trust her given her past experiences.

With that in mind the group carefully followed Pinocchio, Sombra forming steps out of her magic on top of the water for all of them to walk on, and it wasn't long before they reached the fractured boat, finding an older man who was dressed in similar clothing to Pinocchio, meaning he was Geppetto. Pinocchio was showing him the gummi block he had found, as he claimed it could get them out of here, something that utterly confused his father as he stared at it, though what came as a shock to him was Sora, Sombra, and the others climbing up onto the deck. Such a thing allowed them to find that there was next to nothing up here, save for a bed, a large dresser, a pedestal with a fish bowl on top of it, and a table for two, all while it looked like they were salvaging stuff from the other ships that Monstro was eating, a slow process since the whale was breaking everything into nearly unusable fragments. Gepetto explained that when he and Pinocchio were separated he went looking for his son, which was hard to tell if it was before Pleasure Island or after it since not even the old man seemed to know when his world was swallowed by darkness, meaning he might have been swallowed by the whale before his son suffered the same fate.

Pinocchio, on the other hand, decided that now was the best time to explore the insides of Monstro and walked into the whale's oddly small throat before vanishing, though why no one had stopped him before realizing where he was going was because they thought he was looking for more mouth salvage.

"Don't worry, we'll go find him." Sora said, causing him and the others to jump over the side of the ship and walk over to the opening that Pinocchio had used, though before entering it he had an idea and turned to face Sombra, as if recalling what he had done back in Traverse Town after they talked with Leon, "Are there any Heartless in Monstro?"

"Wait, you can sense Heartless?!" Riku asked, as this was news to him, which was understandable since he had missed the first couple of worlds that they had explored and fought their way through before encountering him, though at the same time Radiant and Fluttershy readied their weapons, causing Donald and Goofy to do the same.

"Well, I can sense the darkness in them... and yes, there are Heartless inside the whale's insides." Sombra replied, taking a moment to answer both of their questions as she summoned her scythe, though as she did so she found something that made her smile for a few seconds, because there was another boss level Heartless somewhere inside Monstro, "And there is one like Guard Armor as well."

The others glanced at each other for a moment, as that meant a powerful Heartless was going to attack them while they searched for Pinocchio, before heading through the opening and found themselves in an oddly pulsing chamber that was made out of the whale's insides. Radiant found this to be the grossest thing she had experienced in her entire life, which was saying something when Sombra thought about what she had done to stay in her life and track her down, though they did find that the puppet didn't seem to care about them as he headed deeper into the whale. They also confirmed that the Heartless were inside Monstro's body, as there were a few floating ghostly looking creatures with the emblem resting on their chests that appeared out of thin air, though they had to either hit them quick or wait until they reappeared, as they seemed to phase in and out of thin air, fitting their ghostly nature. The Ghosts were actually really easy to bring down, as a few hits was more than enough to take one out, though when Sombra tried the Fira spell out she found that the fireball it created blasted her target into mist, meaning the Ghosts were either weak or this spell was far too strong for them.

In addition to that there were Shadows, the Winged Soldiers and Pot Spiders from Agrabah, a few Fat Bodies, a number of Nocturnes of various colors, and Barrel Spiders, just like the ones from Aladdin's world except they wore barrels as their cover, causing the group to lash out at them as Sombra made sure to collect the hearts that were freed.

While fighting the Heartless back the group found Monstro's insides to be rather confusing, as it was more like a maze and less like the internal organs they were expecting, as each entrance seemed to be connected to another part and some just brought everyone back to a chamber they had been in previously. Sombra was trying to help with her senses, though that wasn't easy to do either, so she focused on building a mental map in her head and labeling each opening correctly, so they knew which passage was connected to which point, but the downside was that they had to return to the first chamber for her to accurately build the map. Sora openly wondered how Pinocchio was able to traverse all of this and Radiant gave an accurate answer, the Heartless had likely kidnapped him the moment he happened to be alone and were using the paths in Monstro to confuse them so the boss creature could make an attempt to take his heart. Sombra had to agree, as there was no reason for the heart seeking Heartless to care about something that didn't have a heart, meaning Pinocchio had to have one, though at the same time it meant that they had to hurry, because she remembered what happened to Clayton and figured such a thing would break Pinocchio.

Eventually, with some difficulty and eliminating of all the Heartless until none were left, Sombra found a passage that they hadn't used yet and discovered that it was their destination, as it brought them to a chamber that had a large Heartless that looked like a cage and had a pair of tendril arms, with Pinocchio trapped in it's core.

The only thing the creature seemed to be able to do right now was swing it's arms at them, where Sombra and Riku struck and pinned both appendages down before it could hit anyway, something that allowed everyone else to strike the Parasite Cage, as it looked like it was growing from Monstro's closed bowels, before it could fight back. After a few moments of that happening the boss Heartless burped out Pinocchio before fleeing from them, tearing it's tendrils in the process, though as that happened the puppet fell into the hole the Parasite Cage left behind, causing them to rush after him. Somehow the hole brought them back to the mouth, which didn't make sense to any of them, but before they could figure out what was going on Geppetto told them a ghostly figure snatched Pinocchio and carried him to the upper walkway, right above the path they had entered earlier. That was when Sombra found that they must have learned something after beating up their foe, as Sora was able to jump higher than before and reached the new opening with ease, causing the others to replicate his movements before heading through the new opening, which somehow brought them to Monstro's stomach.

Sure enough the Parasite Cage appeared in the center of the area and attacked the group again, though this time none of them were even remotely impressed by it, and even when it sucked up some acid to use against them they either dodged it with ease or Sombra caught it with her magic before dropping the stomach acid back into the pool. After it tried that a few more times, even though it was an utter failure, Sombra just decided to put a magical barrier over the stomach acid, and then another one around Pinocchio as she spotted him in the corner, who was being talked to by Jiminy while they fought the Heartless. After all of the Heartless everyone assumed that the Parasite Cage would have been stronger than what it was, as even with it trying new arm swings they were able to deal great damage to it, and figured that it had been designed to feast on other Heartless, hence the cage to trap it's kind, to grow it's power, which might explain Monstro's odd habits. As Sora struck the finishing blow, however, Sombra felt a new page fill out in her magical tome, so while she caught the newly freed heart she pulled the book out and let her eyes widen as she noticed that the new spell was, against all odds, the base Stop spell.

Sombra grinned as she looked at the tome, and continued to do so as she found that Monstro's stomach was starting to act up, causing her to gather her magic into her hands as time magic wrapped around her wrists, much to the surprise of the others, before she slammed her hands on the ground as a light blue wave of energy washed over the area, slowing the whale while keeping her group perfectly fine.

"Sombra... what did you do?" Radiant asked, because she knew for a fact that Sombra didn't have this power back when she fought Princesses Celestia and Luna, otherwise it was possible she would have won that battle, and even Fluttershy was surprised by what they were seeing at the moment.

"I'll explain later. For now, let's get out of here... I think Monstro is going to hurl soon!" Sombra replied, because they had fought in the whale's stomach, meaning there was a chance it was going to be sick, and if that was the case the group had a single chance to get out of here with their ship, and as they turned to leave she made sure to pick up Pinocchio and Jiminy, "And we'll get Geppetto as well."

The others nodded as they quickly made their way back to the whale's mouth, where they found that Geppetto was totally stunned by what was happening to Monstro, though upon hearing that they were leaving, along with the fact that he was coming with them, he collected his fishbowl, and the fish inside it, along with a few possessions before catching up to the group. With both the father and son with them Sora found a way to access the Gummi Ship and warped them all aboard it without delay, where he rushed to the pilot's seat as everyone else got ready, as Sombra could tell the spell wearing off as everyone took their seats. Since the newcomers didn't have seats, and there wasn't time to get into the kitchen or even the private world, Sombra weaved her magic into a sphere around them, one that would keep them safe for the first part of their exit, before bracing herself as the time spell came to an end. Such a thing was followed by Monstro sneezing with enough force to send them flying out of his mouth, where Sora made sure to activate the flight system once they were clear of the whale and had stopped moving, before setting a course for Traverse Town.

Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant agreed with him, as it would be wise to drop Geppetto and Pinocchio off in a safe haven and Traverse Town would welcome them with ease when they arrived, though it only made them wonder what they might discover in the very near future.

Heartless: Summons and Cups

Geppetto and Pinocchio were, to say the least, surprised when they found that the Gummi Ship was able to fly through space with ease, that Sora was a good pilot despite only having started not all too long ago, and, which seemed to be the most important thing right now, the fact that Sombra's cooking was to die for. Sombra had the feeling that it was due to the fact that Geppetto must have started to starve by the time they arrived in Monstro, so this was heaven compared to what he had experienced in the past, to the point where he was on his second plate while the others were on their first. Of course she had assumed that a puppet wouldn't need food, only to find that Pinocchio could, in fact, eat like a normal person and just rolled with it, because at this point the worlds couldn't surprise her with anything else, letting the puppet boy munch on some of the food as well. Geppetto did have to ask about Traverse Town, where Sombra told them it was a place for those who lost their worlds, like the one he and his son came from, and that they didn't have to worry about housing, since the town seemed to expand whenever new residents arrived, so all they had to do was find their new residence upon landing and the pair would be able to continue with their lives.

It was obvious that some of the concepts were too much for Geppetto to understand, though he understood that he and his son would be safe, which was the key piece of information he needed to know, but instead of taking someone's room the old man decided to sleep in the living area.

Following their escape from Monstro, and collecting two temporary passengers, it didn't take them too long to find their way back to Agrabah, only for Sora to find that the ship had a system that allowed him to warp them to worlds they had been to before, causing them to wonder why Cid didn't explain all of this when he installed it. A few seconds later everyone found that the Gummi Ship entered the Warp Space that the systems used, though while it was quicker than normal flying Sora discovered that it would still take an hour or two before they arrived at Traverse Town. Sombra had to assume that it was based on where they were in relation to their destination, so the further away they were the longer it would take to warp to a familiar place, leading to her spending some more time in the training area, using their new spell to slow her training dummies. She had to admit that the Stop spell was incredibly useful, as she could imagine ways to use it in combat and boost their already considerable battle power to new heights, even though it made her wonder about the higher tiers they might be able to unlock in the near future.

Other than that there was nothing else interesting going on until they returned to Traverse Town, where Sora warped all of them down to the town and they found that there was a new house near Cid's shop, which seemed to be modeled after Geppetto's shop, causing the pair to thank the group, Pinocchio even handing Sora a stone of some kind, before heading inside.

With that done Sora looked over the stone, which seemed to have some magic inside it, causing him to hand it to Sombra as they walked over to Merlin's place, because he recalled that the Fairy Godmother would be able to awaken the power inside stones like this. Sombra nodded and reminded him that they had acquired one sometime ago, the earthy one that Leon had given them while they learned about the bell and Traverse Town's Keyhole, so now they had two, though she also knew that Sora was the only one that seemed to have the power to use that power. The reason for such a thought was due to the fact that she was sure Genie might have given Sora a tiny bit of his now weakened power in the hope that he would be summoned to do battle with the Heartless, to help them find Jasmine, before Fluttershy pulled out a pair of special looking pages. She told them that one of her rabbits was actually with her nearly all the time, in fact Sombra could see 'Squeak', as the shy one called the light gray critter that wore a red cape and a small red hat, in her shadow, and he went out to acquire items from all of the chests they either ignored or passed by without opening them, and the pages came from two of them.

Such a thing meant they would also stop at the dalmatians place to drop off the puppies, as it looked like Squeak had an item to send whatever he found to their private world, where Radiant usually sorted them and let Fluttershy deal with the puppies when they were discovered.

Upon their arrival in Merlin's place, who was happy to see them since it meant there might be something he could do for them, Sora pulled out the gems, after Sombra gave both to him before entering the house, and the Fairy Godmother got to work, using her magic to awaken the slumbering individuals inside them. One of them was supposed to be a powerful heroic lion, while the other was supposed to be a small elephant that had long ears, something that only made Sombra wonder what sort of powers they might have, before Fluttershy pulled out the pair of pages. Sora was the one who ended up checking out the book as Merlin magically mended the pages into the binding, where he vanished in the blink of an eye and caused everyone to glance at the wizard for a moment, who informed them that Sora must have been teleported into the world that was contained inside the book. He studied it for a time and told everyone else that everything seemed to be fine, they just had to give him some time since the boy was interacting with the residents of the world, causing the rest of the group to spread out and wait for Sora to return, though Fluttershy headed out to return the puppies.

It took some time for Sora to return from the magical book, though when he did he seemed incredibly happy, detailing how he was talking with a bunch of animals that were like humans, including 'Winne the Pooh', or 'Pooh' as he was called, before handing over a third gem to the Fairy Godmother, which contained a young deer.

"Not to sound rude, but... only one of those three sound useful." Riku remarked, as the lion sounded like something that would be useful in a fight, if they found an area where they needed aid, or maybe there were far too many enemies for all of them to take on, while the other two almost seemed like a waste of time.

"Well, that's why Merlin has a practice area for us to use." Sora replied, where the wizard nodded his head and tapped a foot on the ground, letting the platform lower down from the ceiling so they could get on it, causing him to smile at his friend for a moment as everyone else got ready for his plan.

What they discovered was that all Sora had to do to summon one of the creatures he was now linked with was hold one of his hands to his heart before doing a certain motion with his Keyblade that seemed to be unique to each summon, and it wasn't long before an adult lion appeared near him. The beast attacked the furniture that was around them, though his true power, as they could tell it was male by the mane he had, came from his powerful roar that shook the area and hurt all of his enemies, meaning he could cover two types of damage for the time he was with them. The second one was the small elephant, that seemed to be wearing a hat of some kind and a neck frill from what Riku said was the circus, though his ears allowed the beast to fly a little and made him a mount for Sora, to aid him in battle. Once that was done he tried the third one, a young deer who seemed far too friendly to be useful in battle, though it seemed like he gained power as Sora took down enemies, eventually allowing him to condense the power into items, either healing orbs or even items for Radiant to use in her work.

After testing out the new summons, which Sora might use from time to time, Merlin informed them that Leon had left the town for a time, heading to an arena of sorts before he wanted to test his skills against strong opponents, something that made most of them interested in heading back to Phil and seeing what he had to offer them.

It took them some time to get back to the Coliseum, since Sora figured that warping there when they were so close was a bad idea, though when they did so everyone was surprised to see that no one was outside the area that Phil was no doubt working in, and, sure enough, found that the short figure was working on something.

"Hey kids. You here for the games?" Phil asked, though he took one look at Riku, noticed that he was part of the group, and just added him to the list of who was part of their party, not even asking questions at this point, which told Sombra that the satyr was still interested in her for some odd reason.

"We heard about them and came to compete." Radiant replied, because this would be a good chance for them to improve their teamwork, plus gain any rewards that might help them tackle the dangers that the other worlds might throw at them when they arrived to tackle whatever villains might be there.

"Good, because I have two cups you can enter right now: the 'Phil Cup' and the 'Pegasus Cup'." Phil stated, where Sombra and the others realized that the first one had to be the easiest of them all, meaning most of them didn't need to enter it at all, but someone should since Phil might give them a hard time if they decided to skip one of the cups, "Now, both of them have nine seeds, nine rounds that you'll have to fight in... Hades has been providing plenty of challengers, though I can't figure out where he'd getting them... but I can't let all seven of you enter at the same time. Would make things far too easy for you. So, why don't I split you into two teams and you can tell me which one will enter which cup?"

Sora thought that it was a good idea, that way in case they were separated into two groups they would be able to work as a team, even separated, where Phil told them that him, Donald, and Goofy would be one team with Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant serving as the second, while Riku could work with both. He made sure that they knew the new rule that was being created for them, that both teams had to complete a cup, as Hades assured him that there would be enough foes for multiple cups to be held in a row, before he allowed them to access the next challenge. Sombra was, of course, okay with this turn of events, because if both of them were required to tackle the same cup before moving on that meant she could farm hearts without having to do much, and she found that most of her group was okay with this as well, because Fluttershy was still nervous. Riku was fine with this as well, because he was the newcomer and needed to prove himself to be worthy in Phil's eyes, causing the satyr to nod his head before telling Sombra's group to get ready for the Phil Cup, all while Sora's sat in the stands, as he realized that having Riku in both teams meant he'd tell the others about the enemies they'd be facing, so this cut part of the process out.

When it came time for them to start the Phil Cup, however, Sombra found that their first group of enemies were a couple of Powerwilds and a few Soldiers, where he and Radiant focused on the armored foes while Fluttershy and Riku lashed out at the monkey Heartless. This was Riku's first time seeing the monkey Heartless, since he had missed the visit to Tarzan's world, but even then he realized how to deal with them and struck each of his foes down without delay, releasing hearts that were absorbed by Sombra's darkness as she removed their foes. After that came another pair of Powerwilds, but they were joined by a bunch of Nocturne, which floated around the arena and jumped around before trying to fight them, but none of them were able to fire their spells as Sombra stopped time on all of them, allowing her group to take their floating foes out. Following that was an interesting fight, more monkeys and a pair of feet from the Armor Heartless, though since they were linked to the chest Sombra knew that they'd release no hearts when they were beaten, so she removed them first while her companions dealt with the others.

None of them were even remotely surprised by the next seed being just a couple of Nocturnes, some red and yellow ones, before moving onto the next which was just a single Large Body and a few monkeys, causing Sombra to sigh as she just used her magic to blast these Heartless into oblivion. She knew that this was the beginner cup, it had to be, but even then she wasn't seeing anything that was really helping them out, save for her gathering more and more hearts to increase her power when she felt it was time to do such a thing. Fluttershy was doing just fine, showing that she was getting used to all of the fights they had been in, and the following seed was dominated by her and her alone, which happened to be just a couple of Shadows, a few Nocturnes, and the weak arms of the Guard Heartless taking part in this cup. Sombra realized that the shy one was trying to show them that she could stand on her own hooves and not be a hindrance, which caused her to nod her head for a moment as she and the others resumed helping her, as she was pleased with her progress and was eager to see what she was capable of once this adventure was over.

The remaining seeds were nothing special, just a few more Nocturnes, a couple of Powerwilds, a pair of Large Bodies, the arms and legs again, and then the chest on it's own, all of which they were able to eliminate with far too much ease, but Sombra was overjoyed by the reward for this cup, the Gravity spell.

With the spell in hand Sombra sat on the stands as Sora's team took to the arena, allowing her to study the tome's pages on it for a time, where she could see just how to use it in combat and even in the actual world, like lowering floating items down to where they were standing. While she read the pages her darkness captured the hearts that were freed and just added them to her ever growing collection, since right now she really didn't need the power boost from them, but figured it was best to keep them on hand if she ever needed to beat someone stronger than her. She honestly couldn't believe that both of the spells she had been interested in had been given to them so easily, one to control time and one to wield the power of gravity, causing her to smile as she observed the ongoing battles, eagerly awaiting their chance to fight once more as she braced herself for the second tournament. Part of her also had to admit that Sora's group was doing well on your own, in fact she was sure that they would be able to defend themselves against their enemies if they were forced to split up, which likely made Sora and Riku happy.

The Pegasus Cup, as she discovered, started off interesting with several Ghosts, a few Winged Soldiers, and even a couple of Bandits, causing Sombra to step forward with purple magic, looking nearly identical to her new Stop magic, around her hands as she waved them at their enemies. Such a thing caused the magic to wash over their enemies and forced them down into the arena's floor, crushing them under the weight of her power, and when Radiant and Riku attacked the group of Heartless they were untouched by her power. With that in mind they moved into the following seeds, finding that the next was Bandits and Barrel Spiders with a few Shadows, enemies that all four of them tore through with ease, before having to fight more spider Heartless, the two types of Large Bodies, and several more Nocturnes. Sombra decided to have a bit of fun as she touched a few enemies and then activated her Gravity spell, crushing them with the pure weight of gravity as a grin appeared on her face, as she was enjoying the new magic and couldn't wait until they found the upper tiers of both this and the Stop spell.

Other than those enemies there wasn't much variety until they got near the end of the cup, fighting three of the Black Fungus Heartless, before Sombra grinned as they reached the final battle of the cup, which seemed to be them against both Leon and Yuffie.

"Sombra, I had a feeling you'd reach this point in no time." Leon said, where he shifted his stance for a moment and held his gunblade at the ready, while at the same time Yuffie held one of her throwing stars in her hand, causing the others to get ready for the battle as well, "Come. Let us see how you have improved since our first battle."

Sombra said nothing as she rushed forward and swung her scythe, finding that this time around Leon swung his weapon and blocked the attack before it could reach him, while at the same time Radiant and Fluttershy moved on Yuffie, leaving Riku to join her as they pressed the assault. Leon seemed to approve of this change, even though it meant he had to focus on two foes instead of one, because while he had fought Sombra while she was joined by an inexperienced Sora, who was far better than he was a week or two ago, this time both she and her companion were skilled in the art of fighting. This time around she had more spells than before as well, so when Leon used his fireball on her, intending on blowing both of them away to claim the advantage, Sombra slowed it with a quick spell as Riku flanked him and kicked their foe right in the chest, knocking him back. While that happened it was far to easy to see that Yuffie wasn't having any luck either, as both Fluttershy and Radiant were keeping her pinned down, the former using her barrier magic to keep her separated from her friend while a few arrows were provided by Radiant to keep the ninja moving.

In the end Sombra knocked both warriors out of the arena, realizing that they were holding back for some reason, and sat in the stands as Sora's team got ready to fight, as this was a good way to relax before having to worry about whatever the future had to throw at them, even though she was eager to see what the next world might throw at them when they finally reached it.

Heartless: Under the Sea

After taking care of business in the Coliseum, allowing them to grow as a team and as a group, everyone returned to the ship as Sora warped them back to Agrabah before blasting off in the direction they had started in before Monstro surprised them and swallowed everyone for a time. Radiant and Fluttershy spent their time in the other dimension, the former working with all of the kobolds that were now living there as she started to turn all of the materials she had been given into items they might be able to use, as she had talked with a Moogle back in Traverse Town during their time there. Fluttershy continued to work in the garden she was growing, where Sombra confirmed that somehow growing things and harvesting them gave her more experience and helped her become more like the others, 'leveling up', as she called it, to match the pace that the rest of the team had set. In addition to that Sombra found that Squeak worked as Fluttershy had told them, he looted chests and gave the pair everything he found during their visits to the various worlds, allowing the pair to sort out the treasure so they could be more ready for whatever the future held for them.

Sombra, on the other hand, simply resumed her training with Riku and her own magical training, the latter involving her getting more comfortable with the new types of magic she had discovered so far, tapping into how to wield the power of time and gravity until they were second nature to her. Of course it wouldn't be that simple, she knew that much without being told, but it was a worthwhile goal to have for herself, mastering the lowest tier of spells they had discovered so she could cast them without a second thought, literally just think about it and loose the spell in question. That seemed to be possible for the likes of Fire and Blizzard, the elemental spells, but mastering time and gravity magic was definitely harder than she was expecting, which was good for her since she felt that having things too easy would just be boring. She also made sure to change up the abilities of the training dummies, effectively making them so they could move like their foes so she and the others could have a challenge, which Riku, at the very least, seemed to appreciate.

During some of their breaks Sora also joined in on the training, either clashing with Riku like old times or just standing by his friend's side as both of them rushed Sombra, something that made her happy since it meant both were using their training from the Coliseum to the fullest, meaning they'd be ready for the next world.

While Sombra dealt with her body's new feminine changes, which Radiant had told her about so she could be prepared for the future, she did notice that Riku like to glance her way every now and then while they were traveling through space, like he was actually crushing on her and had no idea how to say anything about it to her. One thing he asked her was how to use the Darkness without being overtaken by it, as he noticed shadowy bits following Sombra and assumed that she had some sort of power that the others didn't know about, causing her to sigh as she agreed to give him some pointers. While she had an unfair advantage over everyone else, due to her birth nature as an umbrum, she had learned how to channel and use her powers as if she were a normal pony, mastering them to the point where she had nothing to fear from the Darkness, and a few of the minor lessons could be passed onto Riku with ease. There were other things she could tell him, about how to use the Darkness without it corrupting you, but decided that, for the time being, they would focus on building his resistances so when she reached the true lessons he'd be able to keep up with her training.

Other than that there wasn't much else to do, where Sombra decided to practice a few of the new dishes she had found in the cook books they had been given, some of which she could actually make with the ingredients on hand, and, much to her surprise, the others seemed to like everything she made. She knew that her skills weren't the best in comparison to those of their home world, those chosen to be grand chefs and whatnot, but it was still a surprise to see them like what she made, even dishes she was experimenting with to see what worked and what didn't. Of course she found that using a number of items from the garden made things taste slightly different from what she was expecting, in fact they tasted far better than she was expecting, and found that it only made Fluttershy tell her that she'd make sure she had everything she might need in the future. That, of course, meant that anything and everything that could be planted would be added to her various farms, to be grown and then harvested to be placed on the table at some point, where Sombra decided not to get in her way, as it was actually nice to prepare dishes like this.

Eventually, after another few days, they reached their destination, a new world that seemed to be entirely underwater, a fact they confirmed because it looked like there was an underwater kingdom and the area around it seemed to be in some sort of cave system, or maybe that was just the style of the world from space's perspective.

"Okay, problem... how do we land in the sea?" Sora asked, coming to a stop in the normal space he usually stopped in as they approached a new world, because unlike all of the other worlds they had visited this one seemed like it would be far too dangerous for them, especially since none of them could breathe underwater.

"Simple, you teleport us down like normal." Donald replied, causing everyone to glance at him like he had gone mad, since that seemed like a horrible idea since they had no idea where the safe area was resting, meaning they might get seriously hurt if they did what he was suggesting, before the duck pointed at one of the controls, "The Gummi Ship comes equipped with a device that provides a magical shield that allows us to integrate with the residents of a world... if we don't change, then that means we're just fine with our current forms."

"Why are we learning about this now!?" Sombra remarked, as this seemed incredibly important to know about, especially since it seemed like a way to hide themselves when they visited the various worlds, and yet here the duck was, keeping information from them, making her wonder if she would take away his dessert again.

"It wasn't important before, now it is. Simple as that." Donald stated, as if that solved everything, when it most certainly did not in the eyes of everyone else, causing Sombra to look at the Scanner for a moment and found that it had a hand like a clock, currently pointing at 'Transform' that had a glowing light above it, "The pointer will tell us if a world needs us to disguise ourselves, so we can be prepared for whatever our new forms are and not be freaked out."

Everyone glanced at each other for a moment before telling Sora to do it, where he nodded his head, activated the mode that would keep the ship hidden, and then warped them down to the world's surface, or what counted as it's surface this time around, all while everyone braced themselves accordingly. Sure enough they warped down into the sea, deeper than what all of them were expecting, though everyone ended up missing the majority of their clothing for some odd reason, a reason that became known to Sombra as she found that they could breathe underwater just fine. She then found that all of them had changed, as Sora's lower body had been replaced by that of a blue dolphin, complete with the dorsal fin, while Donald's lower body was that of an octopus and Goofy was a turtle with his head, though while Sora seemed happy with this it was clear that the duck wasn't pleased. Sombra found that she, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Riku were sort of the same to Sora, their lower bodies had been replaced by fish tails, though while Riku's was dark it was easy for Sombra to see that hers, Radiant's, and Fluttershy's tails were the same color as their actual tails, plus their bodies were different, as their chests and faces were tanned, like Sora's.

The downside was that none of them really knew how to use their new bodies, even though they could guess how to move by just swimming around the area that was around them, an area carved out by the currents of the sea no doubt, and as they moved around Sombra found that she and the other Equestrians were missing their horns and wings, no doubt to help them blend in better.

"You know, this isn't too bad." Sora commented, though as he did his best to swim around, while Donald sunk and Goofy moved through the water, Sombra noticed one last thing, she and the other girls had what appeared to be seashells for bras, her and Fluttershy having larger shells than Radiant.

In that moment they found a red haired girl, with a green lower body, swimming towards them with a yellow fish and a small red crab following her, the crab calling the girl 'Ariel', though the newcomers stopped when they saw the group and Ariel seemed far too curious for her own good. She seemed far too trusting as well, that much Sombra could tell, and while both Flounder, the yellow fish, and Sebastian, the crab, seemed unwilling to place their trust in some newcomers they had only just encountered, which Sombra agreed with. As she gracefully swam around them, however, Sombra and the others knew that they must have been swimming away from potential enemies, as one could feel the Heartless that were coming and the others knew to trust her feelings, but Ariel's studies caused them to focus on her. Fluttershy told her that they were from another sea, one that was different from the one they were now in, though in response to that Ariel asked them to tell her all about their old home, and, upon seeing how bad some of them were swimming, even offered to teach everyone how to swim in exchange for that information.

Sebastian wasn't too pleased with this idea, and stated that 'King Triton' wouldn't be happy either, but Ariel did it anyway and the two sea creatures beside her helped her out, meaning she had to be a princess in the underwater kingdom that was part of this world. They taught the group how to rise and dive, moving with the currents, and Ariel even showed off how a mermaid should move, since she thought the boys were merman and the girls were mermaids, causing them to do as she did to make sure they understood how to move. Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant had to admit that this was nice, which might be due to the fact that the World had granted them their previous forms and might have left some traces for them to get used to their other new forms, like their new mermaid forms, faster than others should, but they weren't about to complain about this. To prove that they were able to swim normally everyone had to chase Flounder and catch him, and when one was done they swam off to the side, where Ariel was waiting, and watched as the others did the same thing in no time, proving that Sora and Riku were also fast learners as well.

That was followed by a number of yellow jellyfish Heartless coming at them, causing Ariel's group to swim away before the Sea Neons reached them, though as the others readied their weapons Sombra decided to do something different, due to the fact that using a scythe in this world seemed like a hard thing to do. Her plan was to use magic, plain and simple, so when one of the new Heartless came at her she swam off to the side and loosed a fireball right into the side of it, finding that her spell wasn't extinguished by the water that was around them, slamming into the creature and weakening it so one of the others could take it out. Riku was the one that came to her aid in fully taking down her targets, noticing which foe she was interested in and rushing at them at the same time that the spell left her hand, allowing them to tear through the Heartless as her darkness seized the freed hearts. Radiant was in the same boat as Sombra, her bow didn't seem to be the best option right now, so she focused on using her Keyblade, just like Fluttershy did, all while Goofy spun around with his shield on his back as Donald fired spells at will, allowing them to eliminate the group of Heartless.

When the coast was clear, and they were sure of that, Sora called out for Ariel's group to join them, as it was safe, causing the trio to come out from the side area that they had hidden themselves in and swam up to the group as everyone put their weapons away for the time being.

"Wow, that was... SO AMAZING!" Ariel commented, showing them that she must have been watching them, hence why she was able to join them so quickly after Sora called for her to come out, while at the same time it looked like her fish friends were either indifferent towards this discovery or were holding back their excitement, before she regained herself after seeing the look Sebastian was giving her, "Sorry. We were chased here by those monsters... wait, what if they decide to head to the palace? We had better head back and check on daddy."

"Considering what the Heartless can do to people, we should check on your father." Riku said, because he realized that if the King of the Seas knew that they had saved the day, by saving his daughter and repelling the Heartless, they might be able to deal with this world's Keyhole in no time and continue to the next world without delay, not that he hated this world since it was rather nice.

Sebastian seemed nervous about the idea, bringing strangers to the King of the Seas, though he couldn't fault their power and decided to trust them, which was why he and Ariel started to retrace the path they used to flee from the Heartless, all while making sure Sora and the others knew that they would be defending them in case the creatures returned. Sombra noted that there were golden trident markings on a number of walls and asked about them, where Ariel informed them that they were supposed to lead the residents of the kingdom to her father's palace, so if they ended up getting separated everyone would know where to meet up. It was an interesting thing to discover, though for the time being they focused on swimming through the water, enjoying themselves as Riku told Ariel that they weren't used to waters like this, which she and her companions seemed to believe as they continued to swim through the sea. In addition to that they found a fair number of Sea Neons that popped into existence, causing Ariel to pull back as the group dealt with them over and over again, where Sombra had to assume they'd give her some sort of water based ability, given the world they're in.

While they swam, however, Sombra felt a familiar tug, which seemed to be identical to the fragmented heart pieces she had discovered so far, informing her that another one had to be somewhere in this world, causing her to wonder which emotion or feeling it might be this time around.

When Ariel brought them to the palace, which was an imposing structure that seemed right at place under the water with it's underwater designed pillars and spiral dome, the group swam there for a moment, taking in the sights while seeing a path leading right to the entrance. In addition to that Sora pointed out another new Heartless, a Soldier that wore what appeared to be sea based armor, making this type a 'Sea Soldier', especially since they carried tridents, though that didn't stop the group from parrying their attacks and taking them out. The oddest thing was that there were a number of Ghosts in the area as well, though Sombra guessed that it made sense due to the fact that they couldn't breathe like the rest of the Heartless, or at least she assumed so since this was a first for them. Either way the group dealt with the Heartless that were getting ready to attack the palace and cleared the rest of the area, before glancing around for a time to make sure that no more were coming this way, causing Ariel to head towards the palace with everyone following after her.

She brought them right to the throne of the palace, which seemed to be a conch shell modified into a throne and raised so the King could look out over all that were around him, while the King seemed to be a buff and imposing merman with a long white beard and carried a golden trident that allowed him to annihilate a group of Sea Soldiers in an instant.

"That was too close. As long as I have my trident, the greatest weapon in the sea, I will not tolerate those creatures inside my palace!" the merman, King Triton, stated as he lowered his trident, where he floated there for a moment as he made sure there were no more Heartless coming at his domain, though once he felt everything was secure he sat back down and relaxed a tiny bit, and just a tiny bit since he was still serious, while keeping his trident at the ready, before he looked at them for a moment and frowned, "Oh, Ariel... when will you learn that it's dangerous out there? There are strange creatures out there, and I fear for your safety now more than ever before. Now, who are your companions?"

"I am called Sombra, your Majesty, and these are my friends Riku, Sora, Fluttershy, Radiant Hope, Goofy, and Donald," Sombra replied, bowing her head slightly as she found that the others did the same, no doubt allowing her to take the lead this time around, as while two of them knew of her former position the others didn't know her past, something she would like to keep that way, before raising her head again, "We're actually here to fight the Heartless, those 'strange creatures' you mentioned, by tracking down their source and taking them out before they do whatever it is that they're trying to do... and, from what we can tell, their plans are to hurt people, take their hearts, and find a special secret area within the seas."

One thing Sombra had convinced the others to do was not mention the Keyhole by name, just in case the people they spoke with got annoyed with them or used them to seek it out, and while she danced around the topic, in a sense, she could see that King Triton seemed to have an idea of what she was talking about.

"I see. Well then, you have my thanks for keeping my daughter safe from those 'Heartless'. Sebastian, why don't you show them around a little, while I secure the palace?" King Triton said, where it was clear that while he might have an idea of what the group was looking for, he also didn't want to mention it in front of Ariel, so he couldn't get mad at them since Sombra had keep the information to herself, "Ariel, we'll talk once I'm sure we're safe."

As Ariel nodded the group bowed their heads once more and followed her into the rest of the palace, knowing that it was only a matter of time until they encountered the villain of this world, tore their schemes apart, and found the Keyhole, so for the time being they decided to relax a little and followed the lobster as they wondered what else this world might throw at them next.

Heartless: Sea Problems

While Ariel took over showing them around the palace, which was really bare since it was underwater and didn't have all of the items that Sombra had seen back on her home world, Sebastian told them that he needed to have a word with the King and departed without delay. Sombra, of course, made sure to link a bit of her darkness to him so she could listen into the conversation, where she learned that there was a good reason for him accompanying Ariel during her excursions, the crab was trying to track down where the Heartless were coming from. Sebastian informed King Triton that the Heartless were coming from Ursula's grotto, informing her of who they needed to go after to save this world from being consumed, due to the fact that beating someone who was endangering a world usually revealed the Keyhole. Apparently there was some sort of history between King Triton and Ursula, a 'sea witch' as she was called, which was likely the latter trying to take the place and power of the former, something that interested Sombra a little, before she focused on Ariel and the others.

Eventually they found that the mermaid wanted to be alone for a few moments and that she swam back to her father's throne room, though it wasn't even a few minutes before she came swimming out with tears in her eyes, meaning that the conversation must have gone south in record time, and that Ariel told them of a place she liked to visit, no doubt to help calm her down.

Since there were Heartless out there Sora told Ariel to show them the way, but to fall back to safety in case they were attacked on the way, causing her and Flounder, who seemed to go everywhere that the princess went, to nod as she swam away from her father's palace. Sure enough they found more Sea Soldiers, Sea Neons, and the oddly placed Ghosts roaming around the front of the unguarded palace, where Sombra raised her hands and struck several of them with fireballs so the others could take her targets down, while Fluttershy and Radiant slashed through their foes, freeing more hearts for Sombra to capture. Sora and Riku swam around a few other Heartless and struck them down before they could retaliate, leaving the way for Donald to use his magic to strike those that Goofy stunned, reminding Ariel as to why she had brought them to her father in the first place, they could deal with the Heartless. As they made sure that the area was clear of enemies, Sombra noticed that Fluttershy's treasure looter, Squeak, was swimming around and looting chests, with what appeared to be a bubble of air around him, meaning they wouldn't have to worry about it while they helped Ariel get over her argument with her father.

As they left the palace grounds, and started to follow Ariel to her grotto, as that was what she called the place that was her private area, Sora found a few more groups of Heartless that were made up of the same enemies they had encountered so far, but this just allowed them to get more used to their new bodies before entering her private grotto.

"So, what do you guys think?" Ariel asked, showing them the inside of a large cavern that had a hole in the ceiling that let light into the area, while there were shelves carved out of the stone and had an assortment of items resting on them, as in containers that had forks, knives, spoons, pieces of a ship that Ariel could haul off on her own, bits of jewelry, and all sorts of items she must have pilfered from somewhere, "Flounder and I collected all of these items from the various ship wrecks that we've found over the years... Sebastian knows about this place, but doesn't really approve since he's supposed to be keeping me from anything human related, or even humans in general. So we collect things, to stave off my curiosity and keep me around daddy's palace... but it's never enough, because someday, I don't know when, I'm going to find out what's out there, beyond the place I've called home. I... want to see other worlds. Does that seem strange?"

"Not at all. Everyone longs for such a thing... I did once, not that long ago." Sora admitted, as he and Riku had sought to find a way to leave their island, and the main island, to see what else was out there among the stars, and now both he and his friend were seeing worlds that neither of them had imagined when they and Kairi first thought about this sort of thing, so he understood Ariel quite well.

"Sora's right, everyone longs to leave home at some point and see more of the world." Riku added, though at the same time he and Sombra glanced at something that seemed important, a cyan blue indent that looked like a trident head could fit inside it, which seemed far different from everything else they had seen so far, meaning it might be what they were looking for, "It will either pass with time, or you'll fulfill your dreams."

"Still, it isn't safe out there, not with the Heartless swimming around... if you want something new, maybe we can stick to an area near the palace?" Fluttershy asked, as she could tell that Ariel seemed to want to go exploring while she cooled down from her argument with her father, maybe find something new to add to her collection, and it was easy for them to see that she seemed pleased with the idea.

Ariel and Flounder knew of another ship that she wanted to investigate, so the pair swam over to the area in question as Sombra, Sora, and the others focused on tearing through the Heartless that happened to be in the way, since more and more happened to be showing up. With the number of Keyblade wielders among their number it was easy to get rid of the Heartless, allowing Sombra to capture their freed hearts as she blasted her targets with magic, even pressing one against the floor with a bit of gravity so Riku could take it down. While they did so Ariel revealed that the best way to get to the ship in question was to ask one of the dolphins if they would be willing to take them to the ship, something Fluttershy was able to do with ease, causing the princess and her fish friend to look at her in disbelief, as if they weren't expecting her to do anything. The dolphin in question took several trips to get everyone to the area in question, pushing through a strong current to get them to their destination, and once everyone was together Radiant found that it was an old ship, since it was far more damaged from being under the water for so long.

There was nothing around the ship for them to focus on, so they swam into the ship's storage area without delay and found that a good majority of it's goods were gone, destroyed by age most likely, though there was an elegant chest that seemed important and drew their attention to it. While they did so a large shark burst through a glass window and tried to bite at them, though Fluttershy swam up to it, tapped it on the nose, and started talking to it, where Ariel found that the shark seemed to falter under the other mermaid's gaze, as if it was listening to her. Thanks to her efforts she was able to convince the shark to back off and go do something else with it's time, allowing them to focus on the task at hand as they returned to the chest, though as it opened they found that the item inside it happened to be a crystalline trident head, just like the shape in Ariel's grotto. Ariel took it before the others did and started to head back to her collection, because there was nothing else in the ship for her to collect, due to a good portion of it being wiped out in the crash and the rest taken by time, and to leave they used an underwater vent that ended up pushing a large chest out of the way.

The chest had an odd material inside it, a light green item that was either a gem or a piece of metal that radiated power, an item Radiant collected as they headed inside the grotto and Ariel slipped the trident head into the indent, like the two had been made for each other, and yet Sombra could feel something happen, a seal being undone, and realized that they might not need to beat Ursula after all.

"Ariel, you have disobeyed me once again!" an angry voice said, where they found that King Triton was entering the grotto with Sebastian swimming right behind him, meaning the crab told his boss about what they were doing and had brought him to the one place that Ariel had thought to be her own little sanctuary, before he laid eyes on the crystalline trident.

Sombra, sensing that he was about to get angry, readied her magic and formed a barrier that King Triton didn't see as he leveled his trident with the crystalline one, blasting it with the energy he had used to destroy those Heartless earlier, which caused a bunch of smoke to emerge as Ariel swam out of her own grotto, completely angry with her father.

"Young man, I know that you and your friends are not from another part of the seas, much less another ocean, but rather you are from a number of different worlds... none of you know your dorsal fin from your tail." King Triton stated, which was a first for the group, that someone would actually figure that piece of information out despite the fact that Donald and Goofy's forms should have given them away long before they reached this point, before he pointed at Sora and Riku for a moment, "The two of you must be Keybearers, at the very least, which means that you're looking for the 'Keyhole'... let me tell you something that all people like you should know: one MUST NOT meddle in the affairs of other worlds, which is what you have done several times no doubt."

"To be fair, King Triton, that's how we find the Keyholes. We MUST meddle, because that allows us to bring down villains, which, in turn, reveals the Keyhole." Sombra remarked, though at the same time Triton found that her magic was resting around the indent, which was shimmering as his eyes widened, confirming that this was, in fact, the Keyhole, but there was something blocking the lock from appearing before them, "The Keyhole is right here, waiting to be sealed, but it has yet to appear before us... let us help you beat Ursula, before she does something drastic, then we'll seal the Keyhole and be on our way."

"And you can trust Sombra... when she makes a promise, such as this, you can be sure she'll keep it." Radiant added, as she knew her more than anyone else, had seen most of her acts and knew that, even as the Monarch of Shadows, she was known to uphold the vast majority of her promises, even if they turned out to not be how someone might envision, but there was no reason for King Triton to know that.

King Triton stared at them for a few moments, clearly debating whether or not to believe them, before telling Sebastian to bring them to Ursula's grotto as he dealt with Ariel, though as that happened Sombra weaved a bit more power into her barrier and kept the Keyhole locked up tight. With that done the group followed the crab out of the grotto and swam over to the area that their target's lair was in, which involved going back to where the ruined ship was resting, which caused the crab to move around part of another fallen ship and activated something that lowered part of the rock wall to reveal a new path. Of course there were more Heartless in the new cave, which made sense due to the fact that they were heading right to where the villain of this world was resting, though that didn't stop them from tearing through all of the sea type Heartless as Sombra collected their hearts. After taking care of the first couple of groups of Heartless they found the end of the cavern, a round underwater chamber with a magical cauldron right in the center of it, where everyone found a fat octopus lady, similar to Donald without the duck parts, glaring at them from a conch that seemed to be her bed, though she was definitely annoyed with them.

What was interesting was that instead of her talking to them, in an attempt to inform them of her plans or just to annoy all of them before the battle started, they discovered that she attacked them straight away, where it looked like she had two eels swimming around her that helped her with battle.

Based on what Sombra could tell the eels seemed to be her main weapons as she spun around and used her tentacles to attack those that were around her, where everyone avoided Ursula's attacks and struck her, only to find that their attacks just seemed to slip off her body without doing any damage to her. Sombra found that there was a faint magical barrier around Ursula's body, something that was linked to the cauldron based on what she could see, to which she blasted it a few times with a couple of fireballs, which seemed to shock the sea witch in the process. With that information in mind the way to beat her became clear, all Sombra had to do was keep the cauldron interrupted by blasting it every now and then while the others literally beat her up with their weapons, though both Sora and Riku beat the eels up until they fled, which allowed both warriors to focus on Ursula. If she was being honest with herself, Sombra found this to be unsatisfying, the sea witch seemed to have no powers on her own, no when her cauldron was being attacked, and that meant they were able to beat her in no time at all, causing Ursula to dissolve into a dark mist that Sombra scattered, as it would prevent her from returning for some time.

Such a thing meant they were successful, even though she could see that she wasn't the only one disappointed by what had just happened, though as they started to leave Ursula's cave, to give the King the good news, Sombra found that their tomes had a new spell, Thundara, the second tier thunder spell, and a piece of Ansem's report, plus she discovered a third emotional heart fragment, which was curiosity, which she started to claim as soon as she noticed it.

When she touched it, however, Sombra found herself viewing what appeared to be a memory of whoever this fragment, not to mention the others for that matter, belonged to, where the area seemed to be a wasteland, and while she couldn't see who the fragment belonged to she could see someone else. The individual in question was an elderly man who seemed like he was in his seventies or something, yet walked just fine from what she could tell, who wore an interesting and unique set of attire that made him look like he controlled the Darkness, instead of being afraid of it. One thing she noticed was that he held his hands behind his back, either out of respect for someone or just a habit he had never gotten over, but it did look like he was talking to someone in the memory, though whether it was the one the memory belonged to or someone else she had no idea. She couldn't even hear the conversation either, but this did mean that the more pieces she found the more and more she would learn about whoever these fragments belonged to, until she was able to figure out whose heart she was in the process of rebuilding.

After that she snapped back to reality and found that only Riku seemed to have noticed her odd behavior, causing her to shake her head, as now wasn't the time, as she carefully stored this fragment with the other two, giving her more to think about as they swam back to King Triton to tell him what had happened.

King Triton, of course, was surprised by their easy tale of success and hesitated to believe it, though when Sombra told him that Ursula's darkness had been scattered he seemed to believe her, where he joined them in returning to Ariel's grotto and the Keyhole. This time around the item was glowing far more than before, though as the barrier was undone they found that the King raised his trident and temporarily linked it's power with the crystalline head, where they watched as both powers revealed a shimmering blue panel in the space in front of the indent, with the Keyhole on it. Sora raised the Kingdom Key and fired a beam into the Keyhole, locking it and protecting the world from the Heartless, which would make things easier for King Triton since it meant the dark creatures would have a harder time of things, something that seemed to please him. Ariel, on the other hand, was actually sad to see them go, which might be a side effect of her father trying to break her collection like he had tried to do, though she continued to spin and talking about how she was going to travel to other worlds one day, meaning her hope was stronger than her sadness or anger.

Despite everything that had happened, and how annoyed the King had been with them previously, Sora and the others felt that they had made more friends by visiting this world and wished the pair well as they departed, heads held high as they started to leave so they could make their way to the next world and whatever it had to offer them.

While all of this was going on Xigbar stepped out of the Dark Corridor he had used to leave the castle and travel out into the World, appearing in what appeared to be a white ship, similar to their castle, that was lingering in the space between worlds, a research ship that belonged to one of his comrades.

"Vexen, how goes your study of the new Keyblade wielders?" Xigbar asked, speaking to the blond haired individual that was sitting near the window that allowed him to watch the world that he was interested in, or more specifically the group that Xemnas had ordered him to observe, in case they had to use the Replica Program.

"Sit, Xigbar. I imagine that you are weary from your travels." the black robed figure at the table replied, though his eyes and most of his focus were on the world that the group had stopped at, one with mermaids that caused an interesting change in the group he was studying, though as Xigbar took a seat at the table he found a pot of tea and two cups, which meant that Vexen had been expecting company, "The tea is still fresh, in case you are wondering. However, both you and Xemnas will be happy to know that there have been some recent developments: they found one of Sora's friends, the boy named Riku, and it seems that he, too, is a wielder, just like how Radiant is one as well."

"No kidding? That is good news." Xigbar said, where he decided to be polite and poured himself some tea, not his favorite thing to drink if he was being totally honest with himself, but that wasn't why he was here, he wanted to see if there were any developments and this one was massive, as four wielders was far better than two, causing him to take a sip before he noticed a look on Vexen's face, "I take it there is also some bad news?"

"Of course, for every good bit of news comes with a bit of bad news as well: none of the freed hearts have left the worlds they've been to so far." Vexen stated, something that caused him to resist the urge to slam his fist into something or just break something in his annoyance, hence the tea to help him calm down somewhat, which was why he took a long sip as he thought about what Xigbar might say next, "And no, I don't mean the hearts are still on the worlds the wielders have been to... I know the hearts have been freed from the Heartless, but before they get too far they get snatched by some sort of dark power and completely disappear. I have yet to discover what the source of this disturbance is."

"A dark power? What, like Maleficent and her crumbling council?" Xigbar inquired, which would be an easy thing to correct, since all it meant was that the dark witch was calling the hearts back to form new Heartless, though he knew it wasn't that, otherwise Vexen would have said something about her the moment he mentioned the dark power.

"Hardly. That witch and her fractured group are strong, there is no doubt about that, but whoever is doing this has control over hearts themselves... a power I've never seen before." Vexen said, where it was easy for Xigbar to see that not even the greatest researcher in their group knew what was going on, or if he did he had yet to actually say anything about it, but in the following moments he raised a hand and part of the window changed, revealing the three pony girls that were part of the group, "My hunch tells me that one of these three are the key to our problem... take them out and we should be able to undo whatever dark power is stopping the hearts from reaching Kingdom Hearts. Though that raises a question that's been bothering me lately: why haven't you told the others about this yet?"

"Lord Xemnas is hoping that we'll be able to fix this problem before it becomes that much worse." Xigbar replied, which was the truth, both he and their leader wanted to undo the massive problem they had discovered when Xemnas noticed how Kingdom Hearts wasn't adding more hearts to itself, causing him to glance at the images of the trio that seemed to be far more than any of them had thought when they first appeared, "You know that loose lips sink ships, and some of our comrades would cause a panic if they knew about this, which is why we're currently limiting the information to just a few individuals, those who might be able to change the course of this disaster. You've been studying the wielders for a while now... who do you think we should focus on taking out?"

"Now that is an excellent question, one I have pondered since I started my mission." Vexen stated, where a familiar smile appeared on his face, because when he got in the zone there was no stopping him and Xigbar knew that this might be one of those very moments, causing the researcher to focus as his expression almost returned to normal, as there was a glint in his eyes telling Xigbar of his interest in this topic, "One would think that either Sombra or Radiant should be our main targets, because the former seems to be adapting to every type of magic she comes across, though while the latter might be on Sombra's side there is an air of darkness around the latter... however, I believe those thoughts are mistaken. Our target should be the third members of their unique group: Fluttershy. Tell me, Xigbar, what's the best way to hide that you have a dark power that you don't want anyone to see?"

"Act like you aren't important and don't offer much reason for the others to remember you... which, according to the last report you sent, is what she is doing." Xigbar answered, something that caused him to set down his cup as he looked at the images, where his instincts told him that it had to be Sombra, there was something about her that seemed off to him, but at the very least he would present this information to their leader and see what his decision might be, "I'll go tell Lord Xemnas this information at once... I might be back with good news sooner than you think."

Vexen chuckled as he watched Xigbar open a Dark Corridor and disappear, allowing him to turn his focus on the group as they returned to their Gummi Ship and blasted off for the next world, which only made him more interested in what the World might throw at them next when they reached their next destination.

Author's Note

To those curious, I know this isn't how Atlantica ends, but you basically do the same story again in KH2, so I figured I'd change things for the KH1 visit.

Heartless: This is Halloween

After their visit to Atlantica, as that was the name of King Triton's kingdom and was likely the name of the world as a whole, the group returned to the Gummi Ship and departed for the next world, one that happened to be closer to Aladdin's world based on what they found on the scanner. Some of the group were sad to leave their sea bodies behind, as they liked the feeling of just swimming around like a mermaid or merman, while Donald, for example, was glad to be rid of his since he had no love for the half octopus form he had been given. Sombra had to chuckle at his reaction to the others missing their sea bodies, as it was like the duck couldn't believe them at all, though at the same time she had to wonder if more material could be added to the ship and altered to form a swimming pool, one that, combined with special clothing, could mimic the effect of traveling to Atlantica. In the end she decided that she would worry about that later, when they weren't in the middle of a quest to find the last member of Sora and Riku's trio, not to mention stop Maleficent's plans, because while her allies were falling there was no telling what the witch had planned.

For the most part the travel between worlds was exactly the same as before, everyone relaxed for a time and trained when they felt the time was right, while at the same time Sombra made sure all of them had enough food to eat, though this time around Radiant had a few accessories to hand out, to help boost their overall strengths and weaknesses.

Sombra's free time, on the other hand, was spent between her training, relaxing, the various cooking sessions she did, and contemplating the heart fragments she had discovered since she, Radiant, and Fluttershy had started traveling with Sora's group, since they seemed important in some manner. With that in mind she sat on her bed for a moment and caused the three pieces to float in the air in front of her, each one possessing negative energy while representing a certain emotion that wasn't negative in nature, such as wonder and desire, and even curiosity wasn't negative. It caused her to wonder just how many fragments she might find on their travels, before she could finish piecing it together, though part of her focus was on the memory she had witnessed after collecting the third fragment, of the old man that was talking to whoever the various heart pieces belonged to. She thought it was a shame that she could only see a few seconds of a memory, as she was sure that more time would have allowed her to get a feeling as to who the fragmented heart belonged to, before sighing as she returned the pieces to their private storage area in her power for the time being.

She knew there would be time to investigate the fragments in the future, especially when they found the next fragment, as it was easy for Sombra to tell that there were more out there since there were a fair number of emotions, she just had to keep an eye out for them and claim them whenever one revealed itself to them.

One other thing Sombra discovered was that the rest of the group was serious about training all of their skills, because their visit to Atlantica had taught them to know as many skills as possible and everyone made sure there were no gaps in both their defensive and offensive capabilities. Fluttershy and Radiant, for example, spent some time training with Riku, and even Sora when he wasn't flying the ship, using their Keyblades so it became second nature for them, and when it came time to practice with either Donald, Goofy, or even Sombra the pair focused on their unique skills. It was a good way to go about it, as the pair wanted to make sure they were ready to go for when they reached the next world and everyone else wanted to do the same as well, which was why Sombra was willing to push everyone so they could be ready for whatever might be waiting on the upcoming worlds. Such a thing made her pleased that she had added a training area to the ship, as they were making good use of it and would likely continue to do so in the coming days, or even weeks, at least until their adventure finally came to an end.

Eventually they reached the next world that they would have to visit, which appeared to be a large pumpkin that had what appeared to be a scary face carved into it, or an attempt at a scary face, with dark buildings on top and on bottom of it, an interesting thing for sure, while Sombra noticed that this world required new forms.

"Um, this world looks kind of... scary." Fluttershy said, as it reminded her of Nightmare Night, where ponies dressed up in costumes and either went around to houses to get candy or played pranks on each other, called 'tricks', for fun, which was something Rainbow Dash liked since she and Pinkie loved pranks, and this was one holiday that she was somewhat scared of.

"Sure it does, but it also seems interesting." Sora replied, showing that while the world's appearance might be scary, based on what they could see right now, he was sure that they could deal with whatever was down there and not be frightened by the buildings and designs of this world, all while noticing that Sombra seemed perfectly fine, "Come on, let's head down there and see what sort of forms we're going to be given this time."

Radiant talked with Fluttershy for a time, no doubt assuring her that everything would be fine, as Sora brought the ship to a stop and warped them down to the world that was in front of them, causing them to appear in a dead end path leading into a town or village of some kind, and it wasn't long before they discovered their new forms. Sora, for example, was now dressed in black leather with white gloves that had clawed tips, a tiny pair of bat wings on his back, a mask of sorts over his right eye while having an ashen look around his eyes, and his canines were more more pointed, as two could be seen at the ends of his mouth. Donald, on the other hand, was completely covered in bandages and it looked like there was a gap between his stomach and waist, revealing nothing of his insides, while Goofy had a large screw in his head, where his hat would be, his hands and feet were pointed, his clothes were tattered, and he had two different eyes, as one was red while the other seemed to be a spiral. Sombra found it to be an interesting change from what they looked like, in fact this really sold the idea that this world was supposed to be scarier than the others they had been to so far, something that caused her to look at the others and herself to see what their new forms were like.

The first one she spotted was Fluttershy, where the shy one was wearing what appeared to be a charcoal black suit with an open deep red coat on top of it, with white gloves with arcane markings on the back of them, plus a red fedora that had a wide brim and a pair of wire-frame sunglasses. Radiant was next, who seemed to be more like a frost creature now since her entire body was icy blue, almost like her Keyblade, and there were spikes on her shoulders, though the smaller ones on her head formed a miniature crown, while her clothing was more akin to a frozen gown of some kind. Riku seemed to be a werewolf, his hands were claws and had pads on the palms, a perfect cross between human and beast, while both of his feet were more like a wolf's that could walk on two legs, and his fur was a dark silver, though his clothing was tattered in this form. In addition to that she found that Riku also had a bushy wolf tail that was definitely attached to his spine, he wagged it a little to make sure it was actually something he could move, before he raised a hand to his head and found that he not only had wolf ears, which moved like normal, but also a muzzle.

Sombra, however, found that her body was completely armored, and when she summoned a mirror with her magic she discovered that the reality was that she was actually just a suit of armor, shaped to fit her feminine body no less, almost as if she was possessing the armor, while the design seemed to be wolfish in nature, especially with the wolf helm had her dark magic eyes and the dark mist.

"No... nonono... this is worse than I thought!" Fluttershy commented, where they could see that she was freaking out, as if she was afraid of scary things, something Sombra found to be odd since she had worked up the nerve to defend herself against the Heartless, causing her to fell to her knees as the sunglasses fell off, "I... I can't do this..."

As the others turned to her, however, Sombra found that something seized control of Fluttershy entirely, as a pair of fangs appeared in her mouth, her wings became leathery and more like a bat's, and she was sure that her ears became more pointed, it was hard to tell thanks to the hat, though when she stood up and collected her glasses Sombra found that her eyes were crimson red, almost like blood.

"Silly girl. I told you that if you couldn't handle anything you could call on me... guess I'll take over for now." the figure said, where it sounded like Fluttershy, though slightly different based on what the group was hearing, though as she slipped the glasses back into place she found that the others were carefully observing her, "What?"

"What happened to Fluttershy?" Sora asked, though at the same time they glanced around the area and found that it was definitely some sort of scary town and had an interesting atmosphere, totally different from the other worlds they had been to so far, making them eager to see what else the world had to offer them.

"She got scared and shut down, so I took over... without going into too much detail, I'm the 'bat' that's inside her, and I have no name." the figure replied, though instead of using Fluttershy's staff the group discovered that she called forth her Keyblade, meaning she had to be far more confident than her other side was, but as she started to make her way down the street, so they could enter the town, she glanced at them for a few seconds, "However, I think 'Seras' might be a good name... really sets me apart from Fluttershy, don't you think?"

"If that is what you want." Radiant stated, which they found to be quite interesting, there was a second heart inside the shy warrior, another side that none of them had seen until now, something that made Sombra wonder if 'Seras' might aid Fluttershy in the future, to overcome her fears, before she glanced at Riku, "Do you, um, need some help?"

"No. I got this." Riku answered, where he carefully walked forward, letting his new claws touch the ground while he tried to get used to how his new body moved, just like what happened in Atlantica, though he had to admit that he sort of liked how he felt in this form, though when he tried moving faster his tail got in the way and he fell on his rear, causing Sombra to extend a hand to help him back up, "Thanks."

Sombra told him that it was nothing as she showed him a few tricks that she and the other Equestrians had picked up over their time in the World, where Riku, like the student of hers that he was, studied her movements before matching them with his new body, allowing the others to see that the brief lesson had helped him greatly. Once everyone was ready to go, and they were sure of it, they walked forward and passed through the gates, finding a town of terror that seemed to have a celebration of sorts going on, where they found a couple of Ghosts hanging around the town square. Sombra stopped the others from doing anything drastic, as it was clear that they weren't Heartless, rather they seemed to be dolls created by someone in the town, especially with the chain linked to one of the eyes for each one, and as the others looked closely it became clear that she was right. Someone had seen the Heartless, became fascinated with them, and created their own for some reason, but they didn't have hearts, she could feel nothing from them, and before anyone could do anything a short figure in a mayor's suit off to the side, introducing the 'Master of Terror, the King of Nightmares'.

The figure in question, 'Jack Skellington', was a tall figure that seemed to be a skeleton who wore a nice suit, raised out of the well and did a pose as the ghosts raised their hands to him, though Jack didn't seem too impressed by the false group of Heartless and told the Mayor that he was going to talk to the doctor, to get his help in making the group dance. Based on the fact that Jack wanted 'bone chilling terror', and the Mayor mentioning 'Halloween', the Sora and the others quickly understood what this place was, as Riku told the others about the night in question and Seras said it was the same as their own version of the holiday, Nightmare Night. With that information in hand the group decided to follow after Jack, who didn't seem to mind their presence, in fact he seemed distracted by what he was doing, though he was kind enough to open the door for the others to follow him, so they could enter an area that had a set of stairs leading up to a laboratory of sorts. The Doctor, as it turned out, was this old person in a wheelchair that was sitting in front of a large table that had another false Heartless on it, and he was dressed in a white lab coat, though oddly enough he could open his skull, like it was partly a case, to scratch his brain.

Oddly enough, Sombra felt right at home with this world, it was a place of terror and nightmares, despite the celebration atmosphere, and she had a feeling the residents would make her feel right at home if she suddenly decided to live here for the rest of her life.

Jack mentioned the possibility that the guidance system of the ghosts might have been damaged in the 'explosion', which told the group that there must have been a mishap sometime before their arrival, where the Doctor said that such a thing was impossible, his designs and inventions were utterly perfect. Sombra and the others watched as they came up with a way to improve their dolls, the 'Heartless need a heart', which was kind of a weird thing to say since the group knew that the Heartless could be very expressive on their own, so to them there was something else needed, but no one said a word as they watched the pair. The Doctor seemed to think that a heart wasn't complicated at all and they started adding things to make their heart, though to start they needed a container with a lock, a pumping organ that was currently locked, which was where Sora came in as he offered to undo the lock for them since they didn't have the key, something the pair really appreciated, to the point where Jack wanted them to participate in the next Halloween. Before the group could respond to the comment Jack continued with the operation as he and the Doctor moved onto what else was needed for their heart, as in a pulse, mixed with fear, terror, hope, and despair.

When the Doctor threw a switch everyone watched as the false Heartless was shocked to life, as it sat up after the Doctor was done with his part of things, though it ultimately failed and Jack made a sad or shocked pose as it happened, which had to be a common thing, him posing every now and then.

"Maybe we're missing some ingredients... let's try adding 'memory', which should be with Sally." the Doctor said, though as he said that he also called her a useless girl, that he had no idea why he had bothered inventing her in the first place, and left it all in Jack's hands as he went back to his work.

"Sally's most likely in the graveyard. Sora, would you and your friends like to come along?" Jack asked, showing them that he was far nicer than they were expecting him to be, which was actually kind of refreshing, though before they could even answer him everyone heard the Mayor calling out that there was trouble.

The group returned to the town square without delay, with Jack following after them, and they found that the problem was that the Heartless, true Heartless and not the false ones that were being made by the Doctor, were searching the rest of town, looking for targets to claim the hearts of, with the false ones resting on the ground. With that discovery Sombra and the others lashed out at the enemies that were attacking the town, though as that happened she found that Seras was definitely different than Fluttershy, as the other side of the shy one rushed into battle and swung her Keyblade at the Heartless, crushing them with precise attacks. She was definitely not a caster type, like Fluttershy when she used her staff, rather she was closer to Sora, Sombra, and Riku, a melee fighter, pure and simple, and while she fought their enemies Sombra also found that Riku used his empty clawed hand to grab onto his foe and slam them into the ground so he could use his weapon to take it out. In addition to that they found a number of Shadows joining the assault, though they burst into bits of darkness as they were struck, since the smaller Heartless were weaker than all of the other enemies, where all of them found that Jack was greatly impressed by their various skills, and his own skeletal hands knocked his foes back so someone else could knock them out.

Jack lead the way to the graveyard, where they found a girl in a patchwork dress being attacked by more Heartless, more of the Shadows and Ghosts, plus a new one, a mummy type with a skeletal chest and sharpened hands and feet, a Wight as Sombra would call it. These ones were actually quicker than many of the other Heartless, causing Sombra to call on the power of her time magic to slow them down, only to find that Seras and Riku were the first ones to hit those Heartless, all to help cut down on the amount of enemies that were near them. She also found that this form went well with her scythe, as Jack didn't even bat an eye at it as she helped the others tear through their enemies and captured the freed hearts as they entered the air, effectively allowing them to wipe out the Heartless in no time at all. Such a thing caused a ghost dog, or rather a ghostly sheet that came from a dog's grave, called 'Zero' to join them as Sally did the same, revealing that the memory was a special flower, though Jack did ignore her as she tried to tell him that this was a bad idea, causing her to sigh as Jack hurried back to the Doctor.

After the group made sure that Sally was safe, she had an area to hide until the Heartless were taken care of, before they started to head back to the laboratory, only to find a trio of kids, dressed as a witch, a devil, and a skeleton, running off with the heart vessel, causing them to regroup with Jack as they braced themselves to deal with another villain and their dark plans for world domination.

Heartless: Facing the Boogeyman

As the group followed Jack out of Halloween Town, as that was what the place was called, Sombra decided to ask about the three youngsters that had run off with the heart he and the Doctor had been trying to create for the false Heartless, just to have some information on them.

"Oh, they're Oogie Boogie's henchmen: Lock, who wears the devil costume; Shock, the witch; and Barrel, the round one that is dressed like a skeleton." Jack replied, showing them that he did have some knowledge of the trio and that they must be a trio of troublemakers for the rest of the town's people, who seemed to be hiding or sleeping right now, though it also told the group that their new friend knew how to get to the trio's base of operations, "Don't worry about them too much, as they are just troublemakers that everyone in town has gotten used to, especially since they're the best trick-or-treaters in the whole town... the one we should be worried about is Oogie Boogie, a boogeyman who has a nasty habit of gambling and who happens to live on the outskirts of town."

"So he's like a rival or something?" Seras asked, because she knew what Fluttershy knew and, by looking at some of the worlds they had been to so far, she suspected that this 'Oogie Boogie' was either a rival seeking to take Jack's place and rule over Halloween forever, or he was calling in the Heartless to fulfill some other agenda they wouldn't know about until they confronted him.

"You could say that, even though next to no one likes him." Jack admitted, though at the same time Sombra had to wonder if there was more to the tale than just saying that they were rivals of the same holiday, but decided that if Jack didn't want to talk about it, and wanted to focus on reclaiming the stolen heart device, they could focus on the task at hand.

With that thought in mind the group returned to the graveyard and found that one of the larger coffins, which happened to rest above ground, was askew, as in the lid was no longer aligned to the bottom half, though when they approached it the lid opened and sucked all of them into it, only for them to be spat out in another section of the area. It was easy for a few of them to realize that this was just another part of Halloween Town, a graveyard that inspired terror and confusion in those that weren't familiar with everything, though Sombra wasn't even remotely afraid and she could see that the rest of the group felt the same way. Jack continued walking through the new area, passing by a large smashed pumpkin based on what they were seeing, before tapping one of the larger tombstones that looked like it had a crypt linked to it, only for the group to discover that it sucked all of them in again and spat them out near a hill with a curled tip that reminded them of a wizard's hat, or the tip of Donald's wand.

Sure enough they found that some Heartless wanted to take care of them, just more Shadows, Ghosts, and Wights, just like the group had seen throughout the first ten or so minutes of their visit to this world, and while Sombra slammed a few of the Wights into the ground, to attack them with her scythe, she found that her thoughts about Seras were far more correct than she originally assumed. Seras continued to be on the front lines during their fights, swinging at the groups of Heartless while moving faster than Fluttershy had done while she was in control, ducking and weaving around attacks as she struck the dark creatures and released their hearts. Such a thing made her wonder if the shy one was repressing most of her power, as she had told her and Radiant of the skills that the World had granted her, so that meant she must have been growing her attributes, much like how she could absorb the heart of a Heartless to gain more power. Radiant, on the other hand, seemed to be applying herself different to each of their battles, making sure to utilize her full power when she had need to do so and keeping her true power hidden when she knew there was no reason to use it.

Sora and the others were definitely improving with each battle, as Sombra could tell that the boy was making sure to let Donald and Goofy help him take out some of their enemies, and even Jack did well in taking care of the Heartless, though at the same time Riku tore through his foes.

"Enjoying yourself?" Sombra asked, speaking to Riku once the next group of Heartless had been dealt with, allowing Jack and the others to search the area for a moment, Sora activating a lift that Jack said would take one back to another part of the graveyard, one they had been to before, as she wanted to be sure he was fine with his new werewolf body.

"Yeah... I think so." Riku replied, as it was taking some time to get used to his new body, far more than when they were in Ariel's world, which he blamed on the tail that he really wasn't used to having, and while Sombra's lessons were good he still had to gain experience in walking with an extra appendage to make sure he didn't trip again, "Has anyone ever told you three how hard it is to walk with a tail?"

"No. Everyone has a tail on the world that we come from." Seras answered, which was true, as all of the creatures that called Equus home happened to have their own tail, such as ponies, griffins, changelings, dragons, and everything else, or at least she was sure of that since Fluttershy wasn't as knowledgeable as Twilight Sparkle was on such a subject, before she spotted Jack and the others continuing towards their destination, "Come on you lovebirds, we've got work to do."

"You do realize that we barely know each other, right?" Riku inquired, though at the same time Sombra could tell that he wasn't too displeased by what Seras had said, his new ears and tail really gave away his acceptance of the idea of him and her being a couple, all while they started to follow Jack as he brought them closer to Oogie Boogie's lair.

"And yet you are totally enamored by Sombra's beauty! It doesn't matter who she is, what she's done, or what powers she might have, you're already in love with her." Seras remarked, something that made Sombra wonder if all of this was what Fluttershy thought of her, or maybe it was what the bat inside her had been thinking after reviewing everything that her shy side knew, before Seras glanced at Sombra for a few moments, "Not that I blame you, really, because while I'm not attracted to her... and by that I mean me, not Fluttershy... I can see the appeal of her, especially after seeing her in other forms."

Riku said nothing to that, even though Sombra could see that he was thinking about it while they walked, allowing them to focus on the task at hand while letting them shelve the thought for now, especially since neither one wanted to lose the rest of the group. While they did that, however, Seras found a new Heartless in the air and struck it down, where Sombra found that it was as tall as one of the Soldiers, had a pair of brown wings, curved horns on it's odd head, and a bare chest that had the emblem on it. It became easy to tell how to deal with the Gargoyles, as Seras called it, as they either needed to hit it with an aerial attack, like the bat had done, or strike it with a powerful blow like how Riku did when he spotted a second one hanging out in the air, allowing them to take out two enemies as Sombra collected their hearts. Following that they found that the path forward was to have the odd shaped hill extend the tip into a walkway for them to cross over the wall in front of it, bringing them to a stream with a bridge over it, though on the other side rested their destination, or at least that was what Jack told everyone.

On the other side of the gate that they walked through the group found a massive tree house that seemed to be where Lock, Shock, and Barrel were heading, as they were riding in a bathtub that was walking on it's own, and they seemed to be heading towards the peak as the group came to a stop.

"This is certainly an interesting place." Sombra commented, as the tree was definitely massive, because it went down into a large circular area, where she found a river cutting around the lower area, before she glanced at the bridge that was in front of them, which seemed to be leading right to the peak.

"This is definitely Oogie Boogie's domain. Be careful, he might have some surprises for us to deal with." Jack replied, as he trusted the group, they were good fighters and seemed like they would be great additions to Halloween Town if any of them decided to move into the town, even though that would mean more houses would need to be built, and knew that they would be able to handle whatever Oogie Boogie might throw at them.

With nothing else to say on the matter the group crossed over the broken bridge, as sections had been pulled up before being put down in other spots to form another walkway of sorts, and entered the 'manor', as Jack said that's what Oogie Boogie once called this place, the last time he faced his rival. As they stepped onto the actual ground of the manor, or the branch since it was a tree, Sora found that a number of Shadows, Ghosts, Wights, and even a few Gargoyles attacked him and his friends, causing them to lash out at the Heartless as Seras made sure all of them stayed near the walkway, since the flyers could be trouble. While she did that Sombra used gravity magic to trap some of the other enemies in place so one of the others could cut down on the number of enemies that were in front of them, while Sora's team pushed into a door that was in the way and found that it opened to a small room with one of the platforms they could light, by using the fire spell.

Such a thing brought them to another level of the manor and the discovered that the path was rather straightforward, as it was just keep going up a couple of stairs, short ramps, or some parts of the tree to reach what seemed to be the peak of the manor, bringing them to a decent sized chamber with the three kids standing in front of a hole that seemed to be a pipe leading somewhere else in the structure.

Instead of saying anything Lock, Shock, and Barrel separated from each other and tried to attack the group, no doubt out of fear due to the fact that Jack's group had caught up with them or due to their loyalty to Oogie Boogie, though what the group found was rather sad and not worth any real effort. Lock, for example, seemed to be leaping across the room so he could avoid them entirely, while Shock spun around in an attempt to stun those that were in her way, leaving Barrel to just dash around like he had nothing better to do with his time, making Sombra think the trio were just trying to waste time for their master. With that in mind Seras caught Lock while he was in the middle of a jump, Riku picked up Shock when she got near him, as apparently she seemed frightened of his werewolf form and came to a stop, and Sombra just stood still as Barrel struck her legs, knocking him back without her doing anything. Such a thing allowed her to use her magic to put all three of them in a magical holding cell while the others looked around the room they were in, as Jack wanted the false heart back so he could focus on the rest of the work that he and the Doctor needed to do to make the false Heartless do their dance.

In the end, however, Sombra's concerns were proven correct once again, the false heart was gone and that meant that the pipe was likely linked to Oogie Boogie's part of the manor, which caused her to create a small orb with her magic and sent it down the pipe, feeling it go deeper and deeper until coming to a stop far below them.

"Oogie Boogie has the heart, doesn't he?" Jack asked, mostly to just confirm where it was, even though they knew that it wasn't in this chamber and the kids hadn't stopped anywhere on their way to the peak, so if it wasn't here then logic said it had to be in the hands of their master.

"Yeah, he told us to steal it, only after Barrel told him about the heart." Shock replied, where Sombra could tell that she and Lock loved to blame Barrel whenever something went wrong and now was definitely one of those times, and they got into a debate about who was right, who was wrong, and the odd lever that happened to be in the chamber.

Fortunately she and Seras had the same idea, as the bat walked over to the lever and pulled it, where they heard what had to be a clicking sound, to which she sealed the lever shut with her magic as she freed the three kids, causing them to walk back down to the start of the manor. Sure enough none of the Heartless they had taken out previously had returned, an odd fact since most of the other worlds had far more than what they had faced so far, but no one was willing to complain about this, as it meant that their time here would be shorter than what they spent on the other worlds. Sombra found that they were drawing closer and closer to where her magical orb was resting, which eventually brought them to the start, or a walkway that was cut off from everything else, before finding that it was a lift of sorts that ended with everyone closer to the roots of the large tree. Such a thing caused her to walk around before locating a green door that looked different than everything else that was attached to the tree manor, especially with the guillotine that was being used as the frame with the blade near the top, causing Jack to walk in first as everyone else followed after him.

On the other side they discovered that Oogie Boogie was a burlap bag that seemed to be moving on it's own, or maybe he had something inside him that gave him his movement, plus he had the false heart in his hand, though they were in what appeared to be some sort of gambling arena, complete with a sunken floor section.

"Oogie Boogie, give us back the heart!" Jack stated, confirming that this was, in fact, Oogie Boogie, though it was easy for them to tell since he was the only other person in the manor, but it was nice after Ursula not even speaking to them when they entered her domain.

"Oh, you want this? Well, come and get it!" Oogie Boogie replied, where he actually stuffed the false heart into his mouth for a moment and they watched as he swallowed it, all in the span of a few seconds and before anyone could react to what he was doing, causing the fat burlap figure to laugh as he faced them, "Now, let's see if I can get their attention this time. Oh, Heartless!"

What happened next was that two Gargoyles lazily appeared out of thin air and floated down into the area around Oogie Boogie, where he took one look at them and exploded in rage, declaring that 'no one disrespected him' as he activated the machinery that was inside his chamber. His attack pattern, as they found out, was to roll a pair of dice and determine his next move, and for some reason they only seemed to land in pairs, where if he rolled twos, threes, or fives he would call in Gargoyles, Wights, and Ghosts, and only in pairs of two enemies, which was easy to deal with. Rolling ones activated the buzzsaw that was in the area and fours seemed to activate the blades that were linked to the ceiling, all of which Sombra and her friends avoided with ease, in fact it was rather pitiful when she considered that this was supposed to be one of Maleficent's allies. Sixes, on the other hand, didn't seem to do much for Oogie Boogie, except make him mad, though what really annoyed him was the fact that everyone wasn't contained in the spinning lower floor that he wanted to trap them in, rather Seras and Riku seemed to have him cornered on the upper walkway.

Sombra and the others joined them from time to time, hitting Oogie Boogie all over as she found that his body was full of bugs, which meant insects had to be controlling the entire body, and when they delivered a crippling blow to him they just watched as his bugs escaped from his body, reducing him to nothing and leaving a page of Ansem's report behind for the group to take.

"Well, that was anticlimactic... are all of Maleficent's allies going to be this way?" Sora asked, though at the same time Jack jumped up to where his rival had been standing previously and found that nothing of him remained, not even the heart he and the Doctor had put together was there, but it did give him some insight to share with the Doctor.

"No... we aren't done yet..." Sombra replied, where she could feel the darkness surging into the manor and knew that their foe had one last trick to use against them, causing her to turn towards the others as she motioned for everyone to get out before they were caught in what was coming next, "Everyone, get out of here. NOW!"

Radiant, Seras, and Riku, trusting her the most out of everyone, were the first to react as the others followed her outside, where they and Jack came to a stop on the other side of the bridge, over on the cliff, before the manor was rocked, where everyone watched as Oogie Boogie merged with the manor. Sombra glanced to Seras for a moment and the bat took off, flying around the area as she pointed out seven dark blobs that had appeared all over the manor, power sources that had to fuel the figure merging with the entire manor, causing her to come up with a plan. She and Seras would move everyone else into position, the bat pinpointing where all of the blobs were while Sombra would teleport someone over to them, all so the seven of them could be positioned all over Oogie Boogie's manor form, with Jack keeping an eye on things to make sure everything went smoothly. Once all seven of them were in position they struck the blobs at the same time and put an end to Oogie Boogie with ease, causing him to shudder in pain as his power source was broken, eventually collapsing the entire manor into nothingness, as the darkness consumed everything about him.

While Sombra found a new spell in their tome, Gravira to be exact, they found a massive Keyhole under where the manor was resting, something that caused Sora to raise his Keyblade and fire a beam into the air that separated into bits and rained down on the Keyhole, locking it to keep the world's core safe from the Heartless.

"Sora, what was that?" Jack asked, as he had never seen something like that before, especially with the large shape that had been right under Oogie Boogie's manor, and knew that the group knew what to do when they saw something like this, which only made him more interested in what they knew.

"Oh, nothing special. It just means that we need to get going." Sora replied, which was technically the truth, they shouldn't stay on a world for longer than what was necessary, especially after King Triton chewed them out after discovering that four of them carried Keyblades, before he considered something as he glanced at Jack, "Do you think we can come back for a visit in the future?"

Jack was delighted by the idea and was sure that Sally and the Doctor would agree with him as well, he even said that they could visit him whenever they wanted, though with that done he bid them all farewell for the time being and returned to Halloween Town, leaving Sora and the others to find a safe spot nearby to warp back to the Gummi Ship.

"You know, after all the trouble I had learning how to walk with a tail, I think I'm going to miss being a werewolf." Riku said, as the moment they returned to the Gummi Ship everyone changed back into their original forms, where he looked at his attire and human appearance for a few seconds, which was around the time that everyone noticed that Seras was still in control of Fluttershy's body.

"Can't help you there, even though you were such a good boy during our time in Halloween Town... however, since we are done with this world, it's about time I gave Fluttershy her body back." Seras remarked, where they watched as she focused her mind for a moment and her bat features started to fade away, her wings and ears returning to normal while her fangs disappeared, and when her eyes returned to normal they all knew that the bat was no longer in control.

"Is... Is it over?" Fluttershy asked, sounding like her old self again as she glanced at the others, no doubt trying to ignore all of what Seras had seen since it freaked her out so much, though Sombra knew that if she ever needed help with such a thing she had someone reliable to fall back on, all while Radiant told her that she'd tell her about their visit to Halloween Town later, once Fluttershy was calm and wouldn't freak out over the tale.

Sombra sighed as she and Riku headed to their respective rooms as the group dispersed to relax, as they needed time to think about what had happened during their visit to Halloween Town, all while wondering what the next world might have to offer them and if they would have another new form to experience when they started to explore it, which only made her all the more eager to see what the future held in store for them.

Heartless: Book Knowledge and a Cup

With their time in Neverland complete, as that was what Peter Pan had called the area they found him and Captain Hook in, Sora and the others returned to their ship for a time, allowing Fluttershy to hand over the gummi piece that came out of the latest world's Keyhole. Both Sombra and Sora agreed on what needed to happen next, they had to return to Traverse Town, as Cid would be able to install the piece into their ship and that should open the way for them to travel to Hollow Bastion, the last world they would need to visit, now that they knew Kairi was there. At the same time Sombra knew that it was the base of operations for Maleficent, the main villain they had to worry about, so if she and her friends took her out that meant they would be able to stem the tide of Heartless that were heading out into the worlds, or at least that seemed to be what all of them were thinking. In addition to that she was worried for Riku, because he had been telling them the truth, he had been dropped off in some part of Hollow Bastion and Maleficent had found him, no doubt to use him as a pawn in her game, and now he was likely going to be punished for betraying the dark witch.

Since Traverse Town was so far away from Neverland, and they didn't want to waste too much time, Sora activated the warp system and they went traveling through the warp space, though since they were further away than the last time it was used the group had some time to burn before their arrival. For a time Sombra just sat in the cockpit with Sora, Donald, and Goofy, her mind focusing on Riku and the fact that he was clearly in danger if he landed somewhere near Maleficent, something that made Radiant smile for a moment before she and Fluttershy returned to their training, which was working in their private world for a time. After ten minutes Sombra pulled out a few pieces of paper and started to sketch something on them, mostly to help calm her mind after everything that had happened during their time on Peter Pan's world, because she didn't want to go into her own training, to use the new spells, with a troubled mind. She eventually discovered that what she had created were sketches of wolf designs, why she had no idea, but she was able to calm her mind and that allowed her to return to the training area without delay so the spells they gained in Neverland could be practiced.

In the end both were rather simple to use, Cura was just a more powerful heal than the one that came before it, while she found that Aerora was a more powerful wind barrier that protected the user from harm, meaning it was easy for her to complete her own training before she regrouped with the others, all while Radiant looked at the sketches she had made as they returned to the cockpit.

"We need to make two other stops while we're in Traverse Town: I want to deliver the other puppies to the dalmatians, and we have more of the missing pages for Pooh's world." Fluttershy said, speaking as they emerged from the warp space at long last, allowing everyone to see their destination in front of them, though at the same time it didn't feel the same since Riku wasn't with them anymore.

"Sure thing. We should have plenty of time to do both once Cid gets started on installing that gummi block." Sora replied, as he figured that any about of time spent in Pooh's world would give the man who worked on their ship in the past the time to complete his work, plus come to terms with what he and his friends wanted to do, since Hollow Bastion was going to be the toughest place for them to visit.

As soon as Sora brought the ship to a stop he made sure everyone was ready before warping them down to the entrance of Traverse Town, allowing everyone to see that everything was just fine in the town, no one was running for their lives and no Heartless seemed to be bothering anyone, something that allowed them to track down Cid in the first district, as he was near the entrance to the second.

"Cid, we found another navigational gummi, and this one seems to be leading to somewhere important. You can install it, right?" Sombra asked, while at the same time Sora pulled out the item in question, though the reason she didn't mention it was the item that would bring them to Hollow Bastion was because Cid seemed like the type who might try and stop all of them from going to such a dangerous place.

"Sure can..." Cid replied, though as soon as he looked at the block in question, and held it for a few seconds, he seemed to think about something as he glanced up at them, meaning he realized where this one in particular might send them, and Sombra figured it out since there was a bit of darkness around the block, "You know, this block's going to steer you in the direction of Hollow Bastion, a place that is crawling with Heartless and just so happens to be the home of Maleficent... are you really okay with installing this piece?"

"Of course, as taking down Maleficent has been one of our goals for a while now... plus we have another goal now, since both Riku and Kairi are there." Sora stated, because Cid and his friends knew that they were looking for his friends, one of which was now friends with his brand new friends, so this would tell him that everyone was serious about going to Hollow Bastion to bring an end to this adventure, and to save two close friends from the dark witch.

Cid sighed and told them that it would take some time, as he wanted to be sure that everything was alright before letting them fly to Hollow Bastion, causing Sora to tell him to take his time, as they had other things they had to do in the town, and the moment he walked off the group headed over to the dalmatians' place. Sure enough the adult dogs were happy to see Fluttershy and were overjoyed when more of their puppies were returned to them, which caused them to use their heads to move a few boxes over to them, presents for saving more of their family no doubt. Sombra found that some of the items were minerals for Radiant to use in making accessories, other boxes holding gummi pieces, and one that held a page of Pooh's book, which Sora picked up and added to the other ones Fluttershy had given him earlier. With the dalmatians happy to have the majority of their puppies back, informing the group that the last ones had to be somewhere in Hollow Bastion, giving them yet another reason to go to the world in question, Sora and the others departed from the house and headed over to Merlin's place.

Sure enough the wizard was happy to see them and offered snacks while Sora slipped into Pooh's tome again, because he was sure they had all of the pages necessary to completely fix the book, causing the others to relax for a time while they waited for him to carefully restore the pages they had discovered. Merlin was surprised by how far they had come in such a short period of time, as he had originally expected them to take their time in learning how to wield their magic, but when he looked at Sombra's tome, and at the spells they had learned from exploring the other worlds, since he couldn't see the dark pages she had created with her own magical power, he had to admit that their progress was astonishing. While the others focused on relaxing, waiting for Sora to return, Sombra asked Merlin what sort of magic he specialized in, out of curiosity, where the wizard told her that he was skilled in all aspects of magic, but he had a greater affinity for time magic, being able to manipulate it so precisely that he could even make pockets of reality that ran on different rules. Sombra thought about that for a time, as the ability to manipulate the laws of the World like that seemed incredible, something that made her stop and consider all of the magical Heartless she had captured the hearts of, wondering if she would gain such a power with all of the hearts she had yet to absorb.

It took Sora some time to completely fix Pooh's book, though when he did the cover changed to show him with the bear in question, like he was now linked to it or it's residents in some manner, but he did have a gift for them, another spell for all of them to use, Stopra, the second tier time spell.

Such a thing made Sombra appreciate the fact that they had to come here in the first place, as another spell meant their power as a group had risen to another level, and yet something told her that there might be one more to find somewhere in the town, even if the others seemed to think she was overthinking things. With the spell in their tomes the group made their way back to the first district, where they discovered that Cid had completed his work on installing the navigational piece to their ship, meaning they could head to Hollow Bastion now if they wanted. After thanking him Sombra made sure to stop and restock on their supplies, stopping at a store that had all sorts of food and living items for her to purchase, a fact that not only allowed her to buy everything that had been used since the last time they had been in Traverse Town, but also purchase some new cookbooks to add to the collection. When the others noticed this she told them that she just wanted to expand her knowledge and try some new things out, meaning Sora and the others would see some new dishes in the future, which only made them excited to see what else she might make.

While they transported the food to the ship, however, Cid came by and informed them that there should be another cup if they visited the Coliseum, something that caused the group to look at each other before thanking him, packing up the rest of the stuff Sombra bought, and then departed from Traverse Town. Since they had no idea how long it would take them to reach Hollow Bastion, despite knowing they had to warp back to Neverland to use it as their starting point, Sora used the warp system to get them to the Coliseum without delay, saving them some time. Once they were at their destination the group teleported down to the entrance of the arena and found Hercules standing outside, in front of one of the gold or brass statues, though he did wave at them and wished them luck, showing them that he understood why they had come back. Sombra felt the darkness in the air as they passed by the mighty warrior, where she determined that Hades had to be summoning more Heartless so he could be readied for whatever the next cup was, especially since there was no way for them to know how long the new one might be.

Phil, of course, seemed pleased to see them again, even though he was likely busy doing something else before they had arrived, meaning they had interrupted him and he didn't seem to mind, since he could have them fight in the arena for a time, though he did notice something right away.

"Hey, where's that Riku boy that was with you?" Phil inquired, as he thought that Riku was one of their better teammates, plus he seemed willing to fight with both teams he had created so he could catch up to the others, where he appreciated hard work and dedication like that, so he actually missed the kid a tiny bit.

"He's busy right now, dealing with another problem." Radiant replied, though while she didn't like to lie she knew Donald would try to have her hide if she revealed the existence of the other worlds to someone like Phil, not that it mattered since the small satyr didn't seem to care about such a thing, rather he seemed to enjoy focusing on the coliseum and the various games that happened here.

"A shame, I was looking forward to seeing if he had improved since the last time you guys were here." Phil said, though the group knew that he had no true favorites, but he did seem to know how to push people to be better and gain strength on their own, but no one said anything as he finished his work and focused on them, "Listen up: you'll be taking part in what I call the 'Hercules Cup', where you will fight your way through eight rounds of competition before facing Hercules himself... or not, if you get knocked out first. There's one more cup after this, but Hades isn't ready for anyone to attempt it, so you'll have to come back later to try it out."

Sora and the others agreed and told him they were ready, where Phil informed them that this time he'd be allowing them to fight as a single team, though if one of their foes wanted to fight a smaller group or a single opponent he was going to let them, meaning there had to be someone other than the Heartless involved in this cup. Upon entering the arena the group found that the first group of enemies was a number of Gargoyles and a couple of Shadows, something that caused everyone to shift their stances before rushing at their opponents, the melee fighters striking the Heartless while the few ranged fighters focused on weakening their foes. Sombra found that these particular Heartless were slightly stronger than those they had fought so far, which seemed to align with Hades' desire to bring down Hercules and to overwhelm those who dared to get in his way, and when she captured their hearts she could see that they were stronger than the hearts she had captured previously. She had confirmation of the stronger and more powerful hearts as the group focused on the seconds group, which was made up of some Wights, Barrel Spiders, and Air Soldiers, because when one of their foes fell she was able to capture it's heart and found that her suspicions were correct, these were stronger opponents.

The third group consisted of a few Ship Heartless and a number of Pirates, which caused them to divide their attention so they weren't overwhelmed, while the fourth was just more Gargoyles and a few Wights, before finding that the fifth was a blue mushroom Heartless that fled as soon as it noticed the group.

"You seem to be doing well." a voice said, where they found that Cloud was entering the arena, carrying his large weapon, though with Phil walking beside him the group knew he had to be their next opponent, before he came to a stop and just pointed at Sombra for a moment, "I wish to fight you and your darkness."

"Are you sure about this?" Sombra inquired, as she wanted to make sure the warrior knew what he was asking of her, or what he was getting himself into, though when Cloud nodded she simply glanced at the others and found that they quickly nodded their heads, causing her to enter the arena on her own, "Very well. Prepare yourself, Cloud."

Cloud found that a dark mist appeared around Sombra's eyes as he entered the arena, causing them to look at each other for a moment before he went on the offensive, swinging at the warrior that was in front of him as he found that she used the handle of her scythe to stop him. Cloud paused for a few seconds, as this reminded him of his own target, stopping his weapon with a much smaller blade, though as he focused on her again he swung at Sombra a few more times and found that she shifted her stance to use the head of her scythe, parrying his blows like they were nothing. This told him that her training with the weapon had to be incredible, since she was using it like it was an extension of her body, and during one of their exchanges she managed to shift her weight and deflect his attack, forcing open his defenses in an instant. Such a thing caused Sombra to extend her magic, trapping Cloud in a small bubble of time thanks to Stopra, where she struck him several times in a row with her bare fists before punching him in the jaw, so when her foe's personal time resumed Cloud went flying out of the arena with a look of surprise on his face.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were surprised by this discovery, though Radiant and Fluttershy clapped for her as Sombra let the dark mist disappear, but she did know that Sora would ask about her power at some point, but, for the time being, their focus was on the rest of the matches, after she helped Cloud up so he could thank her for the match before leaving so they could continue advancing.

The next round was definitely a little harder than the previous ones, as there were a few Wights, a couple of Pirates, a few Air Soldiers, and a few Gargoyles, causing the others to rely on Sombra's gravity magic as she cast Gravira on them, which brought all of their foes down into a single area for the others to take out. It was exactly what Phil wanted to teach all of them, to work together as a unit and she had to chuckle a little, as the satyr's brief training had produced good fruit and it was working to their benefit, allowing them to safely take down Heartless without wasting too much time. Once that group was dealt with Sombra found that the next one had a few more Pirates, a couple of Ships, and a few more Air Soldiers, to which everyone spread out and crushed them like they had done in the past, freeing more hearts for Sombra to collect. As that happened she found Hades watching from the other side of the arena, behind a gate so he could hide in darkness, but the god in question remained out of sight as her group dealt with the remaining Heartless.

The final battle was against Hercules, though both he and Sora wanted a one-on-one match, though as Sombra watched she really couldn't call it a match, as the warrior drastically held back his true power, especially since the battle was just Sora tossing barrels at his foe to knock off a glow so he could hit him.

Despite that fact the match dragged on for quite a while, like Hercules was testing Sora, but, in the end, Sora found that he was declared the winner, granting them another trophy to add to the other ones they had collected so far, which caused the boy to smile as he rubbed the back of his head. Phil, as per usual, seemed to have a lecture for them after the match was over, though this time around Sora ignored him as he, Donald, and Goofy did something interesting before Sombra, Radiant, and Fluttershy joined them, they moved the large stone out of the way. Such a thing revealed what they had been looking for since coming to this world the first time, the Keyhole, causing Sora to smile as he raised the Kingdom Key and sealed the Keyhole, which confused both Hercules and Phil before the pair decided not to question what they were seeing right now. It was for the best, that they didn't know about the other worlds, the Keyholes, and the people that the group had seen, though winning Phil's latest challenge only made Sora wonder when the final cup would be made available for them to take, causing them to bid the satyr and his student farewell for the time being.

With the Coliseum finally sealed off from the Heartless, which meant they likely stopped Hades' plan as well, Sombra and the others returned to their ship before taking off, though Sombra had a few stops she wanted to make before they made their way to Hollow Bastion, which she knew would make them stronger for the final world, making the others wonder what the future held in store for them.

Heartless: The Desert Assassin

"So, you said you wanted to visit a few worlds before Hollow Bastion?" Sora asked, where he opened the map their ship had formed while they flew around the space between the various worlds, which was useful for activating the warp system, but before he picked a world he glanced at Sombra for a few seconds, "Where are we going?"

"First Agrabah, then Neverland... once we're done, we can head to our final destination." Sombra answered, because now that they were nearing the end of their journey she was sure that they could handle the two powerful Heartless she had felt in the worlds in question, which should, in her opinion, get them nice and prepared for the final battle.

"Why are we bothering to head back to those worlds?" Donald inquired, though at the same time Sora ignored him and just input the command to warp them to Agrabah, causing the ship to enter the warp space without delay, which told the duck that no one seemed to care what he thought about this new information.

"Both have powerful Heartless that we left behind. We weren't strong enough to beat them during our first visits... now I believe we can bring them down." Sombra replied, something that caused Radiant and Fluttershy to understand what she was saying, while Sora and Goofy nodded their heads as well, though while Donald clearly thought they were wasting time he also noticed that he was outnumbered and said nothing, "Think of it this way: this will be our final training before we tackle the challenges of Hollow Bastion."

Donald stared at her for a moment but said nothing to counter her remark, to which he returned to his seat as Sombra and the others returned to the living area, as she was of the opinion that sleep was necessary, something she made sure Sora knew since this portion of the travel could be done without his assistance. This time around no one trained, as they wanted to make sure they were ready for when they reached Agrabah, though Sombra did make sure to prepare a light meal since being completely full could hamper their abilities if her thoughts about the powerful Heartless were right. She was sure that what she had felt earlier was correct, there were two foes she wanted to take down to prepare them for the dangers they would likely face on Hollow Bastion, plus she knew that since they were Heartless there was a chance she could absorb their unique powers once she absorbed their hearts. Such a thing would make her even stronger as well, the true purpose for her wanting to stop at the worlds in question for a few minutes, but she kept that opinion to herself as she prepared a little something for everyone to enjoy.

It still amused her that one of her skills could be cooking, it never occurred to her in the past, yet she wasn't about to even argue with the results, as this meant they could actually have something to eat, since Donald's cooking was horrible and Goofy didn't seem concerned enough to try.

Other than that there wasn't much for them to worry about as they returned to the space above Agrabah without wasting too much time, causing Sora to turn towards Sombra for a moment as she closed her eyes, feeling the sensations she had felt the last time they were here, before pinpointing their target. With that in mind Sora made sure to activate the systems in the ship, hiding it from the people of the world that was below them, before warping them down to their destination, or at least as close as they could get to the target Sombra had felt some time ago. Landing near the main entrance of the city quickly bared no fruit, as they found that there was no way to head out to the sandstorm that was off in the distance, but there was one thing that could help them out, which was why the group turned around and headed back to Aladdin's, as the key might be with him. The odd thing in Radiant's eyes was that there were no Heartless in the city, but she guessed that sealing the Keyholes made a good number of the dark creatures disappear, returning the worlds to some sense of normalcy no doubt, before she focused as they reached their destination.

Upon entering Aladdin's area they found that he was definitely still around, no doubt still worried about Jasmine, though what caught their attention was the fact that Carpet seemed to be dancing in the corner by one of the windows right now, which was what they were hoping to see.

"Oh, hey guys. Did you find jasmine or Kairi?" Aladdin asked, confirming that he was still worried about the love of his life, which made sense when the group thought about it, before he noticed what Phil had noticed, Riku was missing and that they were likely now looking for two friends, not just the one he knew about, "What happened to Riku?"

"He's... investigating another matter. We thought we found Kairi, but were unable to confirm our findings." Fluttershy said, though while she hated to lie to someone who had helped them out, and they had helped him in return, she knew that telling him anything about the other worlds would just annoy Donald to no end, which was the last thing they needed right now, before she shook her head, "We haven't seen Jasmine either."

"I figured I'd ask. So, what brings you guys back to Agrabah?" Aladdin inquired, because he knew about their previous visit and suspected that something was up, even though he hoped nothing was wrong and this was just a social visit for them, causing him to consider what he had seen since their last visit, "Is it the Heartless?"

"Sort of. Sombra said there's supposed to be a powerful one near Agrabah." Sora answered, where they found that their friend from this world thought about the information they were giving him and seemed to glance out towards the large sandstorm they had spotted earlier, to which he summoned the Kingdom Key for a moment, "We figured that, since we were passing by, we might as well swing in and help you take care of it before something bad happened."

Aladdin nodded before beckoning to Carpet, who lowered itself down so he, Sora, Donald, and Goofy could climb onto it, while Sombra floated herself and Radiant as Fluttershy took to the air, allowing them to leave the hideout before heading towards the sandstorm. For a time they didn't see anything out of the ordinary, though as they drew closer to the edge of the natural event everyone found that it wasn't even a sandstorm, it was a large sandy brown Heartless, which they were able to confirm thanks to the emblem, that seemed to be using it's six arms while it spun, hence the storm. From what all of them could see it looked like the beast was at least three times the size of Sora, maybe even four times, where Sombra found that there were also brown and black segments while it's head was a golden cobra, much like Jafar's staff, while all six of it's hands were made up three segmented talons and it's feet were curled like sharp hooks. In addition to all of that the beast had two weapons, silver crescent blades that were being held by the middle hands, leaving the upper and lower arms and hands free to do whatever the beast wanted, and the closer they got the more Sombra confirmed that this was, in fact, what she had felt during their previous visit.

As they got even closer something caused the beast to stir as it shifted course and angled it's blades at them, causing the group to dodge as Radiant pointed out a number of large stone pillars that appeared all over the area, trapping them in the area thanks to the barrier that formed between all of them, causing the ground to land on the sand as the beast did the same.

"What in the world is that thing?!" Aladdin asked, all while he and the others readied their weapons, because if seemed like this was a fight they wouldn't be able to escape from, not that Sombra was thinking of fleeing now that they had found the Heartless that had drawn them to this area.

"Kurt... Zisa..." the beast replied, speaking right after Aladdin did while one of it's hands pointed at it, surprising Sombra since it seemed unreal that a Heartless would have the ability to speak, even to the limited ability that they were seeing at the moment, before it, or rather 'he' since it seemed to have a male voice, pointed at Aladdin, "...Aladdin..."

"Okay, Heartless assassin... not good." Sombra remarked, because this meant someone was creating specific Heartless to kill specific targets, meaning Kurt Zisa would most definitely have a unique power that she wanted to claim for herself, a fact that was followed by one of the Heartless' arms being raised as a wave of dark colored magic washed over them, only for Sombra's eyes to widen in surprise as her magic was sealed, "A silence spell... definitely not good!"

Based on what she was feeling right now Sombra was convinced this was likely the third tier of Silence, it was powerful enough to cover all seven of them at once, which meant it was likely called 'Silencega', though out of all of them the only one greatly impacted by this was Donald. As everyone scattered, dodging Kurt Zisa's attack with both of his blades coming down on where they landed, Sombra figured out why this Heartless had such a power, if he was an assassin, as she was sure of that fact, this ability was to allow him to deal with Genie, Aladdin's source of magic. Such a thing made her wonder if the same was true for Neverland, that whatever Heartless she had felt was likely searching for Peter Pan, before quickly returning her attention to the fight as she jumped into the air and spun around, parrying one of the crescent blades. While she did that Radiant remained in the distance and loosed arrows from her bow as she kept Donald safe, as the duck was a sitting target if Kurt Zisa, before Fluttershy pointed out that two of their foe's hands were holding spheres that seemed to be powering his Silencega spell.

In the following moment everyone seemed to have the same idea, some of them distracted Kurt Zisa as he tried to crush Aladdin with his blades, where Goofy raised his shield and did everything he could to block some of the attacks, while at the same time Sombra did the same thing. Sora and Fluttershy dealt with the spheres as quickly as they could, because after some time the Heartless jumped into the air and landed in another part of the desert that had been portioned out as his arena, showing that they wouldn't be able to beat him as quickly as they had been hoping. Sombra did find that Kurt Zisa's blades were powerful and that blocking one usually knocked whoever stopped them backwards, though they made sure to do everything in their power to stop the Heartless from hurting or even killing Aladdin, since he was the beast's true target. Of course that didn't stop Aladdin from attacking the beast with everything he had as well, because if he was Kurt Zisa's target he wasn't about to let them fight his battle in his stead, something that allowed him to jump into the air and strike one sphere while Sora did, allowing Fluttershy to focus on the other one as both spheres shattered.

With the spheres destroyed the detonation of them, plus Sombra's magic flaring as she struck the Heartless, knocked Kurt Zisa onto his rear and stunned him, allowing everyone to launch an assault on him before he even had a chance to get up and attack them, though while they seemed to chip some of his arms and his legs they realized this wouldn't be an easy fight to finish.

Following that Kurt Zisa forced them backwards as he called forth his magic, causing him to float in the air in what looked like a sphere of energy, a protective shell that may or may not be healing him for the next round of battle, though while he did that the Heartless summoned tornadoes that they had to dodge. Not only did he do that, causing everyone to scatter once more, the beast even fired off fireballs at whoever happened to be his main target at any given moment, where Sora had a good idea as he turned and struck one of the fireballs, bouncing it back at their opponent. With that in mind most of the group copied that move for a few moments as they did everything in their power to damage the Heartless, while at the same time Sombra lashed out with her darkness, slamming it against the barrier while the others focused on the fireballs and Donald let loose with his own magic. Even with their powers and attacks it took a bit of time to break the barrier and knock Kurt Zisa to the ground, allowing them to repeat what they had done when they shattered his Silencega, though it wasn't long before he got up and attacked everyone again.

As Sombra was thrown back once more she found that Silencega was in effect once more, while at the same time realizing that these stronger Heartless could take a lot of damage before being brought down, though as she thought about that an idea formed in her mind as she beckoned Radiant over to her side.

"I take it you have a plan?" Radiant asked, because Sombra was one of the smartest individuals she knew, it was the main reason why both Princess Celestia and Luna had attacked her before her defeat and the sealing of the Crystal Empire, so she figured that Sombra had to have some idea on how to even the odds in their favor.

"Yes, the next time we lower his defenses I'll stab him with one of my dark crystals." Sombra replied, as it was a tactic she hadn't needed to use since arriving in this world, but at the rate things were going she figured that this might be the best way for her to weaken their foe so they could finish it off.

Radiant glanced at her for a moment before nodding, as the dark crystals sealed the magical abilities of the afflicted, so in this instance they would be able to force Kurt Zisa to stop using his magic and attack them with his blades, which would open his defenses so they could bring him down. Fortunately things were already turning in their favor, because now that they knew about the spheres powering the spell the group could target them without delay, breaking them in no time, but as Kurt Zisa fell to the ground Sombra called forth her power and the darkness responded. Such a thing allowed her to make a sharp dark crystal as she rushed towards their foe, though as she grabbed hold of it Sombra propelled herself into the air and landed on her target's back, opening the way for her to stab the Heartless in the back of his neck, driving the crystal deep into his neck. While she did that everyone else laid into Kurt Zisa and did more damage to the Heartless, all to weaken the creature even more, and, as they expected, the beast got up before rushing off again, just like they had done after breaking his spell the first time.

This time, however, Kurt Zisa found that he was unable to cast his spells, where the group tore into him, using his bout of confusion to topple him for real, where Carpet flew in and let those riding him earlier climb into him as he flew off, while Sombra picked herself and Radiant up, and it wasn't long before Kurt Zisa dissolved as his large heart escaped, though it didn't get too far as Sombra captured it and absorbed it.

"I'd say we all earned something from this battle... plus we got part of Ansem's report." Sora remarked, showing off the new page that had been blown over to him by the wind as the large Heartless was brought down, all while Sombra had to grin as her tome filled out, adding all three tiers of Silence to her arsenal, her additional reward for absorbing the heart of Kurt Zisa.

Sombra and the others were pleased with their efforts in bringing down the Heartless, while some were wondering what was waiting for them in Neverland, something that caused her to smile as she wondered what might happen before they faced the dangers of Hollow Bastion at long last.

Heartless: The London Phantom

With Aladdin safe from harm, and Kurt Zisa defeated while Sombra had absorbed his heart, Sora and the others wished their friend from Agrabah well before departing once more, quickly returning to the Gummi Ship and blasting off for the second world Sombra wanted to visit: Neverland.

"So you're saying that there's another powerful Heartless in Peter Pan's world?" Radiant asked, because while she knew they had overcome the last one through sheer effort, plus Sombra utilizing her own dark powers to get the job done, she felt a little more clarification would certainly help her and the others in understanding their current objective.

"Yes, which we should be able to find near the clock tower... though given how Kurt Zisa only reacted to Aladdin's presence I would assume this one would be the same." Sombra replied, as she was sure that the two Heartless in question were some sort of assassins, specifically designed to take down annoying foes or targets, so in her mind it was easy to see how Peter Pan's presence might attract the other one, now that the Keyhole has been sealed, "So we'll track down Peter, who I'm going to assume is somewhere near Hook's ship, and then head over to the clock tower to see if we can find the creature... with any luck we'll be done in no time, then we can fly to Hollow Bastion."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Sora said, where he activated the warp system and they warped away from Agrabah, taking the short flight to reach the other world Sombra wanted to revisit, something that allowed the others to go about their one business for a few hours, though he suspected everyone would want to rest after Kurt Zisa.

Sombra shared the same opinion, most of them wanted to rest and that was exactly what they did, though before she did so herself she pulled out her tome and went over the new additions she gained from the massive emblem Heartless, where she found a number of points got added to her stats, at least ten per stat by her reckoning. Such a thing made the fight with the effort on their own, since most Heartless gave her a point or two, or even three if she was lucky, but a base number of ten was far more than what she was expecting, meaning she was already far stronger than she had been earlier and wondered if the other assassin Heartless would give her the same amount of power. In addition to that Sombra thought about the three spells that had appeared in her tome, those being Silence, Silencera, and Silencega, her true prize from Kurt Zisa, which should make battles against magic users somewhat easier for them once she mastered how to use the spell in battle. With that in mind she spent a few moments testing out her empowered stats, finding that she was definitely slightly faster and stronger than before, which meant once they bested the other Heartless she would be ready for whatever was waiting for them on Hollow Bastion.

Once she was sure that her empowered skills were up to par with her thoughts, and had an idea on how to use the new spell, Sombra joined the others in relaxing for a time, getting her energy back for the battle that was in their future, which even Sora did for a time, even though it wasn't long before he returned to the cockpit to navigate the ship.

Eventually they arrived at their destination and Sora brought the ship to a stop, allowing them to look at the world for a few more seconds, just like they did whenever they reached a world, and it wasn't long before he pinpointed Hook's ship, allowing them to warp down to the world without delay. As they appeared on Hook's ship, where it looked like neither the captain or his second were around, Fluttershy flew out over the water for a few moments and seemed to lower herself for a few seconds, only for Sombra to find that she had found the crocodile from before. In that moment she understood the shy one's intentions as she used her companion orb to capture the creature, she had determined that Peter was just using it as a tool to harass Hook and wanted to give it a better life in their private world, just like Sabor. Once she completed her task, and had a few friend to add to their world at some point, Fluttershy returned to the group and they got to searching for Peter, because he was the key to drawing out the other assassin Heartless that Sombra had felt.

As it turned out the boy in question was messing around with Hook's cabin, either roughly using the items that were in it or just messing with everything so that the captain would have to restore everything before their game began again, since he seemed to be of the opinion that Hook would be back, though he paused when he noticed the group.

"Oh, it's you guys... honestly, I wasn't expecting to see you again." Peter commented, where he tossed the lantern that was in his hands onto the bed as he faced them, though it seemed like the lantern was more like a prison to hold someone like Tinkerbell inside it, so they didn't have to worry about the ship burning down on them, "So, did you find that friend of yours?"

"No, but we came back to save you. There's a Heartless coming after you." Sombra replied, because while she felt no real need to save Peter, he was an annoying person to be around and that was something coming from someone like her, she knew he was the key to summoning the Heartless they were after, plus she had to resist the urge to throw him into a wall as he simply raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms, "It's a special Heartless, an assassin sent to take you down and take your heart, possessing powers to help it bring you down... we figured that since we were friends, and you tried to help us save our friend, we'd come back and save your life by helping you take down the Heartless."

"Okay... let's say I believe you: where is this Heartless?" Peter asked, though to him this sounded like the work of Hook, as the captain wanted nothing more than to do away with him, despite the fact that there were times where he assumed that his greed might be getting the better of him.

"Somewhere near the clock tower. It should respond to your presence and attack." Sora answered, as Sombra had told all of them where she felt the presence before they even talked to Peter, though it was still strange that a Heartless could be so close to the area that the Keyhole was in and not take the chance to claim it, confirming that the assassin types were totally different from an ordinary Heartless.

Peter thought about it for a few moments before deciding that he had nothing to lose, to which they emerged from the cabin before floating into the air and flew off towards London, where Sombra kept her senses open for the presence, as Kurt Zisa had attacked them first and she wanted to be ready this time. When they approached London it was easy to see that Peter was looking around for anything that might be out of the ordinary, making Sora wonder if he came here often, before meeting Wendy anyway, before something in the air caused them to come to a stop. A figure flew through the air that was around them, a tall figure, about half as tall as Kurt Zisa by the looks of it, whose body was made up of an open robe that allowed them to see nothing was inside it, though while the main body was white they found that the arms were black, with the shoulders having a flame pattern. Sombra understood what they were seeing right now, this was more like a phantom, in fact that was what she decided to call it since the Heartless didn't seem to have a face to speak with, and she could feel the magical power that was inside it, a power that rivaled Kurt Zisa.

The first thing the Phantom did was point at Peter and then made a motion that looked like slashing one's throat, which confirmed that it was here for the boy, before it started to channel some magic in both of it's hands, which allowed it to manipulate the face of the clock that was in front of them, the one the Keyhole had been on, causing the minute hand to start moving.

"Oh, that's not good. It's using a countdown method... must be a 'doom' type spell, one that will likely knock out whoever the Phantom targeted to reduce our numbers." Sombra remarked, as he had heard of this type of power before, but had never bothered to actually use it since it seemed far too easy to defeat her foes if she used such a thing, though Sora also allowed her to confirm something else as the boy flew forward and swung at the Heartless, his Keyblade passing through it while doing nothing at all, "There must be a way to damage it... but first, we need to stop that countdown: Stopra! Silencega!"

She knew that her limited knowledge of Silencega would only allow her to target a specific spell, but that was the point of her casting it, as the energy washed over the Phantom and sealed it's doom ability, preventing it from using that spell for a long time, while Stopra was cast on the clock face, stalling the already existing doom spell. With those spells in place she and the others turned their attention to their foe for a time, lashing out at it with their weapons as they confirmed what Sora had discovered a few moments ago, it appeared that physical attacks would do nothing to it. At the same time they also found that it could certainly attack them with it's claws, causing them to block with their weapons while forcing each warrior to stop before they retaliated, since there was no use attacking it with melee attacks until they figured out how to damage it. The other thing that the Phantom could do was launch energy orbs at whoever it wanted to take down, or just weaken it's targets, something everyone had to block with their weapons, it was the best way for them to deal with this sort of attack, before Sombra noticed something odd.

That something, as it turned out, was a heart container that held the Phantom's heart, something that it seemed to hide to the best of it's ability, even though it occasionally had to reveal it, where it had a blue sheen the first time she noticed it, but Sombra refrained from attacking so she could study it some more. She knew that prolonging this fight would just eat at her mana reserves, cutting into the amount of time she could keep both of her spells up, but she wanted to be sure of this before telling the others about her discovery, allowing her to see three more colors before blue showed up again. The other three colors were red, yellow, and white, where she considered all four for a moment and realized that at least three of them had to be specific spells, red had to be Fire, blue had to be Blizzard, and yellow had to be Thunder, though while white didn't fit with the other three she figured that it had to be melee. Of course she needed to confirm that fact and just waited for a few more moments, as the moment the orb appeared again and changed to a red color she struck it with a fireball, causing the Phantom to shudder in pain as it let out a screech of some kind.

Sombra didn't care that much, she had all the information she needed and laid into the Phantom, sending it flying with a burst of fireballs, causing it to flee from her while she gathered the others for a time, as they had a limited amount of time before it decided to circle back to the tower.

"Listen closely and no talking back: I've figured out how to hurt the Phantom. It will occasionally reveal it's heart container, so strike it when that happens," Sombra stated, though at the same time she thought of something else that might turn the tide of this battle in their favor, her unique power might allow her to manipulate the container in some manner, but for now she focused on telling them what she had figured out, "it will show four colors: red for fire magic, blue for ice magic, yellow for thunder magic, and white for melee attacks. Keep an eye on the coloration and we should be able to take it down in no time."

The others nodded as the Phantom returned to the battle, though as they scattered and attacked Sombra noticed that it changed up how it revealed it's weakness, if someone hit it with one spell the coloration would change to another one, so any of the other spells of the element that just hit it would be negated, an interesting tactic. The other aspect was that the Phantom only allowed them a short window to deliver three attacks before the orb disappeared for a time, which meant they had to be on the ball in order to deal any lasting damage to the Heartless, otherwise a single hit would do nothing to it except make it mad. Such a thing caused her to focus her mind for a moment as she reached out with her unique skill, where the Phantom shuddered for a few seconds below looking down at itself and found that the heart orb was visible to it's foes, causing her to sweat for a moment as she forced herself to keep a third ability up at the same time. It wasn't the number that was putting such a drain on her, rather it was the magnitude of the powers she was keeping up, since one was a third tier spell, the second was a second tier, and the third was her unique skill, but it was worth it since she could keep the edge in their favor.

Being unable to hide it's heart container meant that the Phantom had to endure constantly being hurt, the group taking turns striking at the vessel as Peter focused on lashing out with his dagger when the white color showed up, and when it tried to attack them Fluttershy pulled back and used the barrier magic she had been given to stop it's attacks. Sombra had to resist the urge to chuckle, because this was a power that most of them had forgotten about since the shy one had been more up close and personal with their fights, which might have been her other side coaxing her to do better, but at the same time she had improved her skills somewhat. This was good, because with her providing support, and Sombra doing her best to keep the Phantom's weakness exposed at all times, the others could lash out at the Heartless, deal incredible damage to it, and weaken it to the point where they could bring it down. Such a thing made Sombra grateful that they had challenged Kurt Zisa first, because she had no idea what they would have done if she didn't have Silencega on hand, and that thought pushed her to make sure her powers were in place constantly as the Heartless was damaged more as time went on.

Eventually the Phantom staggered backwards and braced it's chest for a moment, where Sombra grinned as it's heart was finally freed and she snatched it, allowing her to absorb it without delay and add it's power to her own, along with the fact that her tome glowed, revealing another spell, Stopga, had been added to their arsenal.

"Definitely tougher than Kurt Zisa." Sombra remarked, where she wiped the sweat from her brow as Peter flew off so he could return to Neverland, without even thanking them for coming and saving his life since he didn't have magic, or if he did he didn't care enough to show it off, but she didn't care and was glad to see him go, "But this is good training for all of us, as we have no idea what awaits us in Hollow Bastion."

Sora nodded and called for everyone to follow him as he flew down to the clock tower, as it was time for them to warp back to the Gummi Ship and depart for the final world that they needed to explore, where Riku and Kairi were waiting for them, causing everyone to look forward to what their futures held for them and their friends.

As the fight was wrapping up a figure tapped his foot against the floor of his ship, where Vexen sighed as he watched the scene that had unfolded before his very eyes, especially after seeing the heart of such a powerful Heartless disappear without leaving a trace, though his thoughts were interrupted by his current partner.

"I was wondering when you'd arrive, Xigbar." Vexen commented, as he heard the sound of the Dark Corridor opening right behind him, in the middle of the room that he and his partner had chatted in, and knew that this meant his partner, who he was reluctant to have despite the good questions he asked, the part of him he liked the most anyway, had arrived, no doubt for another progress report.

"Sorry about the delay, Lord Xemnas was asking me why it was taking so long for Sora's group to reach Hollow Bastion." Xigbar replied, which was the truth, they had been keeping tabs on the group so they could strike at them when the time was right, when their guard was lowered so they could remove the one potentially stealing the hearts of the Heartless that were being wiped out, "Have you figured out what they're up to?"

"Yes, actually. They went back to Traverse Town to install a navigational gummi that Neverland's Keyhole gave them, which will allow them to reach Hollow Bastion," Vexen stated, where he walked over to the table and poured some tea for both him and his partner, making sure to hand Xigbar his first, before he tapped a button on the nearby console to show him what he had found out so far, images of multiple worlds appearing on the screen he had been observing, "after that, they returned to the Coliseum for some additional training... then they returned to Agrabah and Neverland."

"...Why?" Xigbar asked, because that didn't make sense, there was nothing there for the group to be interested in, though instead of responding immediately Vexen raised his finger for a moment and pointed to the two screens in question, to which he watched as two incredibly powerful Heartless, specifically designed assassin types he noticed, fought the group and were taken down, "Our readings didn't even notice those two... how could we have missed those two? Where did their hearts go? Can we calibrate the machines so we don't make this sort of mistake again?"

"Calm yourself, Xigbar. The tea will help." Vexen said, where he did the same, taking a drink as he observed the scenes yet again, thinking about the information he had considered since the group left Traverse Town not that long ago, and what they had to do if they wanted to put their own plans into action like Lord Xemnas wanted, "You will forgive me, of course, as our devices have been undergoing heavy updating recently... stronger Heartless have been appearing recently, likely the fault of Maleficent gathering her Princesses of Heart and doing whatever she's been doing, which has likely drawn the attention of the more powerful Heartless. I suspect that these two, who are clearly not normal emblem Heartless, were specifically created to kill very specific individuals and, to ensure they were unable to be detected, given their own unique invisibility or aura erasing power, to grant them the power to sneak up on their individual targets. As to where their hearts went, the answer is the same as before: one of the trio clearly stole them... as for not repeating this mistake, well, make no mistake, I am hard at work making sure this doesn't happen again."

Xigbar nodded as he sipped on his tea and observed the two slain assassin Heartless, their powerful abilities brought low by the group and their hearts stolen, a problem that was becoming more and more dire as time went by, because those would have been good for their Kingdom Hearts and now they were gone.

"Xigbar... Lord Xemnas has a plan, correct?" Vexen asked, a useless question to some, especially since their boss always, against all odds, had a plan and knew how to address the various problems that their organization had, and this one was the most important they could have discovered, since no hearts meant their plans would never be fulfilled.

"Of course he does. We need to wait for them to get to Hollow Bastion, where they were engage with the Heartless that are under Maleficent's command, and where Riku's darkness was awakened." Xigbar replied, where he walked over to the console for a moment, slipped a disc into the machine, and showed Vexen what he was talking about, a scene of Riku and Maleficent, where Vexen watched as a surge of dark energy washed over the young boy and his eyes darkened, taking on the yellow eyes of one corrupted by darkness, "There we will deal with the one that is responsible for stealing the hearts from our Kingdom Hearts, all without the heroes being able to stop us... Maleficent will be filled with arrogance, allowing the rest of the heroes to bring her down and seal the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion. Are you sure that Fluttershy is the one we need to deal with?"

"I've run the calculations, and I'm seventy-five percent sure she's the one... the other twenty-five is Sombra." Vexen said, as the more he watched the group the more his certainty that Fluttershy was the culprit started to go down, but he was still positive that his original idea, that the shy one at the back of the pack, had to be the culprit they were looking for, which meant she would be the target for whatever plan Xibgar and Lord Xemnas had come up with, before noticing that the ship he had been watching started to move, "You have a couple of days to get ready, Xigbar, because they're on their way to Hollow Bastion as we speak... if you miss your opportunity you might not get another one."

Xigbar chuckled and told Vexen not to worry, he wasn't planning on missing the target once he was sure they were in the right spot for the ambush, and he was looking forward to making sure the plan was put in motion without the group even knowing the danger they were in, he just had to wait a few more days and everything would finally be back on track.

Heartless: Danger of Hollow Bastion

With their time in Neverland complete the group continued on their way to their final destination, Hollow Bastion, though unlike the last times they flew between worlds, most of them relaxing and resting with little training for some of them, the group spent a great deal of time in Sombra's training area. The reason was simple, this was the end of their quest, as this would be them versus the greatest Heartless that were under Maleficent's control, even the witch herself, so there was no telling what sort of danger they might be in when they reached their destination. With that in mind Sombra wanted to make sure everyone was ready, and she meant everyone since even Sora was involved in the training, where she found that the entire team agreed with her, even Donald surprisingly, though she also made sure everyone had enough rest and food as well. Such a thing allowed Sombra to use more of the recipes that were in her cookbooks, though it was something to do to pass some of her rest periods, even though the others appreciated her efforts greatly, plus it gave Fluttershy and Radiant the time to work on their own ends in their private world.

Of course they had to deal with the ships that were attacking them along the way, Heartless gummi ships that likely had orders to keep people away from Hollow Bastion, which was what most of Sora's time was spent dealing with, clearing the way as he outmaneuvered their foes and blasted them out of the way.

As they drew ever closer to their destination, however, Sombra felt a faint dark power getting closer and closer, which she assumed was Hollow Bastion itself, as there was no way Maleficent was strong enough for her to feel the witch from where she stood, before she considered the other option that might be true, a powerful Heartless. The reasoning for that was due to the existence of Kurt Zisa and the Phantom, Heartless created to be assassins for specific targets, so there was a chance that what she was feeling right now might be a third one, one either serving Maleficent or watching her for another dark force they were unaware of. That thought caused another to form in her mind, that it might be Ansem, the one who set all of this in motion as she thought back to what Leon's group told them back when they first started their various quests, and if he had really fallen, like they assumed, then what she could be feeling was Ansem himself. Of course that only raised more questions, because if the dark power was Ansem, or his Heartless, then that meant he likely made one of those white creatures as well from the leftovers of his body, meaning there could very well be another version of him out there.

It was like the situation with Clayton, a Heartless and a white figure created from a single body, something she was sure of as she thought about what she was feeling right now, especially with the information given to her from Leon's group, but it only made her wonder where the zombie-like body could have wandered off to.

Five days eventually passed before they laid eyes on their destination, a world that brimmed with dark energy, far more than any world that the group had seen, which had a colossal castle on top of it and what seemed to be a large sea that just surrounded the entire structure. Sombra frowned for a moment as she stared at it, because this meant that she and the others would be seen the moment they warped down to the world's surface, there was no way they could sneak up on Maleficent or her forces based on what she was feeling. There was also the dark power that was coming from the entire world, it was linked to the Darkness in some manner, that much she could tell by observing the world that was in front of them, meaning it's Keyhole was far more important to all of the others, one vital to saving the whole universe. There was also the chance that this might end up bringing them to a whole new world, a true ending of sorts, but she hoped that this was the last world, so they could focus on other things and not having to deal with Maleficent's schemes.

"So... this is Hollow Bastion?" Sora asked, where he brought the ship to a stop and glanced at the world that was right in front of them as he engaged the shields to keep their vessel safe, though even as he did that he had to wonder if anyone in their group was even remotely ready for this, as it seemed far more intense than the others they had been to, despite the fact that he suspected Sombra was perfectly fine in a place like this.

"Yeah. We had best get down there and see what we have to do to get into the castle." Radiant replied, because she knew that Sombra was planning on heading down there and she agreed with her, it was time to end this adventure, though that was when she and the others found that Sora was determined to stop the dark witch as well.

With that in mind the six of them readied themselves and warped down to the starting point for this world, which seemed to be a dark stone walkway, from part of something that had been there previously, while they were surrounded by walls of water on three sides. The interesting part was what was right in front of them, a path that seemed to be part stone and part bubbles, like the world was falling apart in some manner, though as everyone glanced around Sora felt his heart for a moment, a sensation that passed rather quickly as they heard some sort of creature roar up ahead. With that in mind the group started to make their way forward, jumping on all of the earthen sections that were in front of them, though while they did that Sombra found that there were no Heartless coming to fight them, which just seemed odd to her. At the same time she found that the dark power she had felt previously was waiting ahead of their current position, as in just beyond the stone arch she and the others were making their way towards, meaning something powerful was waiting for them and a fight might be had sooner than they thought.

What they eventually discovered was a brown furred bipedal beast, wearing what appeared to be a purple cape, talking to someone that seemed to be blocking the way, though as they drew closer Sombra noticed who it was, it was Riku, but she could tell something was wrong, the dark energy was coming from him and his eyes were now yellow.

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... tell me, beast: how did you get here?" Riku asked, where Sombra noticed that he had an echo to his voice, confirming that he must have been possessed by the dark power she had sensed earlier, though at the same time it didn't seem like he even realized they were getting closer to their position.

"I simply believed... there's nothing more to it than that." the beast replied, speaking in a male voice, though at the same time he seemed to hold his clawed hands in front of him for a time, no doubt referring to his heart and the person that he had to be looking for, where he glanced up at the castle for a few seconds before glancing at Riku, "When our world fell to the darkness, Belle was taken from me... I vowed that I would find her again, no matter the cost. I believed that I would fine her, so here I am... she must be here! I will take her back!"

Riku beckoned for him to come at him as he summoned his weapon, jump spinning back as the beast jumped at him, only for him to deliver a powerful attack to the creature's chest that knocked him down, though as he stood straight again he found that Sora, Sombra, and the others had arrived at long last.

"So, you finally made it. About time, I was getting sick of waiting." Riku commented, though in that moment Sombra did see a bit of eye movement in his right eye, an eye twitch that wasn't in anger, like one might assume, rather it seemed like Riku was trying to show them that he was still in there, under the intense dark power that had possessed his body, "We've always been rivals, haven't we, Sora?"

"You can cut the crap and get out of Riku's body, Ansem." Sombra stated, causing the others who had listened to what all of their friends in Traverse Town had said to really focus on the figure that was in front of them, while Fluttershy tended to the beast's wounds, since he seemed like an okay individual.

"I must admit, you are perceptive. How did you know?" Riku, or rather Ansem, inquired, as if he wasn't aware of how he looked or sounded in this state, which was just stupid in Sombra's mind, that if you were going to possess someone the first thing you should know about them is know they talked and how they acted, plus hide any alterations that you may have made to your host's body.

"Really? And here I heard you were smart... Riku's voice is echoing, you aren't acting like him, and you changed his eyes to a yellow color after possessing him." Sombra replied, because it really didn't matter if she told the dark figure what he could improve on, as there was no way for him to improve now that they knew he was in control of Riku's body, though both she and Sora stood beside each other as the rest of the group remained behind them, "Now, get out of his body."

"Not yet. There can only be one master of the Kingdom Key, and I'm here to prove that." Ansem said, where he held Riku's hand out for a moment and something unusual happened, Sora's weapon appeared on it's own and the boy struggled to hold onto it, before the Kingdom Key disappeared and reappeared in Riku's right hand, causing the dark spirit to smile as he studied it, "I was right: Sora, you were merely the delivery boy for the Kingdom Key's true master... a pawn that has now outlived your usefulness. But have no fear, I will not strike you down with the weapon you carried throughout your entire journey, as that would only anger my host somewhat, so here, you can play with this... while I will use the Kingdom Key to unlock the secret door and change the World."

As Sora fell to his knees the group found that the item that Ansem tossed to him was a wooden sword, like what he said that he and Riku had used before their world was taken by Darkness, before he turned to leave, walking up to one of the stone platforms that would allow him to get into the castle, only to pause as he glanced back at them with a smirk.

"Goofy, let's go. We have to complete our mission." Donald stated, causing the others to glance at him in surprise, that after everything they had been through he was willing to abandon Sora after the boy lost the Kingdom Key, while at the same time his older friend didn't seem okay with leaving them.

"Donald, I know the King said to follow the Kingdom Key, but we can't just leave our friends like this." Goofy said, showing Sora and the others why he was the Captain of Mickey's forces, he was incredibly loyal and right now he thought of them as his friends, which was nice to see, something that caused Donald to use his magic to shock his rear hard enough to send him in the direction of Ansem.

"You annoying duck. Make no mistake, you will pay for this." Sombra remarked, as while she understood being loyal to one's ruler, she had been sure that Mickey would have been okay with his friends sticking with Sora, even if he didn't have the Kingdom Key, all while Donald didn't seem to care in the slightest.

Donald glanced back for a moment, like he might be mentally debating his decision, before he forced Goofy to follow him as he rushed after Ansem, eventually causing the trio to disappear as they left Sora, Sombra, Radiant, and Fluttershy alone with the beast, where they stood there for a few moments, digesting what had just happened.

"I understand that their mission is important, given what the Kingdom Key is, but... did they really have to do that to all of us, especially Sora?" Radiant inquired, though as she said that she tended to Sora, who was saddened by the fact that two of their friends had left them like it was nothing, while also being happy that they were there, that the three of them hadn't gone with the pair.

"No... that was just mean of Donald." Fluttershy stated, where she nodded her head as the beast stood up, looking at his body for a time while being surprised by the fact that he had been healed so easily, though it was easy to tell that even the shy one was greatly annoyed by this discovery.

Beast, as he claimed that such a thing was his name, asked them why they were here and the group informed him of the fact that they were here to find their friends, though they now knew that one was possessed by some dark figure, who likely needed to be beaten up to save him. Upon hearing about Kairi, on the other hand, Beast understood them far better than before, as he mentioned he was looking for 'Belle', someone of importance to him that had been stolen after their world fell to Darkness, and though he did not have a weapon to permanently deal with the Heartless he would use his claws to defend himself. With that in mind Sombra raised a hand to the wooden sword and engraved a bit of power into it, something that would allow Sora to beat back the Heartless, much like the people of the worlds they went to, while at the same time making sure he wasn't totally defenseless, causing him to nod his head in thanks once that was done. Once she was done doing that the group followed the path that Ansem had taken, finding that it brought them to a shattered arch that seemed to go nowhere, but when they approached it a golden lift with black designs appeared for everyone to get on, one that sped off towards the dark castle.

Sombra noticed that the lift seemed to be attached to a purple bit of energy, and when they reached the front gates, that happened to be locked, she found a spiked crystal nearby that seemed to be connected to the lift, though since the main entrance was closed they headed down to the right, towards a barred gate that opened for them.

There were two more crystals there for the group to interact with, one pulsing with energy that dissipated when Radiant tried to touch it, though Sombra pointed out a lift some distance above them that started to move after that, meaning to progress they would have to find things like this to activate other sections of the massive castle. The second summoned a lift that took them down into a watery section, a dead end by the looks of it, though the enemies this time happened to be pure Heartless, the ones that didn't produce hearts, namely the Shadows and a spherical foe that had three tendrils that ended in pink tips, a 'Darkball' she guessed. While they tore through the Heartless, however, Sora understood what sort of power he still had access to, as the markings on his wooden blade allowed him to channel his magical powers, so he could launch fireballs and shards of ice like normal, meaning he could help the others out. Fluttershy found the way forward as she accidentally touched one of the bubbles and disappeared in a stream that seemed to head through an opening that was under the water, causing Sombra and the others to follow after her, only to discover that they were now inside part of the castle.

Sombra found that the way to move forward was to have Beast take down a few breakable walls so they could move even deeper into the castle, though after using a second bubble to reach another area she also found what appeared to be a few switches on the walls, one that, when activated, moved the walls around them to form brand new paths. With such a thing in mind Sombra had the rest of the group stand back for a few moments as she tested out each switch that was in the area, eventually forming a plan in her mind that, as Radiant watched her, allowed her to form a path for them to move forward. Once she knew the path it was only a matter of time until she opened the way for the others to catch up with her and remake the path she had created, allowing them to progress without wasting time as they used a lift to get up onto an upper area that seemed to be heading forward. In addition to that there was another type of enemy, a large armored one that stood as tall as Beast, though it's weapon seemed to be a large shield that had a vicious dog head in the center of it, a 'Defender' as Fluttershy decided to call it, where the key to defeating it seemed to be just like the Large Bodies, just behind them and beat them down.

While the path seemed to end in a new dead end Sombra found a switch that seemed to power the main gate, so after she activated it they returned to the area that had brought them here and quickly headed back up to the path that would allow them to enter the castle, allowing them to see that the door was definitely open. Of course the first thing they had to do was cut through all of the enemies that were in front of them, where Sombra was slightly annoyed that there weren't more emblem Heartless since she wanted their hearts, but she was fine with tearing through the Defenders and taking all of their hearts, which would no doubt empower her defenses when she absorbed one of their hearts. After clearing out the rest of the enemies that were in front of them the group stepped forward and entered the castle, where they quickly found that it seemed to bring them to a circular chamber with a fountain across from the entrance, with a set of stairs on either side of it, plus a second floor and a couple of doors. One stood out to Sombra, one that looked like it needed them to find a few fragments of the Heartless emblem to unlock so they could progress even deeper, making her wonder where the pieces might be located, something they might figure out in due time.

As they entered the chamber, however, Beast seemed to hear something and pounced at something that was resting in the doorway they had just walked through, causing Sombra to sigh as the door closed behind him, though their focus was on the rest of their friends as Riku, still possessed by Ansem, appeared with Donald and Goofy behind him.

"I admire your persistence, but you should quit while you still can." Ansem remarked, like he was concerned for them or something, though Sombra knew that he was trying to get rid of them so he could focus on his own mission, which just so happened to involve Kairi, hence his desire to get Sora out of here, though at the same time he allowed Riku's clothes to turn into some dark suit with the Heartless symbol on the front, "If you don't, the Darkness will destroy you."

"No. I'm not leaving without Riku and Kairi... it doesn't matter if the Darkness destroys my body, for it will never be able to touch my heart." Sora replied, where he stepped forward a little and put himself in between his remaining friends and the possessed body of his best friend, showing them that he was determined to show the dark figure his resolve, even if that meant sacrificing his body to somehow get his missing friends back, "My heart will stay with my friends, just like theirs would stay with me if something happened to them!"

Ansem accepted the challenge and launched a sphere of dark energy at Sora, fully intending on blasting him to bits and seeing if his heart would actually remain safe, though before it could hit it's mark Goofy, out of nowhere, got between Sora and the attack, allowing him to tank it before Fluttershy even had a chance to react. Donald, of course, was surprised that his friend would betray their King all of a sudden, but Goofy was fine with this, as he believed that Sora was the rightful wielder of the Kingdom Key and nothing was going to change his mind, though when he told the duck to apologize to the King on his behalf Donald rushed down to join them. Ansem, surprised by this turn of events, watched as everyone, and that included Beast when he tore through the door and joined them, caused something interesting to happen, the sudden renewal of Sora's faith in all of his friends, even those that betrayed him since Goofy had defended him, allowed him to call the Kingdom Key back to his side. Without the Keyblade in question, the very item he was interested in taking, Ansem did the only thing available to him, he fled from the area and disappeared as quickly as he had appeared, allowing Donald and Goofy to bow their heads in shame to Sora, though it was unclear how much Donald meant it since he was the one who caused the pair to defect originally.

While Sora was willing to forgive them for leaving the group like that, especially since he didn't want to think about what might have happened if it was just him left alone on this world, Sombra wanted the pair to make sure they were punished in some manner, just to understand that betrayal wasn't a good thing.

"Goofy, since you were forced against your will to join Donald, I'll go easy on you: two weeks, no dessert, starting once we complete our quest." Sombra remarked, because while she could have punished them similar to how she dealt with those in the Crystal Empire, something she really couldn't do these days, she had a far better idea and that was to target what everyone in the group seemed to enjoy, her food, or, to be more exact, her delicious desserts, though while Goofy bowed his head, accepting his punishment, she turned towards the now terrified duck, "Donald... one year, no dessert, starting immediately!"

Donald immediately fell to the floor, pounding it with his fists and crying like he was a young child throwing a fit over losing his toy, like that would force her to change her mind, though Radiant chuckled as she watched this, joined by Sora and the others, because it was good to have a brief respite before facing the rest of the dangers that Hollow Bastion, Ansem, and Maleficent could throw at them.

Heartless: Terrible Disaster

After Donald got over the fact that he wasn't allowed to have any of Sombra's delicious desserts for an entire year, and Sora helped him up to show he accepted his earlier apology, the group studied the area that was around them, allowing them to confirm that the Heartless door was the way forward. Unfortunately it didn't look like any of the pieces were nearby, where their only path was to head into the other door, leading into a library that had hundreds, if not thousands, of books that were full of information on a number of different subjects, something Sombra was interested in. She also discovered a few holes in the shelves, as in certain tomes were missing and she suspected that they were important to rearranging the whole place, to open the way forward and potentially find one of the door key fragments, starting with a red tome that was laying on the floor. It happened to go into the shelf in front of them and they watched that the entire shelf moved to the right, revealing the way to a curved staircase that was connected to the upper level, though it also revealed a reading area that Sora looked at for a few seconds before following everyone else.

Radiant found something else that was interesting, the few pillars that were in the library seemed to have areas that one could rotate, causing them to rotate one on the upper level as they noticed that it had a chest for them to open, though it did make everyone check the others, just in case they had a tome in their hidden compartments.

While they did that Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy found a couple of tomes that were scattered all over the library, though two of them just handed them over to the third member of their trio, Sombra to be exact, where she caused them to float in the air near her as she tracked down all of their resting places. Sora's group watched as she tracked down where each book was supposed to placed, observed as the library shifted before their eyes as shelves moved accordingly, until she found a purple book in a private reading area that opened a hidden passage on the upper level. Everyone quickly gathered around for a couple of seconds before following her into the opening, revealing that it brought them to an area that had a number of levels, openings, and lift crystals, like it was a lift stop of some kind, though the crystal in front of them called a lift that teleported them onto it and moved up through an opening. The lift brought them outside, to an area that none of them had been in before, and continued along the exterior of the castle before entering through another opening, one that brought them to an area that seemed to go nowhere else, and the chest that was there was already being looted by Squeak, causing the little rabbit to jump down to Fluttershy for a moment.

Sombra had to admit that Squeak was a great member of the team, even if the rabbit didn't fight, and it wasn't long before it disappeared once more, heading off to find more treasure to collect for the group, causing them to head back down to the hidden lift stop and the library.

Upon their return to the library the group headed through a door that was unlocked by tapping a button that happened to be revealed thanks to Sombra moving the shelves around, revealing an upper area that didn't seem to go anywhere at all, but there was a lot for them to tamper with. There was a statue with a bull head that Beast pushed over the ledge, which fell to the lower level and shattered into dust, leaving behind a segment of the door key behind, which Fluttershy quickly collected by flying down to where it landed so she could pick it up. While she did that the others found a number of unlit candles they could light with their fire spells, causing the brazier in the central section of the floor, separated from the rest thanks to the circular gap between the walkway and the center, to disperse and reveal another segment. Radiant found a third one when she spotted a boar head statue with a notice that it wanted to see their 'smashing power', though when she broke the pot next to it the stone moved into the floor and caused the fountain to turn on, revealing the third piece in the process.

The fourth and final piece was located in a chest that appeared after Goofy moved a statue to the side, though they found it on the lower floor, but with all four fragments in hand they approached the Heartless door, slipped the pieces into the slots, and opened the door before moving forward once more.

Such a thing brought them to another section of the lift stop, with a Defender guarding the area, though they tore right through it and Sombra snatched the heart as they headed outside, onto a walkway that had stairs and seemed to be the way to head upwards. In addition to that Sora spotted two new Heartless, a short wizard looking one, due to the fact that it was wearing robes and carried a wand, while the other seemed to be a wyvern, a dragon-like Heartless where the arms were merged with the wings, and they were named as such. Sombra was more interested in the Wizards, due to the fact that they had magic of their own and that meant that she could get more points to her magic if she absorbed their hearts, since all of the Heartless of Hollow Bastion were stronger than the others they had fought so far. The Wyverns were also an interesting addition to what they had to fight, as they could fly around and use their speed to their advantage, but they were no match for Beast, who jumped onto their backs and hurled them at the walls near the group, allowing Sora or the others to take them down.

At the end of the path the group discovered two more lift crystals, one activating one somewhere else while the other just warped them onto it, allowing them to find that it was a larger lift that could be an arena, before it started to move over to the other side of the castle, though none of them were surprised by what happened next.

"More Heartless, of course." Sombra commented, as a number of enemies popped into existence around them and she struck down some of the Wizards that happened to be part of the foes that wanted them dead, letting Sora, Radiant, and all of the others to deal with the remainder of the Heartless, allowing her to add more and more hearts to her collection, even if she hadn't absorbed any for a long time.

With their combined power none of the Heartless were able to overcome them, allowing the lift to reach the other side of the castle and warp them into an area that didn't have any enemies, like a reprieve from fighting, before finding their way into another portion of the lift stop and out to yet another lift crystal. That one brought them up to yet another level that had a single crystal that moved half of a large cube into position, likely part of another section of the path, which was the moment that they entered yet another portion of the lift stop and fought a few more Heartless. Sombra was sure that the lift stop had been designed to annoy intruders, in case someone dared to invade this world to challenge Maleficent, and it was partly working due to the sheer number of times that they had to go back into another portion of it, but she forced herself to remain calm, as rage would only lead to disaster. The end of the latest visit to the lift stop brought them out to an area that was on the other side of the cube, with a lift crystal that lowered the other half into position so they could use the altered cube as steps, causing them to tear through some Darkballs and Wyverns in the process as the group quickly made their way up to the upper level once more.

That, at long last, brought them to an area that seemed important, a dark area that must have been used for meetings for the dark group that had been messing with all of the other worlds the group had been through, and, sure enough, they found Maleficent standing near the back of the chamber.

"So, you have finally arrived... but I'm afraid that you are far too late." Maleficent stated, her tone revealing that she was of the opinion that her plans were complete and there was nothing they could do to bring them down, not that anyone even cared since it was clear that something had gone wrong, otherwise she wouldn't have come to stall them, "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed and this world will be plunged into Darkness. It is unstoppable... nothing you do will prevent this world's ultimate fate."

"You say that, but your accomplices thought the same thing and still failed to stop us." Sombra replied, where she stepped forward and held her scythe at the ready as everyone else readied themselves, presenting seven warriors to their foe, each of whom were ready to kick her down, save Kairi, and stop her madness, before worrying about Ansem, "Honestly, what makes you think we can't take you?"

"You simple fool! Your disrespect will cost you greatly!" Maleficent remarked, though as she prepared herself for battle the group found that Ansem, still possessing Riku's body, stepped out of the shadows and joined her, something that seemed to surprise her since she must have given him instructions to do something else, "Riku? What are you doing out here, boy, when I told you to stay behind and guard the Princesses? And what happened to that dark Keyblade you were holding?"

"Relax, as long as you're standing these fools will never reach the Princesses... as for the Keyblade of Hearts, well, I lent it to someone for a few seconds." Ansem answered, telling the group that there was one more foe for them to worry about, one who apparently was an ally of the dark figure that was possessing Riku's body, even though Maleficent herself didn't seem to realize what was up with Riku, or maybe she didn't care, "I just came to watch what happens next."

As everyone wondered what Ansem meant, however, Sombra found herself being pushed forward and turned to look at her companions, to see who would dare to do such a thing at a time like this, before realizing that it was Fluttershy, though in that moment she found a dark Keyblade sticking out of her chest. It was just like what happened to Clayton, the blade was surrounded by dark energy that allowed it to touch her heart, without doing damage to her body, though as she looked at the diagonal nature of the weapon she found a black robed figure on the ledge above the entrance. In that moment she understood what had happened, the robed figure had decided to take her, not Fluttershy, out of the picture and the shy one had gotten in the way, knocking her out of the way and allowing herself to take the blow in her stead, causing Fluttershy to just smile for a moment as her companion sphere lightly landed on the ground. After that she gasped as her body simply fractured, like it was made out of glass, before splitting into two segments of energy, the dark half that contained her heart forming a Shadow with pink eyes while parts of it's body were yellow instead of black, plus it seemed scared, while the white half, her body, simply vanished into thin air.

Ansem chuckled for a moment as he called his dark Keyblade back to his side, while even Maleficent seemed pleased by this sudden turn of events, though that was when the energy in the air shifted and they found that the shadows around Sombra seemed to be vibrating for some odd reason, causing Radiant to panic immediately.

"No, Sombra, don't!" Radiant stated, though as she stepped forward the dark energy formed a barrier between her, not to mention Sora's group since they were standing near her, and Sombra, though it was Sombra she was worried about since she could tell that the darkness inside her, the hatred she had been trying to balance since starting this journey, was now surging to the surface with a new target in her eyes.

Instead of responding Sombra was engulfed in a pillar of dark energy that shook the entire chamber, where she gave an order to the hearts she had collected so far, everything but the heart fragments was to be absorbed into her power, which caused the dark energy to swell as her power rose to new heights. A few seconds later the dark energy turned into pure shadows as they pulled back, revealing that Sombra was now wearing an iron suit of armor that perfectly fit her body, one that looked more like something a ruler would wear and not someone who stood on the battlefield. It came complete with a crown that rested behind her horn and seemed to have a section that added protection to it, so nothing could harm it, and a lush red cape that really made her look like a dark queen, especially with the familiar dark mist that was coming from her eyes and the look that struck fear into her enemies. Sombra held her hand out for a moment and her scythe just twisted before their very eyes, like her dark power was forcing it into another form, where Maleficent found that it shrunk down to the size of a Keyblade, the blade attached to the handle being a dark eerie green color with a purple flame that was wrapped around it.

The guard around the handle looked like a pair of dark feathered wings, while the head of the weapon looked like a smaller version of her scythe's head, almost like a wing itself based on how it was curved towards the ground, and it's chain looked like her eye, the crimson eye with the eerie green around it and surrounded by the dark mist.

"What is that? What are you?" Maleficent asked, though while she refused to show weakness, despite the fact that most of her subordinates were now dead, she could feel something inside her body fearing the dark power that was in front of her and the boy, a power that was far more powerful than what she and the others had seen when they first spotted Sombra and her companions in Traverse Town.

"I am Sombra, Dark Queen of the Crystal Empire, Mistress of Dark Magic, Monarch of Shadows, and more that I don't have time to share," Sombra remarked, where Sora and the others stiffened for a moment, as they could instantly tell that she was darker than before, or more evil as they observed her, something that caused her to swing her dark Keyblade, almost like she was preparing herself for battle, "and this... THIS is my weapon: Final Judgement."

"Please, you think your pathetic excuse for a Keyblade can overcome us?" Ansem remarked, though while he stood still for a moment Radiant noticed something moving in the darkness, racing towards Sombra, but before it could reach her the dark bit was glared at by Sombra, causing it to rush back into the possessed boy, meaning Ansem must have seen her as a far better host and was rejected before even reaching his target.

Sombra disappeared after that, appearing in front of Ansem as she swung her Keyblade and struck him in the chest, which sent him flying through a dark portal the possessed boy created after realizing that he had been hit, before launching herself at Maleficent, who raised her staff above her head to block the attack. Of course it was easy for them to see that she was using her own dark energy to counter the power that Sombra was using, though Radiant knew it wouldn't work, it couldn't, and she was proven right as the tip of Final Judgement slashed through the staff like it was paper and left a diagonal slash mark on Maleficent's body as she was knocked into the wall behind her. Maleficent forced herself to stand for a moment as she summoned her staff, which explained why it seemed so brittle since the new one was perfectly intact, before using her magic to create meteors that she sent right at her foe, causing Sombra to swing her weapon and all of the hazards shattered into pieces in an instant. In the next instant she snapped her left fingers and summoned orbs of shadow that rushed at the dark witch, causing Maleficent to dodge as three slammed into her chest, the rest colliding with the wall behind her and leaving small craters in their wake, though before she could move again Sombra pulled her hand back and magically pulled her opponent towards her.

Such a thing allowed Sombra to spin around as she kicked the dark witch in the side, sending Maleficent flying into part of the nearby wall, smashing right through an illusion that revealed another portion of the castle to them, a larger chamber that seemed to be the final chamber between them and where the princesses were being held.

Sora, of course, was amazed by this discovery, that Sombra somehow held the power to stand up to Maleficent, who had to be the big bad of this adventure, and yet she was beating her down like it was nothing to her, just a walk in the park as he thought about it, causing him to glance behind them for a moment. The mysterious robed figure had departed right after dealing with Fluttershy, where the odd shadow was resting in Radiant's arms with the critter orb and Squeak acting as company to their friend's heart, meaning they would have to deal with the figure at some point in the future. With that in mind he and the others followed Sombra for a few seconds before discovering that Ansem was near Maleficent, only he stabbed her right in her heart with his dark Keyblade, saying something about 'opening her heart to Darkness', before disappearing once more. Maleficent, of course, was consumed by her own dark energy and transformed before their eyes, becoming a large black scaled dragon that seemed far stronger than the witch on her own, like Ansem had awakened her true darkness and gifted her some additional power to bring down her foe.

Sombra, on the other hand, wasn't too impressed as she leapt around the chamber they were in, using her Keyblade as a means to block all of the incoming claw attacks while Maleficent attacked like she was a wild animal, which she might be as Radiant and the others watched the fight. There was another thing they were able to determine as the seconds went by, and that was the fact that Sombra was far faster than any of them had thought she'd be, her defenses seemed to be on a whole new level, and her attacks, the melee ones at least, seemed to do more damage than before, cutting into both her foe and the area as she swung her weapon. Radiant found that Sombra didn't seem to be interested in using any of her magic, rather it seemed like when she used her spells it was to counter or show Maleficent just how outmatched the witch really was right now, something that had to be annoying the dragon as she tried, in vain, to do any damage to her foe. When Maleficent opened her mouth, showing them that she was charging her flames into a powerful blast that could likely melt some of the area, Sombra smiled as shadowy chains burst out of the shadows and wrapped around her mouth, sealing it shut, while some chained her body and wings to the floor, causing her attack to detonate inside the beast's body, just as Sombra intended.

The resulting blast, and the surge of flame that erupted from Maleficent's body, reduced the dark witch to a pile of ash that seemed to merge with the leftovers of her robe, causing Sombra to teleport it outside the castle so the wind could take it and prevent her from returning, if that was in the witch's powers.

"Sombra... are you alright?" Radiant asked, because this event had been the very thing she had been terrified of when they first started this adventure, the return of the dark being that Sombra was known for back home, fully empowered by the skill the World had granted her before everyone was brought to Traverse Town.

"No... not until Riku is safe, Kairi is recovered, Ansem's schemes are stopped, and Fluttershy is restored." Sombra replied, allowing the others to see that she was still annoyed by what just happened to their group, which was just breaking more and more as time went on, causing her to growl for a moment as a new opening revealed itself to them, one that seemed to head deeper into the castle, "Come. The end of our quest is within our grasp."

Radiant had no idea what was going through Sombra's mind right now, but there was little they could do but follow her into the opening and track down Ansem, to put this adventure to an end so they could focus on Fluttershy, causing her to pet the scared creature in her arms as she wondered what the future held for them and their friends.

Vexen had been pacing as he looked at the screens detailing everything that was going on down on Hollow Bastion, where he knew Xigbar was enacting their plan to deal with the thorn in their side, because he had been watching him on one of the screens that were in front of him. He now fully understood what Xigbar had been talking about, he wanted to deal with Fluttershy while her defenses were down and had chosen the best chance to do so, by targeting another member of her group, figuring that she would throw herself into the line of fire to save them. It was a good plan, because their target and her friends would be busy focusing on Maleficent, unaware of the danger that happened to be closing in on them, though even with the possessed boy giving them a hint that something was coming, and revealing that he lent his weapon to a 'friend', it was too late for them to stop Xigbar's plan. In the end Vexen's worries had been unfounded, Fluttershy got right in the way of the attack and lost her heart, the shrouded heart turning into a unique Heartless, a rather weak one despite the fact that she should have had terrible power, while her body disappeared.

With that discovery in mind Vexen tapped some of the buttons nearby and ran a scan for any new Nobodies that might have been formed, ones worthy to join the Organization, and his readings indicated that there was one in Twilight Town, something he was looking at while Xigbar stepped out of a Dark Corridor and pulled his hood back.

"I couldn't have planned that any better than that." Xigbar remarked, where he stepped forward and looked at the screen that was displaying what was going on inside the chamber he had left everyone in, even though he was surprised by the form that Fluttershy's Heartless had taken, as it was pitiful in comparison to Vexen's notes on the matter, "There, our little heart stealer should be dealt with. I take it her Nobody has formed somewhere?"

"Yes, though she's in Twilight Town for some reason. I will inform..." Vexen started to say, though in that moment both he and Xigbar braced themselves as the ship shook due to a violent pulse of dark energy struck them, one that, based on the screens that were now flashing red warnings, seemed to be coming from Hollow Bastion, where one of his devices was now measuring a dark power that was far beyond anything they had encountered before this point.

Xigbar looked at the screen for a moment as his worst fears were realized, Fluttershy wasn't the person they should have been focused on, rather his instincts were spot on, Sombra was pulsing with a dark energy that was beyond anything he had seen before this point, taking on a form that practically radiated Darkness. What came next only shocked them even more than the transformation, her weapon became a dark Keyblade, there was no other way to describe what they were seeing right now, though Xigbar had to refrain from saying anything about it, as it reminded him of one he had seen back in the past. Sombra's power suddenly surged to a whole new level as she decimated Maleficent, making the dark witch look like she was a complete novice, and even the possessed boy barely stood a chance as he was knocked away easily, as in it took no effort for her to do such a thing. Not even Maleficent's dragon form, unlocked by the possessed boy, gave her an edge over Sombra, the sudden power gap was no joke, especially with how easily she was able to down the dark witch and destroy her with far too much ease, much to their continued shock.

As the group readied themselves for the final battle with the possessed boy, however, Xigbar realized that they had just messed up, Sombra was the one stealing hearts, just like he suspected despite going with Vexen's calculations, and even he could tell that his partner was taken aback by this new discovery.

"Xigbar... you were right to target Sombra. I... I was totally wrong." Vexen managed to say, though while this hurt his pride, or what he assumed was pride, he had to admit that his calculations were totally and completely wrong, Sombra was the one that needed to be eliminated and his partner's actions in targeting her, instead of Fluttershy, had been spot on, even if he gave him bad information, causing him to glance at his new readings, "Sombra is the one we should have focused on, not Fluttershy. We need to tell Lord Xemnas about this development... he might be the only one who can stand before the new power that Sombra possesses."

"...You know, that opinion I fully agree with." Xigbar replied, as their boss, the first of their organization, happened to be the strongest of them all, so it was easy for him to agree with Vexen in this regard, Xemnas might be the only one, out of all of them, that could deal with the figure they were now looking at, causing him to open a new Dark Corridor, because time was of the essence, "I'll go tell him immediately. Maybe we can deal with this problem before anything else happens."

Vexen was surprised that Xigbar was willing to overlook his admission of guilt, that he was willing to even admit that he was wrong on something, but instead of saying anything he nodded his head before Xigbar vanished, causing him to look at the screen as he wondered what the immediate future held in store for them.

Heartless: Annoying Distraction

The path that Sombra had felt was back in the hall they had found Maleficent in, which brought them to a short portion of the lift stop and then into another passage, one that happened to bring them to a large door that opened as soon as they approached it, revealing the final chamber of the entire castle. This area was fairly large, as there was a walkway leading up to what could have passed as the grand entrance of an actual grand castle, only this one stopped at something that made her raise an eyebrow, a large force of darkness that felt like a Keyhole. It had to be the one that Maleficent was working on, something they were able to confirm as the group walked down the walkway, as six figures were resting in the walls to their right and left, three on each side, one was Jasmine and one was Alice, though while the other four were unknown Beast approached one in a yellow dress. Sombra assumed that that lady was Belle, where she had to wonder who the other three were, as one wore a white dress, another had a blue one on, and the third had one that was yellow at the bottom with blue on the top and wore a red cape as well, meaning these had to be six of the seven Princesses of Heart.

Each one had dark crystals around the lower half of their bodies, keeping them contained in their holding areas so they couldn't escape, not that it mattered since it looked like they were asleep as well, their hearts stolen based on what Sombra was seeing, though for the time being they walked further into the chamber and approached the Keyhole.

"Kairi!" Sora called out, as the moment they reached the upper part of the area he spotted his other friend resting on the floor, across from where the dark Keyhole rested, and he rushed to her side without delay as everyone else walked up the rest of the steps, keeping an eye out for their last opponent.

"It's no use... that girl will never open her eyes, for she has lost her heart." Ansem commented, where they found that Riku's possessed body was sitting on top of the Heartless emblem shaped frame that was around the Keyhole, thought it seemed odd that he felt that he could just be so lazy in the face of the destructive force that had wrecked the witch he had been using the entire time, before he let himself float down to the ground floor, "So long as the last Princess of Heart stays asleep, the Final Keyhole will remain incomplete... she is the final piece of Light that is required to finish this puzzle. You, Sora, are the one who holds the last Princess' heart and must give it up for her to regain her power."

"And now it all makes sense. The random times where Sora was staring off into space, or thought he saw someone who wasn't there, he was seeing the other heart inside him." Sombra remarked, though now she could sort of feel the heart in question inside Sora, but at the same time it seemed like there might be one more even deeper than Kairi's, one that had become dormant and was almost completely buried.

"Kairi... her heart's been inside me this entire time?" Sora said, though this wasn't even weird at this point, because due to Ansem possessing Riku he knew that one heart could take over another heart's body, so it made sense that one heart could seek sanctuary in the body of someone else, someone they trusted, something that actually made him smile for a few seconds, as it was a nice thought to have.

"Yes, and now I shall release her heart from your body... she will complete the Keyhole with her power and lead me to everlasting darkness!" Ansem stated, confirming that he had been seeking something that was bad for the rest of the World, even though they really had no idea what he was looking for, only that it had to be terrible, causing him to raise his dark Keyblade as he approached Sora.

What happened next was what Sombra was expecting, Ansem attacked and Sora blocked it with the Kingdom Key, while at the same time Radiant, Donald, and Goofy got ready for the fight that was about to break out, as this was basically an act of war against their group, even though Ansem did seem surprised that his attack was blocked.

"Ansem... I don't care who you are or what you want. There is no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Sora exclaimed, where he swung his weapon and knocked his possessed friend backwards, though as he did so he could feel a change in his own body, as it felt like Kairi was with him, wanting to keep herself safe from the mad individual and wanting to save Riku from the one who took over his body, "Now, get out of Riku's body before I force you out!"

For a moment Ansem seemed to weigh his options, as he had Sora, Donald, Goofy, Radiant, and Sombra standing right in front of him, though before he could do anything the air near him vibrated as an oval shaped opening appeared, where all of them found a robed figure, like the one who took Fluttershy, stepping out of the portal.

"You? What are you doing here?" Ansem asked, showing that he knew the figure in question, though at the same time the presence of this particular figure caused Sombra to growl, because she was still angry over what happened not even ten minutes ago and now her target was back, meaning she could punish him at last.

"I sensed that you were in need of assistance. Please, allow me to deal with Sombra." the mysterious figure replied, with a voice that seemed both similar and different to Ansem's own, something that immediately caused Sombra to realize that this had to be the other half of their foe, the 'body' that had once housed Ansem's heart, a 'Nobody' following the naming scheme of the Heartless being transformed hearts, all while blue lightning crackled around his left hand.

Sure enough the Nobody loosed a burst of blue lightning at Sombra, which she blocked with her Keyblade and found that it was definitely stronger than what one would assume, especially since it moved her back just a tiny bit, before she swung her arm and knocked the attack into the wall behind her, blasting a hole into the stonework. Following that the Nobody held out his right hand and summoned a beam of energy that was as the length of the Kingdom Key, colored red while just being the beam and nothing else, which he was either holding onto the base of or it was floating just above his palm, but before anyone could react he rushed at Sombra. Such a thing caused her to smile as she jumped backwards and swung her weapon, allowing it to collide with the beam, like it was a physical weapon, before wrapping her magic around them for a second and teleported them out of where Sora and the others were located, as she wasn't about to risk letting her foe hit one of the others. With that in mind she warped both of them outside, in the watery area that was far from the rest of the castle, the very area Ansem had stolen the Kingdom Key in before Sora got it back, and as the Nobody realized what had happened she turned her hand and hurled him at the ground, forcing him to land near the ruined fountain.

The two stared at each other for a few moments as the Nobody got up and turned to face Sombra, though it wasn't long before they rushed into battle once more, weapons colliding once more as both of them flashed around the area, simply appearing and disappearing around the top of the water as they clashed. Sombra knew she could do this thanks to all of the hearts she had absorbed at once, greatly boosting her power to new heights, but the fact that her foe could keep up meant that her thoughts had to be right, this had to be Ansem's other half, which meant that Ansem himself had to be a strong opponent. The Nobody held a hand out and created orbs of blue energy, which he had to be connected to, and let them fly at Sombra, where she dodged out of the way for a moment and found that when they hit the water they quickly expanded to a larger size and shocked the area that they landed in, though he didn't seem to mind missing. It was likely due to the fact that he could potentially just fire them off as much as he wanted, without draining himself in the process, as if one orb was akin to a single point of mana as Sombra thought about it, and with him being Ansem's other half that had to mean he had far more mana than a normal person did.

With that in mind Sombra shifted her stance and knocked the Nobody backwards, though before he could regain himself she made her move, summoning the shadows to her Keyblade as she swung her arm, loosing a wave of dark energy with a red outline right at her foe, causing the Nobody to do something interesting, he summoned a light blue barrier that was made of the same energy as before.

The barrier stalled the attack in it's tracks, even though she could see cracks forming on the surface, causing the Nobody to dodge out of the way as the barrier shattered and the wave collided with the water that had been behind him, blasting the area apart by leaving a gaping hole in the water. Sombra paused for a moment, as the power that her foe possessed was very strong, capable of doing many things with the same type of energy, because she could tell that his blade was made of the same energy as the other attacks he had used, meaning it was very versatile, causing her to mentally curse for a moment. The Nobody didn't have a heart, given that Ansem was his heart, meaning that when she beat him there would be no heart for her to collect, meaning it would be impossible for her to gain the power he was using, though she did have to wonder if it was possible for a being like this to form their own heart, and if that was the case she might hold him in stasis or something until she could take his heart. For the time being she shelved her thoughts on the matter while calling forth bolts of dark energy that she sent flying towards her opponent, where the Nobody raised his empty hand and hurled a few more orbs into the air, where they expanded and caught the entirety of her attack in the process, wiping out all of the bolts before they could reach him.

Following that a sphere of darkness formed around Sombra and an array of red light appeared all around her, spaced like an attack that was waiting to go off, causing her to shift her stance as she spun around and lashed out constantly, using her Keyblade to parry all of the incoming red bolts that had been sent at her, allowing her senses to take over for a couple of seconds before she tore through the sphere and landed nearby.

"I have to admit, your power is as amazing as it is frustrating to deal with. What is it?" Sombra asked, because while she was angry with the Nobody, for taking away Fluttershy and putting her in the shy one's debt, his power interested her and that, alone, was enough to make her pause for a short time.

"Nothingness. That is my power." the Nobody replied, though at the same time he summoned a second red blade, which showed Sombra that there was even more the figure could do with his power, before rushing through the air once more as he zeroed in on where his foe was currently floating.

As she blocked the attack, however, Sombra found thorns made out of a darker version of the energy rushing at her, an attack that she avoided before kicking the Nobody into the air, only to find his barrier, a smaller one placed in front of her hoof, that stopped her in her tracks. The power of Nothingness was no joke, that was what Sombra was discovering, and it also dawned on her that her foe seemed to know more about her abilities than he should have, meaning someone had to be watching them and the Nobody seemed like the prime candidate. That meant her key ability, the black crystals that had the power to nullify one's magical powers, might not be usable since the Nobody likely knew of it's existence, but that only put a new idea in her mind as she called on another power and loosed a volley of bolts at her foe. As she expected her foe cancelled them out by using the volley of expanding orbs again, which was why she activated her teleportation spell right as the area between both of them lit up from the attack, appearing right behind the Nobody before he even realized she had moved.

In that instant, before the Nobody even realized what was going on, Sombra slammed a Silencega into his back, causing him to stagger forward as he turned and thrust his hand out towards her, only to find that nothing happened as a wicked smile appeared on Sombra's face.

"No... no you didn't..." the Nobody said, as while he couldn't feel fear, due to his lack of emotions, there was a part of him that seemed to be reacting to that very emotion right now, because he knew the spell that had been used since Xigbar had rapidly informed him of what had happened and he recalled the reports he had been given so far.

"Yes. Silencega." Sombra replied, where she shifted her stance and let the dark energy form a sphere around her left hand for a moment, though at the same time she let the look on her face tell her foe how much danger he was in now that she had cancelled out his own power, "Now, time to die!"

The Nobody barely had a chance to move as Sombra flashed into the space in front of him and slammed her fist right into his chest, where the transparent sphere ended up expanding in a way where the air around Sombra's fist cracked, causing the water below them to ripple and even shift in places like it was cracking. At the same time he could feel his ribs cracking under the pressure, causing him to cough up some blood in the process, though that only seemed to be the catalyst of an onslaught of blows from Sombra as she laid into him without any sort of mercy or even slowing down. By that he meant that she blasted him with her dark spells, slashed at his body and coat with her Keyblade, an abomination of a weapon if ever he saw one, and blocked all of his kicks and punches as she punished him, to the point where she summoned large dark crystals out of the water and slammed him into them. One of them he was left in for a few moments, causing him to huff for a few seconds as Sombra pulled back, only to cough in pain as his foe kicked him deeper into the crystal with the tip of her hoof, breaking the crystal as she pushed him through several more for good measure.

Sombra stopped after the fifth one and the Nobody could only groan in pain, as he was sure that he would need a couple of days to heal from this ordeal, though as he lifted his head, with the hood somehow still in place, he found that his foe was gathering more dark energy around her Keyblade, ready to release a wave of energy at him.

"You know, beating you to a pulp has been fun and all, but it's about time I..." Sombra started to say, though in that very instant she felt something about the world they were on change and glanced back at the castle for a moment, where she could feel the awakening of Kairi's heart and the finalization of the Final Keyhole, "Sora... guess I'll have to cut this short and do away with you now."

As she turned back towards her foe, however, she found that the Nobody had vanished, as in he sensed the slight change in her attention and had taken that to flee while he could, causing her to mentally curse herself once more as she quickly dismissed the rest of the crystals before teleporting into the castle. Sombra quickly returned to the chamber and found that Sora was nowhere to be seen, while Kairi was up and about, with Radiant and their animal friends were right behind her, while Fluttershy's Shadow seemed to be hauling another one with her as they came towards her. That was when she noticed a tall tan skinned figure standing before the Final Keyhole, possessing long white hair with three spikes on top, with a white coat over his chest that was open to expose his body, a black coat over that with a Heartless emblem linking both halves together, and two black shoulder pauldrons. In the span of a few seconds she understood what was going on, as Sora must have beaten his possessed friend, used the dark Keyblade to free Kairi's heart, thus transforming himself into a Heartless and a Nobody, which had then caused Ansem to manifest at last as he opened the path to the Darkness he was after.

In that moment she beckoned the others to her, as right now there was no way the others would be able to stand before the dark forces that were emerging from the Final Keyhole, and teleported all of them to their ship, allowing them to rest for a time as the ship started to warp back to Traverse Town on it's own, causing Sombra to wonder what the future held for them and the rest of the World.

Heartless: Regrouping

Once everyone was safely aboard the Gummi Ship, and they confirmed that it was moving back towards Traverse Town, Sombra let out a sigh she didn't know she had been holding as she reverted back to her 'base form', letting the armor vanish as her casual attire returned and her eyes returned to normal.

"I'm glad you're back to normal... honestly, I was worried that was going to be permanent." Radiant remarked, as she had witnessed Sombra's return to her old terrifying form and had been absolutely worried that the transformation would be permanent, though now she had a feeling that things were different than she had assumed.

"Not quite. Think of it as a transformation of sorts." Sombra replied, though while she was still angry over Fluttershy's fate, and what it meant since she took the attack meant for her, she knew she needed to focus on other things and not on her anger towards the one responsible for the event, but she did have a question, "How are they?"

"Shy's Heartless is just like her, scared of the world, but Squeak is keeping her company... Sora, well, you have to see it to believe it." Radiant answered, something that drew Sombra's attention immediately, especially since she could feel a slight change in the magic of the ship for a moment, though as they started to move Radiant had her own question that was less important and still wanted to ask it anyway, "Is your weapon the same, or did it change back?"

Sombra held a hand out and found that the Keyblade was the one that appeared, not the scythe, causing Radiant to nod as she dismissed the weapon before heading down into the living area, only to pause for a moment as they found Kairi in the middle of hugging Sora, as in his normal form and not the Shadow he had turned himself into.

"Okay, so... I'm going to guess that, in addition to having the power to reveal the Final Keyhole, a Princess of Light can just break the laws of the World." Sombra commented, because if what she had seen back on Tarzan's world was anything to go by, and she was sure that her observations were correct, a person could be separated into a Heartless and a Nobody, so to reform that person one had to beat or destroy their halves, and Kairi, being a person of pure heart or Light, had just broke the rules by turning Sora's Heartless back into a person, "Sora, are you alright?"

"I... don't know... but I'm glad Kairi is fine." Sora answered, though it was clear that he was conflicted, as while Kairi was safe at last, rescued from the clutches of Maleficent and her dark council, Riku had been lost to Ansem's madness, but for the time being he was focused on making sure his other friend was okay.

Sombra sighed and told the boy that she'd be pulling him into the training area in the future, just to be sure he was fine, before taking a seat as she looked at the rest of the group while their ship traveled through the warp space, seeing that the shy one's unique Heartless was sleeping, with Squeak tending to her. She thought about this for a few moments, as both Sora and Fluttershy had been separated into a Heartless and a Nobody, though while their Heartless had been in the exact area that they had fallen in, like Clayton's, both Nobodies had disappeared without a trace. Such a thing meant that if the way to revive one's person was to defeat their halves it would take them awhile to save Fluttershy, since they had no idea where hers might have gone, plus they would have to track down Sora's, since it would be carrying part of his power. This was an annoying turn of events when she thought about it, as they were basically down two members of their team, despite Sora looking perfectly fine, and she knew that things would be different the next time they encountered some Heartless, which might be soon given the state of the Final Keyhole.

Fortunately it didn't take them long to leave the warp space and appear near Traverse Town, where Sombra was sure that Merlin must have used his time powers to get everyone here as quickly as possible, though once they came to a stop Sora walked up to the controls and made sure to hide the ship like normal, before warping them down to the entrance.

Sure enough Leon and Yuffie were there to greet them, even though they were surprised by the fact that Riku wasn't there and Kairi was, but instead of questioning things right now Leon escorted everyone over to the underground area that was below Merlin's place, where they could regroup and discuss things. Kairi, of course, was interested in the town since this was her first time seeing it and everyone that called it home, especially when they gathered in Merlin's house and went down into the watery area, where the rest of the group, Cid and Aerith, were waiting. Merlin also joined them, using some of his magic to bring down some plates and some ingredients that he would turn into food, though Sombra took over by popular demand of the group that knew her, causing her to get to work with the supplies and items the wizard moved into the area they were in. Once they were all gathered Merlin explained that he had felt a source of great Darkness awaken in Hollow Bastion and, upon feeling the group return to the Gummi Ship, save Beast since he stayed behind for Belle, got the group out of there after realizing they must have failed to stop Maleficent.

"Oh, that wasn't the Final Keyhole you felt... that was Sombra releasing her true power." Radiant remarked, though as she said those words Sombra's horn ignited and the food she was preparing, meat and fruit that surprised those who weren't familiar with her skills, floated out to the plates that were around the area, causing them to dig in and prompted Leon's group to do the same.

"Woah! This is... amazing! I don't know else to describe it." Yuffie stated, as she had tasted some good food before, but this dish, despite the lack of ingredients since they didn't have everything she and Leon had seen Sombra buy the last time they were in town, was far beyond everything she had tasted in the past, something the rest of her group was discovering as they tasted the food.

"Holy molly! Where did you learn to cook like this?" Cid added, because he agreed with Yuffie, in fact everyone agreed with her on this matter, the food was just that good and now he was understanding why Sora had wanted Sombra to cook up something for everyone, in fact Kairi was also enjoying the meal, which was good since they had no idea what she had been given during her time in Maleficent's care.

"Believe it or not, but I'm purely self-taught." Sombra said, though as she sampled her dish, finding it to her satisfaction, she found that Leon's group had stopped in their tracks at the information that she was just that talented when it came to food, while at the same time her own group continued eating without stopping, "And yes, I am the one that generated that large dark energy you detected... think of it as my full power, fueled by my hatred for a single person: the one who took away one of our companions. However, it would seem that there is another force at play right now, a figure wearing a black coat that seems to be the other half of Ansem... and by that I mean Ansem is a Heartless, an incredibly powerful one at that, while his leftover body was transformed into something new, something I'm calling a 'Nobody'. This is, of course, not the first time we've seen such a thing."

"Right, the guy we saw when we first entered the second district... his heart turned into his Heartless, while his body just turned into some odd white creature that left." Sora added, as he remembered what Sombra was talking about, though this only made him wonder why these Nobodies had stayed dormant for so long, instead of attacking them with the vast groups of Heartless they had fought.

"Wait, so every heart turned into a Heartless also creates a Nobody?" Leon asked, because if that was true it meant that there was an army of the other halves somewhere that they knew nothing about in the slightest, though as he asked his question he found that Sombra, at least, was carefully thinking about how to answer it.

"Hard to say. The man created one, Clayton created one when he was taken, and I'm positive that Sora and Fluttershy created their own when they were turned into Heartless," Sombra answered, though that was the fact that really made her pause and think about what they had discovered, because if Nobodies were formed where their original person was turned into a Heartless than she was sure that Sora's and Fluttershy's would have done so in Hollow Bastion, but neither had, "however, neither one appeared where they fell, meaning there must be some location that certain Nobodies are drawn to when they are born and both of theirs were drawn to that location... and Kairi's, now that I think about it."

"Mine?" Kairi asked, because she hadn't thought about what Sombra was saying, mostly because of the fact that she was glad to be up and about for the first time since their world had fallen to the Heartless, as she remembered bits and pieces of her time as a mostly unresponsive body, along with memories that seemed to be from Sora's perspective.

"Yes, your heart was inside Sora's when he freed it and turned into a Heartless... I'd wager that being a Princess of Heart means you can't create a Heartless." Sombra commented, though that worried her, there were three Nobodies that they had no idea where they were and suspected that they would have to find them at some point, where she noticed how only Radiant seemed to be following what she was saying, at least of her group since Merlin seemed to understand what she was saying as well, "Basically I'm thinking that when Sora turned into a Heartless and created his Nobody, he also created your own at the same time, who, like his, just disappeared into the void... we would do well to look for all three of them once we're done with Ansem."

Leon was surprised that she, of all people, wanted to go back to Hollow Bastion, after everything that happened, but she wasn't the only one who thought that way, as Sora and the others, even Kairi, wanted to go back and bring an end to this quest, especially since the Final Keyhole had been opened. With that in mind Leon suggested that they come with them, as Hollow Bastion had been their world before it fell to Maleficent, causing Sombra to tell them how the Gummi Ship didn't have enough room for all of them, which only caused Cid to ask if they had more gummi blocks. Radiant confirmed that they did, Squeak had a bag full of items and many of them were the blocks, where Cid told them that he could install a new device that would add the blocks to the ship, meaning that whoever was editing the ship could add more space to the insides. In addition to that he had another navigational gummi he needed to install, because with the main path leading to Hollow Bastion surging with Heartless they would need to use the backdoor he had created in the event that he and his friends wanted to return to their home, and now seemed like the perfect time to use it.

While they were talking Squeak took the sphere with the dalmatian puppies and returned them to their parents, returning with another spell, Aeroga, the third tier Aero spell, before Leon said that they needed to stop at the Coliseum, just to make sure Sora could fight before the big battle, causing Sombra to nod as she wondered what might be thrown at them before the end of their grand adventure.

Following the battle with Sombra, something that could only be described as domination once the Silencega was placed on his body, Xemnas had managed to escape thanks to his foe being distracted by what had happened to Sora, which was a blessing since he was sure the dark Keyblade wielder would have ended his existence.

"Man, she sure did a number on you." Xigbar commented, as the battle had done quite a lot to Hollow Bastion itself, to the point where Vexen was still staring at the data with a shocked look on his face, all while he handed their boss the highest level potion they had on the ship, a mega one, since the other tiers didn't seem like they had enough power to heal the wounds Xemnas had been deal, "Who would have thought that Sombra's full power could stand to the full power that your Nothingness commands... man is that a terrifying thought."

"That... was not my full power. With the information we had I assumed she would be far weaker than she was," Xemnas replied, where he took the mega-potion and drank from it, feeling the healing properties of the potion course through his body as the damage done to him started to heal, like none of it had happened in the first place, all while he could see that Vexen had stopped upon hearing his statement.

"Really? And here I thought you were using your full power." Vexen commented, though at the same time he tapped the console that was in front of him and continued to look through the information that had come in from Hollow Bastion, at least now that the battle was over and the Final Keyhole had been opened, "Could you handle her with your full power?"

"Yes, the full power of Nothingness is far greater than when I use only half of my power... next time, she won't be as lucky as she was today." Xemnas stated, where one would assume he was being arrogant, though as a Nobody such a thing was nonexistent, he could only act like he was arrogant, but the truth remained, the full power of Nothingness put what he had just used against Sombra to shame, meaning the next time they fought he would be sure to crush her, "Vexen, have you found their Nobodies?"

"I have. Both Sora's and Fluttershy's are somewhere in Twilight Town... Kairi's, however, is still unknown, but the trace has pointed at hers being in the second castle." Vexen replied, because while he was unsure of how to feel at seeing his boss be beaten like that, it was just astonishing when he thought about it since Xemnas was the oldest Nobody and he was far stronger than everyone who had come after him, he was still terrified of him and knew to drop the issue for the time being, as when he was alone he'd focus on it again.

Xemnas paused for a moment, as the 'second castle' was none other than Castle Oblivion, which he was sure had been an entirely different structure in the past and housed something that would help him in some manner, so it was odd that the Nobody of Kairi would appear there, of all places, while it was odd for Sora's and Fluttershy's to be in Twilight Town, which caused him to stand up.

"Woah. Are you sure you should be up and about, after that fight?" Xigbar asked, because while he knew the potion would have healed all of Xemnas' woulds, especially since they had used the best one of the bunch, he wanted to make sure his boss was fit enough before he did any serious damage to himself.

"Yes. I am fine. Xigbar, I want you to return to the main castle and tell Axel to prepare himself." Xemnas replied, returning to his commanding persona, to put what had just happened in the dust since there was more to do and he couldn't let any of the others know he had been beaten by someone, though as his second nodded his head he turned to glance at the other Nobody that was with them, "Vexen, I want you to go over everything that just happened, both during this fight and the fights you were able to record, and see if there is anything you can do with the information that we have gathered so far... and keep an eye on Sombra, in case there's more to learn. She's going to become a problem if she's allowed to steal and absorb more hearts, if what happened on Hollow Bastion is any indication... we need every advantage was can get to bring her down."

"A Replica... you're thinking of making one of Sombra from our data, to counter her?" Vexen inquired, which was funny to him, as his files held the information for one such Replica that was made from the collected data they had on Sora, like a proof of concept as he thought about it, that he was calling 'No.i' or 'Xion' if he could complete it, so he might have two of them in the very near future, to which Xemnas nodded and caused the scientist to nod, "Consider it done. I'll start work right away and have an update for you in a few days."

Xemnas gave him a brief nod as Xigbar departed for their main castle, to tell Axel that he should be expecting newcomers to arrive in the near future, before he pulled up his own hood and used a Dark Corridor to travel to Twilight Town, a place that was vastly different from Traverse Town. The main difference was that this one was located far closer to the realm he and the other members of his Organization lived in, and worked from most of the time, meaning it was also easier for his forces to reach this place, both the twelve existing members and the lesser Nobodies that served them. With that fact in mind he glanced down at the people that were walking about, as he was on top of a building and could look down at them without anyone glancing up at him, before focusing on what he was feeling at the moment, as sometimes he could sense where a newly born Nobody, who could serve the Organization, might be located. Oddly enough his target was located just outside the mansion on the outskirts of town, where he found a boy that was about Sora's height, had a similar build, and spiky hair, which was golden blond, though he wore a white unzipped jacket over a black one, pants that had two colors, and black shoes with red laces.

While Xemnas was surprised that the Nobody would look so different from Sora, despite being Sora's Nobody, he could see the near zombie-like movements that came when one of their own was born into a normal body, causing him to open a shorter Dark Corridor that put him right in front of the boy.

"Do you want to know? You, who feel nothing... do you want meaning to your existence?" Xemnas asked, though he also raised his right hand and waved it a little, creating the letters of Sora's name in front of him, another power that his own gave him, and when the boy nodded his head, somewhat anyway, Xemnas waved his hand and the letters started to spin, faster and faster before he pressed his hand towards the center, forming a new name, "A new you."

"...Roxas..." the boy said, as the letters now spelled R-O-X-A-S, the X being an addition added by his power, where the boy was able to figure out that this was his name due to how it settled into his being before disappearing, though Xemnas knew it would be some time before he would get over his zombie state.

"Yes. Come, I will take you to your new companions." Xemnas stated, though as he said that he heard a new sound and turned his head for a moment as a female figure landed nearby, someone who wore a black jacket that had a hood that wasn't over her head, which was over a deep red shirt, and she was wearing black pants, though what caught his attention immediately was her crimson eyes behind her glasses, her fangs, and the bat wings she had.

"Room for one more?" the newcomer asked, though at the same time the boy, Roxas she overheard, turned and looked at her for a moment, where she was sure he saw something in her that he sort of recognized, where she found that the black robed figure stopped for a moment before turning to face her.

"Of course. Shall we discover the new you?" Xemnas inquired, though as he raised his hand and activated his power, so he could see what sort of odd name the figure might get, he found that the letters swirled into each other before forming a name that didn't have an X in it.

"There's no need for that, as I already have a name: Seras." the bat said, showing that she had no need for the odd name power that had been used to form Roxas' name, causing the unnamed figure to dismiss the letters that were in front of her before he opened another dark portal near their position.

"Very well. Roxas. Seras. Come with me and I shall introduce you to your new companions." Xemnas stated, because while it was annoying that he couldn't place the X in Seras' name, like what happened for all of the other Nobodies that joined the Organization, he wasn't about to complain since she was willing to come with them.

Seras nodded as she beckoned for Roxas to follow them, where the boy stared at her before following in her steps, as he was still stuck in his zombie state, though this caused her to wonder what the future held for them and those they had left behind in Hollow Bastion, and made her eager to face whatever challenges might be headed their way.

Heartless: One Winged Angel

Once everyone that was leaving Traverse Town was ready to go, save for Merlin and the Fairy Godmother, Sora and the rest of the group quickly made their way back to the Gummi Ship and warped onto the vessel, where Radiant's first objective was to place Fluttershy's Heartless in her room, as she seemed to be asleep at the moment. While she did that Sombra focused on accessing the power of the ship as she modified the interior, where Leon's group watched as she first enlarged all of the rooms, to give everyone more room to sleep in their bedrooms, before getting to work on adding more. Cid, of course, was totally surprised by how she was able to manipulate the ship so easily, where Radiant explained that it seemed like the gummi blocks just reacted to her more than they reacted to anyone else, though at the same time Sombra told Squeak to deposit any additional gummi blocks he discovered during their adventures inside it. Cid also explained that the ship also had a new device that worked during battle with the enemy gummi ships, it was a collection device that would pull loot from defeated ships into their own, depositing everything into the machine that would add more material into their vessel.

Her work allowed her to make rooms for Leon's group, though as Sora got underway, so they could reach the Coliseum like Leon wanted, Sombra asked Radiant about something she had been working on since Halloween Town and smiled as a dark silver amulet was produced, in the shape of a wolf's head with small ruby eyes. Leon asked what she was working on and she told him that it was a side project, a gift of sorts she guessed, though to make it perfect Sombra used some magic to give it an enchantment, something she had Sora help her test when he took a break from piloting the ship. Sora, of course, was surprised that all she wanted him to do was wear an amulet and train for a few moments, though it was against Radiant, as she had volunteered to assist with the test, something that caused their companion to shrug as he slipped it on and held out his hand to summon the Kingdom Key. Sombra and the others sat in an observation area she had added to the training area of their ship, in case people wanted to watch someone train or rest in a protected area, and once they were ready the pair started their practice session without delay.

The results of her enchantment became known without delay, as Sora's body bulked up, his shoes transformed to avoid being ruined, and his body turned into that of a werewolf, just like what happened to Riku in Halloween Town, only his form was brown as he looked at himself in surprise.

"Woah... what did you do?" Sora asked, because he knew that it had to be the amulet he was wearing, meaning it had to be something Sombra had done to the item in question, though he did admit that his body felt stronger and faster than it had been before, causing him to think of something else, "Is it permanent?"

"I enchanted that amulet with the power to temporarily turn the wearer into a werewolf, for about a minute... Radiant says the time should improve the more the item is used." Sombra replied, showing that she and Radiant had put some time and thought into the creation of the amulet, while at the same time Leon's group was surprised by the information that was being talked about right now.

Sora nodded his head for a moment as he rushed at Radiant and tried out his modified body, where Radiant blocked a few attacks with her Keyblade while dodging others, the latter displaying that her opponent was definitely feeling the power of the amulet, and, just like Sombra said, it didn't last very long. After Sora returned to normal he removed the amulet as he and the others were told that he didn't have anything to worry about, the change would only happen with it on, when one wore it to be exact, though as Sombra collected the amulet she was pleased that it worked. At the same time it seemed like Sora was perfectly fine, that despite losing half of himself his ability to fight was just fine and he seemed to be moving like nothing had happened to him, which was good to see since they were heading to the Coliseum for what had to be a final cup before the end of the adventure. Radiant made sure to test Sora a little more, just to be sure he was alright, but in the end she also determined that there was nothing wrong with him, meaning they would be ready for whatever might be waiting for them in the Coliseum this time around.

When they finally reached the world in question Sora warped everyone down to the entrance, where they walked up to the door as Leon's group headed off to another portion of the world, meaning they might have to fight them at some point, or at least two of them in the form of Leon and Yuffie, causing them to focus on Phil as they entered his portion of the arena.

"Now Fluttershy's missing! I don't know what's going on, but this is a shame... she had some real promise." Phil said, as he had wondered where Riku went when the boy didn't show up, but now he was wondering if the group was fracturing like crazy, meaning he might only see one person in the near future based on how quickly the number was going down, which only caused him to sigh as he pulled out his board, "Listen, there's one more cup available, this one hosted by Hades, of all people... normally, I wouldn't bother, but both he and Herc wanted to see you guys fight his warriors. Oh, and Sombra, I've got a special request for you: a warrior wants to fight you one on one, whenever you're ready for such a thing."

Such a thing interested Sombra, that someone would actually seek him out as request a match with her, but decided not to worry about it as they entered the fourth and final cup, the Hades Cup, where they teleported into the arena and found that the atmosphere was darker than before, either due to it being the evening or Hades setting the atmosphere. The first match was definitely easy, it was just a couple of Shadows and Soldiers, which the group made short work of, while the one that came after was just a few Wights and a couple of Powerwilds, the latter being an enemy type they hadn't seen since the last cup they took part in. After that it was a simple manner to fight and bring down a few more Shadows and Pirates, plus beat up the legs of an Armor, before dealing with a few Pot Spiders and another Powerwild, and then being surprised by one of the blue Truffle Heartless in one of the matches. Sombra really didn't mind the assortment of enemies, because fighting in the Coliseum allowed her to steal all sorts of hearts from the various Heartless and add them to her collection, even though she would find an area to absorb them in latter.

Following the Blue Truffle's fight, with one hit and it left, the group found that Yuffie was their opponent, though it appeared that her skills hadn't really improved since the last time Sora and the others had fought her, so while they were a person down they were able to knock her out of the ring and win the battle without delay.

The next couple of rounds were more interesting as they found that the next match was a number of Bandits and Pirates, a grouping that made them be a little more careful while everyone dealt with their chosen foe before tracking down a new one to fight, making sure they weren't overwhelmed. Following that the next match was a Defender with a couple of Wights and a few Soldiers, where it was easy for them to figure out what to do first, just take down the smaller Heartless before even worrying about the larger one that was in the center of the arena. Following that they had to deal with a larger group than they were expecting, as it was a Large Body, a Fat Bandit, a single Soldier, a lone Bandit, and two Powerwilds, which meant Hades was really upping the types of groups he had entered into the arena to tear them down. Sombra dealt with the two larger foes by utilizing her speed to get around them, hitting their backs with her Keyblade, while the others dealt with the rest of the enemies, allowing them to emerge victorious as she gleefully added more hearts to her collection.

Following that came a new foe, a massive quadrupedal Heartless that had two tusks growing from it's lower jaw, a long black horn in the middle of it's forehead, while each of it's four hooves had two toes that looked like claws, while it had a light gray body with dark gray sections on it's limbs and head, a Behemoth in Sombra's eyes.

The Behemoth had a jump ability that caused the ground to shudder, since it was a massive creature and had a lot of weight in it's body, but that was only the beginning of it's powers as Sombra found that it's horn would pulse with energy and that it could unleash that power on all of them. One such attack happened to be it calling down energy orbs from the sky, like rain in a sense, which the group had to avoid since this time around they didn't have Fluttershy's magical barriers to fall back on and Sombra really didn't feel like using her magic against their foe. In addition to that the Behemoth could unleash a rather powerful blast of thunder magic, likely Thundaga based on the power that the group felt in the air, that just rained down on everyone and forced them to move out of the way to avoid being hit. Radiant also pointed out the fact that they couldn't hurt the Behemoth by attack it's legs or even it's bulky body, rather they had to target the horn, which was an interesting thing to discover, especially when one of their attacks brought it to a staggered position.

In the end Sombra found that the creature was definitely powerful and could really hurt if they weren't careful, though the group was victorious and she was able to not only claim a rather powerful heart, to be absorbed later, but they also got a new spell, Blizzaga, the third tier Blizzard spell.

Following that they encountered a Ghost and a number of red Nocturnes, causing Sombra and Donald to lash out with a burst of ice magic, putting the magical enemies down as Sora dealt with the disappearing and reappearing Ghost, which he was able to do with ease. After that was another group that was mostly filled with Nocturnes, blue ones this time, that were joined by a Gargoyle, so the group simply used fire magic to take care of the magic casters before dealing with the lone flying foe. The next match was more interesting as they had to fight another Armor with a few Nocturnes, where Sora and the others separated from each other for a moment as Donald struck down the magic users, allowing them to focus on it's arms and legs, smashing them to pieces in seconds, before Sombra slashed through the chest and quickly captured it's heart as it was brought down. After that they encountered a Black Fungus Heartless and a few green Nocturnes, but it was over in an instant as Sombra crushed them into the ground with a burst of gravity magic, which she liked to use since it was very powerful, before she and the others moved into another round to deal with more Nocturnes and a couple of Pot Spiders.

The next match after that was far more interesting as Sombra discovered a Stealth Sneak, the lizard Heartless that had been born of Clayton's heart, which was joined by a few more Nocturnes, though while everyone else dealt with the flying enemies she tracked down the lizard and put it down, while a smile graced her face as she added more hearts to the new collection she was forming. With those dealt with the group faced a set of enemies that consisted of a Wizard and several Nocturnes, where they matched elements to what all of their foes were using at the moment, while the one that followed had three more Wizards and a number of Shadows. Donald openly wondered if there was a reason for the more magical Heartless being more common this time around, but no one had anything to offer him, no explanation other than this had to be how Hades wanted to bring them down. The match following that was more interesting since there was a new type of foe to fight, a more angelic jar looking Heartless that had four golden wings on it's back, and the shocking thing was that it could wield light based magic, something that caused Sombra to absorb it's heart immediately once they defeated it, as more magic types was always a good thing.

After that was Cerberus, who paused as he noticed that Fluttershy wasn't with them and seemed surprised when Squeak ran up to one of his ears to whisper something, which, in turn, caused the three headed dog to turn and depart from the arena, earning them an easy victory and Thundaga, the third tier Thunder spell.

With the dog apparently mopping over losing the one who treated him nicely, giving him belly rubs and calling him a good boy, Sora and the others continued through a couple more matches as they realized that this one was going on for longer than the ones they had beaten in the past. Following that they fought more and more Heartless, ranging from the flying types like Air Pirates and Air Soldiers, the disappearing Ghosts, a mass of Shadows, Wights and Pirates that were joined by Bandits, some Darkballs that fought alongside the Opposite Armor, to Gargoyles, Ships, and a few Wyverns. This just told all of them that Hades was doing everything in his power to bring them down, and even then the team emerged from each battle with minor damage, before discovering that Leon and Cloud were pairing up to bring them down. This time Sombra just used her Keyblade to bring down Cloud, parrying attacks while slashing at him in turn, while the others brought down Leon, who seemed impressed by how well they had grown over the weeks leading to this day.

After dealing with them it was more of the same, tearing through more Heartless that came in the form of Large Bodies, Fat Bandits, Wights, Wyverns, Angel Star as Sombra called the angelic ones, Defenders, and a humanoid Heartless that had a sword in one hand and could disappear rather easily, an Invisible, though Sombra was annoyed those ones were the pureblood type, since it meant no heart for her to capture.

Once they cleared a few more rounds they came face to face with Hades himself, a black robed blue skinned fire whose hair was literally made of flames, light blue to be exact, though he could enrage himself and turn red, which meant none of them could hurt him. In order to bring him down they had to wait for him to calm down for a moment and turn blue for a time, though whenever he was red they had to avoid him, his fireballs, and the fire beams that he fired from his hands, a fact that was rather easily since it was hard to tell if he was even trying to bring them down. In the end Sombra found that Hades was just a disappointment, and that wasn't due to the fact that they outnumbered him, he just seemed weak when she compared him to the Nobody she had fought earlier, as that had been a challenge until she found an opening to use against him. Sora ended up knocking the god clear out of the arena with one of his attacks, earning them another spell in the process, Graviga, the third tier Gravity spell, which was when Sombra noted that they were missing only two of the third tier spells, the one for Fire and the one for Cure.

Following that they fought through a few more rounds of enemies, consisting of more Invisibles, a few Defenders, a couple of Angel Stars, and a few others that were brought low in no time at all, and the final opponent of the cup was none other than a two headed massive rock giant, a 'titan' according to Phil, that Sombra knocked down with a punch to the chest.

"You know, I knew you were strong, but... woah! Now I'm glad I have a trump card for you." Hades remarked, though he wasn't even remotely upset by his defeat, because at this point he had realized that Sombra was far stronger than even Maleficent had thought she'd be, meaning he had to take the girl seriously, and by that he meant bringing in someone to do the job for him, which was when some magic wrapped around them and warped them into a rocky area, "I spoke with Zeus... as annoying as that was... and we agreed to let this match happen somewhere else. This next warrior will be unlike anyone you have fought in the past."

"Very well. Bring him out." Sombra replied, though at the same time she jumped down and landed in what appeared to be a flat portion of the area, a starting place of sorts she guessed, all while noticing that a barrier formed around the area Sora and the others, now including Leon's group and Cloud, were standing in.

For a moment nothing happened, making her wonder if Hades was trying to kill her with boredom or something, but that was followed by the sky lighting up with magical runes all of a sudden, where Sombra watched as a figure burst out of it a moment later and landed on the ground. She discovered that it was a tall figure, male based on the build, that wore a black leather coat, open to expose his chest a little, with black pants and black boots, while his sleeves had small red fins on the ends and there was a silver shoulder piece on both of his shoulders. In addition to that the figure had long silver hair and a black feathered wing on his right side, similar to Cloud's demonic left wing, though as he stood up Sombra also found that he had a weapon, a long katana that was far longer than any weapon she had seen so far. As the figure turned towards her, however, she noticed that his eyes were slit, why she had no idea and she wasn't about to ask, though even without clashing with him it was easy to tell that he was incredibly strong, which was why Hades must have picked him, if that tale was true anyway.

"You must be Sombra, the one who dominated Cloud earlier. I am Sephiroth." the figure said, where Sombra found that he held his katana in his right hand and that his stance suggested that he was ready to do battle, which she understood since that was why she and the others had come to this world in the first place, causing Sombra to draw her Keyblade as she shifted her stance.

In the next instant she swung her blade multiple times as her foe rushed at her, swinging his blade with incredible and deadly accuracy, where Sombra's weapon blocked Sephiroth's as he appeared behind her, showing that his speed was far higher than what she could use in her base form. She went on the offensive and found that her opponent was blocking her attacks with the edge of his blade, like it was nothing, but she wanted to see if her sealed power in her base form held a candle to Sephiroth's, even though her initial thoughts were telling her that she'd have to unleash her power to even stand a chance. With such a thing in mind she utilized the full power of her speed and rushed at Sephiroth, finding that each of her swings were blocked by his weapon, and when she tried to attack him from behind he quickly spun around to parry the attack like it was nothing at all, which was impressive when she considered everything. Following that failure she flashed around the area, never stopping in a spot for more than a few seconds while the observers were no doubt seeing afterimages of her movements, before she flashed into the air and gathered her power into a dark blue crescent wave that she hurled down at her foe.

What she wasn't expecting was for Sephiroth to turn and rapidly slash at the wave, breaking it into fragments that struck the area around him while not touching him at all, and he replied by rushing up to her position and kicked her down into one of the rock pillars that were around them.

"If this is all you are capable of, after beating Cloud so quickly, than I am disappointed." Sephiroth remarked, though that was the moment that a surge of dark energy wrapped around the area that Sombra was in for a couple of seconds, but it quickly broke apart as he found that she had undergone a transformation of some sort, looking more like a dark warlord or even a dark queen.

"Well then, I'll use my full power from now on." Sombra replied, as the power her foe wielded had convinced her that this was the best course of action, and, for good measure, the collection of hearts she had collected during the Hades Cup had been absorbed as well, giving her another boost to her existing power, which was when dark energy wrapped around her Keyblade for a moment.

In the following moment Sombra rushed at her foe and attacked, where Sephiroth found that the energy looked like it had been sealed, in a sense, into the blade of his foe's weapon, like she had been planning on using another energy wave and decided not to use it like the previous attack. The reason for that thought was due to the fact that he was sure he had, for the briefest of moments, seen the markings of some spells on her strange weapon, Graviga and Stopga, plus the fact that he confirmed that neither spell was used on him in an attempt to seal his movements. With that in mind he got serious as he unleashed a burst of fire magic, in the form of walls of fire, around him with a slight movement of his left hand, which his foe pulled back from to avoid being hit by the attack, which was interesting as he considered what to do next. He knew the smart plan would be to use 'Heartless Angel', an attack of his that could annihilate one's mana supply, leaving them with nothing, and leaving them in a painful position that meant near death, unless they had a potion on hand, but part of him wanted to see what his foe had in mind.

As he considered that, however, Sombra flashed around the area they were in and the truth of her actions became known as she released her power, where she seemed to swing at the empty air in several different areas, before Sephiroth found that multiple black waves of energy came at him from all directions.

In response to that attack Sombra watched as her foe swung his blade and each swing left gashes in the ground, as in he swung his long katana and seemed to cut up the area around them while he did so, while at the same time breaking each of her attacks up like they were nothing, and despite the rapid slashes Sephiroth used he came at her without wasting even a single second. Together the two of them moved out into the rest of the area that was around them, though instead of it being like before they literally tore everything around them apart, as the power of their slashes meeting caused the entire area around them to collapse until the pressure of their attacks, much to the amazement of the observers. Sombra found that each spell she cast, no matter how she cast it, seemed to be slashed apart like it was nothing, as Sephiroth just cut his way through the fireballs and spikes of ice that were sent his way, and yet, at the same time he cast his own spell on her, calling down meteors on the area they were fighting in. Instead of letting them touch her Sombra latched onto all of them with her magic and brought them down on Sephiroth's head, or hurling some of them at her foe, where they just blasted more craters into the ground that was around them, plus she used them as cover to mask her movements as she swung at Sephiroth, who continued to block her attacks as the area that was below them was torn apart.

As Sephiroth knocked her backwards, and she was forced to guard against a few more swings that came in the form of thin blue waves of energy, Sombra created a ball of dark energy in front of her left hand and hurled it into the air, which caused her foe to stop in his tracks for a moment as he observed it. The ball expanded into a mass of dark energy that was at least triple the size of the arena that she and the others had been fighting in earlier, a gravitational mass that would crush her foe when it came down on top of him, all while the sky itself swirled around it as the clouds turned dark, which was just her power at work. Sephiroth, on the other hand, didn't seem to mind the new attack at all, rather he seemed to be excited for some reason as he flew into the air, since apparently he could do that with a single wing, and slashed the massive orb apart, splitting it into multiple fragments that lingered in the air. Sombra grinned as her magic ignited and all of the pieces were pulled into the area that her foe was in, trapping him in a sphere of dark energy that was enchanted with the power of gravity itself, before she pulled it down out of the air and slammed it into the ground as she swung her Keyblade, releasing a dark wave at her foe.

The sphere exploded a few moments later and the wave was slashed apart, though this time around, as Sombra rushed at her opponent, a figure wearing a purple toga while having white hair and a white beard appeared between them and held his hands out, causing them to stop for a moment.

"I know you two were having fun, but the battle needs to stop now... the entire area is ruined and on fire." the figure said, as when the sphere was torn apart some of the darkness was turned into flames that were dancing on some of the rocks, while everything else was either cut up or just in scattered piles of rubble, "Why don't you call it a draw and promise to fight again some day?"

"Heh, you are very skilled, Sombra. Maybe one day you'll defeat me?" Sephiroth stated, because he had to admit that she was a great warrior, even with her dark power, and while they had been unable to do anything to the other he found that he was eager to see what sort of power she might bring to bare the next time they clashed.

"So are you, Sephiroth. Maybe I'll make your comment come true?" Sombra remarked, smiling at the same time, because that battle had been glorious, even if she had been unable to actually harm him, and it only made her wonder what might happen the next time she and the silver haired warrior crossed paths.

As Sephiroth smiled before taking off, showing that he was definitely pleased with the battle, Sombra returned to her base form as she returned to the others so they could return to the Gummi Ship, as she was eager to see what was waiting for them in Hollow Bastion as they hunted Ansem down to bring an end to this great adventure.

Heartless: Return to Hollow Bastion

Following the end of their visit to the Coliseum, leaving a stunned Phil and even Hades behind, Sombra and the others, which included Leon's group again, returned to the Gummi Ship before departing from the world as Sora navigated them to the other warp point that would bring them to Hollow Bastion. Such a thing allowed Leon and his friends to resume looking at all of the components of the ship that Sombra had added since she started work on it, while at the same time being caught off guard by the fact that an entirely separate world was located in another area. Because of how important the area was, for both Radiant and Fluttershy since their skills seemed to grow when they worked inside it, Sombra made sure to alter the room that held the portal, even though for now Radiant was the only one using it as the shy one's Heartless rested in her room. Even Cid was simply amazed by everything she had added to the ship so far, even though Sombra had ideas to add all sorts of other items to the ship when she had the time, as this could be a fortress that no one could penetrate, with the right additions and everything else that needed to be added.

When they found the path that Cid's last addition had added the ship started to travel to a new portion of the space that was near Hollow Bastion, where he told them that the passage, despite being a ways away from the world in question, should get them to their destination in a few days. Leon discovered that the delay in getting back to Hollow Bastion meant that they could experience more of Sombra's cooking, something everyone seemed to be enjoying, while at the same time Cid did his best to help Sora get through the potential dangers that were on the other side of the warp zone. There was, of course, a new sense of respect in the ship, as they had seen Sombra face Sephiroth and knew that she had the best chance to bring down Ansem, even though Sora would likely be the one to deliver the finishing blow, as Leon seemed to think that such a thing might be why he was granted a Keyblade. Sora, on the other hand, wanted to save the worlds and his friend, which he was sure they would be able to do save Riku from the mad individual that had taken over his body, they just had to be patient and not rush headlong into danger.

In addition to all of that Sombra made sure to train for a time during the journey, because she had absorbed a whole new collection of hearts to match Sephiroth's power and had gained a new skill in the process, as during one of her sessions she ended up making a golden light in front of her from her new 'light magic' skill.

"Fascinating... that last Cup was really worth taking part in." Sombra commented, as the Angel Star Heartless had been an unexpected discovery and she was glad that she had fought alongside the others for a time, since it allowed her to capture several hearts that possessed this power, and by absorbing them she was able to wield light magic, the bane of her entire existence, without being in pain.

With that discovery made she was able to practice with her new magic for a time, finding that she could form light versions of her dark spells, though right now she lacked some of the power her dark spells packed, since this was all new to new, but Sombra was sure that, with enough time, she could make it work. Other than that she made sure the others trained a little as well, since there was no telling what might be waiting for them in the future, though it wasn't long before they burst out of the warp space and Cid informed them that they were getting closer to their destination. Such a thing meant that Sora had to deal with more Heartless gummi ships, which was what they were expecting when everyone considered what happened when they traveled along the main route that had been revealed to them, and Sombra found that Cid's device worked like a charm. Every time Sora destroyed an enemy ship there was a chance that a capsule or package of gummi material would be left behind, either due to that being how the vessels worked or the World rewarding them for their efforts, while the device Cid had installed would suck up the items and integrate more gummi material into the ship, giving Sombra more material to work with.

Cid, however, was pleased with the state of the ship, as it was clearing the way for Sora to get them to Hollow Bastion with ease, meaning everyone else could rest up and relax before they worried about whatever might be waiting for them on the world that held the Final Keyhole.

When they reached Hollow Bastion, and impressing their friends with Sora's flying skills, they made sure that the ship was hidden like usual before discovering that Beast was busy tearing his way through the Heartless that were outside the main entrance of the castle. With that in mind Sora warped all of them to the entrance, including Leon's group, before joining Beast in the assault on the Heartless, which were more Defenders, Wizards, Wyverns, Shadows, and Darkballs, though as they clashed with their enemies Beast didn't seem to mind, rather he welcomed the timely aid. As they did that Sombra held her hand out and cast Cura on their ally, healing the wounds he had suffered since the last time her group had been on the world, allowing him to fight wiht more vigor and energy than before as he crashed into some of the Heartless and just tore through them. Such a thing also allowed her to start collecting new hearts to replace the ones she had absorbed earlier, though she found that none of the new enemies they had seen in the Hades Cup were here, on this world, which allowed them to focus on where Belle and the other Princesses of Heart were resting, causing Beast to tell them that Belle was in the library and the others were deeper in.

Leon, upon hearing that information, beckoned for everyone to head into the castle and they did so without delay, quickly returning to the library and found that Belle was definitely awake, so while Beast rushed to her side Sombra sealed the door they had walked through and made sure the Heartless couldn't get in here, at least for a time. Aerith revealed that she had a gift for them, as it seemed like they were getting closer to the final battle, which came in the form of Curaga, the third tier of Cure, which Sombra was happy to have since it only left one spell that wasn't at the third tier, that being Fire as she went over the list. Belle took that moment to explain that she and the other princesses had stayed behind because their power could hold the raging darkness, which they had been able to do well since Ansem had just disappeared, as in everyone assumed that he had stepped into the Final Keyhole. Sombra suspected that they were right, as she couldn't feel Ansem's dark energy on the world anymore, meaning he must have gone somewhere else after opening the Final Keyhole, meaning they had a chance to seal it before worrying about their foe.

Once they were sure that Belle and Leon's group would be safe, since their friends from Traverse Town were staying here for the time being, Sombra and the others continued to retrace their steps as they headed back to the summit, since it was time to deal a blow of sorts to Ansem's plans. Sora found that many of their enemies were the same as the ones they had encountered when they returned to this world, which was just weird since they were expecting Ansem to use some sort of powerful Heartless, or even a new type of Heartless, to stall or even destroy anyone who dared to stand in his way, only to find that no such foe existed. Since they were familiar with the enemies that were in front of them the group was able to reach the area that Maleficent had been waiting in and found that the remaining five princesses were fine, despite all of the darkness they could feel seeping out of the Final Keyhole. Jasmine also had a gift for them, knowing that they had returned to deal with the problem that they were trying to hold back with their powers, in the form of Firaga, the third tier Fire spell and the last one in their arsenal, for the time being, causing them to thank her for the spell.

With the final spell in hand the group returned to the Final Keyhole, smashing through the Large Bodies and Defenders that had been placed there to guard it, before Beast stopped in front of the mass and turned around to face the area that they had just walked through.

"Go. You do not need me for this fight... I shall stay here and clear the Heartless that will try to stop you." Beast stated, as he held his hands out and glanced at the shadows that were around this final chamber, like he was daring more enemies to attack him, though with his renewed body he was more than ready for whatever might be waiting for him.

"Right. Come on guys, let's seal the Keyhole." Sora said, where he found that Sombra shook her head, as if to indicate that there was a force inside their target that had to be dealt with first before they could do anything else to the Final Keyhole, to which he nodded his head as the five of them stepped into the dark portal.

What they discovered was that it brought them to a dark realm of sorts, made out of dark red, dark blue, and dark green sections, that seemed to house the heart of the Final Keyhole, and as they stepped deeper into the area they found that the guardian was none other than another Behemoth. Such a thing meant that it was great that they had stopped to fight in the Coliseum, because fighting such a foe there allowed them to be prepared for this sort of enemy, which was why the group separated from each other as the massive Heartless roared at them. Sombra lashed out first by combining two of her spells together, Stopga and Graviga, though this time she applied her attack in four positions, latching onto the large creature's legs as gravity crushed them into the ground, while time slowed around them to stop the Behemoth from even trying to move it's legs. With that done Sora, Radiant, Donald, and Goofy struck both it's horn and the rest of it's head, just to make sure their attacks hit the mark and didn't miss the horn, causing the Behemoth to roar in annoyance as it tried to unleash it's thunder attacks on them, which only prompted Sombra to hit it's horn from afar to stun it.

In the end Radiant dealt the finishing blow and Sombra captured the freed heart, though once the body had dissolved Sora walked up to the shadowy Keyhole for a moment and held the Kingdom Key out as he sealed it, just like he had done to all of the other Keyholes, allowing Sombra to sense something new in the World as they left the dark area.

"Our battle isn't over yet... plus I know where to find Ansem." Sombra commented, causing the others to turn towards her as they emerged from the dark area, allowing Leon's group, who had caught up with them, to raise their eyebrows, but Sora, despite everything he had seen so far, nodded his head, showing that he trusted her fully and completely.

Sombra knew that it was time to bring an end to their adventure, by defeating Ansem and stopping his dark plans, but even if they did that her sights were set elsewhere, as there was someone else who needed to be brought down for their crimes against her and she wouldn't rest until she succeeded in doing that, and bringing Fluttershy back, causing her to look forward to what the future held for her and her group.

Xemnas had waited patiently for a few days, allowing word of two new members of their organization to spread to the rest of the members, while at the same time giving him time to ensure that his body was mended from his battle with Sombra, a being whose very existence needed to be eradicated. Originally it had been a stroke of bad luck to discover that she held an impossible power, that of stealing freed hearts and doing something with them, what they still had no idea since Vexen couldn't figure it out at all, but that would change with the arrival of Roxas and Seras. While it was hard to tell if the latter had a Keyblade, since she hadn't summoned her weapon since her arrival, the former was Sora's Nobody and that meant that he likely had his own Keyblade, though he had been able to pull Vexen away from his current mission to scan both of the newcomers. The reason was because each member of the Organization had a power of their own, like how his was the absolute power of Nothingness and Xigbar's was Space, and Vexen was able to confirm that Roxas' yet to be manifested power was 'Light', once more confirming that he was Sora's Nobody.

Seras' however, was 'Blood', what that meant neither Xigbar or Vexen had any idea, while Xemnas had to assume that it was due to the fact that the other Nobody's form resembled that of a vampire, but he didn't question it at all as both of the new Nobodies were outfitted with their own Organization outfit.

There was also one other reason for the delay, as Roxas was still a zombie and only seemed to respond, in a sense, to the one assigned to watch over him until he was ready to start tackling missions, which was Axel's main job for the time being, and Vexen had discovered a shocking truth about the thirteenth member. That truth was the fact that Roxas didn't have any memories of his time before Sora was sundered into a Heartless and Nobody, meaning he was taking longer to come around than everyone else, while Seras was utterly perfect, there was no signs that she had been a zombie. Vexen assured him that it was due to the fact that she had been formed before Roxas, as Fluttershy had been sundered by Xigbar's hand probably half an hour before Sora did the same to himself to free Kairi's heart, which reminded him of Namine, a Nobody who had been born in Castle Oblivion, of all places. She, too, wasn't like the rest of the Organization and he had quickly made sure she was well taken care of inside the castle, as her power seemed to be over 'Memories', though it was hard to tell if that meant all memories, of everyone around her, or those of a specific person, even though Vexen was positive that it was the former.

Namine wasn't a fighter, however, and that meant she couldn't fully join the Organization as a numbered agent, but she could help them in other ways and she had agreed to do so, hence why Xemnas made sure to assign some members to the castle, plus he had become aware of traitors in their ranks and this was the best way to eliminate them.

Vexen also had good news for him, as while it seemed like replicating Sombra might be more impossible, he needed time to figure things out before confirming his thoughts, the Replica known as 'Xion' was coming along well, meaning that they should be able to introduce it to the rest of the Organization in due time. Xemnas remembered when he introduced the others to the existing members, everyone else had been unimpressed by the official thirteenth member, given how Roxas had remained a zombie throughout the entire event, while Seras was welcomed with open arms. In fact Larxene instantly took a liking to her, due to the fact that it meant she wasn't the only female in the Organization, but he wasn't about to step in and stop them from hanging out, rather the more unified they were the better things would be in the future. Of course a few of the others were unsure of what to make of the newcomers, either not caring or didn't want to get too attached, but once Seras awakened her Keyblade he was sure they would take to her without delay, as it would be a sign of good things to come for the Organization.

"Lord Xemnas, I have more good news." Vexen said, though he was surprised by the fact that their boss wasn't standing at the peak of their castle, communing with the gathered hearts of their Kingdom Hearts, rather he was down here with the rest of the Organization, even if he rarely spoke to anyone, causing their leader to turn towards him, "Xion is nearly done... tomorrow we should be able to introduce it as the fifteenth member of the Organization and give us three Keyblades to use in collecting more hearts."

"That is wonderful news." Xemnas stated, because with Roxas' current zombie state Xion might be able to snap him back to reality in some manner and get him back in working order, though in that moment he felt something and glanced down at the training area the others had set up to test Seras and see if they could get her Keyblade to awaken, causing him to smile as he noticed what had happened.

Seras' Keyblade had awakened, where he found that it had a curved head at the top that had three curved parts heading back towards the wielder, sort of similar to the curved scythe head of Sombra's Keyblade, while hers was red colored, likely a connection to her vampire nature, and the guard looked like a pair of bat wings.

"We now have an active Keyblade wielder in our ranks, which means it is only a matter of time until Roxas awakens and does the same... I will start sending her out on missions later." Xemnas commented, as this was very good for them, since it meant they could start undoing the damage that Sombra had done by stealing all of the hearts she had freed, but since Seras had no such power they didn't have to worry about that at all, before he turned towards Vexen, "Still, complete your work on Xion and bring it to the meeting chamber when it's ready... if Roxas doesn't truly awaken, at least we can have two wielders to fulfill our deepest desires."

As Vexen bowed his head, however, Xemnas knew that things were looking up for them now, regardless of what Sombra did, and he had a feeling that things were only going to improve from this point forward, which made him eager to see what the future held for him and the rest of his glorious Organization.

Heartless: End of the World

As soon as they were done with Hollow Bastion, and Leon's group wanted to stay there since it was their childhood home, Sora and the others departed from the world as Sombra stood near the main console, pointing out a path that would bring them to where Ansem had fled to. She was sure that the World wanted them to bring down the mad Heartless, thus it was willing to bend a few rules to make sure they caught up with him before he did anything drastic, but she wasn't about to argue with what they were seeing right now. Sora, of course, really didn't understand how she knew where to find the path in question and decided that it was due to her connection to Darkness, which was why he focused on flying the ship while taking out the more powerful looking Heartless gummies that were blocking the way. Once they started along the path Sombra made sure that the others were prepared for whatever might be waiting for them, since she was sure Sora would find Ansem's hiding place in no time at all, while Radiant made sure Fluttershy's Heartless was safely resting inside their private world with the animals tending to her.

Sombra did find that Squeak, of all the animals, wanted to come along with them, no doubt because it could find treasure and loot them while they were focused on their enemies, something she wasn't about to argue with as she turned her focus towards preparing for what had to be the final battle. Another thing she discovered was Cid's way to improve their ship also came with a way to add or improve the weapons of the ship, in fact it came in the form of a 'merge' game, group two orbs that were the same weapon and they'd merge to form the next tier. Sombra had no idea why he wanted to add such a thing to their ship, but it gave Donald and Goofy something to do while Sora was flying the ship, as one focused on flying while also firing at their foes, another improved the attack power of their weapons, and the third focused on the defenses, which seemed to revolve around the same principle. She guessed that Cid wanted to make sure the others had something to do while they flew through the space between worlds, something that caused her to focus on preparing some food while she and Radiant waited for them to reach their destination.

It took some time to reach the end of the path, revealing a world that looked like it was a vortex of energy, where Sora did what he always did, he made sure their ship was safe before warping them down to the world's surface, which appeared to be a flat watery surface with circular rocks seeming to form a path forward, with a dark purple sky.

"Gawrsh, is this all that's left of the worlds that have been taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked, because they knew that when the Heartless found the core of a particular world it was devoured by Darkness, going out like they had seen when Sora's was taken, though it was odd to see what might have become of them.

"Don't worry, the worlds should be restored once we beat Ansem and stop his plans." Sora stated, which Sombra agreed with, that once they brought down their main foe, and did whatever they could to this place, they should be able to bring all of the fallen worlds back to the World, before he considered something, "Do you think what Leon said before we left is the truth? That once we beat Ansem the worlds will become disconnected from each other?"

"No. With the amount of damage gone to the worlds, they can never truly go back to the way they were before the barriers were broken... they'll be connected in a new way no doubt." Sombra replied, as that seemed to be how things would go once they brought down their foe, because she was sure that one of the rules of the World would change once Ansem was taken out, even if she didn't fully know how things might change in the future, before she shifted her stance, "Come on, we had best get going... there's no telling what we might find on our way to Ansem's lair."

Sora nodded as he and the others readied their weapons, where the boy took a moment to look at the shell charm that he had been given by Kairi earlier, before they walked into the unknown, something that allowed them to see that they could walk on the water's surface, as weird as that sounded. While they did that Sombra found something interesting, dark orbs fell down on top of them and pulled the group into a sealed zone which had a number of enemies for them to fight at any given moment, like how the first set of foes happened to be a bunch of Invisibles that stayed visible. Everyone found that the Heartless of this world were definitely stronger than the ones they had fought before, especially in the Coliseum, a fact Sombra was sure of since the dual blade wielding Heartless seemed to have more power and forced them to be far more focused than before. Another thing they discovered was that chests were their reward for winning in one of the orbs, why she had no idea and she found that everyone else happened to be as lost as she was, though Squeak wasted no time in collecting everything that was inside each chest, which triggered sending them back to the watery area.

With that in mind they focused on making their way down the path that was in front of them, which seemed to be far too easy since the stones that were beyond the starting area of this world happened to point in the direction of another stone, a path of sorts, even though each one pulled them into another fighting area. There were also Darkballs in some of the fighting orbs, which was an annoyance that Sombra didn't need since the dark fiery orbs didn't release hearts when they were brought down by a Keyblade, though her thoughts were dashed in a good way when they finally found a Behemoth in one of the dark arenas. She was more than fine with getting the heart of an empowered Behemoth, her personal label for a Heartless of this dark world, and since there was nowhere for the Heartless to go she and the others attacked the large beast like they had done to those that had gotten in their way previously. Of course this time around they had to be more careful of it's lightning attacks, since it was definitely more powerful than what they were expecting, due to the fact that it could blast holes into the ground that happened to be around them, but Sombra brought it down by bringing her Keyblade down into it's head, turning it into smoke in an instant.

She made sure to capture the heart before it departed, which would give her more strength and defense when she finally decided to absorb the collection that she was forming right now, and had to smile as they fought more Angel Stars, since those Heartless would allow her to empower her light magic.

Of course Sombra made sure that everyone had some periods of rest to make sure they weren't overwhelmed by what they were doing, though Sora didn't want to waste too much time on that since Ansem could be anywhere and he wanted to make the worlds safer by bringing him down. They also discovered something interesting, there were more Behemoths on this dark and twisted world than any other the group had been to so far, though while they happened to be tougher to bring down Sombra knew it would be good for all of them, as Sora and the others learned from constant battle, Radiant had her walking skill that improved her the more she walked around, and she captured hearts. It was a good thing since fighting the Behemoths allowed Sora to refine his technique, delivering more powerful attacks over the various battles he and his friends were taking part in, Donald placed his spells better, Goofy struck better locations to weaken his opponents for the others, and Radiant practiced boosting her speed to make sure she didn't get hit. Such a thing ended up netting Sombra about three Behemoth hearts and ten Angel Star hearts, which she gladly added to her collection as they finally reached the end of the path that the stones had been leading them on, a bunch of crystals, or stones that looked like the gems, that ended up warping them elsewhere.

The area it brought them to seemed to be a dark chasm that had all sorts of gems growing out of the sides and long stone walkways that seemed to connect the two sides together, where they glanced around the area for a time as they sought out a sign of sorts that would tell them that they were on the right track.

"This world is massive... where do you reckon Ansem went?" Radiant asked, because if the rest of the world was like this, and took a lot of time for them to get through so they could make any sort of progress, she was sure that they would be unable to reach him before he did whatever foul deed he was trying to accomplish.

"We must delve into the deepest and darkest place to find our target." Sombra replied, as she could feel the path in front of them, her own dark powers trying to figure out the true path that Ansem had taken as he moved deeper into the dark depths of this world, before she opened her eyes and continued to walk forward, "Even if that means wiping out each and every Heartless that dares to get in our way."

As they made their descent, however, the group found that there were no Heartless in the area, oddly enough, which only made everyone keep their guards up since they didn't want to be overwhelmed by a sudden attack out of nowhere, but Squeak did find a number of chests that he looted before catching up with them. At the bottom of the chasm they found a purple geyser, or what looked like a geyser, that actually teleported them into a darker portion of this world when each of them jumped into it, in an area that looked like it might have some teleport stations for them to fight through. Sora and the others decided to ignore the toothy nature of the edges as they noticed a blue orb that warped them over to another area that was identical to the one they had just been in, as Sombra confirmed that there were more than just one, but the difference between this one and the old one was that this had a purple beam of energy in the center. The beam was yet another form of teleportation as it warped them to what appeared to be Traverse Town, with the raised walls when they encountered each other, and had more Heartless for them to fight, like a final gauntlet of sorts before the main event, and Sombra was all for it as she found that many were the emblem types.

Of course Sombra was a little annoyed that the phantom Traverse Town only had Soldiers and Large Bodies to fight, but it was fine as she collected more and more hearts from their enemies, and once they were done with the defenders of the area the group was warped back to the platform they had been on before stepping into the beam.

The next one brought them to Wonderland and happened to have some of the more magical Heartless for them to clash with, as in a couple of Wizards with a number of Nocturne that were all different colors, showing the group that they had to take them serious least they be brought down instead. As Sombra expected Deep Jungle was just Powerwilds, along with a number of Bouncywilds and even a purple variant that she called 'Sniperwilds' since they seemed to love to try and snipe them from afar, not that it mattered since Radiant tracked them down and eliminated those Heartless. The phantom Coliseum had a number of Defenders and Flying Soldiers for everyone to clash with, along with a few Wyverns that tried to sneak attack them, even though Sombra grounded them with her gravity magic and opened the way for the others to take them out so she could claim even more hearts. Agrabah, surprising no one, had Bandits that were accompanied by Fat Bodies and Pot Spiders, which all but confirmed that each phantom world they had to fight through had enemies that also came from that world, even though the world was based on their memories and the Heartless were real.

Monstro had more of the Ghosts and Barrel Spiders, Atlantica had the Sea Soldiers and the Sea Neons, Halloween Town was full of Wights and Gargoyles, while Neverland had more of Ships and Pirates for them to do battle with, and they even went into a phantom version of Hollow Bastion to fight a number of Defenders, Wizards, and more Wyverns.

"Why... does it feel like we're unlocking the path to wherever Ansem is waiting?" Radiant asked, though after saying that they found a green beam that warped everyone to a world that looked like a wood of some kind, one Sora recognized, a fact that told them that this had to be Pooh's world.

"Because we likely are. If he was smart Ansem would have locked the door behind him and ensured that there was a set of trials for pursuers to overcome to reach him." Sombra remarked, as it made sense to her when she thought about it, and it appeared that their foe was being smart about things, though she was thankful for a short break since it meant that they would be ready for whatever might be waiting for them in the depths.

"I really don't know what he's trying to do, but we're going to kick him out of Riku's body and break his plans." Sora said, as it was a simple truth, he was sure that they would be able to bring down Ansem before he could complete whatever it was that he was working on right now, while at the same time he knew that Sombra would be able to help direct them to the area their target was waiting in.

After resting in the rest area for a few moments they moved to the next area and found that it had a fiery red pillar that brought them to an underground area, a lab with a device of some kind, one that had three chambers inside it that were totally dark at the moment. Sombra found a piece of paper nearby that seemed to detail bringing all hearts together, into one form, one great heart to encompass all, something called 'Kingdom Hearts' that made a smile appear on her face as she read the rest of the page, as it claimed that the entity was a source of untold power and wisdom. Suddenly everything seemed to connect in her head as she thought about it, the Heartless devouring worlds, Maleficent being tricked into the quest to find the Princesses of Heart to awaken the Final Keyhole, and why the Kingdom Key was so important that the World itself told her to seek out Sora. Ansem was after a font of potentially infinite power, something that would no doubt allow him to rewrite reality however he wished while granting him all the knowledge that the World had to offer, and now Sombra knew about it as well, which meant there was no way she was going to let him take the Heart of all Worlds.

With that in mind the group discovered there was no way forward and retraced their steps to the previous zone, only to discover that the fiery beam had vanished and had been replaced by a vortex of energy, causing them to jump into it and appear in the air of a great dark place. In that instant they found a massive muscular being standing before them, where all of them were half the size of the creature's head, who had black skin and two large demonic wings, though this time Sombra could tell that it wasn't a Heartless, it was something else that had a heart shrouded by darkness. Of course the odd thing was that he just seemed to stand there with his arms crossed as the group flew around him, striking at his head and the sides of his chest before he could do anything, and when he attacked it seemed like all he could do was breath fire on them, or at least until he caused the volcano he was standing in to detonate. He could also summon orbs of light to throw at the group, which Sombra caught in her magic and destroyed so they didn't do any harm to the group, though the sheer amount of damage they were able to do to the being meant that he was unable to actually bring them down.

In the end Sombra, Sora, Radiant, Goofy, and Donald brought down the beast and he was consumed by dark flames, which seemed to reveal a path for them to take to move forward, though as everyone moved forward Sombra caught the being's heart, because while it wasn't a Heartless she wasn't about to let it be reborn and fall to the Darkness. Following that they headed down into the now dormant volcano and found a dark path that seemed to be winding and just twisted, the dark energy of this world doing something weird to everything, only to find no Heartless waiting for them. It was like Ansem had assumed that the 'god' creature, as that was the only way Sombra could even think to label the winged beast, would stall all of them for a long period of time or maybe even take them down, hence why there were no more enemies between it and where he was resting. That only remained true until they found a chamber where they had to fight another Behemoth, a fair amount of Darkballs, at least six more Invisibles, and a good number of Angel Stars, all of which Sombra and the others just wrecked since they were used to fighting these enemies at this point.

Once those foes were brought down they entered another opening and found that it brought them to a small cavern that seemed to be just a small spring and an elegant door that Sombra knew would bring them to Ansem, to which they decided to pause for the time being and rest a little before they finally brought an end to this adventure.

Heartless: Facing Ansem

Once everyone was ready to go Sora approached the door that was in front of them and it opened up before their eyes, as it revealed a portal or gate to another area, though as they stepped through it everyone paused on the other side, as they were on what appeared to be an island that Sora recognized.

"It... It can't be... are these the Destiny Islands?!" Sora commented, as everything looked like what he had grown up with over the years, as the dock and everything was right where he remembered them being, which meant that off in the distance would be his home, Riku's house, Kairi's residence, and their families.

"Makes sense. The Heartless reached the core of your world and devoured it, adding it to this world." Sombra remarked, but as she said that she and the others glanced around, as this seemed to be the end of the road, the deepest depth of the dark world she had brought them to, and she could tell that Ansem was here, somewhere, "I'd wager Ansem thought this was a good location to fight you in, back where the journey started for you."

Sora thought about that for a moment before turning to walk up a path that brought him to the small waterfall that was on this portion of the island, causing the others to find that he was approaching a hidden tunnel that was near it, though as all of them followed him they stopped as they heard someone speak.

This world has been connected... tied to the Darkness, soon to be totally eclipsed. Ansem said, because that was definitely his voice, which meant that he had something he wanted to tell them before the final battle started, though as he said that Sombra found that the entire island was shifting before their eyes, pieces disappearing as the Darkness closed in on the area, breaking the beach in some places, There is so very much to learn... I know many things, while you all know so little. A meaningless effort, truly, for one who knows nothing can understand nothing.

"By the Princesses, this guy loves to listen to himself talk, doesn't he?" Radiant commented, where Sombra nodded her head for a moment, as Ansem definitely loved to talk and that made her wonder if his Nobody was the same, despite the fact that he had been mostly silent during their battle after Fluttershy had been taken from their group.

As she said that they found that Ansem was standing on the beach, while the rest of the island was altered to reflect the dark nature of the world that was around them, though he seemed to like using Riku's form when he didn't need his own form, no doubt to annoy Sora a little before the big final fight.

"Take a look at this tiny island... to the heart seeking freedom this place would seem like a prison... and so this boy sought a way to escape his prison, dooming his world in the process." Ansem continued, confirming the fact that he loved to talk, in fact he was likely far too happy to be at this point and wanted to gloat before the end of his quest, since he was sure that Kingdom Hearts was in reach.

"And yet, even if that was true, Riku turned around and helped the people of other worlds." Sombra remarked, though at the same time she summoned her Keyblade as their foe turned to look at them, his form changing into Ansem's over just a couple of seconds, showing them that he was being serious about fighting all of them, hence why she pointed her blade right at him, "You will return Riku to us, and then we'll stop your plans for Kingdom Hearts."

"I'm afraid that the boy is no longer here: I sent him into the depths of the Darkworld, where all Heartless come from, so there is nothing to return." Ansem stated, though at the same time he floated above the ground for a moment before he warped all of them into a dark and twisted arena that seemed to be part of his corrupted version of the Destiny Islands, where his shadow seemed to take shape as it turned into a large humanoid creature of Darkness that had it's mouth shut by an x shaped bandage of some kind, "First I will beat you, allowing your hearts to return to Darkness, then I shall claim the power of Kingdom Hearts!"

Sombra glanced at the others before they rushed into battle, some of them targeting Ansem himself now that they knew Riku wasn't in danger of being hurt, while Radiant focused on blocking what the Guardian, what she and Sombra wanted to call the dark figure behing their foe, was sending her way. Sombra joined her as she fought back the Guardian's blades, as it seemed like he had all sorts of powers he could use by just moving his hands, though at the same time she noticed an interesting fact, there was a heart deep inside the creature, a rather powerful one that someone was keeping locked away for some odd reason. The other part about it that was interesting was that the heart didn't feel like one she had felt before this point, nor was it like the fragments she was collecting, which only made her that much more interested in it, though for the time being she focused on the Guardian as he tried to crush them. She used her magic to parry the punches that the Guardian sent her way, while Radiant continued to lash out at all of the energy blades coming at them, though Sora and his friends switched to fighting Ansem as well, because he was ignoring them and letting the Guardian fight, so their plan was to bring it down before focusing on their main foe.

Ansem, for the most part, only seemed to have a single power up his sleeve, summoning a barrier of sorts around him so he could ram into whoever happened to be his target, though Sombra stopped that in it's tracks by using her magic to set up a barrier around his, so he did nothing at all when he used this particular attack.

After some time he expanded his power and the island shifted as another dark creature, a massive humanoid that Sora had told them about when he described how his world fell to Darkness, something that caused Sombra to chuckle as she leapt into the air and brought her knee into the Darkside's chin, knocking it backwards. In the next instant she swung her blade and the massive creature was slashed apart with ease, though like all true denizens of the Darkworld, as Ansem called it, this beast didn't have a heart for her to capture either, not that it mattered right now since her base power was more than enough for Ansem. Their foe focused on charging at them with dark energy wrapped around him, while at the same time the Guardian tried to hit them with his energy blades at the same time, meaning Ansem was being serious at long last, and when that failed he tried summoning the Guardian from below the ground as some sort of projectile attack, though since it resonated on the ground they could dodge it with ease. Even Ansem seemed surprised by that fact, almost like he assumed that they would get hit by the attack and be knocked down with his power, but this just annoyed Sombra as they struck him again, because after the Nobody and Sephiroth he had been expecting Ansem to put up a fight, even in her base form.

This, she concluded, was a boring fight and there was nothing about it that even remotely made her want to use her full power, something that caused her to spin around and kick Ansem in the side, sending him away from them so Sora and the others could wail on him for a few more moments.

"ENOUGH!" Ansem shouted, which was when the entirety of the Destiny Islands disappeared as he pulled them deeper into the depths of this world and brought them to a place that was saturated in Darkness, in fact he even disappeared as he did that, meaning he must have finally gotten serious, for real this time, before Sombra spotted a massive white door off in the distance with a massive faint heart behind it, "Behind the endless abyss, where the Heart of all Worlds, Kingdom Hearts, is waiting! Look has hard as you are able, for you won't be able to see a speak of light within it!"

As he said that Ansem appeared in front of them, though he was large and attached to the mast of a massive dark ship, as it looked like a battleship of some kind that was fit to sail a sea of Darkness, in fact it oozed dark energy and seemed to be made of a similar material to the beings of the Darkworld, all while there was a massive figure behind him that seemed to take the place of his powerful Guardian.

"Behold! This is my true power! Here I can wield my full power, the full power of Darkness, to crush you and claim the full power of Kingdom Hearts!" Ansem declared, while at the same time showing them that he had a weapon in his right hand, a staff with a head on top and one on bottom, meaning with the power he was putting out right now he was actually being serious about facing them, so close to his own target, like this would boost his confidence, "Now, I shall return all of your hearts to Darkness and..."

Ansem stopped as he heard something he wasn't expecting to hear, chuckling to be exact, which was the exact moment that Sora and the others found that a barrier wrapped around them as Sombra stepped forward with a dark aura around her, something that caused the darkness around them to vibrate as she shifted into her transformed state.

"You. Utter. MORON! Darkness is my element! Pulling me into a place that's full of my element is like asking me to take you down!" Sombra remarked, as she couldn't believe that Ansem, who had seen a portion of her true power when she fought his Nobody back on Hollow Bastion, would do something so utterly stupid, though if he was willing to play that game she was willing to play ball for a couple of seconds, "However, since you went through the effort to bring us here, allow me to oblige."

Sora's eyes widened as he and the others watched as Sombra vanished, moving at speeds far faster than what he and his friends were used to seeing, meaning she must have used this very same speed during her last two massive battles, which was followed by slashes appearing all over the battleship's surface. Radiant realized what was going on instantly, Sombra was going on the offensive by utilizing her full power against their opponent, where the weapons of the ship tried in vain to target her and ended up firing off dark energy into the void that was around them. Ansem likewise found slashes that appeared all over his body, far lighter than what the rest of his final form was suffering at the moment, causing him to instantly realize his massive blunder, that in his haste to get to Kingdom Hearts, fueled by his annoyance at getting beaten so easily, he had neglected to think about Sombra as he warped them all here. In that moment he realized that he only had a single chance of success, he had to open Kingdom Hearts and absorb all of the power that it had, otherwise his plan, and all the years of careful hard work he had put into making this happen, would go up in a puff of smoke.

With that thought in mind he forcefully separated himself from the battleship, in time to witness it being destroyed once all of Sombra's hits fully registered, causing him to shrink back down to his normal height, and his attire reappeared, as he moved towards Kingdom Hearts.

"So even now you reveal your true colors: you are a coward." Sombra commented, appearing some distance behind him as the sphere brought Radiant and the others over to her location, letting them go since they were no longer in danger of being attacked by the Dark Battleship.

"KINGDOM HEARTS!" Ansem shouted, while at the same time turning his gaze towards the massive door as he held a hand out towards it, because if he dallied any longer than this he knew his time would come, Sombra would wipe him out in an instant if she so desired, causing a smile to appear on his face as he felt a resonance in the door, "Fill me with the power of pure Darkness!"

"Ansem, you are wrong about Kingdom Hearts... it isn't Darkness, like you think." Sora said, as he wasn't sure how he knew this, in fact he was positive that he couldn't know such a thing since they only recently, within the last half hour he'd guess, learned about the existence of the heart that was behind the door, but that didn't stop him from knowing this information anyway, "It's Light!"

Sure enough a burst of light energy rippled out of the slightly opened door and Ansem found himself overwhelmed by it's glory, while Sombra found that she was unaffected, likely the World playing favorites, though as the Light tore through their foe she reached out to capture Ansem's dark heart. In that moment something interesting happened, she actually caught his heart for a brief moment, just like all of the others she had captured over the course of this adventure, but then it suddenly disappeared from her grasp, like someone else had stolen it. The following moment was even weirder as the heart suddenly reappeared and she caught it again, though this time it was totally different than what she felt a couple of seconds ago, this time it was touched by temporal energy and seemed even stronger than what Ansem possessed when she tore him apart. Part of her was tempted to absorb the heart then and there, but something told her not to, not yet anyway, to which she stored it inside her collection area and resolved to keep it safe until she was ready to add Ansem's power to her own.

Following that they rushed towards the door and landed at the base, rushing to the frame as they started to push it so it would close, as Sora realized that this particular door needed to be sealed before someone else tried to use it, and the rest of the group agreed with him, especially since it looked like the Darkworld, a place of absolute darkness, was on the other side of the white frame.

"Need a hand?" a voice asked, where they found that Riku was on the other side and grabbed onto the other side of the door as he pulled it towards the Darkworld, which was all the confirmation they needed to realize that Ansem had told the truth about where he sent Riku, "King Mickey found the other Keyblade that can seal this door, one on each side since you have the other one, Sora, so we can lock this door for good. And don't worry about me, I'll be fine with him by my side... just make sure Kairi is safe."

As Sora nodded his head Sombra pulled something out and tossed it to Riku, who found that it was the amulet she and Radiant had made for him, causing them to nod to each other as Sombra caught a glimpse of a short black mouse figure off in the distance behind him, though once the door was shut Sora backed off and locked it with the power of the Kingdom Key, causing it to disappear as Mickey did the same on the other side.

"Good, the Door to Darkness... I'm sure Ansem called it that in his head... has been sealed." Radiant said, though as she said that they heard another voice and found that Kairi, against all odds or possibilities, appeared some distance behind them, where she and the others let Sora rush to her to figure out what was going on.

Of course it wasn't that simple as the ground around them shifted as Kairi's half departed from the area they were in, a fact that cut into her time with Sora and forced the pair to make a promise to each other, that they'll find their way to the other again at some point. After that happened she and her world were warped back to their spot of the universe, due to the fact that Sombra found a sea of spheres rush out of the darkness and surge towards the surface, where she found all sorts of worlds returning to their proper places with ease. She had to admit that it was a wonderful sight to see, undoing all of the work that Ansem and Maleficent had put into trying to gain the darkest power in the universe, and for once it just seemed like the right thing to do, instead of focusing on what she wanted at all times. As she watched the worlds surge out into space she had to mentally chuckle, as she was sure that anyone back home would think she was crazy for liking a scene like this, but simply smiled as she stood by the others and watched the World heal at long last.

She knew they would move forward again in due time, but for the time being she decided to focus on the fact that they had beaten Ansem and stopped his plans, because they needed some peace and rest before worrying about the Nobody and whatever plans he might be making, which only made her wonder what the immediate future held for them.

Interlude: Separation

Xemnas sat in his private room for a time, a room that was nearly identical to the ones that Xigbar and the other members of Organization XIII used to sleep through the night or rest in when they were recovering from their missions, allowing him to reflect on what he had felt as he waited for the official report to arrive. Ansem, his other half, had been destroyed, he felt it thanks to the fact that his dark Kingdom Hearts had been not only accessed slightly, no doubt during the final battle, but it had also been sealed not too long after Ansem accessed it, something he had been expecting given who his other half's foes had been. Sora was a problem, that was true, but he was minor in the fact of the true danger that still existed, as Sombra was still out there and he knew the terrible truth, that as long as she was in play, in the portion of the World that his soon to be three Keyblade Wielders would be operating in, there was no way for them to gather hearts, not with her power to steal them. He still thought it was a dark and evil power, more vile than anything he had encountered in the past, and to deal with her Xemnas knew that they needed a strategy, a way to deal with her before she did serious harm to their Kingdom Hearts, or even steal all of their hard work, before he realized something.

They had someone who knew Sombra more than anyone else, which was why Xemnas resolved to have Xigbar collect one of their newest members, Seras to be exact, because there was a chance that she might know something that could help the Organization deal with their great enemy, or at least seal her somewhere until their Kingdom Hearts was complete, which was why he got up and left his room, only to find Xigbar and Vexen outside it.

"Lord Xemnas, we bring both good and bad news. The good news is that Xion is ready and can be deployed whenever you feel like adding her to the Organization." Vexen said, bowing his head slightly as their boss departed from his room and the door closed behind him, though they didn't have to worry about the other members listening in since they were the only ones in the hallway right now, before he looked at his notes for a moment, "Now normally this next bit of news would be good as well, but given who did the deed I'm classifying it as 'bad' news for the time being: Ansem's been taken out and his Kingdom Hearts has been sealed, if the readings are to be believed."

"Yes, I felt the same thing not too long ago. It would seem that my other half has been defeated, and the fruit of his labors sealed before he could use his dark Kingdom Hearts." Xemnas stated, where he wasn't worried about saying this to the pair, as Xigbar was his right hand and that meant he knew far more about him than anyone else, while Vexen didn't seem to care all that much about the truth he had just said, "Make sure Xion is ready to be introduced this afternoon, as three Wielders will be far better than two... however, that does not eliminate the immediate threat to our Organization, but I do have an idea: we use the Dark Corridors and trap Sombra in the Darkworld."

"Are you sure that this idea is wise? She fought and beat Ansem in an area that's almost identical to the Darkwould, at least in terms of dark energy." Xigbar inquired, as he had to wonder if this was a bad idea, because while he agreed that dealing with Sombra was the best course of action right now, given her terrifying power to capture hearts, he wondered if trying to send their foe to the realm of pure Darkness would only make things worse for them in the end, especially after how Ansem was defeated, "Of course I'll do whatever you say, as you are the leader and your word is law, just... are you absolutely used that sending her to the Darkworld is the best course of action?"

"As long as she has no other means of transport, like the Dark Corridors, we should be fine... one of the denizens of the Darkworld should be able to deal with her." Xemnas said, though while he agreed with Xigbar, that this idea seemed bad or even downright terrible, there was nothing else they could do if they wanted to deal with her, it was either this or let Sombra join the others in approaching Castle Oblivion, and if the latter happened he knew that anyone sent there would be annihilated without a chance to tamper with Sora's memories.

Vexen and Xigbar glanced at each other for a moment, as they were unsure of this decision, before nodding, showing their boss that they understood the orders that were being given to them, which meant the best course of action would be to get Seras involved since she was on their side and might distract Sombra enough to fulfill their objective. With that in mind Xemnas decided that it was time to call a short meeting so they could introduce Xion to the rest of the Organization, while at the same time he had Xigbar track Axel down, as he was one of the faster members and might be able to escape if their plan ended up failing. While they walked down the hallway, however, he felt something behind him and noticed nothing when he looked back for a moment, almost if he had imagined that someone would dare spy on him or his allies in their own domain, before he focused on what needed to happen next. As he thought about what needed to be said he noticed how Axel was tending to Roxas, who still seemed to be in his zombie state, and even noticed Xion behind the pillar that was Roxas', while at the same time Seras and Larxene were chatting like they were old friends, with the former standing by the latter's pillar since there were only thirteen seats.

As usual the other members took their seats, his twelve companions sitting on their pillars while Seras and Xion stood by a pillar to observe, and, as Xemnas expected, everyone embraced Xion as a new ally, even though it had it's hood up, mostly a measure to make sure no one noticed it's doll-like appearance until it formed it's own true identity.

"Another girl? Man, we're really lucky, aren't we?" Larxene remarked, though there was a smile on her face, because for the longest time she had resented the fact that she was the only female Nobody in the Organization, hence why she had taken to hanging out with Seras since it meant she would no longer alone, and now she was happy for there to be three of them in the Organization.

"Indeed. We are lucky to have her as one of our many allies." Xemnas said, where the switch from 'it' to 'she' was due to the fact that he really didn't want the others to know that they had a way to produce dolls that could become Nobodies, or even a person for that matter, because it would cause chaos to erupt among the ranks, "That is all for now. You are free to return to what you were doing previously. Seras, a word before you leave?"

Seras stood there for a moment and promised Larxene that she wouldn't be long, causing her friend to nod as she and all of the others departed, leaving just her, Xemnas, and Axel for some odd reason, though after a few seconds she could feel Xigbar hiding behind one of the pillars.

"So, Xigbar said that you had something you wanted us to do?" Axel inquired, where Seras glanced at the red haired figure for a moment and knew that he had left the chamber for a time, to make sure Roxas was fine, before returning, though both of them were definitely curious as to what their leader wanted from them.

"First, a bit of information: Ansem has been destroyed, and his dark Kingdom Hearts has been sealed." Xemnas replied, as he knew that Seras had been part of Sombra's group at one point, before she was separated from Fluttershy, though she showed no reaction to the information, either because she expected such a thing to happen or she was truly like them and didn't care about those from her time as a person, while Axel seemed impressed, "As it stands Sombra and Sora are going to start on the path that bring them to Castle Oblivion in the very near future, and if they arrive together we know they'll do serious damage to the Organization... you two are going to head to the path, lure her away from Sora's group, and then use the Dark Corridors to warp her to the Darkworld. Seras, does she have any power like that?"

"Like the Dark Corridors? No, she doesn't." Seras stated, which was the truth, as far as she knew Sombra didn't have any powers like that, but there was no telling how much stronger she had gotten since Hollow Bastion, or more specifically the visit that ended with her being separated from Fluttershy, meaning this could be all for nothing if she had a power that was similar to the Dark Corridors, causing her to turn towards Axel, "You don't mind if I head out first, to get an idea of an area we can set the trap in, do you?"

"By all means. The place in question isn't the best for laying traps, too open, but maybe we'll think of something to use against Sombra." Axel stated, which he seriously doubted, this was basically a suicide mission to try and get rid of the one person who might be able to utterly destroy the entire Organization on her own, because if Sombra was able to get rid of Ansem, the other half of their boss, then he doubted that most of their group could hold a candle to her.

Xemnas smiled for a moment as Seras departed from the chamber so she could recon the area in question and figure out a way to deal with Sombra, meaning that in no time they would be able to continue their plans for Sora without having to worry about the only person that could ruin everything with her presence, causing him to look forward to what the near future held in store for the Organization.

With Ansem defeated, and his dark Kingdom Hearts sealed from both sides, Sombra and the others followed the only path that was available to them at the moment, the path that seemed to lead deeper into the darkness, or at least that was what all of them thought as they discovered a smooth dirt path, grass on either side, trees in the distance, and even a fair number of shrubs ranging from small to tall ones.

"It would seem that we've moved somewhere else... where, I'm not sure, but we're not in the space near where the Door to Darkness once rested." Sombra commented, where she was sure that they had been moved to another area, likely one of the World's blessings she guessed, though part of her attention was focused on the heart she had captured after they beat up Ansem, the strange temporal power it possessed, and the fact that there was a faint smaller power to it, the heart of the Guardian she guessed.

"Yeah, but... how do we get back to the Gummi Ship?" Radiant asked, because now that the adventure was over, or at least the first part of it she reckoned, part of their focus should be on returning to the ship to make sure Fluttershy's Heartless was okay, even though she had been left somewhere where she should be safe.

"Well, if this is like all of the other worlds we visited... find a warp spot?" Sora answered, as he had no idea, he was as lost as the others were, all while Donald and Goofy shrugged, as they hadn't been expecting to be without their ship at some point during their travels, in fact they were sure that they would have insisted that a security feature be installed if they felt like this sort of thing would have happened at some point.

Sombra had no idea at this point, in fact she wasn't sure if she could use her teleportation spell to warp them back to the last world they had docked at, before she glanced to her left a little and found that her personal screen, which she was sure that not even Radiant could see, despite being blessed by the World, said that the ship was safe. It seemed like the World was making sure Fluttershy was safe, or at least her heart, which extended to the rest of the Gummi Ship, which let her know that they were supposed to focus on something else right now, causing her to once again reflect on the heart she had just captured and the fragments that were now resting near it. There was no resonance between them, that much she could tell at a glance, and not even the Guardian's heart seemed to react to the fragments, not in a way that meant they were one and the same, meaning she would have to focus on tracking down all of the other fragments to figure out who they belonged to. It still seemed so strange for a heart to be broken up like that, like all of the light had been taken out of someone and scattered to the wind of the various worlds, or at least she assumed it was all of one element since she had yet to find a dark aspect, before she turned her attention to the path in front of them.

As they walked, however, she felt the opening of a portal, the same one that the Nobody had used during their first visit to Hollow Bastion, and Sombra paused as she found a hill that allowed them to glance out over the area, though the reason for her pause was due to the fact that there was someone in a black coat off in the distance.

"Again?! Seriously, how many times are they going to annoy me?" Sombra remarked, though instead of shifting into her final form, and altering the terrain of the area that was around them, she started to walk down the path in front of her for a time, putting some distance between her and the others, who would no doubt reach the top of the hill in no time and would likely see the end of her venture.

As she crossed the distance in no time, however, another dark portal opened to his left, without the figure moving, but she turned to the right as she felt a third one open and drew her Keyblade as she parried an incoming attack from a second black coat wearing individual, one who also had a Keyblade and wings, something that caused her to realize what was going on as they passed through the second portal, ending up in the dark realm Riku was in.

"Seras... you better have a damn good reason for doing this." Sombra remarked, speaking as her hooves touched the dark ground and found that she was actually on a beach, with an ocean to her left, while the portal closed behind Seras as she pulled her hood back, confirming that it was her, even if her Keyblade was totally different.

"I'm not here to fight you, if that's what you are wondering... Xemnas, the leader of Organization XIII, wanted you out of the picture so you don't reach Castle Oblivion." Seras said, though in that moment she smiled as she noticed the grin that appeared on Sombra's face, because while it might be annoying to do things like this it was good that the dreaded Queen of Darkness understood what she was currently saying, "What I can tell you is that he's planning the same as Ansem, his other half: constructing his own version of Kingdom Hearts... for what purpose, I still don't know, but we can't let him have his way, can we?"

"No, no we can't. If this 'Castle Oblivion' is so important, that means some of it's members will be sent there in due time, no doubt to deal with Sora... Radiant should be able to help him out." Sombra remarked, where she realized that there were more Nobodies than she thought, at least twelve others if she excluded both Seras and Sora's, meaning some would no doubt come under fire in the near future and this 'Xemnas' wanted her out of the picture before that happened, and as she glanced at the area around her an idea came to mind, "This place... there might be a door to this castle somewhere, which means we can launch a pincer attack on the members that are in the castle, provided we find it around the same time that Sora and the others reach it. From there we can regroup and focus on tearing down the rest of the Organization, and find Sora's Nobody while we're at it since he's likely unhappy... actually, add both of your friends to that, if they're up to repelling against Xemnas. What do you say, Seras?"

"It sounds like you have a plan... and I'm on board all the way." Seras stated, because after hearing that Xemnas wanted Sombra out of the way, all to bring about his plan for his Kingdom Hearts, she knew that the best thing to do was to ally with the one person, in all of reality, that was capable of doing lasting damage to the Organization and it's leader, to which she opened a Dark Corridor and paused for a moment, "Also, have fun fighting alongside Riku... I'm sure it'll be some time before you make it to the castle."

As Seras departed, however, Sombra heard the sounds of someone fighting nearby and chuckled as she turned towards the direction, as it looked like things were going to be interesting in the coming days and she couldn't wait to see what sort of challenges the World threw at her and the rest of her group.

Interlude: Darkworld's Surprises

Sombra found that the Darkworld was definitely full of dark energy and the environment seemed to reflect that, as in all of the stones seemed to have a dark gray color to them and had light blue lines crossing over the ground every now and then, where she found crystals growing from a couple of them. The few trees that happened to be in this world didn't have any leaves on them, rather all of them were just twisted bark and nothing else, with the bark itself having the same coloration of the ground and also happened to have those same lines on them. It was an interesting thing to see, especially since this was her first time in this world and knew nothing about what to expect, though it was odd that the beach area she had landed in was the only place that seemed relatively normal, with a sky and everything that didn't seem completely twisted. Right now her focus was on making her way through the area that was around her, leaping into the air and jumping from boulder to boulder as she followed the sounds of fighting she had heard after Seras had departed from the area, all while aware that something was definitely following her.

One thing she knew for sure was that the denizens of the Darkworld were the pureblood Heartless, the ones that had no hearts for her to capture once they were taken care of, and one of them was interested in her, though her focus was on the fighting that was going on nearby as she rushed through the area.

As she did so Sombra found what appeared to be Shadows gathering ahead of her, though these ones stood taller than all of the other Shadows and seemed more menacing, 'Neoshadows' she guessed, and they were joined by a legion of Darkballs and a large number of actual smaller Shadows. In the next moment she held her hand out as she summoned her Keyblade and slashed through the floating enemies, causing the Shadows and Neoshadows to turn on her as her target dissolved into mist, no doubt to be reborn somewhere else in the world. That was the downside to fighting in this world, that their enemies would just come back in due time and continue the fight without delay, to wear down those that were labeled as the enemies of the Darkworld, as she was sure that Riku and Mickey were dealing with the same thing at the moment. Of course they weren't the only enemies that were around the area, as she found that there were a number of Darksides, the massive pureblood Heartless Sora had told her and the others about when Ansem called in one to fight them, something that told her that they were far more common in this world.

While she studied her foes, however, some of the Neoshadows rushed at her and Sombra held her hand out with a bit of magic around her hand and wrist, where the Heartless found themselves pressed into the ground thanks to her using her gravity magic on them, an element she definitely enjoyed using against her enemies. With that in mind she summoned a bunch of fireballs and hurled them at her enemies, blasting the area that was around her with some of her power while all of the pureblood Heartless that weren't pinned to the ground backed away from her for a moment. Those that ended up wounded by her attack were swiftly dealt with as she used her speed to rush from foe to foe, taking them down before any of them realized she was making a move against them, casting their mist into the depths of the Darkworld as she dealt with the Neoshadows that had been crippled by her gravity magic. Some of the other Neoshadows rushed at her and she swung her Keyblade at them, blocking their incoming attacks, which were definitely stronger than some of the attacks she had blocked in the past, before slashing them apart and moving onto the next foe that was waiting for her.

As she came to a stop for a moment Sombra found that there were definitely more Darksides than she thought, as there were at least ten of them off in the distance and they seemed to be growing in number, though in the next few moments it became clear why that was happening, as Riku was running her way with the mouse from earlier, Mickey based on what Donald had said before the Door to Darkness had been sealed.

"Riku! Mickey! Over here!" Sombra shouted, something that caused the Heartless in front of her to realize that there were two individuals heading their way, though Riku noticed them and leapt into battle, where she watched as the amulet did what it was designed to do as the boy transformed into his werewolf form from Halloween Town, minus the torn clothing, allowing him to cleave his way through the Heartless with his Keyblade, "I'll deal with the Darksides."

As the pair continued to make their way towards her Sombra leapt into the air for a moment and called forth a small bit of her true power, causing the black energy with a red outline to form around her Keyblade for a few seconds before she just swung it at her targets. Mickey, who wasn't wearing a shirt at the moment and wore red shorts that had two white buttons on it, along with yellow shoes and white gloves, watched as a wave of energy burst out of the dark Keyblade and rushed at the massive Heartless, the 'Darksides' as the strange figure called them. The wave actually separated into three waves as it reached her targets, cutting into the ground and walls before slashing through all of the Heartless, something that caused all of them to detonate in an explosion that rocked the area they were in, one that took out all of the Darksides before they had a chance to get out of the way. Mickey was surprised by the scene that unfolded before his eyes, because once the Door had been sealed he wasn't expecting anyone else to come to this side, nor was he prepared for Riku's sudden transformation, and even the dark power that had just been used came as a surprise to him.

Sombra, on the other hand, landed nearby as she found that the Heartless had backed off, in fact the weaker ones were fleeing to another part of the twisted world, no doubt seeking one of the stronger purebloods to try and take her down, a fact that meant they had to get moving before that happened, especially since she could feel a strong darkness starting to move deeper in the vast abyss.

"Sombra, what are you doing here? Why did I suddenly transform into this form?" Riku asked, as there were several very important questions going through his head right now, though those two were the most important right now, especially since he had been sure that Sombra had been left on the other side of the Door.

"Later. For now, focus on heading towards the beach." Sombra stated, because there was still a path behind her and for the time being it was still up, so for an unknown amount of time there was a route to safety, to an area that seemed to be the safest spot in the entirety of the Darkworld, though as Riku got close, and reverted to his original form since the short period of time was up, Mickey stopped.

"Wait Riku, we can't trust her. She wields the power of Darkness." Mickey remarked, which told her that he must be more aligned to the Light, in fact Sombra could sense that right now, though her main focus was on the fact that there seemed to be someone else located further behind the pair, all while Riku looked at the mouse like he had lost his mind.

"Yes, and you stand for the Light. Now get over here while I focus on the other lost heart... we've got something big coming our way." Sombra replied, where she grabbed onto the mouse with her magic and yanked him over to where she and Riku were standing, surprising him in the process, before reaching deeper into the Darkworld as she yanked a woman, who was slightly older than her and Riku, how old she couldn't tell as she noticed that she wore a light agile set of attire and her hair was blue, that paused for a moment as she landed nearby.

"What... just happened?" the woman asked, as a few moments ago she had been running through the darkness, trying to avoid being taken down by a powerful creature that hunted her like she was it's prey, before she noticed that Riku and Mickey were standing nearby with surprised looks on their faces as well.

"You are no longer in danger... though I do have a foe to take down." Sombra remarked, as a four legged beast Heartless, a pureblood that wasn't the stronger one she had felt previously, was coming right at them, which was when Riku noticed two orbs appear behind her, one made of gravity magic and one made of time magic, which she mixed into a larger orb in front of her that was a combination of both elements.

The trio watched as Sombra fired the larger orb at the incoming Heartless and their jaws dropped as the ground was just carved up under the power of the attack, as there was a long gouge in the ground that it traveled through, which seemed to be as wide as the Gummi Ship, and the Heartless in question was wiped out in the process. With that done Sombra took a moment to make sure the coast was clear before beckoning for the others to get moving, though upon finding that the woman was still resting on the ground she just scooped her up and carried her down the path she had walked up after she was dropped into this world. Riku and Mickey found their way to the beach and found that it was definitely far more peaceful than what they had experienced so far, though once Sombra was with them, and the woman insisted on being set down since she could walk on her own, she turned towards the path as she shifted into her final form and held both of her hands out after dismissing her Keyblade. The trio watched as the landscape seemed to shift before their eyes as she seized control of everything, stone and rock moving as the path they had used to reach this point disappeared in seconds, as if it had never existed in the first place, and everything on the outskirts of the beach changed as well, meaning that any Heartless that was pursuing them would be lost.

To be sure that nothing was coming after them Sombra also created a large barrier around them that shielded them from the Heartless of this realm, allowing her to huff for a second before reverting to her base form again, while using a little bit of her power to form four seats for all of them.

"That... was incredible! You used Darkness, but to save others!" the woman said, though while the sheer display of dark power should have worried her, especially since it allowed the user to alter the landscape that was around them, so she was more in awe of what she had seen.

"Let's clear the air right now: everyone is made of Light and Darkness... the force doesn't matter, rather it matters what the person uses it for." Sombra stated, because she knew that someone was going to mention that using dark powers just meant the person was evil, and while that was true in her case, given her past, she knew that people could use magic and powers like the Light to commit evil as well, so it all depended on the user, and both Mickey and the woman paused as they listened to her speak, "Now then, I believe there is some information to share."

Mickey revealed that the woman was called Aqua, who had been part of a trio of Keyblade wielders who learned under an instructor who was more connected to the Light, but after a series of events she had been lost to the Darkworld and he had been looking for her, in addition to this world's Keyblade to seal the Door to Darkness. Riku told them about how he and Sora had met both her and another wielder, Terra, a long time ago, something he was sure Sora had forgotten, and he remembered touching Terra's Keyblade once upon a time, even though they never saw the pair again. Sombra told the pair that didn't know her a little more about her, the fact that there were two more of her kind out there, technically three thanks to Seras' existence, something that surprised Riku once he heard that Fluttershy had been separated into two new forms, her Heartless and her Nobody. Such a thing caused them to tell Aqua about the state of the World, because it had been a long time since she had been in the Realm of Light, as in the universe they had been traveling through, and while she was surprised by many things, especially Sora wielding a Keyblade and Kairi reaching the Destiny Islands, she seemed happy that things were returning to normal.

Aqua, likewise, explained how she came to be in this realm for so many years, starting with the day that she and Terra had their Mark of Mastery Exam, how they displayed their skills before Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort, Terra failing based on their own Master's statement, and the series of events that sprung from that event.

"Terra, Ventus, and I went out into the World after that, each for our own reasons... but in the end it was all according to Master Xehanort's dark plans." Aqua said, where she looked down at her hands for a moment, because while she and her friends had succeeded in stopping Xehanort she knew they had also failed at the same time, all while noticing that Sombra remained silent as she thought about the information that had been given her to, "We managed to stop him from using the X-Blade to do whatever he was planning on doing to Kingdom Hearts, but... Ventus, who was possessed by Vanitas, lost his heart as his foe was beaten, and I hid him somewhere where our foes wouldn't be able to find him. Terra... well... Xehanort possessed his body, giving him a younger form, and I fought him and the dark figure he summoned, but when I beat him he told Terra to 'get out of his heart' before using his Keyblade on himself... Terra fell into the Darkness, though I used my Keyblade armor to get him back to the Realm of Light. After what Mickey said I can only assume that Xehanort cast Terra's heart into the Darkness, which I have been searching for ever since..."

"Xehanort... tell me, is this what he looks like?" Sombra inquired, where she used a bit of her magic to form an image of the old man she had seen in the memory of the fragments she had collected, where Aqua stared at it for a few seconds before nodding her head, causing her to switch the image to that of the Guardian for a time, where the woman paused as she stared at it, only for Sombra to show her Ansem as well, "We fought Ansem and his Guardian not that long ago, and in the depths of the Guardian I felt a heart that was being smothered by the darkness..."

As Riku opened his mouth, to ask how Sombra could have known that fact, they all stopped as she held a hand out and a dark heart appeared above her palm, contained entirely within her magic by the looks of it, and from within that heart she withdrew a second one, this one causing Aqua's eyes to widen as she pieced everything together.

"Terra's heart, beating with the desire to keep his friends safe, which has kept him from being swallowed by the Darkness, like Xehanort wanted." Sombra finished, though at the same time she made some changes to her heart container area so Terra's would be safe as well, something that only made her realize that there was more to the situation than what they had been told so far, which only caused her to wonder about the heart fragments again, "Though that means that the one we just fought and beat was actually the Heartless of... Terranort, I guess... an imposter that only took Ansem's name for some reason, a fact that means that Xemnas, who Seras told me a little about, must be their Nobody. Beat them both and unite the halves into a single form and I'm sure we'll reforge Terra's body, but something tells me that there's another vital piece of him out there, one we would have to find before that point... after that, then we can give him his heart back."

"Sombra... how are you doing this?" Riku asked, because he had learned about the amulet he now wore and the fact that it had allowed his transformation, something Sombra and Radiant had crafted together, but this, being able to manifest a heart and even control it in some manner, was an unknown power to him.

"Radiant, Fluttershy, and I were given unique skills to aid us in our adventures... mine is 'Boundless Necromancy', which is the power to capture hearts, useful for dealing with the Heartless." Sombra replied, as she saw no reason to tell them the whole truth, especially since she was sure that it would cause Aqua to freak out if she knew that part of her power allowed her to absorb the hearts and add their power to her own, but now she had more reasons to keep Seeker Ansem's heart, Terra's heart, and the fragments contained.

"Good... can you keep Terra safe, until we can fully restore him?" Aqua asked, where part of her wanted to take the heart now, to keep her friend safe, but if Sombra had an area that only she could access, and no one else could access it, then her keeping the heart in her collection meant they would keep Terra safe, causing her to let out a sigh as Sombra nodded her head, as this was a load off of her shoulders, "I'm coming with you, both to restore Terra and to save Ventus."

Sombra agreed, as having Aqua around meant they could learn more about the Keyblade from an actual Master, plus she wanted to know the entire story from start to finish, as she was sure that there was more information for her to gain that might help them out, all while making her even more eager to see what the future held in store for them and their allies.

Interlude: Pieces Moving

"So, what do we do first?" Aqua asked, because while she was still coming to terms with everything Sombra had said, not to mention the fact that the strange dark figure had the heart of one of her friends in her possession like it was nothing to her, she felt that she could trust her and whatever plans she was thinking of.

"For now we need to remain hidden. Seras said that the Organization wanted me out of the picture, so I didn't interfere with their plans in Castle Oblivion, so that's what I'll do." Sombra replied, though she had plans for the area in question, as the Organization's desire to keep her away from the mysterious structure only increased her desire to know what sort of plans Xemnas had in plan for that place, before she glanced out at the dark beach, "That would be no problem if we could return to the Realm of Light and use our Gummi Ship, because then we could have a mobile base of operations that our foes would be unable to track."

"Not to mention some food... it's been a while since I've eaten anything, since Ansem didn't bother to eat anything while he was in control of my body." Riku added, as that was the good thing about teaming up with Sombra again, not only was she a great warrior, if her skills were anything to go by, but her cooking was out of this world, and he assumed that Aqua felt the same, as she said that she had been trapped in this realm for a long time.

"I'm just not sure how we'll get out of here, since the only path I'm aware of has been sealed." Mickey admitted, because while he had to admit that leaving this realm would be a good idea, since it looked like there might be something far more dangerous lurking in the depths, he had no idea how to get out of the realm they were currently trapped in.

Sombra thought about that for a few seconds, because if she knew how Seras and the Nobodies were able to open those dark portals she could easily open one and get them out of here, but she didn't and that meant she would have to find another way out, causing her to glance at the mouse.

"Mickey, you had a Keyblade that looked similar to the Kingdom Key, which Sora is using... may I see it?" Sombra asked, as she knew that Sora's weapon was the Realm of Light's Keyblade, which was why it was so important for the World to send her and the others to help the boy learn how to fight and aid him in his quest, and Mickey's looked like it was identical to the Kingdom Key, which made sense since it was this realm's Keyblade.

The mouse looked at her for a moment before calling forth the Keyblade and handed it over, allowing Sombra to grab the handle and pull it close to her, where she found that it was identical in form to the Kingdom Key that Sora carried, down to the charm that was at the end. The difference between them was that the colors were inverted between the two weapons, as the Kingdom Key's blade was silver and the Darkside Key's, as she was going to call it, blade was golden, while Sora's had a red ring near the base of the blade and this one had a blue ring. She also found that the guard of the Darkside Key was golden colored, as opposed to the silver coloration of the Kingdom Key, while the charm, which resembled Mickey for some reason, was silver on Sora's and gold on this one, completing the inverted color scheme. She could even tell that it had some sort of power to it that wasn't just unlocking and locking things, like the other Keyblades they had seen so far, a fact that made her wonder if Xemnas might have made a mistake in having Seras send her here, something that caused her to stand up as an idea came to mind.

Riku and the others watched as Sombra dismissed the barrier that was around them as she raised the Keyblade and just focused her mind for a moment, allowing energy to arc around the blade for a few seconds before she pointed it right at the space in front of her, causing an oval portal to tear itself open before her eyes.

"I was right: the Darkside Key has the power to open small portals between the realms." Sombra remarked, where Riku found that she was telling the truth, as on the other side was none other than Traverse Town, a place that was currently in the middle of seeing people depart as their worlds were restored, causing Sombra to wave her hand for a moment and let the portal close before anyone used it, "Now, let's see if I can pick where to go."

In the following moments she focused on her destination and held the Keyblade out again, where they discovered that the world she opened a portal to was Hollow Bastion, Riku noticed that right away, and when she beckoned them through all three of them appeared on the outskirts of Maleficent's castle, where Sora and the others had started when they first came to this world.

"And just like that, we have escaped from the Darkworld... Xemnas really screwed up, didn't he?" Sombra stated, because this was hilarious in her eyes, the leader of Organization XIII had thought he was getting rid of her by having Seras send her to the dark realm, but the reality of the situation was that he had merely separated her from the others, which was fine since Radiant was with them.

"Are we... really in the Realm of Light?" Aqua asked, as she had been trapped in the Realm of Darkness, or the Darkworld as everyone seemed to be calling it these days, for so long that she had started to lose hope that she would ever escape, but now it looked like it had been wrong to even consider such a thing, as Sombra had freed her and the others within moments of finding them.

"Yes, we're no longer in the Darkworld." Mickey said, where he found that Sombra returned the Darkside Key to him not a few seconds later before she focused on another spell that seemed to do nothing to the world around them, causing him to dismiss the Keyblade as he turned to face her as Riku made sure Aqua was fine, as she started to tear up at the thought of actually being in this realm again, "What are you doing?"

"Summoning our base of operations. We're going to remain in the shadows for a time, letting Xemnas play his games as we gather information on the Organization," Sombra explained, causing the others to focus on her for a moment as they found a ship appearing above them, one Riku recognized as their Gummi Ship, where she smiled as she thought about the plan that was in her mind, since it combined the information Aqua had given them earlier as well, "and, when the time is right, we will swoop in, gather our allies, and then decimate the Organization before they even knew what hit them. But first things first..."

Aqua found that Sombra's remark was followed by them warping aboard the ship, no doubt due to the systems as the odd figure told them, where she had Riku move them out into space as she went to the last place Aqua expected, she walked right into the kitchen area and started to make something.

"I... I don't understand." Aqua commented, as this was the last thing she thought someone like Sombra would do, given all of the information that had been handed to her since they stopped to talk, and while she was hungry, starving really since it had been some time since her last meal, this was the last thing on her mind right now.

"Trust me, it will be well worth the wait." Riku replied, due to the fact that neither Aqua or Mickey was aware of the sheer culinary skill that Sombra possessed, in fact he couldn't wait to see what sort of dish she put out, causing him to beckon for them to follow him so he could show them around the ship, since it seemed like the meal would take some time before it was ready.

Sombra chuckled as she focused on her work, while at the same time expanding a bit of her magic into the walls to make a brand new room for Aqua, since she was sure that the new wielder had to be exhausted after everything she had been forced to endure, though she did hear the shower start. She wasn't too surprised by that fact, as she could only imagine how long it had been since the other lady had taken the time to care for her body, especially since the Darkworld had nothing for her to use to tend to her body, so she decided to say nothing as she focused on her current task. Sombra also knew that Riku would show them to the area that Fluttershy's Heartless was resting in, no doubt allowing them to see that the stakes were higher than either of them currently knew, though getting through the animals would be another thing entirely, because Sabor and all of Fluttershy's animal companions were very protective of her Shadow. When the trio did return to the eating area, however, Sombra did explain more of her plan to them, as she wanted Xemnas to think that she was still trapped inside the Darkworld, so before they departed from their current position she was going to detonate an attack inside the realm and make the Nobodies think she was still trapped.

As Aqua agreed with the plan, since blinding their foes seemed like the best thing right now, she finally got to taste what was being made as Sombra served four dishes to the table, allowing her and Mickey's jaws to drop when they sampled her food, causing Riku to chuckle as he waited for them to implement the first part of Sombra's great plan.

Seras glanced around the area of the castle that she was in for a moment as she spun and loosed a burst of fire at one of the targets that were around her, blasting one of the Dusks, the most common Nobody in existence, backwards as a few more rushed at her. Such a thing caused her to hold her right hand out as she struck the trio that were coming at her with her Keyblade, hard enough to knock them away from where she was standing while soft enough to make sure that none of them were actually harmed, since they did serve the Organization and taking them out would weaken their forces as a whole. The reason she was training was due to the fact that Xemnas wanted to send her out into the field now that their 'problem child', Sombra when she thought about it, was trapped in the Darkworld, just as he ordered her to do, so with a thorn in their side dealt with he wanted her, Roxas, and Xion to start heading out into the field. They needed hearts to be freed from the Heartless so they could be gathered and brought together in Kingdom Hearts, as in the one that was right outside their home, because their end goal was to gain the power to give every Nobody a heart.

She, of course, knew there was more to it than that and was hoping to gain more information by working with the other members of the Organization who could wield the power of a Keyblade, though as she thought about that she turned her weapon for a moment and struck the electric throwing knives out of the air as Larxene landed nearby.

"Man, you are good. Totally unlike most Nobodies when they're born... you skipped being a zombie." Larxene remarked, as Seras was a natural when it came to combat, in fact she was able to react to the changes in the air and deflect attacks that were coming at her despite her not seeing them coming in the first place, and while she should be annoyed by the fact that she couldn't hit Seras, she was actually having fun with her training, "You are far more skilled than Roxas, or even Xion... I know Xemnas said she can use a Keyblade, but why hasn't she tried to summon it yet?"

She was referring to the other two that were in the training area, as Roxas was currently training with Axel, who seemed to know which buttons to press to try and get Sora's Nobody to focus on battle, wielding a Keyblade that resembled Sora's as well, while Xion was being treated like dirt by Saix, who was annoyed that she was focusing on magic and had yet to use her Keyblade.

"To be fair, Xion was brought in shortly after Roxas and I showed up. She's probably still remembering how to fight." Seras replied, though she had to agree with Larxene, it was weird that she and Roxas could call their Keyblades so easily, where Roxas needed some prodding while she required no time at all, while Xion was unable to summon hers, before a smile appeared on her face, "Though you shouldn't lower your guard."

Surprise appeared on Larxene's face as she turned and was kicked to the side by Seras, as she could rapidly move from one spot to another if someone wasn't paying attention to them, plus she was able to identify that she was distracted by how bad Roxas and Xion were doing right now. This just confirmed Larxene's thoughts on the matter, Seras was a warrior from the very beginning, making her wonder how in the world she was Fluttershy's Nobody, as the two were night and day when compared to each other, while she righted herself and sent lightning at her opponent. That was when she became the focus on the other power Seras had, as her magic was also incredible, not as much as Sombra's based on what she had heard, and by that she meant that a great force of gravity forced her into the ground before she could get away, a fact that showed her just how good her foe actually was. As that happened Marluxia rushed at Seras from behind and swung his scythe at her, as that was his weapon, though it failed to hit Seras as she turned into a red substance that he slashed through, allowing her to reform into a solid state as Marluxia landed near Larxene, only to be knocked down into the floor with a kick.

Larxene knew that each Nobody had a unique power, a unique skill of sorts, like hers was lightning and their boss' was the power of Nothingness, and Seras' was said to be 'Blood' due to her vampire-like appearance, but it just amazed her that the newly born Nobody was able to wield her unique power like it was nothing, with little training, though both she and Marluxia chuckled as Seras removed her power and helped them up.

"Seras, you are definitely ready for field work. I'm looking forward to working with you in the future." Marluxia remarked, as it was simply amazing that she could move like this, and hold this much power when compared to her original self, and he knew that if she was on their side the three of them might hold the cards necessary to take control of the Organization, or at least take out Xemnas.

"I know I'm certainly eager to work alongside you." Larxene added, because she and Seras had bonded a little since she and Roxas showed up, especially since she had been another girl for her to talk to, though Xion didn't seem to care right now, as if she was unsure of everything, and she had to admit that she liked the pony girl Nobody, "Say, we still have some time before Saix gives us our next missions... want to go visit one of the worlds, maybe take a break before we're sent out on whatever tasks he and the boss might have in store for us?"

As Seras opened her mouth to reply she and everyone else in the castle felt the sudden powerful surge of energy that just washed over everything, as if they were shaking or something, causing her to rush towards the edge of the chamber so she could look out at the space that surrounded their home. That was when she noticed a twinkling light off in the far off distance, one that exploded out into a violent surge of magical energy, where Seras realized that it was Sombra, firing off an attack at something in the Darkworld, causing her to realize what was going on. She knew a fight wasn't happening, as this seemed far too excessive for a fight, not unless there was something massive lurking in the dark realm, but Xemnas and the other Nobodies didn't know that fact, meaning they would think Sombra was fighting something and that she was unable to interfere with their plans. This was a trick, plain and simple, and Organization XIII was going to fall for it without even thinking if there was anything else to the sheer amount of energy being put out, something that caused her to grin for a moment, as it meant that she would need to play her part as well, before her expression returned to normal.

There was a lot of work for her to do, though at the end of it all she hoped that she, Sombra, and even Sora found success in what they were doing, and maybe even make new friends along the way, causing her to look forward to what the future held in store for them.

Chain/Days: Getting to Work

Sombra found that Riku, Aqua, and Mickey were happy with a good night's sleep in a safe location, which was good to see, especially since she knew that one of them desperately needed such a thing since she had spent quite a lot time in the realm they had found her in. When morning arrived she prepared breakfast and informed them of her plans, because they had to be careful least Xemnas figure out that his enemies had escaped from the Darkworld and had new allies to use against him, but, at the same time, she wanted them to prepare for the future. Out of all of them Aqua was the only master, meaning it was possible that they might be able to learn something by training with her, while at the same time Riku needed to learn how to control the Darkness that was inside him, as it had been awakened by the one who possessed him. The best way to do that, without revealing their hand to Xemnas or the rest of Organization XIII, was to use the Darkside Key to return to the Darkworld and train there, where their foe would be unable to truly sense what might be happening, giving them time to prepare for the future.

The only downside to that was the fact that Aqua didn't have her Keyblade anymore, in fact she had lost her own and then misplaced the one she had been using as a replacement, as she told them that she had been on the beach of the islands that Sora and Riku had called home, but for some reason only the weapon came back to the Realm of Light.

"If that's the case we can use the Darkside Key to head to the Destiny Islands for a moment to get the other blade, before it is found by someone else." Sombra remarked, but even with a Keyblade in hand she knew that this left one missing and felt that Aqua would be more comfortable with her actual weapon, so they would have to figure out how to find the other one and return it to her.

"Don't worry, I should be able to summon Stormfall now that I'm back in the Realm of Light." Aqua replied, though she did agree with the idea of going back to the Destiny Island so she could pick up the replacement Keyblade she had been using, the Master's Defender that happened to be her own master's Keyblade, before Xehanort struck him down after tricking one of her friends into fighting their master so he could be weakened for the final blow.

Sombra nodded as she returned to the cockpit of the ship and made sure it was well protected, so when the others were ready to go Mickey used the power of the Darkside Key to open the way into the Darkworld, allowing them to step into the world for a moment before he had Aqua help him focus for a moment. Following that they opened another portal right in front of them and Sombra found that it brought them to the island that she and Sora's group had seen right before they clashed with Seeker Ansem, a name that came from the fact that Mickey informed her that the real Ansem the Wise didn't look anything like the one who possessed Riku. Aqua glanced around for a few moments and smiled as she found what she was looking for, a Keyblade that was resting in the sand where Riku recalled Sora laying down a few times whenever he happened to be slacking off, one that had a square shaped grip, a blocky guard, and a cylindrical blade that had teeth in the shape of an E. Sombra discovered that this was what Aqua was looking for, the replacement for her own Keyblade, though with it in hand the wielder dismissed the blade before focusing on her connection to her actual weapon, since she was sure that she could call it to her side now.

Sure enough Aqua held her hand out as a thin and a navy blue Keyblade, the tip of which was silver with two odd diamond shapes near the guard, appeared in her hand as a smile graced her face as well, allowing them to see that the weapon had rectangular shaped teeth with four blunt spikes and three silver pieces on the inside that were bent at right angles, while the guard itself was circular in nature.

"Okay... I'm ready." Aqua said, because with both Keyblades in her possession, not to mention the armor she used to wear before giving it up to get Terra out of the Realm of Darkness, she was ready to help the others prepare for the future, or at least as best as she could since they had no idea when the way to Castle Oblivion would open for them.

Sombra nodded as Mickey returned them to the Darkworld, allowing her to stand off on the side as she kept an eye on the rest of the realm, since there was something dark and primordial out there, while Aqua faced both Riku and Mickey with her original Keyblade. One thing she noted immediately was that Aqua might have some mental damage from her time in this realm, it was hard to tell because she was presenting herself as a wall that had no holes for her enemies to use, but at the same time she knew it was best to talk about such things, just in case. Such a thing caused Sombra to consider talking to the recovered wielder and see if there was anything that needed to be done to make sure she wasn't suffering from her time in this realm, something they would have to deal with in the future, especially since they had no idea how long they would be on standby. She trusted Seras enough to know that Fluttershy's Nobody had been telling the truth, there was a door somewhere in this realm, but since it seemed to be sealed right now they had to wait for the way to open, whenever that might happen, so her focus was on training, and as long as she fired off spells into the vastness of this world Xemnas would be in the dark about what was actually going on.

Such a thing caused her to grin as she imagined the look of shock that would appear on the leader of the Organization's face when he realized that his plans were being torn apart and, more importantly, that it was too late for him to stop her, causing Sombra to look forward to what the future held in store for her and her allies.

Seras smiled as she worked in the castle's kitchen, because before she, Roxas, and Xion were sent on their first missions, all under different supervisors no doubt since they had a lot of ground to cover, she wanted to make sure they had a fairly decent meal before they headed out. Of course when she started she instantly regretted not having Sombra here to show her all of the finer points that Fluttershy had seen before they were separated from each other, but she had found that one of her new allies actually made food and occasionally passed them around to the others. Zexion, the sixth member of the Organization, had some skill in cooking that he said was greater than what the rest of their members had, because the others preferred to make frozen meals whenever they wanted something large to eat, while snacking every now and then when either out in the field or relaxing in the castle. Part of her actually wondered how the Organization would handle the sheer flavor that was in Sombra's cooking, would they fall to the dishes she could make in a short span of time, but since her friend was seen as an enemy she decided to shelve the idea for the time being.

Eventually she and Zexion finished their preparations, having prepared plates of eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, waffles, bagels, hash browns, and pretty much everything else they could think of, so when Xemnas and the others arrived in the dining area they were surprised by the amount of food, but took their seats accordingly.

"You didn't tell us you could cook. This is definitely better than the frozen stuff we usually make." Larxene said, though while some of them were hesitant to even acknowledge that Zexion could cook, due to the fact that he seemed to push his stuff on everyone whenever he had the chance to do so, she had to admit that Seras had some skill.

"Honestly, I didn't know... could have been worse, really." Seras replied, because she recalled that Fluttershy had a friend whose younger sister was a walking disaster when it came to cooking anything, as in everything and anything that could be burned ended up ruined or burned beyond measure, in fact it was a surprise that the house shop in question hadn't been burned down yet, "I just wanted to do something for everyone before we head out to do our missions... if you want something spectacular and out of this world, well, try Sombra's cooking. It's to die for."

Xemnas kept a straight face while the others talked, as it was clear that they enjoyed the meal and he felt that speaking on their missions could be done later, once everyone was ready to get going, though as he considered that he spotted a bag near one of the doors and found that it had a number of food containers near it.

"The extra containers... they are for Sora and his companions, aren't they?" Xemnas inquired, while at the same time he took a sip of the tea that was in front of him before sampling some of the food, even though he found that the rest of the Organization, save for Xion since she was totally new to this, seemed to enjoy the little break.

"Yes. All I know is that he's important to our plans and that we can't have him, or his friends, starve... so I figured that I'd stop by their location when I'm done with my mission and give them something." Seras answered, which was information she had gleamed from Larxene and Marluxia, who maintained the air of innocence and made it hard for the higher ups to know who spilled the beans to her before she was supposed to know.

Xemnas thought about it for a few more moments and nodded his head, as he agreed with the idea and made no move to tell her to stop her plans to feed Sora's group, in fact he saw no need to since he knew some of the Dusks loved to go out and restock the supplies that the Organization used. He suspected that this might be the start of something big, that some of the others might have Seras and Zexion do some cooking for them so they didn't have to rely on frozen items when one or more of them wanted something to eat, but he made no move to counter their plans. The more they acted like a group, united and focused on a single goal, the better things would be so they could construct Kingdom Hearts, maybe faster than planned since Sombra was now trapped in the Darkworld with no way out, so that meant no hearts would be stalled in their flight to their final destination. He had good feelings about what the future held for them, especially if Xion figured out how to summon her Keyblade, and was willing to overlook certain things if it meant making their end goal a reality, to which he focused on his chosen items while the others enjoyed themselves.

When the meal was done, and the Dusks even came out to collect the plates and do the dishes for them, Xemnes headed out to take his usual post in front of Kingdom Hearts, while at the same time Saix handed out missions, pairing Xion with Vexen, Roxas with Axel, and Seras with Larxene, leaving the others to be sent out to scout out other worlds.

"Ugh, the zombie Nobody gets Twilight Town and we get Deep Jungle... I hate the Heartless that are there." Larxene said, as that was one way to ruin her mood, because she had scouted out the world in question and found all sorts of monkey Heartless that were rather annoying to deal with, to which she sighed for a moment as she turned towards Seras, who made sure to wrap up her bag before storing it away, "Well, shall we get this show on the road?"

"Yeah, might as well." Seras replied, where she made sure her coat was in order as she and Larxene quickly bid farewell to Marluxia before heading out, as in Larxene held her hand out towards the air in front of her as she formed a dark portal so they could travel to their destination, a Dark Corridor she reminded herself.

A few moments later they stepped out into an area that Seras recognized, the jungle clearing that Fluttershy tamed Sabor in, meaning they were close to where Tarzan and Jane were, though for the time being it seemed like everything was still, meaning she and her friend would have precious moments before they were attacked.

"So today's mission it to take out the local Heartless, and our readings show fifteen in the nearby area." Larxene stated, as she held a piece of paper in her right hand that had the information in question, though she knew that once Seras was done with her mission training Saix would no doubt send her out on her own, meaning they had to enjoy the time they had together before it was stolen from them, before she switched the paper for her throwing knives, "Shall we track them down and deal with them?"

Seras nodded and called her Keyblade out as she headed away from the camp that was behind them, where she found that her thoughts were right, there were a couple of Powerwilds in the area Clayton had fought Fluttershy and the others in, causing her to rush at them while Larxene provided support. Such a thing told her that the Organization knew that the weapons they possessed were unable to free the hearts of the Heartless, hence why they gathered intel on where the best groups of targets were in case they managed to gain a wielder in their ranks, and now that three were with them it meant it was time to use that information to their advantage. With that in mind Larxene focused on stunning or weakening their targets, which was easy to do since her element was lightning and she was able to throw her knives to hit the monkeys, all so Seras could swoop in and strike them with her Keyblade, taking them out before they could escape. Such a thing meant their hearts were freed from the Heartless and she was able to look at a few of them for a few seconds, which Larxene did to verify that things were working as intended before heading deeper into the forest to track down the rest of the targets they were here for.

Seras, on the other hand, noticed the dark tendrils that wrapped around the hearts before they disappeared, where she had to assume that Sombra was in this realm somewhere, having expanded her power in some manner, which only made her wonder if she could target three areas at once, before following Larxene into the jungle.

Together the two of them focused on tracking down the remaining Heartless that were around this portion of the jungle, where she found that some of them were handing out in the area that they found Clayton's Nobody in, she now realized exactly what had happened when they visited this world the first time. If that was the case it stood to reason that Sombra taking the lizard's heart meant that the hunter had been unable to either be reborn or move on to the next world, but she honestly didn't care about Clayton, where she focused on the task at hand as she knocked a monkey off of Larxene's back before taking it out. They found that their enemies were just the blue monkeys this time around, instead of the couple of other colors that Fluttershy and her friends had fought in the past, but this was for the best in her mind, because if her friend disliked these ones she was really going to dislike all of the other types that were out there. Fortunately they didn't have to worry about the other types since they found the fifteen targeted Heartless and discovered that there were no more in the nearby area, causing the pair to huff for a moment before they relaxed, as this was a good first mission that would please Xemnas.

With that in mind Seras opened a Dark Corridor and used it to reach the path that Sora and the others were walking down at the moment, to which she noticed that the four individuals were searching for food right now, to which she summoned the bag she had prepared, set it down, and then positioned herself and Larxene behind a tree to watch as Radiant found it and the food that was inside it.

"Good, they'll be well fed for some time." Larxene remarked, which was good for them, because it meant that Xemnas and his allies wouldn't be annoyed with them, though such a thing caused her to think of something for a moment as she opened another Dark Corridor, to a whole new area, "Hey, Axel usually stops by Twilight Town when he's done with his missions, getting some sort of ice cream to help him unwind before returning to the castle. What do you say we get some for us and Marluxia?"

"Sounds good. We could use a little break before informing Saix of our success." Seras replied, though she had a smile on her face, because while some Nobodies loved to fake emotions it sure felt like she, Larxene, and Marluxia shared a bond that was stronger than just being allies and was eager to nurture that bond.

Larxene chuckled a little as they used the portal to reach Twilight Town, as things felt better with the new recruits in their Organization, and Seras felt the same way, it was nice to be close to certain individuals, something that caused her to wonder what the future held for her, her allies, and the Organization.

Chain/Days: Different Missions

Seras found that at the end of every mission Saix insisted on those who were sent out to write a report of what they had seen or done during their time away from the castle, so she and Larxene wrote down how they went to Deep Jungle, found the Heartless that had been reported previously, and took them out. It was a simple thing to do, really, and when both of them were done the simplest thing to do was have a Dusk collect their reports so they could be delivered to Saix, since the lowest tier of the Nobodies did all sorts of things like this for the rest of the Organization. Such things involved scouting areas, doing chores that were beneath the numbered members, delivering messages from one member to another, but only if they were important, and occasionally pranking the newbies of the group, as in putting clothespins on Roxas' nose and face while he was asleep. Larxene and Demyx liked to use the last one to play pranks on Axel, simply because he was the easiest target out of all of them, especially since they couldn't do anything to the likes of Xemnas or Saix, but everyone else was fair game for their antics.

Another thing she discovered was of greater importance to her, as she found that Xion was interested in Roxas, mostly in the sense that the other new Nobody stared at Roxas whenever he was in the area, though at the same time she knew it would be some time before both developed into their own persons.

While Seras wasn't in need of additional training, in the sense of combat, Saix made sure that she teamed up with Roxas so they could learn how to do the various missions that would be assigned to them in the future, like how on the second day Marluxia was their mentor. It revealed to her another interesting thing, that there were areas that were blocked off with black and white vine looking things that formed an X, likely Xemnas doing his best to make sure Roxas remained on track during his missions, since she didn't see any when she was out with Larxene. Marluxia was impressed by the power of the Keyblade, in fact he looked at both of their weapons for a moment and seemed to pause, even though he did take a second to wish that he had the power to wield such a great and powerful weapon. While Seras knew what to do Roxas was still a blank slate, thus he needed to be told certain things so he could figure out how to complete his missions, like when Marluxia told him that his job was like Seras' and Xion's, they had to defeat Heartless and free their hearts.

"It is important to defeat all types of Heartless, but remember that ones like these Shadows don't have hearts... however, if left alone they will, in fact, cause more people to suffer." Seras pointed out, as she knew the difference between the figures that had the Heartless emblem and those that didn't, and she made sure that Roxas was watching as she pointed out how the Shadows didn't have the emblem, but the Soldier that came in after them did, "While the emblem Heartless are our main targets, since they have hearts that will be freed by our Keyblades, the purebloods need to be eliminated as well, least they do lasting harm to the people of the worlds."

"Got it. Defeat all Heartless in the assigned area." Roxas said, showing them that he understood that part at least, that it was his job, not to mention hers and Xion's, to deal with the various Heartless, no matter which type they were, which was followed by Marluxia nodding his head to show that he approved of what was being said.

"Indeed, or complete the assigned task that one of the others might have for you... namely it will be defeating Heartless, as they will pave the way to our true goal." Marluxia stated, though at the same time he found that there were more foes in the area in front of them, namely at least ten Shadows and five Soldiers, causing him to draw his scythe as he joined both Keyblade wielders, which reminded him of something else, "Also, if you are ever out in the field with other members of the Organization, just remember that their weapons can only weaken the Heartless, so it'll be up to you or another wielder to finish them off before they escape."

Seras found that Roxas fought just like Sora did, as in he slashed at his enemies with his Keyblade, a near perfect replica of the Kingdom Key, and even used thrusts to deal damage to those that targeted him, while at the same time Marluxia did what he did best by slashing at the Heartless in front of them before sending them at Seras, who finished them off.

"Good, your sense for battle is returning. Now, not all battles will be this easy, and some of the Heartless are in a league all their own, so it's important to understand each mission and respond accordingly." Marluxia said, because while the group of Heartless had been easy to cut down, meaning they were likely the weakest of the weak, it was a good start for Roxas, as he needed time to learn and grow before he was sent at the stronger Heartless, before he considered something else for a few seconds, "However, if you get sent to deal with one of the more powerful emblem Heartless, and they do exist out there in the worlds, we will either send you with the other wielders, or create a joint force to help you bring it down... some of them have incredible powers and might catch you off guard."

"Do such powerful Heartless actually exist?" Roxas asked, where he dismissed his Keyblade as his mentors did the same to their weapons, though his question was due to the fact that it seemed weird for such dangerous creatures to exist in the first place, so a little clarification was necessary in his mind.

"Yes. My original form, Fluttershy, fought Kurt Zisa and the Phantom, two such emblem Heartless." Seras explained, as she remembered those fights well, even though they had served as ways to improve themselves for the challenges that were waiting on Hollow Bastion, before she considered something that might interest Roxas, and Marluxia as well, "You know, Sombra said that the pair were specially designed Heartless who were tasked with assassinating specific targets, usually having powers to counter whatever specialty the person might have, and if there were two she was sure that there might be more out there, somewhere."

"I agree. There might be more out there, and it would be nice to bring them down." Marluxia said, though as he said that he raised his hand and opened a Dark Corridor that would bring them back to the castle so they could make their report on what had happened, even though it was just the completion of another of the basic missions Roxas needed to finish before he was sent off on tougher missions, "For now, let us return to the castle so you can rest and prepare for the next mission you need to learn about."

As Roxas nodded his head and entered the Dark Corridor, returning to the castle, Seras found it slightly amusing that the Organization used Twilight Town as their training ground for newcomers, as Axel had come here previously to make sure Roxas knew the basics of everything, which she was sure they would do the same with the others soon enough. The time they spent inside the castle was simply just relaxing and resting before their next missions, since everyone did something for the Organization, though Seras insisted on continuing to make something for everyone every now and then, mostly so they shared moments with each other. Her reasoning was to build bonds between the members, maybe to make them into a more unified group, though it was also to help pass the time, since she would spend most of her time training with the Dusks to make sure she was ready for whatever the future held for her. While she did that she also found that both of her friends, as she saw Larxene and Marluxia in that light already, either watched her or even trained with her to be sure that all of them were prepared, since they had no idea what sort of missions would be given to them.

Roxas, of course, was interested in what happened to the hearts they freed from the Heartless, where Seras reminded him that they would gather in the large heart that was gathering outside their castle, as Xemnas seemed to be focused on calling all freed hearts to this place, to let them combine into a single force known as Kingdom Hearts. She suspected that there was more to it than what he had told everyone previously, that it would do more than grant them hearts whenever it reached it's full potential, though Seras knew something that none of the others knew and she wasn't about to tell them, at least not until it was time to do so. She now understood why the Organization had been so eager to get rid of Sombra in the first place, she held the power to mess with hearts that had been freed, that much she could guess at, and if that was true than removing Sombra made sense so the flow of freed hearts could resume at last. Xemnas was positive that she had sealed the 'troublemaker' in the Darkworld, hence why their boss was focused on collecting as many hearts as soon as possible, but that would do nothing, not with Sombra no doubt out in the Realm of Light, doing whatever she was doing before making her move.

Other than her training there wasn't much else for Seras to do, so when the following morning arrived she found that she and Roxas were being grouped with Zexion, who once again presented them with fish he had made, which seemed to be his specialty since he really insisted on such a thing.

Working with Zexion was just like the previous members, it was just more of the same as they tracked down the Heartless in a shopping area and put down all of the foes that were there, which included some yellow Nocturnes, though Zexion did inform them that they should keep their primary goals in mind. Such a thing meant that if they were sent out to scout a world, or maybe do something else, each wielder should keep an eye out for Heartless to take out, and even if they did take out the required amount of Heartless they should take out any extras that showed up. In addition to the enemies she and Roxas had seen so far Seras found that there was another type, a small green plant that fired seeds at it's foes, which caused her to call it a 'Dire Plant', though at the same time she found that it was as durable as a Shadow, went down far too easily and released a heart upon defeat. They also got a chance to see that there were moments where a couple more Heartless might show up, where Zexion mentioned that Xemnas and Saix would no doubt reward them better if they just applied themselves more, instead of sticking to their original missions.

Seras wasn't too surprised, honestly, because thanks to Sombra's theft of the freed hearts there was a lot of work to do to make up for everything the other Equestrian had done during her first major adventure, so those who ruled over the rest of the Organization were doing everything in their power to make sure hearts were collected.

The next two days had different things for Roxas to do, as one of the days had Vexen, of all people, be their superior for the day, who told them about some of the more stealth based missions they might be assigned to do, where they would have to explore a new world and keep themselves hidden from the residents. Roxas really didn't know why that was necessary, as he had learned that Sora's group didn't bother to hide whenever they visited a world, where the scholar informed him that the longer they remained hidden, without their enemies knowing what was going on, the better everything would be for them in the long run. In addition to that he revealed the existence of some white spherical items that were known as tokens, as he or one of the other members of the Organization might issue a movement challenge to the pair, so they could learn the ins and outs of an area, to aid them in collecting the hearts they had to collect. Like today his task for them was to head out into the portion of Twilight Town that they were in and track down the various tokens he had scattered throughout the area, where Roxas and Seras discovered two paths, one for each of them, before rushing out to deal with them.

It was rather simple, and Seras realized that the tokens were also placed in good spots to gather information about an area, so it was two for one when she thought about it, though it was also a short mission that didn't involve any Heartless, but the other day's mission was more interesting since it was with Larxene.

"I know both of you are skilled with the Keyblade, but today I want to see how well you can wield magic." Larxene said, where the pair found that there wasn't much for them to do but stand near her while she was in the training area of the castle, as she didn't feel the need to go out and train in an area that everyone else was using, "Some of us have elements that we are specialists in, like how I'm great at using lightning or how Axel is good at channeling the power of fire, but some either don't have an element or don't care about magic at all. I want to see how well you two do today... you'll also learn about limits later on, from Lexaeus."

It was a good time for Seras, really, because she found that the spells that Fluttershy had learned during her adventure were still in her arsenal, in fact she could cast some of the second tier spells and even a few third tiers, which impressed Larxene, while at the same time Roxas had trouble with just the basic Fire spell.

"How are you so good at magic?" Roxas asked, though at the same time Seras stood nearby and pointed out what he was doing wrong, something that allowed him to actually use his mana to fire a small fireball at the dummy they were using for this training session.

"I'm not, really. Most of my skills were picked up from my other half and I just polished them accordingly. If you want a true master of magic, well, you should see Sombra's skills." Seras remarked, once again realizing that one of the things she was being complimented on was after minor in the grand scheme of things when she considered Sombra's skill in that field, a fact that caused Larxene to tilt her head a little, like she wanted to know about this topic, "Sombra is 'darkness incarnate', a master magic user that has learned the various spells she's picked up in no time at all, to the point that I look like a novice in comparison... now that I think about it, she's probably firing off those spells into the heart of the Darkworld."

"Well, I still think you're doing good with your magic... far better than a newly born Nobody should, really." Larxene stated, as that was the truth, in fact she was positive that she and Marluxia would say the same thing about everything Seras did, that she happened to be skilled in most of the things she did, far more than the other Nobodies when they were first born, which put a smile on her face, "And Roxas, don't worry too much about the magic... some people need practice before they can use the various spells that exist in the worlds, even though it would be good to have it in your arsenal, just in case you found yourself in a strange situation or something."

Seras smiled as she listened to Larxene talk, because her friend had originally disliked Roxas, simply because it took too long for him to regain himself after being born, but something in her had changed, that much Seras knew, and honestly she was happy to see that her friend was embracing Roxas in a more positive light. The same was true for Marluxia, both had their opinions on Roxas when he was first born, but now, after getting a chance to work with him, they seemed to view him more as a valuable member of the team and not someone who would hinder their progress. It was almost like they were going to become friends with Sora's Nobody at one point, though she knew it would take some time before that happened, but at the very least they were willing to see him in a new light and not treat him like he was garbage. Such a thing meant that her work was working, she might actually be changing some of the members for the better, and if that was the case maybe she could do the same with Xemnas, open his heart to the possibility that having friends was better than just treating everyone like they were beneath him.

Such a thing only made her more eager to see what the future held in store for her and the rest of the Organization, since there was no telling what sort of missions Saix would assign at any given moment, causing her to focus on helping Roxas and talking with Larxene as she waited to see what the coming days had in store for them.

Chain/Days: The Other Nobodies

As Roxas worked with the other members of the Organization, those he was assigned to work with anyway since he didn't work with the likes of Saix or even Xemnas, Seras found that he was becoming more alive with each passing day, and she knew why that was the case for him. Roxas had no memories to build off of and that was why both she and Axel made it their mission to help him gather as many experiences as quickly as he could, since those would be the building blocks of his memories, and the time he spent with Axel on top of Twilight Town's clock tower did wonders for him. Sure, it was a slow process that they were committing to, though that and what the other members of the Organization did towards Roxas all served the same purpose, allowing the Nobody in question to to form opinions on everyone else and have his own thoughts on his various missions. At the same time Seras found that Xion seemed to be the same way, they had to be patient with her and help her adapt to her new life, though she was good at magic and that seemed to draw some attention to her, which meant she might form different thoughts and memories in due time.

Seras found that her missions varied greatly, because while Roxas was sent out on mostly combat missions to take down a set number of Heartless, which was understandable since he needed more practice, she was sent out to scout out worlds that Fluttershy had been to during her time with Sombra and the others. Such a thing meant heading to the Coliseum and watching Hercules train against more Heartless as Hades tried to bring him down, walking through Halloween Town like she was a resident of the place, or swimming through Atlantica in her version of Fluttershy's form in that world. While she made her notes on the various worlds that were out there, mostly to make Saix happy, she also compiled her own notes on the Organization as well, keeping track of who had what number, what their confirmed powers were, and anything else that might be important. Since they were going after Sombra, and potentially Sora when she thought about it, she wanted to be sure that Fluttershy's allies had all of the information they needed for when the battle between the two groups broke out, as she knew one was coming their way.

Fortunately she didn't have to search around the castle for all of the information she was collecting, because Roxas, in his quest to learn more about himself and the Organization, eventually asked something that had been bothering him and he did so when all of them were present for their morning meal.

"Are we the only Nobodies that exist?" Roxas asked, because other than the various Dusk he saw every now and then, and he saw all of the incredibly flexible beings multiple times whenever he was inside the castle, he had noticed the absence of other creatures that were like them, or even like the Dusks, and he discovered that his question caused the others to stop for a few seconds.

"No. We are not the only Nobodies that exist. You have seen the Dusks, correct?" Xemnas responded, though this was a question he had been expecting to answer at some point in time, since some of the others had asked the same after they reached a certain point in their development.

"Yes, I have. I just meant are there other Nobodies out there? Ones like us, or ones like the Dusks?" Roxas replied, where he realized he likely could have worded his question better, especially since he could see Vexen and Zexion react to what he had said, the former trying to hold back a chuckle while the latter seemed disappointed in him, "Sorry, it's just... I really have no idea if we're all that's out there or not."

"I'd bully you over it, but I won't. There is one other Nobody like us: Namine, who resides in Castle Oblivion, but she's... well, she's not a fighter." Larxene said, something that caused her to note that Saix glanced at her like she was giving up valuable information, not that it mattered to her since they were working towards the same goal and they didn't have to worry about Sombra since since was trapped in the Darkworld, before she noticed Roxas' confused look, "Look, she's like Demyx, totally incapable of fighting, so she stays where it's safe."

"Hey, I take offense to that. I can be extremely imposing when I want to be... which is, admittedly, almost never." Demyx stated, where Seras noticed that there was something off about how he said that statement, like there might be more to the laziest member of the Organization than what she was seeing right now, but she said nothing as she noticed down the information that was being shared with them.

"All Nobodies are divided into one of three divisions: the Low Rank, the High Rank, and us, the Organization." Zexion said, deciding to get them back on topic since no one wanted to listen to Demyx fight with Larxene over this matter, though at the same time everyone finished their meal and he had an idea that Xemnas seemed to agree with, causing their boss to beckon for them to follow as they headed to another portion of the castle, "There are only three types of Nobodies in the Low Rank: Dusks, Creepers, and the Gummi Ships, and all three obey the orders of the other two divisions without question... but, as you no doubt know, the Dusks do love to play pranks on others."

Seras found that they were brought to the training area that she, Roxas, and Xion had used previously, before discovering a few Dusks with two other Nobodies, where the other were were small beings that wore a light gray jumpsuit and walked with it's oversized hands, hence 'Creepers'.

"We cannot show you the Gummi Ships, as they are busy traversing the space between worlds, but we can show you the rest of our forces." Xemnas said, where the four Nobodies that were in the training area bowed their heads before leaving, allowing him and the other members to separate for a moment, leaving Roxas standing next to Seras and Xion, which told them that their allies had something in mind after hearing the question earlier, "The High Rank Nobodies are different from the others, as they are more unique and often copy a specific aspect of the numbered member of the Organization that they serve. My High Ranks, naturally, are the Sorcerers."

The trio found that the Sorcerers were a light gray colored Nobody that seemed to be wearing a long robe that covered their entire body, while their arms appeared to be merged together in front of their bodies to form a straight line, though Seras could tell that they were far stronger than the Low Rank Nobodies had been.

"In addition to that there are the High Ranks that serve Xigbar, Xaldin, Vexen, and Lexaeus: the Snipers, the Dragoons, the Scholars, and the Paladins." Xemnas continued, allowing the trio to find that new Nobodies appeared near the four that had been mentioned, in fact two appeared behind each member of the Organization, just like his Sorcerers had done just after he revealed their existence to the trio, "We also have the High Ranks of Zexion, Saix, Axel, Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia, and Larxene: the Summoners, the Berserkers, the Assassins, the Dancers, the Gamblers, the Reapers, and the Ninjas."

Xigbar's looked more humanoid, or as close as a High Rank could get, that seemed to defy gravity and used crossbows to fight, while Xaldin's were more imposing because they were thin dragon-like creatures that carried a lance as their weapon of choice, and Seras assumed they were strong in a fight. As they followed the line the trio discovered that the Scholars wore what appeared to be lab coats with hoods over their heads, while their faces seemed to be covered by a mask, and the Paladins were large Nobodies that stood just as tall as Lexaeus and seemed to wear metallic armor that was a mix of gold and light gray, while wielding large hammers and shields. Zexion's Summoners appeared to wear faded grey robes with hoods that totally covered their faces, who used books as their weapons to summon illusions, while the Berserkers were just as tall as the Paladins and carried odd shaped hammers, different from what the Paladins carried. After that the trio found that Axel's Assassin's were vaguely human and wore a silver and purple bodysuit that had four blades on each of their arms, and one even compacted itself into a shape that resembled Axel's chakrams before returning to normal.

What was interesting was that the Dancers were the only feminine Nobodies in the High Ranks, wearing pink bell bottom pants, pink beanie hats which covered their eyes with a braid that looked like hair, and even wore heeled boots, but they did look like they were fine with their forms. The Gamblers, interestingly enough, seemed to be animated clothing that moved like all of the other High Ranks, though each seemed to like playing with dice or playing cards, which matched the habits that Luxord was known for, and Seras assumed they played games when they weren't busy. Marluxia's they knew at a glance, as they were humanoid with their feet being replaced by roots, though both wore robes that looked more like a mix of a reaper and a flower, and were light pink in color, while they carried scythes as their weapons. The Ninjas had dark gray colored bodies with curved blades for their hands and feet, while wearing white scarfs around their necks and gray sashes, making Roxas think that they could disappear into the shadows if they were given the chance to do so.

Seras had to admit that most of the High Ranks were imposing and incredibly powerful, to the point where she was sure that only Sombra would be able to take all of them on at the same time, though it did cause her to think of something as she glanced at Roxas and Xion.

"We have fifteen members... does that mean that we'll also get to command some High Ranks in the future?" Seras asked, as it seemed reasonable to her, especially since the other twelve had their own forces to command, and she could tell that all of the others glanced at Xemnas, like this was his area of expertise.

"Indeed. You and Roxas are adequately ready to receive your first High Ranks, at least one each so we know what your types will be. Xion, however, requires more time." Xemnas answered, which Seras found to be fair, especially since Xion preferred to keep her hood up and do nothing more than stare at Roxas whenever she had the time to do so, even though she did eat every now and then, which was good to see, to which their boss raised his right hand, "As Zexion would describe this part of the process, this ability of mine will allow us to 'scan' both of you and call upon the Nobodies that will become your High Ranks, allowing them to take on their unique forms. Now, let us welcome your unique High Ranks into our forces."

Seras found that a gray vortex appeared in front of Roxas, where she had to assume that it was reading him in some way to create a High Rank that would follow his orders when Xemnas decided that he was fully ready to have such a thing, all while the area in front of her remained empty. In the next few moments the energy transformed before their eyes, taking on a figure that was roughly Roxas' height and wore the familiar gray jumpsuit that most of the other wore, that had bell sleeves and a dark gray slit going down the middle of it's attire. The difference was that they could actually see the black hands that the warrior Nobody had, the black featureless feet it possessed, and it had a pair of blades on it's back, which seemed to float just above it's back somehow. Xemnas and the others were impressed by this discovery, the existence of the 'Samurai' High Rank, all while the figure in question bowed respectfully to Roxas before standing beside him, showing that it was definitely like a soldier that existed to do whatever it was told to do.

As Xemnas moved onto Seras, however, something went wrong immediately as the vortex of energy pulsed and turned both red and black, colors normally not associated with the Nobodies, save for their black coats, and it wasn't long before it took on a whole new form. In that moment he realized just how special Seras really was, as her High Rank was far more humanoid than even the others, as it looked almost like a male person and wore black clothing that looked more like the attire of a count or even a prince, instead of the jumpsuit that the others wore. Not only was it's attire different but it also had hair, black elegant hair that also had a small red streak between it's eyes and bits of gold mixed into the left of that, while it's eyes were golden with red pupils that were surrounded by darkness, and Xemnas was sure he saw small fangs like Seras', but couldn't be sure. They all knew what this was, this was a 'Vampire', the first of many that would serve Seras, but while Roxas' had been strong Xemnas was sure that this one creature was far superior to even the Samurai, making him wonder if this had been a mistake, all while the creature smiled before kneeling to Seras as it bowed it's head.

Seras kept a straight face for a moment as she looked at her High Rank, knowing full well that the other members of the Organization were shocked by this development, before she glanced at Xemnas, who seemed interested in what the new creature could do.

"Lord Xemnas, do you mind if we test his power?" Seras asked, because with all of the High Ranks assembled she assumed that the others would want to know which of the fourteen types were the strongest, even though she guessed that the Sorcerers stood at the pinnacle of them all, given that Xemnas was the first of the Nobodies.

"Indeed. One High Rank each shall be enough." Xemnas said, where the excess High Ranks disappeared now that they all knew that their presence was no longer needed, while at the same time he used his power to set up barrier around them as the fourteen types entered the training area without delay, "You may begin when ready."

Xemnas found that the Vampire was faster than some of the other High Ranks, as it rushed through the space between the various types and smashed two foes into the floor, the Dancer and the Summoner, before parrying a blow from the Paladin as the Berserker moved in to attack. He knew the routine, one or more of the High Ranks would fall as pawns to test the power of the newcomer out, while the strongest among them would move in to attack, though before the attacks could even land his eyes widened in surprise as the pair of aggressive High Ranks were knocked down with ease. In the next moment the Vampire grabbed onto the Ninja's arm and spun around, knocking down several of the other Nobodies that were around them in the process, before tossing his foe into the Reaper, leaving it and the Dragoon, much to the shock of nearly every member of the Organization. The two stared at each other before clashing, where Seras' servant blocked the incoming blows with the sides of his arms, turning away the lance before any of them could do any damage to him, and it wasn't long before the Vampire had the Dragoon resting on it's back, it's lance pointed at it's own neck as Xaldin's admitted defeat.

"That is enough. Your High Rank has proven it's strength to all of us, and it is a worthy addition to our forces." Xemnas said, though part of him had to wonder if this had been a bad idea, as the Vampire was stronger than the other High Ranks and it's speed was no joke, and even his Sorcerer didn't have a chance to do anything to it, but he kept his expression the same as before as they welcomed the two new types of Nobodies into their forces.

Seras let a smile appear on her face, as while she wasn't expecting this to happen she knew that this was good information for whatever the future held for them, something that made her wonder what sort of challenges and obstacles she and the others might face in the coming days.

Author's Note

For those that don't know, Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion don't have their own 'High Ranks' in the series, so I had to make some up to make sure they didn't feel left out.

Chain/Days: Namine

Seras spent the rest of the day going over the information she had just gained from Xemnas about the High Ranks, what she assumed their powers were and what sort of abilities their leaders had, since she was still in the dark about some of the other members of the Organization. As she thought about all of that a truth became known to her, the High Ranks were just as their boss claimed, each represented an aspect of their boss and not their power, meaning there was nothing for her to learn about the other members, other than what their servants looked like. One thing she could determine, however, was the fact that Xemnas had the power to command all Nobodies, since he even had sway over what the various types of high ranking Nobodies did, as in he could overwrite whatever commands they had been given by their leader. As in Larxene, for example, could have some of her Ninjas target a group of enemies and Xemnas could order them to go out on patrol, too to avoid playing their hand too soon, while the inverse was also true, he could sent patrols or defenders to fight someone or a group of individuals.

As she sat in her room Seras had to wonder why, out of all the Nobodies, did Xemnas hold the power to shape them into their forms, or modify them in some manner since Larxene mentioned that there was one High Rank of Vexen that ended up annoying their boss in the past, causing him to turn the Nobody in question into a Dusk. Such a thing made her wonder if that was part of his own unique power, that of Nothingness, or if he had a secondary power that allowed him to alter the form of a Nobody when they displeased him, something she knew he would never give her a straight answer on if she tried to ask about it. While she thought about that Seras glanced at her own High Rank, the Vampire that was standing next to her door like he was a butler, waiting on her command, something that made her wonder if he'd listen to Xemnas' orders while hers would be overruled if they clashed with what their boss truly wanted. For the time being there wasn't much she could do but continue to work with the Organization, though at the same time she pulled over her writing materials and crafted a letter that contained the names and descriptions of both the numbered members and the High Ranks.

Fortunately Saix had given her a mission to take out a number of Heartless in Wonderland while someone needed to scout out Traverse Town, where Seras said that her High Rank could do so, because with the Dark Corridors they could move with ease and her Vampire was going to be given the task of stopping in the Darkworld for a time.

Her plan was simple, she had learned enough about the Organization to send Sombra the information she had gained so far, as she wanted to keep her informed of what was going on, and she needed to make sure that no one had a reason to doubt her, hence using her High Rank to deliver the message. She wasn't expecting the other Equestrian to do anything right after getting that information, rather she assumed that Sombra would remain in the shadows, watching and waiting for the path to Castle Oblivion to open so those in the Darkworld could invade the other castle. That wasn't counting any individuals that happened to be in that world, since she figured that it was possible that Sombra would run into Riku and Mickey, in fact she was positive that she was doing that right now, but after delivering all of that information she wanted her Vampire to do the mission assigned to him, to ensure Xemnas didn't think anything was amiss. Other than that there was nothing else she could do but continue to do her missions, focus on taking down the Heartless while seeing what else she might be able to learn from the rest of the Organization, and befriend more of the others, since she might be able to help them in some manner.

When it came time for her mission Seras made sure that her Vampire was able to slip into the Darkworld without anyone else, namely Xemnas and Saix, plus Xigbar as she thought about it, questioning her motives, while she, in turn, headed off to Wonderland for the first time, since she had never been there physically.

Seras found that the world didn't look any different than she remembered, in fact the area her Dark Corridor brought her to happened to be on top of one of the hedges that seemed to be in the Queen's garden, arranged to look like a maze for some odd reason, and she found the Queen of Hearts off in the distance. Based on what she could see it looked like the figure's own darkness was drawing Heartless to this world, or maybe there was someone else doing that, but since Sora had sealed the Keyhole there wasn't much for the dark creatures to do besides hunt for more hearts. With that in mind she found that there were only a couple of Soldiers, a few Large Bodies, a couple of scattered Shadows, and a Nocturne that was all on it's own, instead of with a group like she was used to seeing, but that hardly mattered as she summoned her Keyblade. In the following moment she leapt into the air and tracked down the Heartless that she had been tasked with taking down, where she slashed through the Shadows without wasting time, struck the Large Bodies in the back with her weapon to turn them into hearts, and crushed both of the other two types before they could hurt her.

Due to her skills the higher ups wanted her to hit multiple worlds per day, which was what she was going to do since she wanted them to trust her, more than some of them currently did, and she knew that every heart she freed would be in the hands of Sombra before long, causing her to focus on her tasks before returning to the castle.

The following day something interesting happened, instead of being sent out on some missions, like they had done so far, Seras found that she, Roxas, Xion, and Larxene were asked to come to the upper balcony, where Kingdom Hearts could be seen and where Xemnas could be seen waiting, though it wasn't to talk about the growing moon shaped object.

"Before you are given your missions, and are busy for the rest of the day, I though it would benefit you all to visit Namine." Xemnas said, as he already had a Dark Corridor open and waiting for them to walk through, showing them that he might be serious about this, though Seras assumed that this was due to Roxas' question about the other Nobodies and that the other Nobody might ask about Namine at some point, so he was taking care of the problem now.

"Really? Thanks... awfully kind of you." Larxene commented, because she knew that Namine was important to a plan that their boss was working on, hence why there were usually some members assigned to Castle Oblivion every now and then, in fact she, Marluxia, and a few others rotated spending an hour or two there every day, to keep an eye on Namine while waiting for further orders, so she knew that this was incredibly weird, "I take it I'm going to be the guide?"

"Yes. We will travel to Castle Oblivion, visit Namine, and then go about our days." Xemnas said, though he wasn't sure why Larxene would even say such a thing about his previous statement, as he just wanted to get rid of Roxas' curiosity before he did something stupid, and bringing Xion along would allow Vexen to silently check up on her, since he was concerned that she wasn't developing as intended.

Seras said nothing as she and the others followed Xemnas through the portal, where they came up in front of a castle that looked like the inside was filled with madness, since the outside was oddly shaped and made her worry that the inside was the same, all while finding that the area around them was an eerie darkness, the end of Sora's path no doubt. Larxene stepped forward and opened the door that was in front of them, allowing them to enter a white chamber that seemed to be connected to a white hallway, something Seras was sure was common throughout the castle. As they walked down the halls, however, Larxene told Seras and the others that Marluxia was the one who spent the most time here, he was, after all, the Lord of Castle Oblivion, chosen by their boss to watch over this area, though others came here often, such as her, Zexion, Lexaeus, and Vexen. Namine was the only permanent resident of the castle, this was, as far as they knew, the place of her creation when she was born as a Nobody, and given her lack of combat experience and lack of ability, this was where she was safe from all types of harm.

"So I know that all Nobodies have their own aspect, even if some have yet to discover that part of themselves, but what power does Namine have?" Seras asked, because her own power was Blood, due to her nature as a vampire, and Larxene was Lightning, she had been told that fact when she started hanging with her and Marluxia, but there were many she still had no idea on and figured that asking would be fine.

"Memory. Namine has the power to alter one's Chain of Memories." Xemnas replied, which immediately interested Seras, because if that was true it meant that the passive Nobody might be the strongest of them all, since manipulating such a thing meant she could make whatever she wanted a reality, as long as she had control of her power anyway, "We are not fully aware of the full extent of her power, but we know there are those that would misuse Namine and her power if they knew about it... that is why we keep her safe and secure."

"Careful boss, you're starting to sound like you care." Larxene remarked, referring to the fact that Nobodies didn't have emotions, they simply used the memories that were part of their body to fake having emotions, even though some were so good at it that they appeared to have real emotions, and right now the sudden change in Xemnas' behavior made her wonder if Seras was affecting him in some manner, "But he's right: in the wrong hands Namine's power could devastate and ruin all that we've been working towards."

Xemnas raised an eyebrow as he heard that, as he had been sure that Larxene was one of the ones plotting to overthrow him at some point, it was why Saix would be assigning her, Marluxia, and a few others to work here, as a team, for a time so they could make sure they weren't about to betray them, but now this made him wonder if they might be imagining something that wasn't there. Fortunately he didn't have to think about all of it too much as Larxene stopped in front of a door and nodded to him, where he and the newcomers came to a stop as she opened the door, revealing that the room in question was opal colored and that the furniture almost looked like white crystals. Sitting at the central table, working on a sketchbook with some art utensils, was a girl that reminded Seras of Kairi, which made sense due to the fact that she had been looking for her Nobody this entire time as well, though she had medium length blond hair while wearing a white lace dress and light blue sandals. Namine, like Roxas, didn't fully resemble her original counterpart, to the point where one might argue that neither were the Nobodies of Fluttershy's friends, but she knew they were, though the sound of the five of them entering the room caused her to stop what she was working on.

"Roxas, Xion, Seras, this is Namine, the last new Nobody that was born recently. Namine, these are our new companions." Xemnas said, where the young girl looked at all of them for a moment before smiling, causing Seras to wonder if she knew something that the others didn't, like she and Roxas, at least, weren't fully aligned with Xemnas' goals, but Seras kept her mouth shut and found that Namine had no interest in spilling the beams, "We were discussing the rest of the Nobodies yesterday, as Roxas was interested in them, and I figured it would be good for you four to meet."

Xemnas also knew that this might be the best and only time to do so, since Vexen had warned him that once Xion took on her true appearance, whatever form she ended up taking, coming here would be bad for her, so coming here before that point in time was a good thing in his eyes.

"Really? I'm glad." Namine said, which was the truth, she was grateful to encounter new people and not the same ones that were usually coming and going from the castle that was her home, and she committed all three of the newcomers to memory, as she was sure that she was going to draw them shortly after their departure, "Seras... you remind me of your other half, Fluttershy. Don't worry, she's perfectly safe aboard your old Gummi Ship."

"That is good to hear, even though her heart has been lost to the Darkness." Seras replied, because while she figured that Sombra would have done something with the ship, provided she actually got out of the Darkworld after being take to the Realm of Darkness, she didn't want to leave anything that would suggest that she knew more than she was supposed to, causing her to walk over to the table, "So, what are you working on?"

Namine kept the smile on her face as she showed Seras, along with Roxas and Xion when they walked over to see what was going on, her art, because while her skills needed some serious work, since it resembled what a little kid might make, they could see that it resembled Sora, Radiant, Donald, and Goofy as they followed a path. Xemnas knew what they were looking at, there were times where Namine would practice her skills by selecting an event that was currently going on, or had happened fairly recently, without altering the memories of those that were present for the event. Other times she would actually tamper with the memory in some manner, usually making an item vanish before she restored it, or at least that was what she claimed since there was no way to truly confirm what she was saying, save for items that were resting in the present. Still, he had to admit that her skills were slowly getting better and there was a chance that she might be quite the artist in the future, which all depended on whether or not they were able to accomplish their goals, so for now his eyes were set on the here and now.

As he thought about that, however, something odd happened as a bit of energy wrapped around Namine for a moment, like when he used his power to grant the other two their High Ranks, before it moved off to the side and condensed into a new form, a white wolf with red markings around it's eyes and near it's shoulders, with a tail that looked like it might also be a paint brush.

"Lord Xemnas... what just happened?" Larxene asked, as while she understood what had just happened, since she knew it from experience, it was hard to believe it would happen since their boss wouldn't allow someone like Namine to have their own High Rank since she wasn't a fighter, but that didn't stop the girl from hugging the wolf.

"...A new High Rank has been born, the Painter." Xemnas guessed, though what surprised him was that he hadn't used his power to do such a thing, rather it was like it had activated on it's own or someone had influenced him to do such a thing without him realizing that he had been manipulated, making him wonder what else might have changed recently.

He really honestly wasn't sure what was going anymore, but at long as Namine continued to prepare herself he guessed he could overlook what had just happened, though that only made him wonder what in the world was going to happen when Sora finally clashed with the Organization in the near future.

Chain/Days: Changes

After visiting with Namine, and getting to see Castle Oblivion, Seras found that her mission was to team up with Larxene again while Roxas would be paired up with Axel, though Xion would be assisting Saix on his mission, meaning she might be the one lagging behind her and Roxas, in terms of success. Of course there wasn't much she could do for the other Nobody, due to the fact that she wasn't being assigned missions with her, though something told her that such a thing might change in the future, simple because she and Roxas had worked with most of the other members so far. The only ones she hadn't worked with in some manner were Xion, Saix, and Xemnas himself, everyone else she had been assigned to work with for a time, either with Roxas or on her own, so all she could do was listen to the others and help Xion whenever they were back in the main castle. Seras also knew that the day would come when she was sent out fully on her own missions, instead of being sent out with one or more of the other members, so for the time being she decided to enjoy her time with Larxene or even Marluxia, since they were the ones she was the closest to.

Of course there was something on her mind, the fact that Namine's power was Memory and that Xemnas claimed that all could be affected by her power, almost like he was trying to hide something, but there was no concrete evidence for her to even assume such a thing, rather it was just her thoughts on the matter. She was sure that Namine wasn't a prisoner, despite the fact that her room didn't have a whole lot of personal items, but that could be due to the fact that she was still new to Xemnas and the other members of the Organization, since she was just as old as she, Roxas, and Xion were. It was an interesting thing to think about, the last new Nobody and her odd power, information that Sombra might find interesting once Seras told her what she had discovered, but that was some time away since she didn't want to draw attention to what she was doing. She could also task her Vampire with delivering the information to her other allies, but for right now she figured it would be best to only do that every now and then, since someone going into the Darkworld too often would draw the attention of Xemnas and Saix.

With that in mind she turned her attention back to their mission as both she and Larxene stepped out into another portion of Twilight Town, which appeared to be the forest that was right outside the town, while also being outside a mansion that seemed like it was deserted, since it was a fair walk to reach it.

"So we're just hunting one of the stronger Heartless today. A 'Stealth Sneak' as Saix called it." Larxene said, where she drew her knives for a moment as she glanced around the surrounding area, searching for something that might be moving in the shadows, while at the same time Seras held a hand out as her Keyblade appeared as she sought out the familiar signs that suggested the Heartless in question was nearby.

"A familiar foe. Good to know." Seras remarked, because Fluttershy had fought such a Heartless back on Tarzan's world and now it was her turn to fight one with her own friend, though the only difference was that there was nothing for the creature in question to hunt or obey in this world, so it was just wandering around, looking for hearts, "Last time I saw one of these creatures it was in the Coliseum, as my original self fought them in the arena with Sora and the others, and the last time one had been fought outside of that area it had a number of Powerwilds near it. This time it seems like it's only the Stealth Sneak that we're hunting."

Larxene said nothing to that as she followed Seras' lead, she was, after all, the expert when it came to fighting Heartless, at least between the two of them, where they started to explore the forest that was around them, or maybe it was a small woods, since it seemed odd for there to be a forest so close to a town. As they carefully walked around the area Seras also found what appeared to be light footprints in the ground, which looked just like the ones that would belong to their target, causing her to beckon to her friend for a moment and Larxene nodded, as now she knew that their target was definitely in the area. She knew that the easiest way to draw the creature out would be if there was someone in the area for it to attack so it could get their heart, but she wasn't about to go into the town and drag an innocent person out here to draw out the Stealth Sneak, something she wouldn't have to worry about as she found the air twisting as her Vampire appeared, likely to report his success to her before delivering the information to Xemnas or Saix. Such a thing did exactly what she had been expecting it to do, something in the shadows moved as it rushed towards the Vampire, who smiled as he thrust his right elbow back and struck the Stealth Sneak before it could even attack him.

Seras beckoned to Larxene and her friend understood what to do next as she charged her knives before hurling them at the Heartless, stunning the creature while shocking it so it would be unable to move, something that allowed Seras to rush at it and swing her Keyblade at it, cutting it down before it even had a chance to retreat, releasing another heart while her friend landed nearby.

"Mistress, I have scouted the assigned worlds and have compiled my notes on them." the Vampire said, where he knelt for a moment as he pulled out a pile of papers that he presented to Seras, who dismissed her Keyblade as she took them and looked over them for a couple of seconds, while Larxene just stared at him.

"Wait... your High Rank can talk?!" Larxene asked, because she had never seen like that before, none of the High Ranks could do what the Vampire was doing, making her wonder if he might have been close to becoming a full member of the Organization had Xemnas gotten to him first, even though the Vampire was called to be Seras' servant and soldier, just like all of the others for the other members, "That's... kind of cool, actually. You do know that you can deliver them to our boss, right?"

"Oh, he does, but Noir prefers to let me look at them, to verify that they're ready for Saix, before delivering them." Seras replied, where she looked over the information and found that some of them were for the worlds that Fluttershy and the others had been to, while others were for new worlds she had no idea about, ones that looked interesting to her, before she straightened the papers and returned them to her Vampire, "Deliver these to Saix immediately."

Noir smiled as how bowed his head, before standing up and collecting the notes from her, allowing him to vanish as he used his ability to return to the main castle, while at the same time Seras noted that the heart from the Stealth Sneak had been claimed by shadows, Sombra's calling card, causing her to turn back to Larxene.

"You know, I'm honestly going to miss the insane things that you seem to get up to." Larxene remarked, as that was part of why she liked hanging out with Seras, things were fun when she worked with her friend, and she could see that Seras was confused by her choice of words, which Larxene knew was due to the fact that the formal announcement had yet to be made yet, "I've been assigned to Castle Oblivion, effective early tomorrow morning, and that means that me and a few others, likely Marluxia as far as I know, will be there for some time. We'll receive a full briefing once everyone is gathered, but I suspect that we'll be defending Namine while doing something that will benefit the Organization."

"I see. Well, I'm going to miss the two of you while you're gone... so, let's get some ice cream and relax before we head back to the main castle." Seras said, because the best she could do for her friend was just have a relaxing afternoon before they headed back to their main base of operations, to take Larxene's mind off of the fact that she wasn't going to be able to go out on missions with her for some time.

Larxene let out a laugh as they did just that, visited the same shop that she knew Axel frequented and purchased a few sticks of ice cream, before moving up to one of the rooftops so they could look out over the rest of Twilight Town and just relax for a time. While they did so Seras noticed that both Roxas and Axel were up on their usual spot on the clock tower, where she knew that if one of them was being assigned to Castle Oblivion, like Larxene, they were telling their friend the same thing she had just been told. At the same time she knew that Xemnas needed all Keyblade wielders on hand to find and collect hearts, so Roxas wouldn't have been chosen for this mission, just like how she and Xion wouldn't have been picked either, so if anyone was going it was likely Axel. In the end she decided not to worry about it too much, though at the same time she had to wonder if this would be the event that allowed Sombra to make her first move against the rest of the Organization, just like she claimed when they last talked to each other, before she and Larxene eventually returned to the castle to finish off their day.

Following that Seras found that a number of their members assembled in the Grey Room, where many of them relaxed during their time off, and as they departed for Castle Oblivion she discovered that there were six members leaving for the other castle, those being Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Axel, Marluxia, and Larxene.

Sure enough not everyone had been told about the assignment, as those like Xigbar and Demyx had no idea that some of their members were being assigned to Castle Oblivion, not until they read a note that Saix had left on one of the windows, and Roxas, of course, just stared at it for a time. Seras knew the feeling, especially since her own friends were going to the other castle as well, though there wasn't a lot they could do about the situation, something that caused her to focus on all of the missions they were going to have to do to compensate for the lack of manpower. She found that Luxord was also slightly unhappy with the fact that those he played cards with had been sent to the castle, while at the same time Demyx just did what he always did, pulled out his sitar, which doubled as his weapon, and started to play it, while earning a frown from Xigbar again. Seras was almost sure that this was a game to the two of them, like there was more to both of them than they were showing the rest of the Organization, but decided not to worry about that for the time being as she found Xion standing near the window, likely lost in thought.

Eventually Saix entered the room and some of the others glanced at him for a moment, knowing that their rest time was up and that they would be sent out on new missions, which was what they did every day based on what Seras had seen so far, though this time he beckoned to both her and Roxas for a moment.

"Roxas, from this day forward you will be working alongside Xion to execute missions, and today Seras will join you." Saix stated, something that came as a surprise for Seras since she figured that the three of them would be assigned to totally different missions, instead of being brought together for one that might not need multiple wielders, where she also found that Xion walked over to where the pair was standing, "Seras will be in charge today, but every other day you, Roxas, will be in charge during these missions."

"Rox... as. Ser... as." Xion said, which was the first time Seras had heard the other Nobody talk, in fact even Saix was taken aback by this discovery, where she pulled back her hood and revealed that she, just like Namine, resembled Kairi for some odd reason, even though she was different as well, even though she had short black hair that was parted differently than the other two, "Roxas, Seras, let us work hard today."

Saix stood there for a moment as Seras opened a Dark Corridor and all three of them departed for their mission, though he waited for a few more minutes as Demyx and the others departed as well, before he used his own portal to warp up to the summit, where he found Xemnas staring at Kingdom Hearts once more.

"Lord Xemnas, there has been a development: Xion is talking and has taken on her chosen form." Saix said, because this was something their boss needed to know, as it meant that Vexen was wrong in his assumptions on how long it would take for a replica to take on a unique form and personality, causing Xemnas to turn towards him.

"Already? While this is good news, it is also sooner than we were told... I cannot help but wonder if Seras' presence has, in fact, accelerated certain things." Xemnas remarked, as he agreed with the unspoken statement that Saix had likely come up with before he decided to come inform him of what was going on, both of them had been expecting Xion to develop in the next week or so, but yet her form was now locked in and she was speaking, far ahead of schedule, before he stopped to wonder if there might be an easier explanation, "Or is this the result of Namine helping us? A number of odd things have happened within the last week, and I cannot help but wonder if they are all connected."

"The arrival of several new High Ranks, one of which is even stronger than even the Sorcerers, the potential change in the power Namine wields, and now Xion has awakened ahead of Vexen's projections." Saix commented, as that was three odd events in the span that Xemnas had mentioned, and that wasn't counting the fact that Sombra was still in the Darkworld, firing off spells at whatever she was fighting, because while she wasn't using all of her stronger spells they knew that she was somewhere in that dark and twisted world, "Something is happening. That's all I know for sure."

Xemnas nodded as he turned his gaze towards their Kingdom Hearts once more, as Xion's awakening made him wonder what sort of events the future could throw at him and their Organization, and if they would be ready for whatever storm was currently brewing in the Darkworld.

Chain/Days: Invasion

Sombra smiled as she observed the scene that was in front of her, as Riku and Mickey were in the middle of training with Aqua, as the Keyblade Master had regained her skills in no time after calling her weapon back to her side and proved to be an invaluable ally in the Darkworld. This was due to the fact that Aqua not only had great skill when it came to using her weapon, and knew all sorts of ways to improve what she saw in all three of their stances, but her magic was nothing to ignore, like that was her strength and not her actual combat skills. Such magic also came in handy whenever they moved around the Darkworld, as Sombra knew that facing the pureblood Heartless that were in the dark realm would be a good source of experience for those that weren't familiar with fighting them, while Aqua used her magic to make safe zones for them or even protect themselves when Sombra fired her stronger attacks into the darkness. That, in turn, allowed Sombra to learn more about the magic that the people of the worlds could use, causing her to look over her tome as ideas came to mind, so while she may not be able to gain strength from fighting the Heartless, since purebloods didn't drop hearts, the lessons in magic more than made up for it.

Whenever they rested Sombra made sure to fill in the blanks of her information on what happened that had forced Aqua to come to reside in this realm in the first place, where she informed both her and Riku of the Unversed, another type of foe to worry about, one that she, Ventus, and Terra had fought against before facing Master Xehanort. From what Aqua knew the Unversed were negative emotions that came from a person called 'Vanitas', who sought to merge with Ventus so they could forge the X-Blade, but that battle had ended with the weapon being shattered, Ventus falling asleep, and Vanitas had been destroyed. Sombra thought about that for a few moments and considered the heart fragments she had been collecting so far, as they were shrouded in negativity, meaning she might be collecting the pieces of Vanitas' heart, and if that was the case she suspected that Aqua would want them destroyed, to keep him from reforming. Of course her original plan was still her main focus, track down the remaining fragments so she could absorb the whole heart all at once, since the power would be a good boost to her own, but for now she would have to wait until she recovered another fragment.

While they trained against the Heartless that were in the Darkworld, however, Sombra also found that Riku was able to draw on his amulet's power and actually expand the amount of time he could spend in his transformed state, just like she and Radiant had talked about when it was made, causing her to smile as she took down a Neoshadow with ease.

In addition to all of that they also had the arrival of someone who identified himself as 'Noir', who revealed that he was on their side and that he served Seras, before handing over a folder of information that Sombra couldn't help but smile at as she flipped through the various pages. She had been curious as to what Fluttershy's Nobody would decide to do and was pleasantly surprised when she found that Seras had sent her all of the information she was able to obtain of the members of Organization XIII, not to mention the other Nobodies she knew of. Sombra now knew the names, numbers, and even a few of the powers of the other members of the Organization, allowing her to confirm that Xemnas was the one she fought back on Hollow Bastion, as that figure had called their power 'Nothingness' and that was what the leader of the group called his power. There were even warnings about some of them, mostly along the lines of how two of them, Larxene and Marluxia, were Seras' friends, while Roxas, who was Sora's Nobody despite his picture not looking a thing like him, being friends with Axel and Xion, the latter being another Keyblade wielder.

The folder was a treasure trove of information, allowing Sombra to see Seras' thoughts on the members, those she might see as potential allies and ones that were definitely enemies, the oddballs and even those she was still trying to figure out who they were inside the Organization, and when she wasn't reading from it she stored it away somewhere safe, so that only she could take it.

"I know we keep jumping from being in the Darkworld to being in the Realm of Light, but you do have a plan on what to do next... right?" Mickey asked, because while he was happy to finally save Aqua from this dark place, and he even found that his friend talked to Sombra about any potential problems she might have developed while in this world, he really wanted to know if the figure had a plan or not.

"Yes, we are training for the time being." Sombra replied, as she knew that Mickey was growing impatient, especially since they knew that the Organization was trying to make another Kingdom Hearts, that information she had shared with the others when she discovered it in Seras' notes, but she also understood that impatience would only cost them, especially since Xemnas has been at this for a long time now, "Seras said that I would know when it is time to enter Castle Oblivion, I just have to wait for the portal to open."

As Mickey opened his mouth to say something Sombra suddenly felt the air shift and called for Riku and Aqua to stop for the time being as she glanced to the north, where she found dark energy gathering not too far away, causing her to move out immediately since it didn't seem to match the power of the others she had felt in the past. While the others followed her she found that the Heartless that were in the area retreated, in fact Sombra was sure that they were afraid of her and her power, to the point where none of them wanted to see where she and her group were heading to next. She did take a moment to pause as she spotted a pair of slit eyes in the darkness, those of a dragon, she recognized them anywhere, and it made her wonder if the ancient Heartless she had felt several times in the past was coming for her group, causing her to stare at the crimson eyes for a time. As the others focused on the eyes, Aqua even seemed concerned for a moment, the creature pulled back and disappeared without approaching them, meaning Sombra would have to come back and see if she could find it in the future, before she and her allies continued on their way.

Sure enough she found a dark oval portal resting to the north of where they had been training, meaning someone really wanted them to travel to Castle Oblivion, potentially Namine if Seras' information was to be believed, causing her and the others to enter the portal as they set part of her plan into motion at long last.

Radiant found that the inside of Castle Oblivion was lighter than the darkness that was outside the structure, in fact the white color was dulled to prevent it from being overpowering, meaning that Marluxia and the rest of his companions must have gotten annoyed with the color and changed it to suit their purposes.

"How are you feeling? Do any of you feel like you might have forgotten something?" Marluxia asked, speaking after closing the main door, though his question was due to the fact that, if everything was going according to plan, Namine should be hard at work undoing Sora's Chain of Memories, that was her power after all, and if she was doing her part none of the four individuals that were with him would have no abilities to speak of.

"Um... not really." Sora replied, where he summoned his Keyblade and showed off a few of the moves he had developed over the course of his first major adventure, while Radiant, Goofy, and Donald did the same thing, where Marluxia stood there for a moment with a smile on his face, causing Sora to wonder if he had done something wrong, "Why did you ask about our abilities?"

"Oh, no reason. Its just that some of us have experienced losing abilities or memories in this place, only to regain them after leaving for a time... I just wanted to make sure you were fine." Marluxia stated, though inside he was freaking out, as this wasn't part of the plan at all, Sora and his friends were supposed to lose all of their abilities, and the memories that were linked to them, so they could set up a number of rooms so Namine could weave a new Chain of Memories for him, to use him as an ally in their plans, before he regained himself, "Since all four of you seem to be fine, allow me to guide you to the dining area for some food."

As Marluxia started to guide the group to the room in question, as he had memorized the exact layout of each room due to being the 'Lord' of the castle, he noticed that Namine's wolf was in the hall as well, though the walls seemed to be in the middle of shifting as she, Namine had confirmed the creature's gender like Seras did with her Vampire, brushed her tail on the wall. The Painter lived up to the name that had been given to it, as new colors rushed over the wall and made the hall more vibrant than before, almost like Namine didn't like the dull white color that they had gone with in the past and had a better idea, thus allowing the wolf to do her work. Of course they were still unsure of the full power of this High Rank, but one thing was certain in Marluxia's eyes, the wolf was a passive Nobody, a support type that could potentially paint who knew what, and he suspected that it might be able to alter the battlefield if it was ordered to do so. The wolf, Ama as he and the others called it for short since Namine gave her a longer name, stopped and rushed over for a moment, sniffing at everyone and even allowed them to pet her for a moment, before she moved down the hall, no doubt heading towards Namine's room, where she slept most of the time.

After that Marluxia brought them to the dining room, the one they used whenever Xemnas was here since he seemed to dislike all of the smaller casual eating areas that he and those stationed here used, and when he entered the room both he and Sora's group found Larxene standing by one of the walls, where he told the group to sit wherever they like before departing the room with his friend close behind him.

"What are you doing?" Larxene asked, as she knew the plan, they had practiced it whenever they were out on missions and had sent the Dusks away, and this wasn't what both of them had agreed on, in fact seeing the four members of the group worried her to no end since that meant something big was happening.

"I am... altering the plan. I suspect either Namine wants us to be nice to Sora's group, or..." Marluxia said, though the last bit seemed to stall in his mouth, like he couldn't bring himself to admit what he was feeling right now, and Larxene could see that something was stalling him, since he usually acted differently than this.

"Fear." a voice stated as the pair entered the library area that also served as an observation area that surveyed the rest of the castle, as there were cameras everywhere and there was a device nearby that allowed them to see everything that was on all of them, especially those that were in the basement, where they found Axel standing nearby with his arms crossed as he stared at one of the screens, "Sora is one of Sombra's friends, and just the name is enough to make even us, who fake emotions, afraid... as if we already had hearts... and you fear what might happen if she learns that we might be doing something terrible to her remaining friends."

"Yeah, I'd say that's pretty accurate." Larxene remarked, where Marluxia found that Zexion was in the kitchen, preparing the food that had been promised to Sora and his friends while they were outside the castle, though all three of them just stood there for a few moments as they considered Sombra's terrifying dark power, "So, be friendly to Sora's group, likely keep them entertained, and try to figure out what Namine is..."

Before she could finish her statement she, Marluxia, and Axel felt a familiar surge of dark energy coming from inside the castle, the type that could only come from someone opening a Dark Corridor, a signature that they didn't recognize no less, and it wasn't long before they found that it opened in the basement for some reason. In the next instant their blood ran cold as a siren sounded, one loud enough to be heard in this room and in a similar room for those in the basement, one Vexen had installed in the unlikely and improbable event that the one person they didn't want to contend with were to enter this place. The trio watched as three figures emerged from the portal in question, one was Riku, even though he seemed far more confident than they had been told, another was a black mouse that could only be King Mickey, and a blue haired girl that none of them recognized, but she seemed important. The next instant filled them with dread as the one person they weren't hoping to see invaded Castle Oblivion, as Sombra, in all of her dark glory, was the last to step out of the portal, allowing it to close when she was fully on this side, though she glanced around with interest in her eyes.

Larxene found that all three of them were sweating from just realizing that they were in danger, as the worst person had just entered their domain, and both she and Marluxia even took a step back from the console, as if their instincts were kicking in, something that only made her wonder what in the world was going on and if they were going to survive what was about to happen next.

Chain/Days: Vexen's Plan

"So, this is Castle Oblivion... too much white, if you ask me." Sombra remarked, not because she hated the color, rather her comment was due to the fact that there was simply for too much of the color around them, though at the same time she really didn't get the feeling that this was a castle, rather it was like Marluxia called it that to help him come to terms with the time he spent here.

"Wait... I've been here before." Aqua said, as she glanced around the chamber they were in and realized why it seemed so familiar, as she had walked through a similar hall after she turned her old home, the Land of Departure, into a new state to keep Ventus' slumbering body safe from those that might seek to do him harm, causing her to realize that they were close to one of her friends, "I'll have something to do once we're done with the Organization."

"We must be cautious, since we now in their territory." Mickey added, where he glanced around and found that there was next to nothing for their enemies to hide behind, though he couldn't help but feel that someone was watching them right now, no doubt coming up with a plan of attack, before noticing that Sombra had disappeared, 'Wait, where did Sombra go?"

"It's one of her powers." Riku said, as while they were training in the Darkworld he and Sombra had trained, both to allow him to get used to the dark power that was inside him, a remnant from his mistakes and being possessed by Seeker Ansem, while at the same time allowing him to see that Sombra's powers were far more than even Sora knew, like one that allowed her to be like a chameleon, meaning she was still nearby, "We've got company."

Sure enough the area in front of them was replaced by a surge of dark energy, which appeared to be one of the members of the Organization warping from one part of the castle to this area, though this time the figure had dirty blond hair and two bangs, one of each side of his head.

"So, you must be Riku... and I take it that the mouse is King Mickey... though you'll have to forgive me for not knowing who your companion is." the figure said, where he glanced around for a moment and noticed something that worried him, as the one who set off the alarm was nowhere to be seen, as in Sombra seemed to be missing, which caused him to focus on the trio that was in front of him, "Where is Sombra? I know she's here, as that alarm wouldn't go off unless she's here."

"Don't know. Maybe she's somewhere else in this place?" Riku replied, feigning ignorance to what this place was, who this Nobody was, and what Sombra was up to, because doing this might cause the figure to make mistakes that Sombra could use to their benefit, how he had no idea, but he trusted his friend to know what to do next, "Anyway, who are you? And, more importantly, what do you want from us?"

"I am Vexen, a humble researcher. As for what I want, may I ask that you come with me?" Vexen answered, because he knew that if he presented himself like this he would be able to get Riku on his side, as he wasn't presenting himself as the villain they might be expecting him to be, meaning it would be easy for him to get the information he needed before he turned his focus on Sora, "I assure you, I am not planning anything nefarious."

Mickey and Aqua knew that Riku would never go along with the Organization's wishes, especially since they knew that the boss of the Nobodies was making his own Kingdom Hearts, though that didn't stop the boy from walking forward for a few seconds, making Vexen think that he was going to go along with him, before Riku punched him in the face and knocked him back into the wall behind him.

"Sorry, but I have no interest in following you anywhere. Come on, let's go." Riku said, glancing at Mickey and Aqua for a few seconds as he continued down the hallway, letting them see that he had bloodied Vexen's nose with that punch, no doubt a sign of his growth thanks to all of the training they had done in the Darkworld, but the Nobody seemed fine with the situation as they headed into the hallway.

Vexen smiled for a moment as he pulled out his notes and jotting something down, all while unaware of the danger that was still lurking in the shadows, because while Riku's group had moved forward the true threat remained standing by the wall that the Nobody had been knocked towards. Sombra smiled for a moment as she thought about how lucky she was to have obtained the chameleon ability from the Stealth Sneak on Tarzan's world, one that had gone mostly unused since she acquired it, but thanks to her powers and new abilities she was able to erase her entire presence with ease. In fact she could stand right in front of Vexen if she wanted, maybe taunt him if she was in the mood to do so, and he wouldn't see any of it, but for the time being Sombra remained out of the way, observing the researcher as she wondered what sort of information he could lead her to. That was the point of the group splitting up like this, Riku was going to go find Sora and the others, since they were sure his group had to be in the castle as well, before worrying about the Organization, while she, in turn, would go see if there was anything else before turning her attention on the Nobodies as well.

Once he was done with his notes Vexen started to move down the hallway and headed for one of the rooms, though as he did so he paused every now and then, sweating a little as he glanced at the shadows, as if expecting Sombra to jump out at any given moment, before moving again and only stopping when he reached an interesting chamber that seemed to be off the beaten path.

The chamber turned out to be a large lab of sorts that had a number of devices inside it, screens that collected date while showing him other things, consoles that he could input data in and update whatever he was working on, and devices she had no idea what they did. Based on what she was seeing the other members of the Organization who were in this castle either had no idea that this room existed or they didn't come here all too often, though she did find cans that had been filled with tea resting on one of the nearby shelves, along with some food containers that were totally empty. Such a thing made her wonder how much time Vexen actually spent in this part of the castle, since it had to be far more than what Seras was able to figure out in her short time in the Organization, before she grinned as she found what was holding all of Vexen's attention. There was a side area to the lab that they were in, one that had two rows of capsules that were sized to fit someone of Sora's size, and inside eighteen of them were what appeared to be white dolls that seemed to be in stasis, while she found that there was another on in front of Vexen's station.

The one Vexen was working on eventually took on the form of Riku, but back when Seeker Ansem was in control of his body, allowing Sombra to understand that these things took on the form of the data or heart that was put in them, which caused her to wonder about the missing doll as she wondered what the other eighteen were for.

"Good. A Replica can take on a form when given basic data, and the fabricated memories I created... in fact, this one is far better than Xion, as he already has a heart!" Vexen stated, meaning he liked to talk to himself when he was sure no one else was around, or maybe the other members of the Organization ignored him and this was to help himself get used to that fact, where Sombra was sure that he was quite pleased with himself as he released the Replica from his container, "Come, let us see how Sora and the others like this!"

Sombra remained in her hiding place, letting Vexen and the Replica depart from the chamber, and once she was sure that they were gone she approached the terminal, only to find that the scientist didn't even bother to protect the devices he used, rather it was far too easy for her to open folders and read stuff. She found that Vexen had the entire plans that the ones assigned to Castle Oblivion were supposed to abide by, using Namine's powers to break Sora down, tear apart his 'Chain of Memories' and build a brand new one, to make him into one of Xemnas' loyal pawns. The interesting thing came when she noticed Vexen's more recent entries on the plan, indicating that Namine had no desire to play along with him or the rest of the Organization, and yet, as far as she could tell from the information, none of the Nobodies had tried to force her and her 'High Rank', the wolf that was with her, out of the castle. That either meant her power was far more than any of the Nobodies were used to dealing with or she was far too important to treat like a pawn, and Sombra found that the foolish scientist had his own plans for everything, including the other eighteen Replicas, only he failed to write down what his plans were.

In the end Sombra chuckled as her darkness enveloped the chamber, keeping it contained so that no one else would be able to enter it until she brought the new barrier down, as there was so much she could do with eighteen Replicas, while at the same time crippling whatever plan Xemnas, Xehanort, and their allies had were working towards.

"No! What's going on?!" she heard Vexen ask, where she stepped outside the room and found that they hadn't gotten very far, rather it seemed like they might have been rehearsing what Repliku, or whatever he was called, was supposed to do when he encountered Sora and the others, only now the Replica seemed to be dead, it was just resting against the wall with lifeless eyes, like someone had stolen his heart, "You were working a few moments ago."

"Well, what do we have here? It seems like some dark power has ripped the Replica's heart from his body." Sombra said, as she felt a trace of temporal energy in the area, like someone from the future or past had stepped into this period for a few moments and made off with the Replica's heart, while at the same time she found that Vexen shuddered as he looked back in her direction as she cancelled her chameleon skill, "Come now, you didn't think that Riku and the others would leave the Darkworld without me joining them, did you?"

"You... even with that information this doesn't make sense! You were busy fighting the Heartless... you shouldn't have had the chance to escape!" Vexen stated, where he held his hand out for a moment and Sombra found that his weapon was a near full body shield that was almost icy blue, reflecting his power over ice, while he stood like he was stealing Goofy's moves, using a shield as a defensive tool while utilizing his ice as his offensive weapon.

"Standing and fighting? And here I thought you were clever." Sombra remarked, because she knew that Vexen knew about her power, and that she was far stronger than she was letting on right now, which was why it was surprising that Vexen dared to stand before her like this, causing her to hold out her hand as her Keyblade formed, "But if you would rather fight me, despite knowing of my powers, than I'll take you out."

In the next moment she rushed through the air and brought her Keyblade down on the Nobody that was in front of her, where Vexen paled as he realized that all of the information he had on her was accurate and swung his arm towards his foe, allowing the edge of his shield to stop her weapon in it's tracks. The resulting collision shook the section of the castle they were in, where the Replica's body disappeared as Sombra teleported it further down the hallway, but once that was done both she and Vexen had the same idea as they raised their left hands, hers full of fire while his had ice. It was easy to tell that her foe was using the Blizzaga spell while she was using Firaga, where the two thrust their hands out and forced their spells to collide with each other, though as Vexen struggled to hold his stance he realized that he was going to be overpowered. The reason he thought that was because even just this spell seemed far stronger than he assumed it would be when it was in Sombra's hands, in fact his ice was being pushed back like it was nothing special, before he found that Sombra blasted him back and scorched his arm, burning away the arm of his coat in the process.

Vexen mentally freaked out with that discovery, as he knew that Sombra was strong, possibly enough to interest Xemnas and the higher ups in the Organization, but even so he never thought that the gap in their power would be this severe, a fact that reminded him that this was only his foe's base form, meaning the true difference between their powers was like night and day, before a slash appeared on his chest.

"What... How?" Vexen asked, because he knew that Sombra had slashed him, there was nothing else that could have done this to him in that short split second, and yet he knew his shield had been in position when the attack happened, so he had no idea what was even going on right now, before he fell to his knees as he felt weak.

"I blasted your defenses open, and you never recovered." Sombra replied, as the detonation of his Firaga spell had pushed the shield out of the way enough for her to damage her foe's chest, where Vexen seemed to let out a weak sound while his body broke apart before her eyes, turning into a white and black mist of sorts, meaning the scientist must have been the weakest of the Organization's members, causing her to sigh as Vexen fully vanished, "Time to see what the others are up to."

With the first member of Organization XIII dealt with Sombra dismissed her Keyblade and continued down the hallway, as she was very eager to see what Radiant, Riku, Sora, and the others had gotten into while she was dealing with Vexen and his Replicas, making her eager to catch up with the others and face the rest of the castle's challenges.

Chain/Days: Earth and Illusion

After separating from Sombra, who Riku knew didn't need their help at all, the boy found that most of the castle looked the exact same, just white hallways and passages that took one deeper into the structure, causing him, Mickey, and Aqua to be more on guard than they were when they entered this place.

"This is making me nervous. We're in enemy territory... where is everyone?" Mickey asked, because he had been expecting to encounter some of the Nobodies to come out and attack them, either the members of the Organization or even some of their minions, only for him and his companions to find that there was nothing coming at them.

"I assume that some of them are tending to Sora's group, and are likely planning on how to deal with us." Aqua replied, as it seemed like the information Sombra had gotten previously was true, Sora was the main target and that meant the three of them were lesser targets in the eyes of the Organization, where she glanced around for a time as she thought back to the last time she had been in this structure.

"From what I can tell one dark presence has already fallen." Riku stated, because thanks to Seeker Ansem possessing his body like he had, even though that had forced him to be a passenger in his own body until he was banished to the Darkworld, he could sort of sense dark figures, not like how Sombra could sense Heartless, "Given what's going on, that's likely Sombra taking out someone who dared to get in her path... probably one of the members of the Organization."

"You would be correct." a new voice replied, speaking as they entered a new chamber, where the trio found that there was a tall figure standing on the other side of the area that happened to be wearing one of the coats that the Organization wore, a serious looking man who had short spiked brown hair and seemed to be carrying a weapon that appeared to be a sword and an axe merged into a new form, "Vexen has fallen, much to our sorrow. I do not know how you three and Sombra were able to enter this castle, as no invitation was extended to you, but this is such a waste... to possess your power, while being afraid..."

"Let me guess: 'of the Darkness'?" Riku remarked, where he stepped forward and summoned his Keyblade, as he suspected that this Nobody was going to stop them from moving forward and that meant one of them would have to deal with him, hence why he was approaching the figure while the others stood back, trusting him to deal with their foe, "Sorry, but I was able to learn a few things from Sombra while we were in the Darkworld... the Darkness has no power over me now."

Lexaeus stood there for a few moments, studying the boy that was in front of him and understood what Riku was saying, his heart was strong, his eyes were filled with determination, and his stance suggested that he wasn't afraid at all, rather he was ready for anything that might happen next. Such a thing caused him to think about what Vexen had said previously, about how the boy would be afraid of the Darkness and that they might be able to use his fear against him, incite his rage so that he might be taken down faster, but the now slain researcher was wrong, the boy was stronger than they assumed. Such a thing only made him wonder if this newfound mental strength translated to physical strength as well, because even if the short amount of time they had spent in the Darkworld it sounded like Riku had learned something from Sombra, meaning he could be stronger than the reports said. He sighed for a moment before releasing some of his energy, manifesting a dark red aura with black wisps floating around him, something that was directed at Riku as he found that the boy actually stood his ground for the duration that he did this, causing Lexaeus to stop as he lifted his weapon.

Only one thing worried him right now, and that was the fact that Riku had trained with Sombra, though in what way he still had no idea, meaning there was a chance he might lose to this boy, since it appeared that the other two were watching the fight that was about to take place in this chamber.

"Very well. I, Lexaeus, will test the power of your heart." Lexaeus stated, where he shifted his stance for a moment as the boy did the same, which was a good thing to see, while also confirming that the other two didn't seem interested in giving Riku any aid in the upcoming fight.

In the next instant Lexaeus rushed at Riku and found that the boy did the same, showing him that his foe was definitely no longer afraid, though as he brought his axe sword down he watched as his opponent dodged to the side, where he swung at his chest and cut into the fabric of his coat, like he was testing the waters. Lexaeus gathered his power as he slammed his weapon against the floor, causing things to rumble as spikes of earth burst out of the tiles and reached for Riku, mostly to weaken him to the point where he could be brought in for whatever plan Zexion had in mind. What he discovered was that Riku was definitely faster than what Lexaeus had heard, causing him to really wonder what sort of training the boy had done with Sombra in the Darkworld, as this seemed like they had been training for years, instead of the few days they had been in that realm. While that happened he also discovered that none of his attacks seemed to hit the pair that was just watching them right now, rather the earthen spikes struck a barrier and it stopped them in their tracks, something that made him curious as to who the blue haired lady was, since it didn't seem like Mickey cast the spell.

Of course he didn't let that bother him and he clashed with Riku, the edge of his axe sword colliding with the Keyblade for a few seconds before Lexaeus forced his opponent backward, where he called on more of his power and strengthened his body in the process, allowing him to hit harder than before. At the same time he also started occasionally threw his axe sword at his foe like it was a boomerang, as it would go a certain distance and then return to his hand, and the attacks in question could be devastating if they struck his targets, where he found that his foe used his Keyblade to stop his attacks, or at least attempt to as one pushed him back again. Such a thing told him many things, such as the fact that he was still far stronger than Riku was, even if the boy had trained with Sombra before coming to this castle, and it was clear that he was going to win this battle in no time, even if Riku unleashed a flurry of blows on him. In response to that Lexaeus simply used his empty hand to punch his foe hard in the chest, allowing him to knock the boy up into the ceiling before grabbing him as he fell towards the ground, where he tossed Riku back towards the door he and his companions had used to enter this part of Castle Oblivion.

"You are strong, but not enough to best me." Lexaeus stated, though as he said that he noticed something interesting that he knew was definitely not part of the information they had on the boy, there was a faint glow, like that of the moon if he had to guess, around Riku's body, before he watched as his left hand grew claws and fur, "What the..."

As Lexaeus thought about what this meant Riku called upon the full power of the amulet he wore and let out a howl that shook the chamber they were in as he fully shifted into his werewolf form, something that reminded him to thank both Sombra and Radiant once they were done with this castle. Lexaeus, surprised by the transformation, hurled his weapon at Riku, intending on knocking him into the wall and ending this before something bad happened, where he and the others found that Riku just grabbed the head of the axe sword when it reached him. Such a thing also came as a surprise, that the boy happened to have a form that was far beyond what they knew about, in fact he was sure Vexen had no idea he had this power, before Riku swung his hand down and slammed the head of the weapon into the floor. Lexaeus decided to use his innate power and caused the earth to send spikes at his foe, where he discovered that Riku was even faster as well, as he rushed to the side and avoided his attacks with ease, meaning this form gave him a significant boost to all of his abilities.

In fact he was sure of that as Riku grabbed onto his face with his empty hand and slammed his head into the floor, and as he got back up his foe vanished before he was slashed several times, causing him to drop to one knee as he found bits of energy escaping from his form.

"I see... your heart is strong." Lexaeus said, as Riku was strong in his convictions, he had channeled his own power with a surprising degree of accuracy, even before revealing his transformed state to him, and he was now sure that the boy was more in control of his own dark powers, causing him to lower his head for a moment, "Forgive me, Zexion... this was a fight I shouldn't have started."

Riku and his companions watched as Lexaeus disappeared, which appeared to be what happened when a Nobody was beaten, they just faded away to nothingness or something along those lines, causing him to tap his amulet as he returned to his normal form, where he, Aqua, and Mickey got underway as they continued to explore the rest of the castle.

While that was going on Sombra was making her way down the halls of the castle, finding that the coloration really didn't change too much, at least until she found a white wolf that had red markings, and happened to be in the middle of using it's tail to paint one of the walls with a vibrant color scheme. Such a thing told her that someone in Castle Oblivion agreed with her, there was far too much white in this strange place, though the interesting thing was that the wolf seemed happy to see her and barked a little as she approached, like it was waiting for her. Sombra thought back to what Seras had put in her notes, about the various members of the Organization and Namine, and recalled that Kairi's Nobody had a wolf that was her High Rank, even though the wolf was more like her friend than her servant. She was able to confirm that the wolf happened to be here for her, as it circled her for a moment before sitting, like it was waiting for her to follow it, though as Sombra considered that she felt the air shift a little as she glanced at the end of the hallway.

She found that there was another member of the Organization, this one a younger male with steel blue hair that covered one of his eyes, and from what she could tell he was carrying a book in one of his hands, which meant he had to be the one called Zexion, who seemed to vanish as Sora appeared in his place, causing Sombra to laugh.

"Come now, is this the best you can do?" Sombra asked, as according to what Seras had found out Zexion was supposed to be an illusionist of some kind, wielding the power of illusions to bring down his opponents, and if this pathetic display was his best than she was going to eliminate him here and now.

"Sombra... you are nothing but a creature of Darkness. The Light will purge you." the Fake Sora replied, which she could tell was Zexion speaking, where she could see why people might fall for his tricks if they were distracted by something else that happened to be going on in the area, though the Nobody raised his hand and his illusion did the same, forming the Kingdom Key before firing a 'beam of light energy' at her.

Sombra just stood there as the fake attack hit her chest and dissolved into nothingness, where she sighed as she flashed through the space between them and grabbed onto Zexion's head, slamming him down into the ground, before letting out a chuckle as she placed her own illusion spell on her opponent. In the next instant she found that Zexion's eyes had taken on a whole new look, the shroud of one that was trapped in the illusions produced by her Dark Magic, as he freaked out for a moment as his head glanced around for a time, showing that he was believing what he was seeing. Sombra knew that this was the interesting side effect of this particular spell, as whatever the Nobody happened to be seeing right now was a potential truth that could, if certain conditions were met, be made a reality, like how she assumed Twilight had seen her own inability to save the Crystal Empire when she was looking for the Crystal Heart. The spell wasn't perfect, as one could be released from the spell if they were touched by someone else, so if she tapped Zexion's shoulder he would snap out of it, though he would be shaken or even disturbed by what he had seen, meaning defeating him would be far too easy for her to do at that point.

With that in mind Sombra held out her hand and summoned her Keyblade, where she slashed at Zexion and struck him in the chest, breaking the spell in a matter of seconds as he staggered backwards, with a look of pure fear on his face, which seemed to be a common thing when the Organization's members realized how strong she really was.

"You... Xemnas is wrong to underestimate you... you will destroy Kingdom Hearts." Zexion said, where he dropped his tome as his body started to break apart, just like when Sombra dealt the finishing blow to Vexen earlier, though she could tell that the Nobody had to pinch himself to make sure this wasn't an illusion and was actually happening, "Lord Xemnas, I... am sorry..."

That was all Zexion was able to get out as his body vanished into nothingness, his book following suit moments later, to which Sombra stood there for a few more seconds, thinking about what had just happened and why someone like that would think he could best her in battle. Such a thing made her wonder why the weaker members of the Organization had been assigned to Castle Oblivion, even though she had no idea if the others were as bad as Vexen and Zexion, but it did make her wonder what the latter had been planning with this foolish attack of his. It also made her curious about the rest of the members that were scattered throughout the rest of the castle, since they were no doubt watching her and Riku's group tear through whoever dared to attack them, since she felt Riku fighting someone else in another hallway. While she thought about that Sombra heard another bark and found that the wolf was still nearby, in fact it must have hidden itself for a time while she was dealing with Zexion, before it moved through one of the painted walls and vanished, and when it poked it's head back through she followed it without delay.

Such a thing allowed her to find a hidden passageway that seemed unknown to anyone else in the castle, causing her to smile as she followed the wolf to a brand new area of the castle and could only imagine what might happen when she and the wolf reached the end of the mysterious path.

Chain/Days: Reunion

Larxene, Marluxia, and Axel looked at the screens that were in front of them, allowing them to monitor the hallways and chambers of Castle Oblivion, while saying nothing, as it was hard to comprehend why Sombra was here, instead of in the Darkworld, and the fact that she was able to wipe out two of their members like it was nothing, and Axel was the first one to move.

"Where do you think you're going?" Marluxia asked, more out of curiosity and less like he was the Lord of Castle Oblivion, giving orders to his underlings, because right now he didn't know what to do, especially not when he thought about the fact that Riku was even stronger than the reports claimed, meaning if they fought the group they might perish as well.

"I'm getting Sora's group and then I'm going to visit Sombra." Axel replied, where he couldn't help but shudder at the mere thought of clashing with the dark Keyblade wielder, as she held the power to go toe to toe with someone that Vexen had said was Xemnas' other half, his Heartless, and if that was the case he really didn't want to tangle with her, "You two are free to do whatever you want, but I would recommend coming with... this might be our best chance of survival."

Larxene glanced at the screens for a moment, where it looked like Sombra was walking out of Zexion's area with a tome that had to be one of the now slain Nobody's unbound lexicons, as one was his main weapon and the rest appeared to be more books for him to read, as she wondered what to do. There was a small part of her that wanted to fight her, to see if the dark figure really was as strong as everyone thought she was, but at the same time she knew it was basically suicide at this point, as many of their members regarded Sombra as the greatest threat to the Organization, which was why the rest of her was of the opinion to not engage the dangerous being. That made her wonder if Axel was going to use Sora's group as leverage to lower Sombra's defenses for a short period of time, allowing them a single chance to break her defenses and take her down before she could do anything to them, and yet her heart wasn't in it, to use an expression that some people used. In fact she could see that Marluxia was thinking the same thing she was, that either this was to weaken Sombra's defenses or the other Nobody was going to play the middle group and go neutral so he didn't get wiped out.

In the end Larxene sighed as she stepped away from the console and joined Axel in leaving the chamber, only for him to be surprised when even Marluxia followed him, causing him to nod as they headed back to the dining room and found that Sora, Radiant, and the others were patiently waiting in their chairs.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but our plans have changed. If you would come with us, we can help you out." Marluxia said, as he had intended for some sort of meal to be prepared and delivered to this room for their guests, to show them that they could be trusted, but now that Zexion was gone, who was the best cook among the members in this castle, he knew a meal was out of the question, not without getting takeout.

"Did something happen?" Sora asked, because he had been hoping for a nice warm meal, in fact he missed Sombra's food most of all right now, but if the plan had changed it made him wonder what could have made the lord of the castle and his allies do such a thing in the first place.

"Yeah, you could say that... we're not sure how they got in, but Sombra, Riku, and two others found their way into the castle's basement." Larxene replied, as she didn't see a reason to lie to the boy right now, rather she felt that telling him the truth was the best thing right now, while Marluxia and Axel started to head down the hallway with her and the group following closely behind them, "Three of our allies attacked them and were wiped out... we're going to talk with them and see what happens next."

That surprised Sora, as he wasn't expecting to catch up with Sombra and Riku so soon after they sealed the Door that Ansem had been interested in opening, and sealed away his Kingdom Hearts at the same time, but that didn't stop him, Radiant, or their friends from walking behind the trio. Such a thing allowed Radiant to see that the trio were worried, which made sense due to the fact that Sombra could be an imposing person at times and that if someone had attacked her it was possible that their hosts must have witnessed it in some manner, hence their expressions. It made her wonder if they were planning on attacking Sombra after bringing them to her and her group, which was a bad move when she thought about it, though she was also interested in the number of people in Sombra's group, as one of the other two had to be Mickey, leaving a fourth unknown member. It made her wonder who her friends had found while they were stuck in the Darkworld, even though she knew that they would find out soon enough, since it seemed like they were heading to where Sombra's group was located.

It didn't take them too long to reach a large chamber that looked like it could be used for a battleground of some kind, a fact that Radiant hoped didn't come to pass since she thought that Marluxia was an okay person to be near, while she was unsure on the other two that were standing near him. While they came to a stop another door opened and they found that another group entered the area without delay, where she discovered that it was Riku's, as Mickey was standing next to him, along with an oddly dressed blue haired lady who seemed like a Keyblade wielder as well, as Radiant was sure one had been in her hand before they entered this chamber. As she considered what this might mean, however, there was a howl from one of the other two doors and she found that an interesting wolf showed up, with red markings on it, though standing near it was a girl that reminded her of Kairi, and Sombra was with them. It appeared that the wolf must have tracked Sombra down and brought her to the other girl, who were entering from the door that was opposite of the one Marluxia had walked through with his companions, making Radiant wonder what might happen next.

Axel stepped forward and flames danced as he summoned his chakrams, Marluxia had flowers surge as his scythe came into being, and lightning flashed as Larxene called forth her knives, where the trio stepped forward as Sombra moved into the center of the area, causing them to stare at each other for a time... where Axel sighed as he lightly tossed both of his weapons to the ground and lowered himself to one knee.

"Axel... what are you doing?" Marluxia asked, because he had assumed the plan was to attack Sombra while her guard was lowered, in some attempt to salvage this situation, even though he found that none of the others seemed to be moving at the moment, like they were watching and waiting for Sombra to make the first move.

"What does it look like? Surrendering... there's no way we can win against her." Axel replied, as he knew that Sombra was far too strong for them, if she was able to fight on par with someone that was the other half of their own boss, meaning she had the power to go toe to toe with Xemnas and could potentially win, "If we want to survive this we must surrender... that's all there is to it."

Marluxia stood there for a few seconds as he and Larxene thought about it, and what they had seen previously, before he sighed and set his scythe down on the floor as well, something that caused his friend to do the same thing before she frowned and followed his lead, showing Sombra that they were willing to stand down as well, though as they did that the fourth and final door opened as Seras and Noir entered the castle.

"Oh good, I was worried that something would have happened before I arrived." Seras said, though she was glad that both Roxas and Xion were back in the main castle, resting for whatever mission Saix might have in store for them, while at the same time she was glad that her friends were just fine as well.

"Well, three members of the Organization have fallen... that reminds me, I think it's time to go." Sombra replied, where she made her way towards the door and found that it lead outside, so while this wasn't the main entrance it was connected in a way to the doorway that she was sure that Sora's group had walked through earlier, before she glanced back at the trio that had decided to stand down, "Oh, and you guys are welcome to come with us."

Larxene found that Sombra was able to call the Gummi Ship that belonged to Sora's group to the outer edge of where the castle was located, allowing all four groups to warp aboard as she had the boy move them out a little, which he did not even a few seconds later, placing them further away from Castle Oblivion. After that Sombra smiled as she used her magic on the castle and on part of the ship, where she and the other Nobodies found that she formed a new door in the hallway that housed all of the rooms, even though it seemed like she was actually expanding that level at the same time. Once that was done Seras took over and explained what was going on, that Xemnas was using them to form Kingdom Hearts so he could gain power, meaning the Organization was nothing but pawns for him, hence why she was secretly working within the group to learn more information and bring him down when it was time to do so. Larxene and the others suspected that there was a whole lot more to the story, even though they found that Sombra started to work in the kitchen for some reason, all while Namine was happy to no longer be trapped inside her room in Castle Oblivion.

Seras also explained that she was trying to see who was actually purely loyal to Xemnas and who she might be able to save from his madness, and, since both Larxene and Marluxia were her friends, she had been hoping to save them as well, hence why she was happy to see that they were well when she arrived. In addition to that she was sure that Axel was fine with what they were doing, since he had been the first to realize that fighting Sombra was a bad idea, though the figure in question admitted that the reason Saix assigned him to Castle Oblivion was to route out the traitor and take them down, for the good of the Organization. Marluxia admitted that they had been planning on utilizing a plan that involved Sora so they could take control of the rest of the Organization, but since he and Larxene now knew that Xemnas no longer trusted them, enough to send an assassin to confirm their plans and kill them, the pair realized there was no reason for them to remain under Xemnas' thumb. With that in mind Seras asked if they wanted to join the expanding group, as it seemed like Sombra was gaining a following that could equal whatever darkness Xemnas was working towards, or Master Xehanort as Aqua told them that they were sure he was behind this in some manner.

Sombra eventually called the discussion to an end as she served a massive meal, at least twice the size of what she was used to making, and made sure Donald remembered that he was forbidden from eating the desserts for a long time, all while she smiled as she found the new Nobodies reacting in sure surprise to her food. It was a common thing, that those who ate her food wondered how she could make such wonderful meals while also being such a skilled warrior, but after so long of hearing such a thing she decided to stop explaining it and just take the praise. For the time being her plan was to lure Xemnas into a false sense of security, give Roxas and Xion time to grow, and for that to work Seras would be going back to give a false report of sorts, and with Axel willing to join in they could make Saix believe it to be the truth. With even Namine willing to aid them there was a greater chance of this working, though while they were doing that, and working with Roxas and Xion, Sora and his friends would be training with Aqua until Sombra was sure it was time to attack.

Such a thing caused her to smile again as she looked forward to hearing about how Xemnas and the others reacted to the news they would be hearing in the near future, all while she focused on the new room she had added to the ship and the contents that were inside it, as things were about to get that much more interesting for all of them.

Seras and Axel returned to the main castle early the following morning, when they knew that only three members of the Organization, those being Xemnas, Saix, and potentially Xigbar, would be active, and sure enough a Dusk noticed them and rushed off to inform their superiors, which was why Saix, at least, approached them.

"Axel, why are you here? You should be with the others in Castle Oblivion." Saix asked, because this was strange in his eyes, the Nobody in question wasn't supposed to be back until either his mission was complete or Lord Xemnas called him back for some reason, and he could see that their Lord was walking towards them, "And you, Seras, you should be asleep right now so you can be ready for today's mission."

"You should be thankful I went out in the first place, since I discovered something important: Sombra's decimated Castle Oblivion." Seras replied, as the plan was to make it seem like Sombra had wiped out the castle and everyone else, while Axel was the only one to emerge unscathed, and she could tell that both Nobodies were surprised by this information, as they assumed Sombra was trapped in the Darkworld, "I'm not sure how she got into the castle, but she did and she took out all of the other members that were assigned to the castle... Axel was spared since Marluxia had assigned him to scout out the area, so he could find Sora."

"Unfortunately it seems like Namine has disappeared as well, though it feels like she's put Sora to sleep." Axel added, as his part of things was to make it seem like the members of the Organization that weren't present anymore had done their job, disrupting things and taking Sora out of the picture, and so far it looks like they were buying the story, "Also, my own mission has been completed: there was no traitor, as the five members assigned to the castle with me were working to complete their own tasks when they were annihilated. Our comrades were loyal to the very end."

"I see. I will be expecting a full report later." Saix stated, because this was just the highlights of the report, though he found that it was odd that none of the members assigned to Castle Oblivion ended up being a traitor to their cause, in fact that was why Axel had been assigned there in the first place, so he could route them out and then kill them, and since he said that in Seras' presence that meant he trusted her as well, a good thing in his mind.

"It is sad that we have lost such loyal comrades... that we have lost some of our friends." Xemnas remarked, which was a concern in his mind, as he expected one or more of them to have survived in the event that Sombra, somehow, found her way to the castle, but she had and no one but Axel had survived the encounter, all due to being lucky, and he had to admit that he felt funny, "I grieve for their passing."

"Lord Xemnas... are you alright?" Seras inquired, because as their boss said that she, Axel, and Saix were surprised to see that there were tears running down his face, where Xemnas raised a hand to his face, felt the tears, and seemed totally caught off guard by such a thing, before he steeled himself.

"Yes. It would appear that Nothingness has manifested my sadness, for a time." Xemnas replied, though this came as quite the surprise for him, as he knew that Nobodies couldn't feel anything, hence them constantly faking every emotion they showed, but he knew that his power couldn't have done this, rather it was as if part of his heart had come back, which was alarming for him, "I will return to my chambers and contemplate what this means for us. Saix, order some of the Dusk to confirm Axel's report... it's not that I don't trust you, I just want to confirm it before we announce that our friends have fallen."

Seras and Axel bowed their heads as their superiors departed from the area, allowing them to return to their rooms for a time, though at the same time this was good news for them, because it meant Sombra's plan was working, though it did come with some unexpected side effects. Sombra came to an interesting conclusion after their meal, that the Nobodies did, in fact, have hearts and that meant if they returned to their original form, like if Seras rejoined with Fluttershy, the original would have both hearts inside them, meaning it was possible to free the second heart without turning the first into a Heartless. It had come as quite the surprise to Seras, not to mention Larxene and Marluxia, though her friends had decided to remain in the Gummi Ship as they came to terms with the fact that they had hearts, and that they were nothing more than pawns to the Organization, but seeing Xemnas like that made her wonder if this news had actually hurt him, as if he was being truthful about mourning his friends. If that was true, and he was actually sad over losing those sent to the second castle, it made her wonder how he would react to the rest of Sombra's plan, but decided to say nothing about that as she and her companion headed to their own rooms for the time being.

Such a thing made both of them wonder what the future might hold for them, their friends, and the rest of the Nobodies in the Organization, and how Sombra would react to whatever happened in the Organization and the rest of the worlds that they would be exploring in the future.

Chain/Days: The Anomaly

Seras found that she and Axel were put back to work almost immediately, which wasn't a surprise since Saix thought that the rest of the members sent to Castle Oblivion had been wiped out by Sombra, though while part of that was true, since she and Riku took down three of them, it was still mostly false information. They needed Xemnas and the others to think that Larxene and Marluxia were gone as well, and right now that part of the plan seemed to be working like a charm, but at the same time she and Axel had to play their cards right, since her new friend was the only survivor of the 'assault'. In addition to that there was likely going to be some eyes on her since she went out of her way to visit Castle Oblivion when she wasn't supposed to, though there was a chance that Xemnas would forgive her since she brought back valuable information for the others to use. Her current plan was to remain as everyone knew her, not raising any suspicion that she was working with Sombra, the enemy of the Organization as she would come to be known as, as she sought out more individuals to save, such as Roxas and Xion, as she was sure they would benefit from joining Sombra's group.

When it was time for them to head out on their missions Seras found that the remaining members of the Organization had mixed feelings on losing half of their number, as some, like Demyx, were saddened by the loss of their friends, while others, like Saix, didn't seem to care in the slightest.

"You know, while I did dodge a bullet by not being sent to Castle Oblivion, I'm going to miss the others." Demyx remarked, where Seras found that he wasn't even playing his sitar right now, as if he was actually grieving the loss of his friends, even if many members of the full Organization thought he was useless in a fight, before he sighed and glanced to the side, "Man, Sombra must be incredibly powerful if she was able to beat five members on her own... I would have thought that Larxene or Marluxia would have done something to slow her down."

"Doesn't it make you sad, Seras? Our friends have disappeared." Roxas inquired, though while he was thankful that Axel had been spared, simply because he had been sent out on a mission and returned to the destroyed state the castle was in, he also realized that Seras would be suffering greatly over the loss of her own personal friends.

"Yes, it does. I mourned their passing in my room, before getting a notice from Saix that we would be working together for a few more days." Seras replied, which wasn't even a lie, Saix was working everyone to the bone now that they were down five members, especially since three of them were active members of the Organization, since both Vexen and Zexion were focused on other aspects of what was going on.

"Talk about mean. Does that mean if something happened to me or Axel, Saix would force Roxas to work despite our loss weighing heavily on him?" Xion asked, because if that was the case it really made her dislike the mission provider more than before, especially since he treated her like she was just a toy or something that would break, even though she had proven that she was capable of handling herself during their missions.

Seras assumed that such a thing would be true, since Saix was having everyone work despite the loss of those who had been sent to the other castle, though there was one other question that Roxas and Xion had, which happened to be on the fates of the other High Ranks that were now without a leader. It was around that point that Axel showed up and told the trio that Xemnas would be taking control of the now leaderless High Ranks, where he would likely be sending them out to scout out other locations for missions or to track down Sombra, since she was a threat to the Organization. Of course she knew that such a thing would be near impossible, as the figure they were hunting down would vanish and reappear whenever she desired, meaning they could be searching one world when in reality Sombra could be on another one, just to waste the Organization's time. Such a thing caused Roxas to ask if they would be sent out after Sombra, when they had an idea on where she was hiding, but Axel shook his head, because the Keyblade wielders in the Organization were far too important to be sent after someone like Sombra, or at least that's what Saix said.

In the end their mission was to head back to Twilight Town and hunt down the flock of Wyverns that had been spotted in the last few days, something that caused her, Axel, Roxan, and Xion to use a Dark Corridor to reach the world in question, appearing in the area that the train usually passed through.

Such enough they found some of the Wyverns in the sky above the town, where Seras grinned for a moment as she had Roxas and Xion grab onto her hands for a moment as she took off, hauling the pair into the air while Axel ran up the side of a building to keep up with them. Once she reached a certain point she thrust both Roxas and Xion up into the air, while at the same time Axel rushed by both of them and only came to a stop when he passed by the four Wyverns that were up above them, turning around and hurling his chakrams at them. Both of their friends realized what was happening, since Axel's weapons were unable to fully defeat the Heartless he was using them to sent their foes towards those that could deal with them, which happened to be Roxas, Xion, and Seras since all three of them had Keyblades. With that in mind the pair summoned their Keyblades before swinging at the Wyverns that were falling towards them, while at the same time Seras rushed up to strike at the pair that were further away from them, allowing the group to strike down all four targets in the span of a few seconds.

As she caught the pair, before they hit the ground, Seras found that the freed hearts were claimed by Sombra's power, it was hard to miss it when she knew what it was, though she didn't draw attention to that as she carefully set the pair on the ground and landed as well, before they moved out to track down more of the Wyverns... all while Roxas and Xion were unaware of a figure on a room watching them work with Seras and Axel.

"Good, it would appear that they are fully awake and nothing like a zombie." Sombra commented, as she was watching the group from one of the higher points of the town, where the Organization wouldn't even think to look for her, and the only reason she knew about this world was because Seras and Axel had showed Sora where to direct the ship, though after that comment she turned her head a little, "I know you're there. You can come out now."

For a moment nothing happened, before she heard a light chuckle as the air behind her shifted and a figure appeared out of thin air, who wore a black robe with belts and a trio of pouches on the front, with a red cape, an interesting chest area that looked like a cross of some kind, and red bandages around his head, showing only his mouth and right eye, with two black belts wrapped around the bandages.

"Your senses are remarkable, to have detected me when no one else can." the figure stated, where Sombra assumed that the chuckle was to show his amusement over what he had just discovered, before he stepped forward and stopped when he was near her, allowing him to stare out at Seras' group with a look of pure hatred in his eye, "Nobodies... why do you waste your time observing them? They have no right to their false existence... they would be better off destroyed."

"And you would kill the people they are becoming." Sombra remarked, though it was interesting to see how much hatred was lingering inside the man's body, in fact it reminded her of how she had been before becoming the unicorn that had been feared by so many, along with a sense of interest and curiosity that revealed that the person was a scholar, which told her everything she needed to know about him, "Look at them: sure, they might be Nobodies, heartless copies of all sorts of people, but that absence of a heart is only temporary... Seras, Axel, Roxas, and even Xion are in the process of becoming their own unique individuals. Tell me something, Ansem the Wise: is the hatred you are feeling right now, and the burning desire for revenge you are no doubt nursing inside you, worth destroying their new lives, not to mention the lives of everyone that will be caught in the crossfire?"

"Ansem the Wise?! Don't be daft, I am DiZ, short for 'Darkness in Zero'." the figure replied, though before he could say the rest of what was on his mind he paused as he found that Sombra's intense eyes turned back to face him, where he stood there for a moment before actually taking a step back, as if he was frightened of the figure in front of him,, "F... Forgive me, I mean no disrespect."

"Call me daft again and I will sunder your body... let you experience being a Heartless and a Nobody for a time... I wonder if you would have the same hatred after some time." Sombra stated, because she hated it when people talked down to her or treated her like an idiot, it just made her angry, and right now she could see that Ansem seemed to understand what she was talking about, causing her to relax her gaze a little, "Now then, Ansem, would you like to answer the question? Or should I take it that you'd rather see the Nobodies destroyed, when there is someone more deserving of your hatred?"

The figure stood there for a moment before he undid the belts that were keeping the bandages in place, allowing Sombra to see an older face that looked like he had been through quite a lot, plus he had a short blond goatee and a short beard, which had been obscured by the bandages.

"You are more perceptive than I originally thought... when I started observing Sora I noticed you, an anomaly in my plans... but even then I could not imagine meeting you in person." Ansem the Wise replied, where his voice was much softer than before, causing Sombra to notice the lingering bits of dark energy on the red bandages, likely used to hide himself so his chosen foe would be unable to track him or identify him before he deemed it necessary to reveal himself, "You say that there is someone more worthy of my wrath? Tell me, who could be more deserving than my student, the one who ended up betraying me and turned all of my other students into the Nobodies that are plaguing the World?"

"Master Xehanort, the one who started it all." Sombra answered, where she used a bit of her magic to show the man an image of the figure in question, just like she had done in the past, and it was easy for her to tell that he knew who she was referring to, even though he didn't have all of the pieces to the puzzle before this point, "There is much you need to know, to fully understand what is going on right now... come with me, I will take you to someone who can fill in the blanks, and we can get you some real food while we talk about what to do next."

Ansem paused for a few moments, as he was now wondering who in the world he was actually dealing with, especially since it appeared that Sombra already had a plan in mind to bring down Xemnas and his Organization, which caused him to follow her into the portal she opened up as Sombra looked forward to what the future held in store for them.

Chain/Days: New Development

Following Axel's return to the main castle, and having his first outing with Roxas and Xion while Seras helped them out, the group found that Saix started to send them out on different missions, often on their own because the amount of members in the Organization had gone down. Seras knew that this made sense for Xemnas and his allies, as there were now three Keyblade wielders in their group and that meant they could collect hearts much quicker than before, even though Sombra was out there, using her power to steal those hearts for her growing power. Of course the plan was to overload the stream of hearts so that there could only be one Nobody for Sombra to follow, as there was no way she could be in multiple places at the same time, and Seras knew that Sombra admitted it, at least while she was in the Realm of Light, because for some reason when she was in the Darkworld her power could touch multiple worlds. Sombra, to her credit, only snatched hearts after following one of them to the world that they were working on, whether it was shadowing Roxas in Twilight Town, watching Xion in Agrabah or Deep Jungle, or fighting beside Seras when the Dusks weren't watching.

Of course Sombra kept herself busy as Xemnas continued to send the now leaderless High Ranks after her, where Seras watched as she didn't even strike them down when they found her across the worlds, rather she simply smiled and used her power to create illusions of herself to keep her pursuers distracted. She also knew that Sombra had found, talked to, and even recruited Ansem the Wise into their ranks, which wasn't even a surprise at this point since her friend was building a plan and wanted to stack the chess board in preparation for the battles against Xemnas and Master Xehanort. Sure, Seras had no idea what the true Ansem the Wise could bring to the table, but even if there was nothing he could offer them she knew that keeping him safe meant that their enemies couldn't use him, or whatever knowledge he had, against their side. It just reminded her that Sombra was someone that couldn't be taken lightly, because her intelligence and ability to plan was part of the reason that she was such a feared figure back on their home world, and why she wanted to be on Sombra's side by the end of things.

In addition to that Seras was happy that both of her friends seemed to be doing well in the Gummi Ship, as Larxene and Marluxia had dropped the coat of the Organization after learning that they were just pawns in Master Xehanort's game, as they were now free to live their lives however they wanted.

From what she knew Larxene had raged quite a lot when she and Marluxia were told that most of what they had been told was a lie, that they could, in fact, gain a heart on their own, just like Sombra was sure that Seras, Roxas, and even Xion were in the process of doing. It was no wonder that her friends dropped their coats, because Xemnas had lied to them about all sorts of things, and now they needed to figure out what to do with their lives, since they were free to do whatever both of them wanted and could even leave if they so desired. Sombra wasn't forcing them to do anything, rather she wanted them to decide for themselves, which was a nice change of pace for someone like her, though Seras wasn't surprised to find both of her friends outside the ice cream shop in Twilight Town a few times. Marluxia was wearing a white shirt that was under a gray vest and a blue pair of pants, while Larxene opted for a black pair of pants that ended in yellow tips, which looked like the tips of lightning, with a black shirt, but Seras was happy to see that the pair were fine after everything they had been through.

Of course they had to be careful to avoid detection from the Organization and the Dusks, but that wasn't going to be hard since Radiant and Sombra had crafted a special crystal amulet, which looked ordinary to observers, that actually shrouded their presence from their former allies, so they could use the Dark Corridors freely.

"So, how long are you going to remain in the Organization?" Larxene asked, as she knew that Seras intended on working with them for a time, to make sure the way out for Roxas, Xion, and Axel was open, and potentially anyone else she might convince to leave without revealing her true intentions, but she figured she'd ask the question anyway.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. There's a lot of work to do, so I'll probably be among their number for a few weeks, maybe a few months at the latest." Seras replied, where she raised her ice cream and bit into it, just like Larxene and Marluxia did as they sat on one of the roofs in the train area, one that was out of sight and out of mind, and she knew they would be unseen from the clock tower, so it was unlikely Roxas or Xion would see the pair, "Really, it all depends on Sombra and her overall plan. What will you guys do while I continue to work with the Organization?"

"For now we will train with Sombra, for there are... issues we need to work through." Marluxia answered, because Larxene had a lot of anger to burn away after discovering that they were just pawns to their boss and someone who seemed to jump from one body to another, given how Aqua told them that Master Xehanort had taken over her friend's body before some things happened, "After that... we shall see."

Seras nodded as she heard fighting and glanced over the ledge of the roof, finding that Roxas and Xion taking down a pair of Wyverns on their own, showing that they had grown quite well, causing her to wish her friends well before descending on another flying Heartless, taking it out in no time as well. Other than that she found that there was no reason for her to get involved with the battle, both of the other Nobodies were doing just fine on their own and that meant they could likely handle whatever Saix threw at them next. Of course Roxas and Xion were happy to see her, even though neither needed her help, and she made sure to buy a few more bars of ice cream for them before she headed back to the castle, but not before making sure that Larxene and Marluxia were ready to depart for some time. After that she headed back to the castle and reported her success to their superiors, since she had completed her own mission ahead of time and took a bit of a break, where the stern Saix just nodded his head and let her go about her business.

The following day they had an interesting mission to do, Seras and Xion were being teamed up with Demyx, of all people, and they were sent out to a portion of Traverse Town that they usually never went to, the beach for some reason, or at least one that was far from the actual town, so they didn't have to worry about people seeing them.

"Man, I don't know why I'm being sent out to fight the Heartless... I can't do anything against them." Demyx commented, where he looked at the sand that was around them and realized that he was basically worthless in a fight, there was next to nothing he could offer that would aid the Keyblade wielders, while he knew Xibgar had been sent out with Roxas.

"Come on, don't say that. I'm sure we can find something for you to do in a fight." Seras replied, though as she said that a number of Heartless appeared in front of them, where she found that there were a number of Soldiers, Large Bodies, a force of Shadows, and even one of the Guard Armors, "Okay, that's why they sent two wielders."

Seras and Xion rushed at the Heartless without delay, swinging their Keyblades at the enemies that were in front of them and released more hearts into the world, where Seras noticed the darkness claiming them, meaning Sombra must have noticed the surge of dark energy in this particular world.

"Demyx, do something!" Xion stated, where she jumped into the air and struck the Guard Armor's head, denting it as she knocked it backwards, opening the way for her to fire a Blizzard down on the Shadows, before discovering that the other Nobody was still doing nothing, "Demyx, we could use your assistance! Play something!"

"I... I don't..." Demyx started to say, though as he said that another dark fissure opened and a Behemoth stepped out of it, adding to their situation, while at the same time he found that Xion had faith in him, despite what the remaining members of the Organization thought of him, before he summoned his sitar, "Fine, let's do this."

Seras and Xion found that when Demyx started to play it seemed like there was a sense of harmony with their bodies, as in a glow appeared all over their bodies as Seras found her speed being boosted, just like Xion found as she made her way around the Heartless, causing them to realize that there was another aspect to Demyx's power.

"Dude, you're like a bard or something... keep playing." Xion remarked, as she came to the same conclusion, Demyx really wanted the power to be useful to the Organization, even though he preferred to be lazy, and it was like the World gave him something he could use, the ability to use his existing power to strengthen others.

Demyx smiled and did exactly that, where the pair found that they were definitely empowered by his playing, which was an odd thing to discover, but either of them seemed to mind as Seras and Xion rushed around the Heartless and slashed at them, cutting them down and releasing hearts into the air. As that happened, however, Seras found that Xion seemed to be in the zone and backed off, not because she was tired or anything, rather it seemed like she might not be needed as Xion tore through the Heartless with far too much ease. In fact Seras had Demyx take her buffs and apply them to Xion, which he did without delay, though as that happened they found that her Kingdom Key was glowing, where Seras quickly realized that she was gaining her own Keyblade. The blade turned blue and looked more like a wave, while retaining the straightness of the original weapon, with light blue swirls along the edge, one large one where the teeth rested and three on the reverse side, while the guard around the handle looked more like a heart.

It was a water based Keyblade, that much Seras could tell, which was interesting since Demyx's element was water, but that didn't stop Xion from crushing the Heartless that were in front of her, almost like a gentle wave or something, and in the end even the Behemoth collapsed, allowing her to land with a smile on her face.

"Demyx, that... was amazing!" Xion said, as she had no idea that the Nobody in question had that sort of power, to grant a boost to those he fought alongside, which only made her wonder what the others might think of this situation, since Saix would likely task him with more work if he knew about this.

"Yeah, but that only means I'm useful to you guys." Demyx remarked, because he wasn't sure how his music had helped the two wielders out, but he was glad to be of assistance, which was a first for him since most of the others didn't care too much about him, so he really had no idea if he should tell the others or not, before he gestured to Xion's weapon for a few seconds and she looked at it, "It seems like you've finally grown up... something Roxas has yet to do since his weapon is still the Kingdom Key... what are you going to call this one?"

"I think... Seashell Resonance." Xion replied, where she found that there was a seashell on the chain, plus there was one in the sand that caused her to smile as she pulled out the light blue shell, as she felt a strong connection to the sea, or water for that matter, that she ended up pocketing.

"You know, I think that fits." Demyx said, where he dismissed his sitar before opening a Dark Corridor for them to use, as he could tell that there were no more Heartless for them to fight, which only made him curious as to where the force of enemies had come from or how Saix had noticed all of them in the first place, "Come on, let's go home."

Seras smiled as she and Xion followed Demyx into the Dark Corridor, where she found that the two were talking to each other, no doubt because both of them seemed to be connected to the power of water, something that made her wonder if Sombra might be able to save Demyx as well as she wondered what the future might hold in store for them and the rest of the Organization.

Chain/Days: Delve into the Darkness

While Seras and Axel were doing their best to keep a low profile in the main castle that the Organization lived in, while also carefully reporting on what they saw during their time there, both Riku and Mickey were sent out into the World as well, to investigate the group from the outside. Sombra knew that the Organization knew of their existence, as in hers, Riku's, and Mickey's, so for the time being she wanted to force Xemnas' group to focus on only hunting them down, keeping them blind to what the others were doing. Namine kept the Organization in the dark, carefully using her powers to make the Nobodies think that Sora, Donald, and Goofy were asleep, when the reality was that they were training with Aqua, learning how to fight while practicing some of their skills so they would be ready for when Sombra said it was time to attack. In addition to that Sora also flew around in the Gummi Ship every now and then, as one of the scanners indicated areas of Heartless ships for him to take out, earning them more materials that went into expanding the inside of their ship.

The reasoning for that was due to the fact that there were more people spending time in their vessel, some going to be permanent residents until the end of their battle with Master Xehanort's plans, so they needed more room to work, which was what Sombra did as she weaved the material into more space and more rooms. In addition to that she found a way to read the lexicon that she had claimed from Zexion's room, allowing her to make the training room into it's own dimension, just like the realm Fluttershy and Radiant worked in. The Shadow that was Fluttershy's heart was still frightened of the world and remained in the comfort of the animals she had befriended, though while Sombra could possibly save both her and Seras now, thanks to the replicas she had taken from Vexen's lab, both she and Ansem the Wise were making sure they were pristine. Of course she did have to stop the elderly man from annoying the Nobodies that were with them, but that had been easy after he learned how they were just pawns in Xehanort's game, cooling his anger so he could focus on getting things ready for Sombra's plan.

While all of that was going on Sombra ended up crafting a small feast and sealed it with her time magic, which was followed by her opening a Dark Corridor, which she had learned how to do from watching Seras and the Nobodies use it, to return to the Darkworld, or more specifically the beach area as her own shadow vibrated as she focused on something.

"You know, I honestly didn't think you would come back here again... at least not so soon after your last visit." a voice said, where Sombra found that it came from someone wearing the black coat of the Organization, but rather than attack her, as she was Xemnas' enemy, she noticed that he didn't seem to overly care about her, as he summoned no weapon and simply looked at her without removing his hood, "So, you are Sombra... the other chess master that has entered the game... I must say that I am impressed by what you have done so far. Definitely deviates from my plans a tiny bit."

"Oh trust me, you haven't seen anything yet." Sombra replied, where she broke a tiny bit of her shadow off, which quickly reformed to make it look like no damage had been done to it, and linked it to the stranger's, mostly because this guy was a complete stranger and she was sure he would show her where he had come from, all while the shadows continued to vibrate while she talked, "I know you aren't Xehanort... who are you exactly?"

"Well, I could lie and say that I'm a fortune-teller, when I'm actually a brilliant artist, or even a scholar... I could tell you that I dream of peace for the World, when I'm actually plotting it's destruction." the figure said, like he was trying to hide who he was from Sombra, which was a bad idea in her mind since his words were making her want to draw her Keyblade and strike him down before he could leave the area, before he lowered his hand for a moment, "The truth is what you see with your eyes, not what you hear... however, for someone like you, I think I'll bend my rules a little. I am known as the Master of Masters, one of the 'Lost Masters' to be exact."

"Let me guess, your plan involves either restoring balance to the World or tilting the balance in one direction?" Sombra inquired, where she noted that the figure had decided not to actually tell her his name, like it was forbidden or something like that, but decided that if he wanted to play that game she was fine with it, especially since the figure said nothing to her comment, causing her to ask something else, "Tell me: what is your verdict on me? Am I someone you can ally with, or am I someone you would seek to destroy?"

"Undecided. I do, however, know that if we were enemies I wouldn't do the foolish thing, like that Seeker fella, and fight you in a realm where you get a power boost." the Master replied, which was a good thing in Sombra's mind, as it meant the figure was definitely smarter than some of the other individuals she had encountered so far, before he focused on why Sombra had come back to this realm in the first place, "I must ask: what are you doing?"

"I am communing." Sombra answered, where she turned her focus to the area that was in front of her and closed her eyes for a few seconds, because part of her attention had been on something else when the Master showed up, and right now it seemed that her silent work was paying off.

"...With who? There's no one else in this realm." the Master inquired, though while he knew there were Heartless out in the vastness of this realm, in fact he was sure that some were silently watching while not coming at them due to Sombra's insane strength and power, he really had no idea who Sombra was talking about.

Instead of responding Sombra raised her hands as she snapped her eyes open and the area in front of her shifted before their eyes, where the Master watched as a path was carved out of the darkness, like water being split, forming the walls of a cave around them. As that happened Sombra stepped forward and found that the Master followed after him, no doubt to see what was going to happen next, though as she did so she kept her attention on the area that was in front of them, as there happened to be a light that revealed the entrance into a hidden portion of the Darkworld. The area in question was a large cavern, like a dragon might have when Sombra thought about it, though she also found that the ground was smooth, likely a personal preference to the beast in question, and a few seconds later both she and the Master discovered that their host was home. The creature in question was a dragon that was larger than even Cerberus, possessing black scales and a dark blue underbelly, with crimson eyes that had an eerie yellow slit in the center, no doubt signifying it's connection to the Darkness, plus the spikes on it's spine and the material between the 'fingers' of it's wings were a deep red color.

This was the creature Sombra had sensed staring at her when she and the others invaded Castle Oblivion, an ancient and powerful Heartless dragon that seemed to put Seeker Ansem to shame, who seemed to grin as the pair stepped into the cave and the path behind them was sealed.

"And so my guests have arrived: Sombra, she who commands the Darkness, and Prexus, known as the 'Master of Masters' and the Bearer of Pride." the dragon stated, where Sombra found that it was feminine, which was interesting to discover, along with the fact that she seemed amused by what she was seeing right now, no doubt because of the person who had come here with Sombra, "I am Tiamat, one of the three Ancient Heartless that exist in the Darkworld."

"Woah woah woah! You can't just go blurting out that name like it's nothing!" the Master, or Prexus as Tiamat called him, stated, especially since he approached her for a moment and seemed to wave his hand like he wasn't in the presence of an incredibly powerful being, though while this did seem disappointing for a few moments, not what Sombra expected from a 'Lost Master', she suspected that this was part of his personality, "And don't you mean that you are a Darkness?"

"No, I don't. We Ancient Heartless are on a level that is weaker than the True Darknesses." Tiamat replied, where Sombra suspected that she was having fun messing with Prexus, which only made her more interested in what they were talking about, while at the same time it seemed like the robed figure seemed unsure what to think of this situation, causing the dragon to turn towards Sombra for a moment, "As you can see I rule over the mountain ranges of the Darkworld, while the other two members of my kind are elsewhere in this dark realm: Leviathan, a massive serpent, rules the ocean of this world... while Abdul, the lich, tends to the twisted plains. Tell me, Sombra: why have you sought me out?"

"I wish to learn more about this realm, and the World itself... especially now that I know there is another level beyond the Emblem and Pureblood Heartless." Sombra answered, though at the same time she thrust her hand out and the items she had prepared ahead of time appeared before her, allowing Prexus to see that a feast had been prepared before Sombra even entered this realm, and the time power on it was disabled in the process, "Not to mention now that I know about the existence of these 'True Darknesses'... though I might have miscalculated how much to bring."

"There is no need. After all, I do not require food... but I will not turn down the offering." Tiamat said, where Sombra found that the large dragon weaved some of her power around her body and shrunk down to a smaller form in the span of a few seconds, looking almost like a child dragon, though it did allow her to sample the food without crushing everything that had been placed in front of her, meaning she might also have a humanoid form that she didn't want to use fight now, but she did chuckle as Prexus' stomach growled, "You have permission to join us, Prexus."

As Prexus did that Tiamat explained that she and her brethren were the first Heartless to be born, hence their title as the 'Ancients' or even 'Primordials' if Sombra wanted to call them that, and all three of them had seen many things over their long existence in this realm. She further explained that such a thing allowed them to witness the countless battles that had been waged between the Prime Darkness and the Prime Light, to the point where both forces seemed to forfeit their physical forms to possess the bodies of others, why she had no idea since it only continued the long war. Tiamat pointed at the robed figure, who slipped a piece of the chocolate cake that Sombra had brought with her into his face, without lowering his hood to preserve his identity, and told Sombra that if she wanted to know more about that war she should ask Prexus, as he was connected to the war in some manner. Prexus, for the time being, refused to say anything on this matter, mostly because he was in the middle of figuring out if Sombra was a potential ally or a terrifying enemy, which she was fine with since it made sense to not share information with an enemy.

Sombra did have to ask if the Ancient Heartless had their own hearts, since it sure seemed like they did, and Tiamat told her that they did, which was why she and her brothers weren't like the other Heartless, though Abdul did like to go after hearts that fell too deep into the darkness, causing Sombra to nod as they continued talking.

Tiamat also admitted that it had been ages since she or Leviathan had entered the Realm of Light, as Abdul was able to do so with ease since he was smaller than them and could fit through most of the rifts with ease, because her smaller form was unable to enter the openings that her brother could use. She did not regret this loss, rather the times she had been allowed to traverse the Realm of Light she had more than enough fun clashing with those that dared to challenge her, as she usually came out on top, so when it came time to fully call this realm home she was able to do so with ease. Of course if someone were able to call her into the Realm of Light she would be grateful for a chance to fly around another realm again, maybe even fight by their side if necessary, something that caused Prexus to cough for a moment, meaning he had swallowed something wrong, while Sombra chuckled. It was hard for her not to do that, because there was a chance that she could get into a war with Xehanort and call in a figure that even he would have difficulty facing, potentially three if the dragon's brothers wanted to get in on the action, which only made her that much more eager to learn about Tiamat and whatever else she knew.

This only made her that much more interested in seeing what the future held for her and her friends, especially since she wanted to see how the Organization was doing and if Seras was able to convince the others to turn away from Xemnas' plans, causing her to smile as she and Tiamat talked as she waited to see what the following days might throw at them.

Author's Note

For anyone curious about the 'Bearer of Pride' comment, I've read that the Master of Master, Luxu, and the five Foretellers are actually connected to the Seven Deadly Sins, and the MoM is Pride.

Chain/Days: Day Off

Seras found that after Xion was able to summoned her awakened Keyblade, her own unique blade to be exact, all three of them were usually split up to tackle the various worlds, because there were far too many hearts to obtain and Saix was of the opinion that there was no way for Sombra to catch all of them, since she couldn't be in three places at once. It was a good plan on Saix's part, or Xemnas' since he might be behind this decision, and even Sombra agreed that she had to pick and choose which of the trio to follow so she could acquire the hearts they freed. Seras was fine with this since it meant that they were able to meet up after their missions and join Axel on the clock tower for their ice cream treats, allowing Roxas and Xion to bond with him, which was a good thing as well in her mind. Axel wasn't surprised that Saix was working them to the bone, rather he said that he expected as much, especially since they were short staffed these days, but he was sure that they couple cope with the increased workload, just like he and the others were adapting to the changes.

In addition to all of that Seras found that Xemnas was fine with allowing Xion to finally form her own High Ranks, despite the fact that he and Saix seemed surprised by how much the other Nobody had grown in such a short period of time, where all of them gathered in the area they had formed the other High Ranks in. Once everyone was ready Xemnas called upon his power, just like he had done for Roxas and Seras, and they watched as Xion was scanned for a few seconds before several Nobody spirals formed around her when it was time to see what form they might take. A few moments later they found that her High Ranks were armored warriors, like knights when Seras thought about it, and they stood at the ready near Xion, as if awaiting her order, which made sense considering that she was their boss. In addition to that Seras found that their armor was like the rest of the Nobodies, a light gray of sorts with the Nobody symbol on their chest, while their weapons were elegant swords and shields, confirming that they were, in fact, Knights.

Not only did that happen, but Seras and the others found four more blood swirls appearing around her, which told her that more Vampires were coming to join them, which was good for her since it had been weird being the only Nobody with just a single High Rank, in the Organization anyway.

The first one to take form was an older male, at least in his thirties, who seemed stern like Lexaeus had been, though his attire looked like that of a regal figure, black with a golden trim while the inside of his cape was red, though he did have a high collar, as if he was a lord of some kind, and he had short blond hair with a horizontal line across his forehead. The next one appeared was a young lady, roughly around Xion's height, who wore a gothic dress and had long silver hair, but the most interesting aspect about her was that her eyes were two different colors, one a deep crimson and the other a light sky blue. Seras found that the third one that took form was a male wearing black leather, almost like it was designed to imprison someone, who looked down at himself before summoning a familiar set of clothing, the very outfit that she and Fluttershy had taken during their visit to Halloween Town, which put a smile on his face. After that the last one to take form was a girl that was around Sora's age, who wore a black evening dress with a deep purple skirt, plus she had a large ribbon that had the two colors in an alternating pattern, but she, like all of the others, had crimson eyes.

In addition to that there was another thing that connected them to Noir, the fangs in their mouths, plus there was their loyalty to the one who ruled over them, not Xemnas, like all of the other High Ranks, but rather Seras, as she was the one they bowed to, not the one who ruled over the Organization.

Xemnas had the High Ranks challenge the new Vampires to a fight, mostly because he assumed that there would be some sort of gap in their power and the power that Noir possessed, and to be sure they were safe he used Nothingness to put up a shield around them, before allowing the battle to begin. The regal Vampire stood still as a group of High Ranks came at him, where a red mist appeared around his hands before thrusting them out, slicing into them with enough force to do a slight bit of damage while knocking his foes into the walls that were around them. While he was doing that the Vampire with the silver hair did something unexpected, she struck down her foes with the power of Light, sending the High Ranks in her vicinity away with just a wave of her hand, causing them to rub their heads as they were knocked out of the arena. The youngest looking Vampire sharpened her nails, to the point that they almost looked like claws, allowing her to block incoming attacks with ease, as in the weapons of the other High Ranks failed to even touch her as they were stopped by her nails, before she kicked her foes out of the arena as well.

The last one caught Xigbar by surprise, as the fancy dressed Vampire pulled out a pair of weapons that looked like they were guns, nothing like what a Nobody possessed, with one being silver and the other black, where he spun around and fired at the High Ranks coming at him, the impact knocking all of them off the platform until only the last ones standing were the Vampires.

"Our ranks have grown stronger, with the addition of four new Vampires and the Knights, a whole new force to join the others." Xemnas said, though while he carefully hid his surprise, as Seras' new subordinates were far stronger than they had assumed, he knew that Xion's High Ranks would be strong as well, because the figure in question had exceeded very projection Vexen had given him when he first created her, meaning she was definitely a valuable member of the group at this point, "And now for the good news: today all of you will be given the day off. Take this time to relax and prepare for whatever the future might throw at us."

He had arranged this with Saix earlier and wanted to make the announcement in front of the other members, hence why the one who gave out the missions wasn't surprised, though while Roxas asked Axel what this meant, with Seras letting out a chuckle as Xion walked over to Demyx, Xemnas just left the castle and used a Dark Corridor to reach Twilight Town, the area in front of the station.

"You know, I never thought you would leave the castle... at least not for a day off." a voice said, where he found that only one of the members had followed him, though Xemnas wasn't surprised to find that it was Xigbar, his true second, which was a good thing since he was sure everyone else would remain in the castle, at least until Seras convinced her group to leave for the rest of the day, "Usually you only leave when Sora's up to something... or Sombra for that matter."

"That is true. I just... needed some time away from the castle." Xemnas replied, though at the same time he wondered if there was more Xigbar could have said, about the times that he departed from the castle, but decided that now wasn't the time to worry about that as he stared off in the direction of the beach, "All of our plans seem to be unraveling before our eyes, there are High Ranks that refuse to acknowledge who their true master is, and Nothingness, my own power, seems to be acting on it's own at times... I can blame the last one on Namine, if she's still alive, but the main culprits are Seras and Sombra."

"Yeah, but you can't do anything to Seras... if you did erase her the Organization would fracture." Xigbar stated, because the majority of the surviving members of their group liked having Seras around, in fact he speculated that it was due to her presence that Xion was able to develop into such a powerful Keyblade wielder in such a short period of time, and he suspected that if something happened to Seras there would be war in the castle, "However, if we could track down the true cause of our headaches, Sombra, everything would be that much better... she's a tough one to pinpoint, hopping from one world to the next while stopping inside the Darkworld every now and then. There's no pattern we can follow to place an ambush for her."

Xemnas nodded as Xigbar talked, because it was all true, tracking Sombra was a complete nightmare since she appeared on one world and then, as if knowing they were closing in on her, zipped off to another world, or even the Darkworld, and there were reports of two more figures moving around the darkness. There were two options as to who those two figures might be, either they were Riku and Mickey, which happened to be the far more reasonable option, or Sombra had a spell or power that allowed her to duplicate herself, mirror images to confuse the Organization. He wasn't ruling out the second option at all, due to the fact that Sombra was a figure that seemed to defy everything they knew, wielding a powerful force of Darkness that surpassed most of the figures he knew about, so it was entirely possible that she had spells that none of them knew about. He still remembered his fight with her, it was something he couldn't stop thinking about, especially with how lucky he was that he had been able to escape with his life, otherwise Sombra would have crushed him before he had a chance to use his full power against her.

As he thought about all of that, however, he spotted something in the distance that made him pause, two familiar figures that had been reported to be terminated during the assault on Castle Oblivion, and he could tell that even Xigbar was caught off guard, especially since Xemnas moved first, jumping from roof to roof before dropping down a fair bit away from the pair.

"Marluxia! Larxene!" Xemnas said, the words coming out before he could stop himself, where the pair stopped and just turned to look at him, allowing him to confirm that neither of them were wearing their black coats anymore and had what appeared to be casual clothing, but he noticed something was wrong right off the bat, they were looking at him like he was a complete stranger for some reason, which he refused to believe, "Where have you two been?"

"I'm sorry, but... do we know you?" Larxene asked, because Sombra had asked her and Marluxia to do this, to test their former boss in some manner by pretending to not know him when he came to talk to them, and it just so happened to be in the middle of them getting some of the ice cream that was incredibly popular in this town.

"I don't recognize him... I'm sure I would have remembered such a unique looking robe, not to mention that hair color, as you don't see that very often." Marluxia added, though as he said that both he and Larxene nearly broke character as they noticed the look on Xemnas' face, he looked like someone had kicked his puppy or something, in fact he was positive that there were a few tears in his eyes, "Sir, are you okay?"

"...Yes..." Xemnas replied, though he knew that his words were a lie, he could feel something inside him suffering thanks to this information, and he didn't need the tears starting to appear in his eyes to confirm anything, where he got rid of them before he actually started to cry, which would break the persona he had created for the Organization, "Forgive me, I... I thought you were people I knew."

"Well, it sounds like you really care about them. I hope you find them." Larxene replied, where she couldn't believe what she was seeing right now, Xemnas, their emotionless leader who only acted like he cared about them since they were just pawns to him, actually looked like he did, in fact, care about the rest of the Organization, especially members that had been written off thanks to Sombra taking Castle Oblivion.

Xemnas only nodded as he turned and left the area, waiting until the pair departed from the area as well before using a Dark Corridor to reach Xigbar, who had been staring at them from one of the roofs, and it looked like he was thinking about what they had just discovered.

"You know, I heard about their Somebodies, Lauriam and Elrena, before... I guess defeating their Heartless and Nobodies had restored their original selves." Xigbar remarked, as that seemed to be the case, but even then he felt something about this was suspicious, since he didn't think the originals of the two members would be here, in Twilight Town, making him wonder if there was more to this than what they were seeing, "What should we do now?"

Xemnas admitted that he had no idea and decided to just return to the castle, causing Xigbar to follow, even though both of them were unaware of the fact that the pair had disappeared behind the corner, using their own portals to return to the Gummi Ship that was their home for the time being.

"You know, normally I would have found joy in inflicting pain like that, but... well, even though I know we were nothing to him, part of me felt terrible for doing that." Larxene said, though at the same time she raised a hand to her chest, because it was like Sombra had told them, Nobodies could gain their own hearts and it seemed like everything she and Marluxia had been through, since meeting Seras, had helped them become their own unique persons.

"Yes, and let's not forget the look on Xemnas' face and how he acted... he looked like someone had kicked a puppy that he had spent years caring for." Marluxia stated, which was still interesting to him, because it seemed like Seras' work, and Sombra's plan, might be working far better than either of them had thought when they first heard what the pair wanted to do before pulling the rug out from under the Organization, "Some, does that mean what I think it means?"

"Indeed. His heart is growing... soon he will be his own person and maybe, just maybe, he'll stop his plans before we have to get involved." Sombra replied, where the pair found that she was already hard at work making something new, which only made them eager to see what sort of meal she might be making for everyone this time around, causing her to let out a chuckle as she had the pair tell her exactly what had happened earlier.

All of this made Sombra all the more eager to see what the future held for them, because things were progressing well on Seras' end, and the same was true for Aqua, who was training them so they could be prepared for Xehanort's return, a fact that made her excited for whatever might happen next.

Chain/Days: Roxas' Awakening

Seras found that the couple of weeks that passed since Xion got her High Ranks, and a few more Vampires joined Noir, were more of the same, as in she, Xion, and Roxas would be sent out on missions to clear out a large number of Heartless so all of the captive hearts could be delivered to their Kingdom Hearts. Of course making sure all three of them were separated was a good thing in the Organization's eyes since that meant two of them could provide hearts, since one would be stopped by Sombra and her dark power, even if they didn't know the ins and outs of what was going on. Sombra was fine with this arrangement, since it allowed them to keep an eye on Xemnas' Kingdom Hearts while she continued to do her part to slow the Organization down, leading to some of the members being frustrated, especially when they couldn't catch her. She also knew that everyone seemed to be waiting for Sombra to make the next move, or were waiting until she was found before making the next move themselves, since the Nobodies knew that she was a danger to their plans.

Of course that didn't stop the other members of the Organization from heading out with the trio from time to time, either to help them on their missions or to watch over them in case things got hairy, though Seras honestly didn't need the aid since her skills had only improved since joining their ranks. Xion, on the other hand, had actually become friends with Demyx, as the pair seemed to enjoy pulling harmless pranks on the others, those that they would get away with targeting, though out of the remaining members the only ones that were annoyed by this were Saix and Xigbar. Neither dared to do anything to the pair, mostly since Xion had proved to be a valuable asset to the Organization, so they tolerated their 'childish' pranks and went about their days as if nothing had happened. Xemnas, as far as Seras could tell, either didn't care about what the pair was doing or seemed fine with letting them go about their lives, though she definitely noticed a slight change in how he looked at them, like they meant more to him than any of them realized.

Seras also discovered that having more than one Vampire came in handy, since that meant that they could search more of the worlds, take note of more things, and deliver that information to Sombra without arousing suspicion, especially since all of them acted like they were serving the Organization to the best of their ability.

She also knew that Roxas seemed to be having trouble manifesting his true Keyblade, because both she and Xion had their own and that meant their friend would likely develop his own in due time, but that didn't stop them from trying to help him out in that regard. The only reason they assumed he'd have one was due to the fact that Xion had the Kingdom Key for some time and it changed for her, which told Seras that Sora was the only one allowed to carry that particular Keyblade, and that Roxas would likely find a way to awaken his own unique blade. Saix also sent Roxas out on increasingly difficult missions to test him, only for them to find that the boy seemed quite capable of tracking down the Heartless and taking them out, even if he had to fight multiple boss level creatures, such as the Armor or even the Stealth Sneaks. That proved to Seras that her friend's skills were definitely improving, his attacks were sharper than before and his speed was picking up, though so far it seemed like his magic was still lacking, or it did when compared to Xion, who seemed to be a magical prodigy.

That, of course, didn't stop Saix from eventually assigning them to a mission that seemed far worse than the others he had given them, especially since this time around he was having all three wielders in the Organization for a special mission that made everyone, including the members without Keyblades, to raise their eyebrows.

"Let me get this straight: you want to send these guys up against a force of a thousand Heartless?!" Demyx asked, because he was dumbfounded by the sheer number of creatures that had gathered on one of the plains of Olympus, as there was more than just the coliseum on that world, and the fact Saix was planning on sending all three of their wielders at them at the same time, "That's... insane! Where did they even come from? There weren't that many when I did my scouting mission a few days ago."

"As much as it annoys me, I must agree with Demyx. This is an usual event... what could have driven so many Heartless to gather on such a world?" Xigbar inquired, because he really hated to agree with Demyx, the laziest member of the group, and while part of him did suspect that the figure fudged the numbers on his reports, as the sitar player hated writing them, he also knew there was no way he would lie about such a force of Heartless.

"It would seem that Hades' hatred for Hercules is drawing in more and more Heartless... either to send them to fight him in the arena, or to overrun the rest of the world." Xemnas said, as he knew that only a select few of Maleficent's forces had survived contact with Sombra, Hades being one of them due to the fact that he fought them in an arena and was a god, at least on the world he lived on, so it was hard to take him down, plus Hades knew when to get out and that had saved him before Maleficent's foe came after him, "Either way we must take advantage of this opportunity and cull the Heartless that have been drawn to Olympus. With their number all three of our wielders must take part in this battle, to ensure that we obtain all of the hearts for our Kingdom Hearts."

"You do realize that this many hearts will, in fact, draw Sombra to the battle as well... right?" Xigbar asked, because while he agreed with their boss, that this was a good thing for the Organization, there was the risk that Sombra could feel the force of Heartless and might be on her way to their location, to reap the rewards for their hard work.

"Honestly, it's a risk we need to take... she can't take all of them, right?" Demyx inquired, surprising the pair since usually he didn't care to get involved like this, while at the same time causing Seras to raise an eyebrow as she listened to them talk, where their companion collected his sitar and glanced at his superiors, "And if we're there, on the sidelines, we might either keep her occupied or even scare her off."

It was an unusual idea, even for someone like Demyx, but Xemnas had to admit that it might work, because if everyone went with the wielders, and fought on the sidelines to direct their enemies towards a central point, they could ensure that Seras and her companions could take out the horde of Heartless, maybe without Sombra getting involved. With that fact in mind the Organization moved out, utilizing their Dark Corridors to get to the world in question, where Seras, Roxas, and Xion found that their friends hadn't been kidding, there was an army of Heartless marching towards a city. There were all sorts of enemies in the force, ranging from Shadows and Soldiers to Large Bodies and Defenders, from the various types of Nocturnes to Wyverns, to the Pot and Barrel Spiders to what appeared to be a couple of Pot Scorpions, and from Wight Knights and Gargoyles to the strange Angel Stars. In addition to that Roxas found that there were three Behemoths, seven Darksides, and a four armed silver Heartless that wielded curved swords, plus three different Armor enemies as well, all of which showing them just how massive the horde was.

Roxas had to admit that when he heard about the force of Heartless he had assumed it would be a much smaller mix of enemies, more like what he and the others had fought so far, not a sea of creatures that were a mixed bunch, and it was easy for him to see that everyone else was surprised by the assortment as well.

"Okay, that's... a lot of Heartless. Really makes me wish that our weapons could actually free their hearts... or that we had more than three wielders." Axel remarked, where he had to wonder what it would would like to actually wield the very weapon that his friends wielded, against the enemies they had to fight, though as he thought about that he held his hands out and summoned his chakrams, followed by most of the others doing the same thing with their weapons.

"Don't worry, I've got this." Demyx stated, something that caused most of the others to open their mouths in protest, as they knew he was mostly worthless, though that was when he started to play on his sitar and they discovered the truth of his new skills, each of them experienced an increase to their speed and power, "I'll keep the concert going, you guys focus on the Heartless!"

Seras nodded as she, Roxas, and Xion descended into the plains that the Heartless were moving through, each calling out their Keyblades as they separated from each other and slammed into their chosen foes, her going high as she slashed into the side of a Wyvern before driving it down into the face of one of the Darksides. While she did that Xion rushed around a number of the Heartless that were on the ground, calling the water from the nearby river to her side as she froze the legs of her targets, allowing her to jump on top of them and slash her way through them, hearts erupting and flowing into the air. As that happened Axel and the other members of the Organization fought whatever Heartless came their way, doing their best to knock them back into the main battle or weaken them so Roxas, or one of the other wielders, could take care of them before they were able to recover. In addition to that Roxas focused on taking out whatever enemies were close to him, because while he didn't have the skills that either of his friends had, or the magic in some cases, his determination to do well and be a valuable member of the team meant that he refused to back down.

Of course this wasn't as easy as any of the other battles they had been in, as there were far too many Heartless for just three of them to take down, since the rest of the Organization could only turn them back into where he, Seras, and Xion were fighting, and from the looks of it this was going to be a long drawn out battle.

As the fight progressed Roxas paused as he noticed that one of the Darksides was pointing at the sky, where they found that a cluster of meteors surged through the air and slammed into the ground, though instead of blowing everything up he discovered that they seemed to be shadows, keeping something safe. That something, as it turned out, seemed to be a couple of silver cloaked figures, wearing coats that were exactly like what the Organization was wearing, rushed out of the areas they landed in and slashed at the Heartless that happened to be around them. One of them seemed to fight with a crystalline bow, loosing arrows that struck down a number of Heartless, before he realized that it was actually a Keyblade that had two different forms, an interesting fact that explained how the figure could bring down their foes with arrows, a fact that likely surprised the others. Another one seemed to use powerful magic to eliminate whatever Heartless were in the area around them, where Roxas was sure that both it and the first one were girls, since they reminded him of Xion for some reason, though while the second didn't seem to have a Keyblade that didn't stop her from freeing hearts, meaning she was likely faster than he could track.

That was when he noticed two more figures that seemed far more familiar than the previous two, the first one was a girl as well, though she literally zapped around the part of the plain that she was in as lightning flashed from her and struck the Heartless that were around her. In addition to that she also carried a Keyblade, one that looked like it could be split into two halves since the head blade seemed to face both directions, though Roxas was unable to determine anything else about the weapon as the warrior tore through the Heartless and freed more hearts. The other one seemed to be male, as it was taller than the other three, though he, too, carried a Keyblade that looked like a rose or flower of some kind and his power seemed to involve using vines, like those from a flower, to stun his enemies and take them out. Roxas was sure that he recognized their fighting styles, somewhat, though as he thought about that a fifth figure appeared deeper in the large horde of Heartless and suddenly, without warning, the freed hearts were no longer in the air, all taken in an instant.

In that moment he realized who he was staring at, Sombra had shown up, just like the others said she would, and in that very instant Roxas felt angry, at having lost so many hearts, for losing what was needed to help his friends, before he felt a power awaken within him, out of the necessity to help his friends. Sombra, on the other hand, smiled as a light aura took form around Roxas' body, as she could sense a second heart awaken inside him, which reminded her of Sora, who had at least two hearts inside him during their first adventure and this meant there had been another. In that moment Roxas seemed to dismiss the Kingdom Key before holding both of his hands out, where Sombra watched as a white Keyblade with a star shaped blade formed in his left hand, while a black Keyblade with a chain of sorts in the center of the length of the weapon. Somehow, against all odds, he had gained the power to wield two Keyblades, though she was okay with this as Roxas rushed at some of the Heartless, leaving a trail of light energy that erupted from the ground and struck down the enemies that were left in his wake.

Sombra teleported herself over to the nearby hill and watched as Roxas tore through the Heartless, freeing more hearts in the process while unleashing more of his inner power, meaning he had fully awakened at long last, just as Seras and Xion had before him, something that caused her to smile as she realized it was time to retrieve another member of their team from his long slumber and looked forward to what the future held for them.

Chain/Days: Fateful Meeting

Roxas found that the days following the battle for Olympus, in which he and his friends were joined by Sombra's allies to take down an army of Heartless, offered no real answers to some of the questions he had, like why was he the special one that had two Keyblades, or why Sombra was so interested in hearts, or the others that were in his head. The fact that he had the power to summon and wield two different Keyblades had been a shock to the rest of the Organization, since the rest of his friends had also assumed that he, like every other wielder, could only summon one at a time. Roxas suspected that this ability was why Xemnas had labeled him as the 'Keyblade's Chosen One', a chosen warrior of the Light, like the element he had called upon during the war, whose power and abilities were different than the other wielders that existed. Even with that in mind he really had no idea what was going on, though he knew that it was unwise to ask questions since Saix was the one who usually got in his way and he knew that the Nobody in question didn't like to answer questions.

With that in mind Roxas decided that he needed some time to cool his head for a time and headed to Twilight Town, as Saix just so happened to have a scouting mission available and this was perfect for him, causing the boy to reach the train area of the town before he moved to the roofs to watch over everything.

As he wondered how he would eventually be punished, because of the hearts that were part of the Heartless army they had only been able to obtain a hundred and fifty hearts, which was partly due to the fact that some of the enemies were the Purebloods, who didn't have hearts to offer upon their defeat. With that in mind he knew the about of foes without hearts had been a hundred, or at least that was what Saix had claimed from their readings, which meant that Sombra had stolen seven hundred and fifty hearts over the course of the battle. It infuriated him when he thought about it, because all of those hearts could have gone to forming their own Kingdom Hearts and granting the Organization's wish, but right now it looked like that was a far off dream that might never become a reality. The only thing he didn't understand was why Sombra had such a fondness for hearts, especially since she wasn't a Heartless, or at least Roxas assumed she wasn't, even though her actions were directly harming her friends by crippling their changes to become real people.

While he considered all of that, however, Roxas felt the air shift as Sombra, in the flesh, appeared on the streets below him, where Roxas watched as she headed into the forest without any concern for potential enemies that might be looking for her, something that caused him to draw his Keyblades before rushing at his chosen foe... who waited until she was outside the town to turn around and grab his face, allowing her to put his back to the ground.

"Hello Roxas, it is nice to finally meet you, face to face." Sombra said, where she let go of the boy's face and backed up just a few steps, finding that the Nobody in question glared at her as he got up, something she understood given that she was an enemy of the Organization, hence why she held a hand up to stop him from lashing out at her, "Hold, I do not wish to fight you... if I did, you would not be standing right now. I simply wish to speak with you... you are seeking answers, are you not? Why not get them from the one your boss wants to bring down?"

"Yeah, but how will I know you're telling the truth? You could easily lie to me!" Roxas stated, though as he readied both of his Keyblades two things happened, the first being that two of the silver coat wearers from the battlefield appeared behind the figure that he was focused on, while at the same time discovering that the second was that Sombra created a dark barrier around the area they were in, "What are you doing?"

"Keeping a secret from the Organization, until it is time to reveal it to them." one of the figures said, where Roxas faltered for a moment as he heard it, because it was impossible for the person in question to be here, after Sombra's forces took out everyone but Axel during her time in Castle Oblivion, but that didn't change the reality that Marluxia was in front of him, with Larxene standing beside him, "Roxas, it is good to see you again."

"I... what... Marluxia? Larxene? What's going on?!" Roxas asked, because now he was confused, as he knew that both of Seras' friends had been terminated during Sombra's assault on the other castle, though as he said that there was a knock on the barrier and the dark figure opened it a little, allowing Seras, Axel, and a surprised Xion to join them, "Did you guys know about this?!"

"Seras and I knew... Sombra asked us not to tell you, not until she was sure you were ready." Axel replied, where Roxas could tell that he wasn't happy about keeping this whole thing a secret from one of his best friends, much less two since Xion had no idea what was going on, though she did join them as the barrier was sealed once more and Sombra opened a Dark Corridor of her own, "Roxas, there is a lot more going on than you or Xion could possibly know... Sombra can tell you about everything that's going on, if you give her the chance to do so."

"She won't force you to follow her, rather you are free to follow or stay behind." Larxene added, though in the following moment she and Marluxia followed Sombra through the portal, something that was followed by Seras stepping through it as well while Axel and Xion, the latter thinking about it for a few moments, did the same thing, eventually leaving Roxas as the last one on this side of the portal.

Roxas stood there for a few seconds before deciding to follow the others, where he stepped through the portal and found that he appeared in what appeared to be a ship of some kind, before following the others down to what appeared to be a living area of sorts, passing by doors that had names on them to indicate whose bedroom they belonged to. While Sombra brought them to a large rest area, which seemed to expand to fit the maximum number of people who were in the ship, it was easy for Roxas to see that both Marluxia and Larxene pulled off their new silver coats and revealed their new attire to their friends, like they had fully abandoned the Organization. In addition to that Roxas was able to see a few other people that happened to be in the area, such as another pony girl called Radiant Hope and an old man who seemed to be more of a researcher, before he spotted a boy that seemed to be about his age standing off to the side with a pair of animal creatures. Part of him was sure that he had seen the boy before, or knew of him from somewhere, and was surprised to learn that this was Sora, his original body to be exact, which utterly confused him since Xigbar had mentioned that all of their kind were half of someone, so since he was still around Sora's existence confused him greatly.

As such it was the first thing he asked about when Sombra called for him and the others to sit around the living area while she worked in part of the kitchen, something Larxene told him he'd enjoy once she was done, so it was worth putting up with her doing this while they had such an important talk.

"There are several Nobodies in Twilight Town, but they have no idea where we went." another voice said, where Roxas found that another girl joined them, one who paused as she entered the room and noticed him sitting there, as if he was more important than anyone else at the moment, "Ven?"

"Um... who? I'm Roxas." Roxas replied, though this was a first for him, that someone was confusing him with someone he didn't know about, where the girl simply stared at him for a few more seconds before glancing at Sombra, who knew that it was time to get the conversation rolling.

Sombra explained the circumstances revolving around Roxas' creation, as he was Sora's Nobody, but Sora, thanks to the aid of Kairi, had freed himself from being a Heartless and formed a new body, the one he was using right now, which was why Roxas had started more zombie like than the other Nobodies, since his creation was different from the rest of his kind. Given the nature of his creation, and why he looked nothing like Sora, Sombra reasoned that it was due to the third heart that had been deeper inside Sora's body, far deeper than his or even Kairi's during the time hers had been inside his body, which she suspected was actually Ventus' heart. Aqua, of course, was surprised by that statement and Sombra told her that it was the only thing that made sense, both due to the fact that, by her own admission, Roxas looked like Ventus, and the fact that Roxas likely drew on a bit of Ventus' lingering power to be able to wield two Keyblades at the same time, but she admitted the latter was just a guess. Sombra even told Roxas that, if he was willing to aid them, they could return him to Sora for a time, therefore recompleting the boy and putting Ventus' heart back where it ended up a long time ago, and Aqua could bring them right to where Ventus was resting, meaning they could bring him back.

In addition to that Sombra said that once they were done with that she should be able to bring Roxas back as well, as in safely separating his heart from Sora's body without harming the boy, and when asked about that Sombra simply turned and smiled to them as if she had the answer for everything.

"Replicas, which can take the form of anyone... according to Vexen's notes, which Ansem and I have confirmed after days of study, placing a heart in one allows the vessel to take the form of the heart." Sombra said, where she walked out into the living area and placed some items on the table with her magic, drinks and snacks that she had been working on, and her smile widened a bit as she found a look of surprise appearing on Roxas and Xion's faces, "Don't worry, everyone has that same reaction to my food. Anyway, Vexen originally created the Replica Program in case the Organization failed to find even a single Keyblade wielder, meaning they intended to make their own... Xion, to be exact, but you turned out to be far more than even Vexen realized, because you are no longer an empty shell. You, Xion, are your own person with your own heart... sure, you have a very small piece of Sora's memories inside you, but everything else is purely your own, and Namine knows how to help you without undoing your very existence."

"So... does this mean that you'll put Roxas' heart into a 'replica' to reform him?" Xion asked, though she was surprised by this information, something she knew had to be true since Larxene and Marluxia had been nodding their heads during that part of the conversation, which caused her to think about something else that was important, "Seras! If you could do this for Roxas, then can you do it for her... or even the rest of the Organization?"

Sombra confirmed that such a thing was possible, since they also knew where Fluttershy, Seras' original self, was located, her Heartless was currently being protected by the animals she had befriended in the world that was linked to their ship, a fact that they had to confirm for them. Roxas looked at the little unusual Shadow and asked Sombra why she was going so far to do such things for him and his friends, where she told them the whole truth, that the Organization was nothing more than puppets dancing to Master Xehanort's dark plans. Each member was just a pawn in the grand scheme that the figure had created, and right now the person in question was also somewhere else, as Sombra and Ansem had confirmed that his heart had formed the Seeker of Darkness, who had been knocked out, while his body became Xemnas. This was where things got interesting, as Sombra told them that, in the beginning, Xemnas didn't seem to remember much, due to what Ansem had told him previously since he had encountered the figure before being exiled, but now, after everything they had been through, she was sure Xemnas might have a heart of his own.

Roxas realized what Sombra was talking about, their leader had been acting weird lately and it was hard to imagine that someone who had seen them as disposable pawns might now see them as treasured friends, but even then he knew the truth, Sombra was going to screw over Xehanort's plans and was a train that wouldn't be stopped no matter what anyone else tried to do.

"I will admit that this is a lot to take in, but... for some reason I believe you." Roxas admitted, because with the pieces of information Sombra had presented to them, and there were papers and notes, along with tales from everyone, that just made it hard for him to believe anything else, causing him to sigh as he wondered something else, "So, assuming this whole thing works, what will you do next?"

"Keep working Xemnas for some time... I think waiting until a year has passed since Maleficent's defeat might be the best thing right now." Sombra replied, which was due to the fact that it would torment Donald some more, in fact the duck had an annoyed look on his face when he realized part of her reason for saying that, before Sora returned from the controls of the ship, as he had moved some time ago, and beckoned for them to join him, "After that we'll disable the rest of his plans for whatever worlds the Organization is interested in... from there, ruin Master Xehanort's final plan."

Roxas simply nodded his head as his group followed the others in using the Gummi Ship's systems to warp down to the world that Sora had stopped at, which happened to be Castle Oblivion, though that was when Aqua stepped forward and stopped a few steps in front of the main door. She stood there for a few seconds, having raised her hand to her right hand in front of her chest for that time, before calling out her other Keyblade, the metallic one, and quickly raised it towards the door, forming a magical lock in front of it that instantly reacted to what she was doing. It was like she was releasing a burst of energy that was like a gale, and when she fired a beam into it the pressure kicked up as Sombra surrounded those not involved with this in a barrier, allowing them to watch as he undid what she had done to the structure. Once the lock was gone a new image appeared over the entire castle and they were sure a tune was playing as the entire castle started to change before their eyes, pieces shifting and moving as a new curved castle appeared in front of them as the sky turned to light, like Castle Oblivion had been hiding an entirely different realm the entire time.

Once everything was done Aqua stepped into the castle and Sombra followed her, prompting the others to follow as well, allowing them to enter a large hallway that brought them to the other end of the structure, to a pair of stairs that went up to a whole new level, where three thrones rested with the middle one having a slumbering boy that was the spitting image of Roxas.

"No way... he DOES look like me!" Roxas said, as he could see that he and Ventus really did look like twins, like this was his true original self and not Sora, meaning that Sombra had to be right about everything related to this particular topic, all while Aqua carefully collected Ventus' body and returned to them.

Sombra made sure that this realm was hidden from the Organization, since there might be more things for them to find in the future, and she was sure Namine would do something to make Xemnas' crowd not care about Castle Oblivion, before they returned to the Gummi Ship. She then showed them to the lab she and Ansem had set up, where Roxas and Xion found that there were eighteen Replicas sitting in another portion of the massive area, where Sombra had Aqua place her friend on the main table as she turned to Roxas and Sora. Namine joined them for a moment as Xion felt lightheaded for a few seconds, something that disappeared as the casual Nobody reported that the fragment of Sora's memories had been returned to his Chain of Memories, something that caused Roxas to close his eyes and focus for a moment before turning into a surge of light that wrapped around Sora. Sombra waited for a few moments before discovering that it was a total success, Sora was back at one hundred percent, before she raised her hand and focused on her heart power, because she had gained a new way to use her ability, allowing her to carefully draw out Ventus' heart, as it felt different thank both his and Roxas' hearts, before sending it into Ventus' body.

At first everyone was surprised by this turn of events, but Aqua was overjoyed when Ventus opened his eyes and sat up for the first time since his battle with Vanitas, in fact she hugged him while he was sitting there confused, causing her to tell him that there was so much she had to tell him about. With Ventus back on his feet, and in desperate need to learn about what had happened since he was struck down, Aqua carefully helped him off the table before Sombra moved one of the Replicas onto the table, causing Sora to nod his head for a moment. Sombra did the same as she extracted Roxas' heart, where the others found that a surge of energy wrapped around the figure before it was enveloped in light, before the light faded and Roxas, wearing the Organization coat still, took form, but they were sure they could find something for him to wear in terms of casual gear. Sombra and Ansem checked him for a few moments before declaring that this was a success, he was a full person, just like he had been before rejoining Sora for a short period of time, causing Seras to vanish for a moment as she returned with Fluttershy's Shadow.

Sombra held a hand out as the two transformed into spirals of energy, one pink and one blood red, where both merged into a single form, a heart and body becoming one, though at the same time she readied one of the remaining Replicas as the pair worked their magic. Sure enough she and the others watched as Fluttershy, in all of her glory, took form before their eyes, in fact the girl in question seemed surprised when she opened her eyes and realized that she was no longer a Shadow, before she glanced at Sombra and braced herself. There was no pain for her as Sombra withdrew Seras' heart and placed it inside the Replica, where they watched as it, too, transformed before their eyes, with Seras reforming into a body that was fully her own, causing her and Fluttershy to share a hug as Larxene and Marluxia joined them. Sombra was pleased with this turn of events, though she made sure finding Kairi was next on their list of things to do, to reunite her with Namine and then let her Nobody have her own body as well.

At the same time she smiled as she imagined the look on Xemnas' face when he realized what had happened, as he was in for quite the shock, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it, which caused her to look forward to whatever the future had in store for her and the others.

Chain/Days: Back to Work

After Sombra's hard work in bringing back more of their allies, and using some of the Replicas to give the two Nobodies their own bodies again, Roxas found that they spent some time talking about various things, like filling in Fluttershy and Ventus, telling Ventus why there was someone who looked like him present, and other topics. From what he could tell the group was like a family of sorts, like the Organization but with greater bonds than what he was used to, and even with the short period of time he and his friends had been with them he felt better than before. In addition to that there was Aqua fussing over Ventus, as he had been asleep for a long time, in the sense that his body had been in what Roxas guessed was a magical coma of sorts, and he was definitely hungry for something to eat. Fluttershy, of course, was worried she might have done something bad while she was trapped in her Heartless form, where the others assured her that she had been quite safe and had done nothing wrong, while Seras was happy to have her other self, a sister if someone looked at them, back.

Eventually it came time for him, Xion, Axel, and Seras to return to the main castle and see if there were any missions Saix or Xemnas wanted them to do, causing the others to wish them well as his group returned to Twilight Town for a few minutes before warping back to the castle, right into the lobby area.

"And where have you four been?" Saix asked, as if he had been waiting here the entire time and knew that it was only a matter of time until they came back to the castle, where they could see that he wasn't too happy with them leaving without receiving a mission first, since their time out meant they had wasted precious time, which would have been better spent hunting down Heartless.

"Sorry, after facing that army I... was angry that so many hearts were lost." Roxas replied, which was the truth, originally he had been enraged with Sombra stealing the hearts they needed to complete their Kingdom Hearts and fulfill their goal of giving every Nobody their own heart, or at least those in the Organization, so it was easy for him to say this without giving anything away, "I had to go cool off, least I get reprimanded for not controlling my anger. Anyway, I'm ready to get back to work and free more hearts to complete our Kingdom Hearts."

Saix stood there for a moment, as he wondered if there was more to what was going on than what he was currently seeing, especially since Axel and the others had gone out of their way to help Roxas tame his anger, another thing that was cause for worry, since there was no telling what someone like him might do.

"Very well. Roxas, you and Axel will be heading back to Twilight Town to take out some Heartless, while Xion will do the same in Deep Jungle, and Seras will travel to Agrabah with the same mission in mind." Saix said, because they had to make up for the fact that Sombra had stolen many hearts during the battle with the army of Heartless, hearts that could have gone to furthering their goal, and this was the best way to go about it, separating the wielders to make sure they claimed more hearts over a short period of time, "Depart when you are ready."

Roxas nodded, he really wasn't surprised by this, not after what they had learned from Sombra, though he said nothing about that as Axel collected the information about their mission, just like Xion and Seras did after him, and once all four of them were ready to go three Dark Corridors were opened and they stepped through their portals.

"You know... this place is starting to feel like home for some reason." Roxas remarked, speaking once they were back in the town that they had been in not a couple of minutes ago, this time positioned in front of the train station, though he only started talking once the portal had closed behind them, where he found the usual trio hanging out, "Hayner, Pence, Olette... man, I wonder what it would be like to just... I don't know, stop doing missions for Xemnas and just hang out with some people without having to worry about worrying about whose playing me or not."

"You mean hang out with your friends? Like a normal boy whose only worry is schoolwork?" a voice asked, where the pair found Ansem the Wise, wearing most of his DiZ outfit since it allowed him to move around without the Organization being able to track his movements, standing nearby, though he seemed to know that Roxas would need time to think and that he, out of the trio, might falter after taking on Sombra's great task.

"Yeah. I know what's expected of me, but... part of me really wants to take a break." Roxas replied, because ever since he first woke up and joined the Organization it had been constant fighting and no breaks, to the point where he wanted to just remove himself from most of the equations that Xemnas and Xehanort had created, for the time being, and while he wanted to help Sombra he wasn't sure how long he could do so without a break.

"I understand. Sombra expected that you would need time to rest and come to terms with everything that has happened to you... so here, a gift from Radiant." Ansem said, where he pulled out a package and Roxas took it, where he and Axel found that it was a set of clothing sized to fit his body, two different jackets, one white and one black, a pair of pants that was two different colors, and a wristband, meaning his shoes were good enough to go with them, and he found that one of the jackets had an X zipper, like the Nobody symbol, "Now that she has figured out how to embed clothing and jewelry with the same properties of the Organization's coats, you will have no fear of them tracking you down."

"Not to be the bearer of bad news, but, this is the place Roxas knows the best, out of all the worlds. It's literally the first place they'll look." Axel remarked, because he was sure that Xemnas would do such a thing, in fact the moment he and the others learned that Roxas was leaving they would send him to take him out, since he was the assassin for the group, so it would be hard to stop the Organization from tracking him down.

"Yes, that is true... which is why I have created a Datascape, a digital world of sorts, that will be broadcasting an signature that matches Roxas' unique energy." Ansem replied, something that told Roxas far more than he was expecting, both the man and Sombra had been planning for him meeting them for a long time and had plans in place in case something were to happen, either by his own desires or by the order of the Organization, "It will draw the Organization's eyes to it for as long as it is deemed necessary. Now, in order to assure that Xemnas is fooled by your report, Axel, you and Roxas will go after Riku and fight him in an area where we can trick them into believing that Roxas has been taken against his will... if he moves as we assume, you will be ordered to track Roxas down and can freely come and go from the Datescape. As long as the Organization's focus in on the Datascape, and nothing else, you should be able to rest and relax for as long as you want to, Roxas... we will, of course, have to inform Xion and Seras of the altered plan."

Axel had to chuckle as he heard that, because it sure sounded like Sombra had planned for everything and knew that she might need alternate plans in case the people allied with her did something different, where Roxas nodded as they got ready for the next stage of the altered plan as he wondered how the Organization would react to the news.

Xemnas sat in his room for a time after reading the report that Saix had delivered after sending the wielder off on their missions, though that wasn't what was on his mind fight now, rather he was focused on the massive army of Heartless and what the Organization had seen. Despite the fact that they were wearing different colored coats, he was positive that the Somebodies of Larxene and Marluxia had taken part of that battle, cutting down Heartless, as the moves seemed far too similar to what the pair used when they were training. Though that wasn't the only thing on his mind, there was one other figure that added some worry to the entire situation, the magic user that was part of Sombra's forces and likely had a Keyblade of her own, one he hadn't seen her use despite all of the hearts she freed. There was only one figure that had magic like that, something he knew thanks to certain memories that had surfaced after seeing her in battle once more, a fact that was shared by only one other member of the Organization, which was Xigbar, his trusted right hand.

The problem with that discovery was that there was so much that could happen if the figure was no longer trapped inside her self imposed prison, the Darkworld, especially if he was right and she had sided with Sombra, the worst person in the entirety of the World, because that meant Sombra would ruin everything.

"That was Aqua, no doubt about it... man, another thorn has appeared to ruin our plan." Xigbar remarked, because that was what he had come to talk about, to the point where he used their secret code word, that being Xehanort's name since it told Xemnas that things were serious if he was using it, to make sure they were left alone for some time, "What's worse is that she might lead Sombra to Ventus and then we'll lose him as well."

Xemnas said nothing to that, because he knew that both he and Xigbar had far more memories of their past than the rest of the Organization, and all of that included knowing the plan that Master Xehanort had in mind, or at least bits of it since both of them hadn't been told everything. What he knew about the plan was that the figure had been seeking vessels, for some unknown reason, and it seemed like the best were the empty vessels he could fill with his darkness, and based on what Xigbar knew it seemed like Ventus was a perfect candidate. Xemnas knew that the mysterious man would love to get his hands on the Organization, but that happened to be most of the reason why he was seeking Kingdom Hearts, both to give himself more power and to give the Nobodies hearts, the former to do everything in his power to make sure each of his friends were safe from Xehanort's plans. He suspected that this change to his own plans was due to Seras' arrival and all of her tampering with how things were supposed to go, plus the awakening of emotions that Xemnas thought he would never awaken, in addition to changing how he mentally thought about the other members of the Organization.

His thoughts, however, were interrupted as a Dusk flew into the room, something that was only allowed when the need was important, and his eyes widened a little as he got a terrible report that would shake things up, causing him to nod so the Dusk could leave, followed by him and Xigbar leaving as well.

"What's going on now?" Xigbar asked, because he knew that when Xemnas got messages like this it was usually bad, since he let the communications to Saix or the other members, which only made him wonder what in the world Sombra had done this time around and what the damage to the Organization was.

"It's Roxas... it would appear that Riku ambushed him and Axel while they were on a mission." Xemnas replied, which was when he noticed the shocked look on Xigbar's face, as they knew that Roxas had just awakened his true power and both of his Keyblades, something that was still a shock to him when he thought about it, and he could see the gears turning in his head as they stepped into the infirmary, where a bruised Axel was sitting on a counter as he drank a potion, "Axel, it is good to see that you are alright... but... where is Roxas?"

"Taken... ow, that runt got me good." Axel answered, because to make this convincing he and Roxas did fight Riku, where they got a glimpse of the power that was inside that amulet of his, and his own growing power for that matter, which was why he had come in with some painful convincing wounds, "We were tracking down the group of Wyverns that were said to be in Twilight Town, thanks to one of the last reports that had been made, when Riku, wearing one of our coats, came out of a Dark Corridor and attacked us. I'm not too sure what happened after that, as Roxas and I fought him before he knocked me out, but from what I can tell Roxas forced him to go all out to bring him down... and when I came to Roxas was nowhere to be seen, and I even used the Dusks to make sure."

"...Roxas..." Xemnas said, where he leaned against the wall that was behind him and raised his hand to his face, covering his eyes for a time as he realized that another friend had been taken, that another friend was lost to him, which made his body ache more than ever before.

"Either Sombra or Ansem the Wise is behind this... only they would have him taken alive." Xigbar remarked, though as he said that he knew that there was something wrong with Xemnas, he was no longer himself and that worried him greatly, as it meant that their plan might now be in jeopardy as well, but he had to maintain his composure, "Xemnas, what do we do about this?"

"Axel... I hate to place all of this on you, but you are the most suited for tracking down Riku, Roxas, and whoever took him from us." Xemnas said, where he pulled his hands from his face and straightened his stance once more, even though he was saddened by this news and also fueled to do everything in their power to save one of their friends, before he paused for a few seconds as he considered something else, "Use whatever resources you need to track our friend down and bring him back to us... but for the time being keep this from Xion and Seras, at least until we know more."

Axel really couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing, Xemnas, their leader, actually seemed to care about them as more than tools, just like Larxene and Marluxia had said earlier, causing him to nod his head as he prepared himself for the job of his life, all while praying that this worked as Sombra intended as he wondered what the future held for them and the Organization.

Interlude: Regrouping and Training

In the days following Roxas' abduction Xigbar found that things in the Organization weren't as good as they had been in the days after the boy's awakening as a Nobody, and he wasn't sure who to ultimately blame for that, even though Sombra was his most likely candidate for their recent troubles. Saix had told Seras and Xion that Roxas was away on an extended mission, to make up for the fact that he was no longer in the castle, but on the third day Xion asked if her friend had been taken from them, like the members that had been sent to Castle Oblivion. Axel told them that he was fine, just that he had been abducted by someone wearing their robes, which was why he was tracking the figure down to find their friend, but he was interrupted by Xemnas, who told Xion that he gave the order, so if she wanted to be angry at someone it was better it was directed at the one who deserved it. Such a thing had been a surprise to Xigbar, because he was sure that Xemnas would be the same as before, but he was continuing to act differently than he assumed and continued to address each of them as his 'friends', making him wonder if their leader had gone insane at long last.

This was one of the rare times where he found that the calming tea that he usually drank, which happened to be the same brand that Vexen used, didn't do much to help him this time around, but Xigbar made sure he was presentable when he was near the other members of the Organization.

"Dude, you need to relax. Axel's going to find Roxas and then things will be back to normal before you know it." Demyx said, while at the same time turning a page in the book he had been reading since breakfast, because it was interesting to him and it was a nice change of pace from his sitar, which seemed to annoy most of the other members, so he figured that he'd take a break for a while.

"Honestly, it's you that should be taking this seriously: we lost one of our wielders and Sombra is still out there, waiting to do more damage to our operations." Xigbar remarked, as everyone knew that Demyx was the laziest member of the group, and yet his power to actually grant their wielders buffs with his music, which they discovered during the battle with the army of Heartless, was enough to cause Saix to order him to stay in the castle, as he didn't want that power to fall into Sombra's dark hands, before he sighed, "What you reading anyway?"

"Oh, this? I was visiting Twilight Town, before Roxas was taken, and found this in one of the local stores." Demyx replied, to which he held up the book for a moment as Xigbar turned to look at him, where the one-eyed Nobody noticed that it had a familiar light blue, almost sky blue, cover with a white design on it, something that caused him to pause for a moment since he was sure the tome in question was hidden elsewhere, "I've got to say, this has some interesting stuff inside it."

That was all Xigbar needed to hear as he marched over, snatched the Book of Prophecies from Demyx, and opened it to the page that the other Nobody had been reading, only to find that it wasn't what he was expecting, because it was about music and different types of songs, it even had examples for one to practice with, instead of prophecies like he assumed.

"Hey! Be careful with that... it's one of a kind." Demyx said, carefully retrieving the book from Xigbar's hands, who was just stunned by what he had seen, as if he couldn't believe that he would go out of his way to learn new types of music, while at the same time doing his best to make sure none of the other members realized he had goofed up, "I've been wondering if another type of music will produce a different result, when I try to buff our friends, so I figured learning more about music in general couldn't hurt. You feeling alright, Xigbar?"

"Yes, just... stressed out, I guess." Xigbar replied, though true to form he didn't apologize for snatching the book, rather he just walked over to another portion of the room they were in and leaned against the wall, allowing him to look at the rest of the members that happened to be in this area so he could think about things.

He had been sure that what Demyx was reading was the Book of Prophecies, something that had serious consequences if it was left out in the open, since he knew it was actually buried in a black box that no one else knew the location of, but after seeing the words he wasn't too sure. If it really was the book in question than it made sense that his own master would have done something to ensure he couldn't read it, because he was, after all, supposed to be an observer, but that was only if the book was what he thought it was. Since Demyx wasn't getting up and shouting at them about the end of the World, nor the Keyblade War that happened to be Master Xehanort's ultimate plan so he could use the power of the pure Kingdom Hearts, so if the laziest member of the Organization wasn't screaming his head off Xigbar could assume that he overreacted and this wasn't the book in question. He realized that this was for the best, because if that was actually the Book of Prophecies than it called into question how Demyx, of all people, could have found it, since the only one who might be able to discover the box was his own master, the missing Master of Masters, and that would raise numerous concerns if that was the case.

In the end Xigbar decided not to continue down that train of thought, Demyx, while sharing one or two of his master's odd habits, was not the Master of Masters and he refused to even consider such a thing, causing him to focus on the Vampires for a moment as Seras sent them out on their own missions.

"With their aid Axel should be able to track down Sombra... we can only hope all of them are successful in finding Roxas and bringing him home." Xemnas remarked, where all Seras did was nod her head, while the others knew that he had given the order for them to head out in the first place, since they were the best units they had and would likely return in due time with news of their success.

Xigbar could only hope that Xemas was correct, that the Vampires and Axel would be able to do the job, maybe even take down Sombra before she became more of a threat to all of their vital plans, even though he had a terrible feeling that things were going to get worse from this point and hoped that this was just his nerves getting the better of him.

While the Organization was dealing with the effects of Roxas' 'disappearance', and what it meant for them, Sombra simply continued her work inside the Gummi Ship, having created a heart container that would keep a heart trapped inside it, but there was a good reason for making such a thing. She didn't want to trap a heart inside it, rather she designed it to keep all of the heart fragments she had collected so far in one place, without running the risk of accidentally devouring them if she was enraged, and the container would make sure the fragments didn't vanish on her. After talking with Aqua for some time, and crossing off a number of individuals who could be the owner of the heart, Sombra had come to the conclusion that they belonged to someone that Aqua would rather be rid of, the dark being known as Vanitas, and yet Ventus, despite having been put into a coma by the figure in question, calmed his friend down. After hearing everything about how she had found the heart fragments, and that she had been keeping them safe, both Ventus and Sora agreed that they wanted to try and reform Vanitas, both give him an actual body and see if he could be convinced to leave Master Xehanort's dark path, causing Sombra to chuckle as she stored the fragments away.

After that she headed out into the rest of the ship and found that Sora had positioned the ship near Twilight Town, which allowed Ansem the Wise to work on the Datascape that would be fooling the Organization, while providing an easy way for Seras and the others to return to the Gummi Ship, which was why she had emerged from the lab, as Seras, Axel, and Xion had arrived.

"How is he?" Xion asked, because while she understood Roxas' reasons for wanting to take a break, as she understood her friend and even shared his desires, she wanted to be sure that this was good for him and that he wasn't driving himself up a wall or anything.

"Roxas is doing just fine. He wanted to be an ordinary boy for a time, which is what we have given him." Sombra replied, to which she tapped a button and a screen switched to the world that was below them, where they found that Roxas was in the middle of hanging out with the trio that had caught his attention, learning the rules of a local game called 'Struggle', a fighting competition of sorts that involved hitting foes and collecting special orbs, "His new friends realize that he's not from around the town, but at the same time they don't seem to mind... in fact they are enjoying his company more than he was expecting, and some of the people in Twilight Town seem to like him as well. Based on Ansem's readings it looks like the Organization has begun investigating the Datascape, meaning it will be some time before they realize that they've been deceived."

"Yeah, and right now some of them are focused on verbally fighting each other... I mean, Xigbar nearly jumped Demyx the moment he realized the laziest member was reading a music book." Axel said, which was both hilarious and kind of sad, as all of this was no doubt due to the stress that Sombra was causing to the Organization, something that caused him to pause for a moment as he focused on the figure that was in front of them, "Xemnas has also tasked me with tracking you or Roxas down, to the point where the Vampires have joined me in the hunt, so you should be expecting them to stop by and join us. I take it you have more that you want us to do?"

"Nothing mission related, but something that should be done sooner, rather than later." Sombra said, where a dark portal opened nearby and Riku stepped out of it, the dark coloration of his coat turning the color that belonged to their side, as Radiant had made it possible to change the color with a single thought from the wearer, who happened to have a second coat in his hands, "Axel, I want you to join Riku and go track down Kairi... based on the information that we have on Saix, well, I'm sure that he'll go after her once we start the true offensive against the Organization, and this will allow us to keep her safe. At the same time we'll be able to let her and Namine rejoin before using another Replica to give Namine her own body again, just like we did with Roxas and Sora."

Axel nodded and departed without delay, allowing Xion and Seras to join the others in heading down into the lower area of the ship, though for the time being there was nothing to do but wait for his group to return, but Seras was happy to see that Fluttershy was up and about. Fortunately they didn't have to wait very long as Axel and Riku returned to the ship with a third individual, Kairi wearing the coat that had been provided, something that was followed by Sora hugging her once he knew she was here, even though he was thankful that they had brought her here. In an odd turn of events Kairi told all of them that she wasn't about to sit on the sidelines, rather she wanted to help them save the World, in whatever way she could, causing Sombra to tell her that if she wanted to help there was someone who could train her, as Aqua was in the middle of helping Fluttershy catch up. What Sombra found to be more interesting was that while Kairi and Namine quickly rejoined, and then she used a Replica to separate them, Axel asked Aqua if she would be willing to teach him as well, as he wanted to do more for the group and he figured that being able to wield a Keyblade, with accuracy, would be the best course of action.

Sombra chuckled as they moved into the training area, where Aqua started talking with Kairi about how the younger girl came to call the Destiny Islands home, though as that happened she held her left hand out and light gathered around her fingers, the holy element she had gained from all of the Angel Stars.

"That's new." Fluttershy commented, as she realized that there was a lot she didn't know and that she required a bunch of studying, in both combat and just in what Sombra had done, to understand everything she had missed after being split into a Heartless and a Nobody, "What are you going to do with that?"

"Simple: train." Sombra replied, where she held her palm out towards the rocky area that was in front of them, because she had used the information inside Zexion's tome to understand how to wield the power to make areas like this inside the ship, so they didn't have to worry about wrecking the Gummi Ship's insides, before she fired a burst of light energy that rushed into the stone and blew it apart, leaving a crater behind as she frowned, "Of course I still need to refine this power, but by the time we make our move against the Organization it should be ready to go."

The others nodded their heads and started their own training with Aqua, who had Ventus help her out since they could split them up into two groups, all while Sombra could only wonder how the Organization would handle everything that her friends were going to throw at them in the near future.

Interlude: Summer's End

After making sure that Kairi was safe, and ensuring that she and Namine were able to safely split into two people thanks to one of the Replicas, Sombra found that the next few days were full of more training than what some of the others were expecting when she had suggested such a thing. Aqua and Ventus, the former a master of the Keyblade and the latter a very skilled user, were exactly what the rest of the group, those who could wield such a weapon anyway, needed to make sure they were prepared for anything that was thrown at them. Even those who didn't have the power to wield such a weapon made use of their training time by trying to master their own skills and abilities, like how Donald focused on his magic and Goofy discovered new ways to use his shield while in combat, all of which would benefit them in the future. Others, such as Kairi and Axel, spent their time focusing on how to call forth a Keyblade, as both wanted to be of assistance to the group, to not be a hindrance to Sombra's plans, and while Axel was already aiding them greatly there was more he wanted to do.

Sombra also noticed that Axel and Ventus spent some of their time chatting with each other, reminding her of the fact that they had known each other, to a degree, before the eventual clash between Ventus' friends and Master Xehanort, so this allowed them to catch up during their breaks, which was mostly Axel talking while his friend listened.

While they were doing that Axel, Seras, and Xion also continued their missions for the Organization, who had no idea that all three of them happened to be spending more time away from the castle than what was usual for a mission, but Axel had an excuse that made sense for their superiors. They were doing everything in their power to hunt down hearts and free them so they could mix with the Kingdom Hearts that Xemnas was forming, in fact whenever they departed from the castle they made sure to hunt down every Heartless in whatever world they were sent to. Once that was done they would rejoin the rest of the group aboard the Gummi Ship for a number of hours, a reasonable amount to be sure no one raised an alarm about them being gone for too long, and based on what Sombra heard their plan was working like a charm. However, she knew it was only a matter of time until Xion and Seras left the Organization, as it was all part of the plan, while Axel would remain for some time, playing the loyal member while gathering more information on what the Nobodies were doing.

From what she could tell things were happening inside the Organization, as Xemnas seemed to be changing for the better, Xigbar seemed to be losing his cool, at least every now and then, and most of the other members remained normal, but she also knew things were progressing as planned.

Sombra also spent some time watching over Roxas, often appearing on one of the roofs and observing their friend while he enjoyed the simple life that he wanted to experience for some time, and from what she could tell it looked like his new group of friends really did enjoy having him around. She had to admit that the Struggle matches were interesting, even the ones they used to train themselves for the upcoming tournament, even though Roxas did his best to avoid summoning either of his Keyblades or any of his powers, since that would be cheating and would reveal his presence to the Organization. At the same time Roxas helped the trio with their schoolwork, as it appeared that they had a paper that had to be completed and turned in once summer was over, which was really weird when Sombra thought about it, and their topic was something called the 'Seven Wonders'. Apparently they were seven strange things that happened all over Twilight Town, though when she listened to what those were, as Pence appeared to know all sorts of information about their home and the Wonders as a whole, she found herself disappointed by what they were.

Six of them were simply misunderstandings, from someone playing with some bouncy balls in a dead end alley to an echo in the underground area, from a shadow in a fountain that was just dirt to an idiot miscounting the steps in some stairs, to a dog being trapped in a bag and a 'ghost' train that didn't exist at all.

"And the 'seventh' is just a curtain of the old mansion moving in the wind." Sombra remarked, looking down at the forest as Roxas and his other friends left the area as well, after discovering the same thing that she noticed after watching over them, before she noticed that the air behind her shifted a little and chuckled a little, "I take it you finally decided what your verdict is? Or are you here for a social visit?"

"I've decided that fighting you is an impossible task." a voice said, one that Sombra easily recognized as Prexus, though the small bit of dark energy that had been put into his shadow was why she had been able to tell who had come for a visit, all while Sombra found it interesting that such a strange and unique figure would say such a thing, "However, I am still in the middle of deciding which side of the ongoing battle you are on. Are you on the Light's side, or the side of Darkness?"

"Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, the World picked me and my friends for a reason?" Sombra inquired, which was the truth, the World could have easily rejected them or could have given them lesser abilities to do the job that they had been entrusted with, but instead the World gave all three of them great abilities and let them use them however each of them wished, expecting nothing other than helping Sora out.

Prexus stared at her for a moment and wondered if that was a true statement or not, that the World actually chose what could be the embodiment of darkness, someone whose power was on part with the True Darknesses he had encountered in the past, and decided that it might be better to not know that truth right now, since the World picking it's own champion just seemed somewhat strange.

"I'll consider it. Tell me, what are you doing out here?" Prexus asked in return, because Sombra was a hard person to pin down or even understand at times, and after everything he had seen in the Darkworld he knew that if Sombra was in the middle of doing something it had to be important in some manner.

"Right now? Nothing but relaxing before I do anything else." Sombra replied, where she noticed that the figure seemed to just shift his weight like he was shocked by that information, something that caused her to chuckle for a moment as she wondered how he was going to take the fact she was about to drop on him, "Also, you can drop the act... Demyx."

"Whoa whoa whoa! You can't say stuff like that!" Prexus stated, something that surprised him, because he really wasn't expecting her to say such a thing while he was visiting her, especially since this was time spent away from the rest of the Organization, but he refused to lower his hood, in case any of the other members were watching, "Out of curiosity, how did you know?"

"This little guy, I snuck him into your shadow during our last encounter." Sombra replied, where Prexus found that a bit of his shadow came to life and split off, taking the form of a little black snake before disappearing into Sombra's shadow, as if it hadn't existed in the first place, something that caused the figure to pause as he considered what that meant, "Don't worry, he didn't corrupt you or anything... but he did emit a faint, nearly untraceable, energy signature that I had a friend of mine track down, and she told me it was connected to you in the castle that Xemnas rules from. From there I put two and two together... simple as that, really. Also, don't worry, I won't tell the others who you really are, since I'm sure no one will believe me if I tried to tell them."

Prexus looked at Sombra for a few seconds before he heard the sound of someone coming towards them, where he just vanished by quickly using a Dark Corridor that slammed shut a moment later, where Sombra found that it was none other than Fluttershy, who landed next to her with a concerned look on her face.

"Is something wrong?" Sombra asked, because she assumed that someone must have noticed that Roxas happened to be in this world, or Xemnas discovered that Seras was a mole working against the Organization, meaning they might have to step up her timetable if that was the case.

"Radiant told me that there's something powerful racing towards this world... something with Equestrian magic... and that she wanted your opinion on it." Fluttershy stated, where it was clear that she was unsure of what was going on right now and hoped that Sombra would have an answer when she had a chance to understand what the source was, and she could see that the figure was glancing towards the area beyond this world, before she frowned.

"It's not just one signature... there's a second some distance behind the first..." Sombra said, which was odd and meant that the second one had likely appeared on Radiant's radar right after she sent Fluttershy out to tell her what was going on right now, but that was when she felt something strange, "Wait... it cannot be... I'm feeling the power of the Sisters coming our way."

Sombra had no idea what was going on right now and really wanted an explanation, to which she gathered her power for a moment and warped both of them back to the Gummi Ship, where everyone was gathered in the lower area and she had Sora get them underway, as she wanted him to stop at an asteroid that was some distance from Twilight Town.

"You said it was the Sisters... as in Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, right?" Fluttershy asked, though at the same time she found that Roxas had rejoined them, as his day in the town was over and he had come back to get some rest before doing anything else, but he noticed what was going on and said nothing as the ship flew through space, "Why would they be coming our way?"

"Maybe they were sent this way by some sort of magic?" Radiant remarked, because it was the only thing that made sense to her, even though her focus back on their home planet had been to track down Sombra and convince him, now her, to turn over a new leaf, which Sombra had done with her and Fluttershy being near her most of the time.

As Sombra opened her mouth to say something they found that Sora found a decent sized area for what she wanted to do and brought the ship to a stop some distance from the asteroid, where Sombra weaved her magic into existence around it as she formed a barrier around it, giving her room to breathe and walk. With that done she made sure the Gummi Ship was out of the way but was still within teleporting distance, just in case, before warping herself over to the surface of the asteroid, focusing her attention on the direction that the magic was coming from. As she locked onto it, however, Sombra found that it wasn't the Princesses in transformed bodies coming their way, like Fluttershy and Radiant had thought after she made her statement, rather it was something else entirely, something she wasn't expecting to discover. What was on it's way towards her, at speeds that likely rivaled some of the best flyers in the modern age of their home planet, had to be an artifact of power she hadn't seen for a long time, one that helped spell her downfall back when she fought Celestia and Luna once upon a time.

Such a thing was followed by a broadsword tearing through space, where Sombra turned and weaved her magic, making sure her hooves were magically glued to the asteroid as the weapon narrowly missed her, though she grabbed it and very nearly dislocated her arm in the process as she forced it to stop. Sure, the force of which pulled her and the asteroid much closer to Twilight Town, but thanks to the time magic she had woven into what she was doing Sombra was able to stop the blade from crashing into the world it had been racing towards, while the other weapon, a battleaxe, gently came to a stop on it's own nearby. As Sombra regained herself, and used some healing magic to fix her arm, she noticed the glowing edge of the broadsword and the golden runes that were on the blade, with a sun design that she couldn't forget if she wanted to, as it was the weapon Celestia had used in their fight. In addition to that she glanced at the battleaxe and found that it was exactly like she recalled as well, an ebony black weapon with a moonlight silver edge and silver runes, with an emblem in the shape of a crescent moon on it, confirming what these weapons were.

Sombra could feel herself sweating, as these were mythical weapons, ones she had thought were mere myth before her fight with the Royal Sisters, and now both of them were here, far from home, causing her to realize that they were on their way to their respective owners.

"Solarion and Nightfell..." Sombra remarked, as these were definitely the weapons of the Royal Sisters, she recognized the pair with ease, before she felt a pulse from the two artifacts and a resonance, one coming from one direction and another that was coming from a second, causing her to realize what was going on, "Oh, I see now. I'm a waypoint on your journey to your respective owners. Here, let me lend you a hand."

In the next moment Sombra undid the magic keeping her glued to the asteroid, allowing her to move as she locked onto the magical signature of Celestia, which her unique Equestrian magic seemed to be picking up on, which was when she turned and hurled Solarion in the western direction. Such a thing caused the solar weapon to race off in the direction that Princess Celestia was in, which was interesting to think about since she wasn't expecting such a thing to happen to either of the Royal Sisters, before she straightened herself and held her hand out. For a moment Nightfell floated there before allowing her to grasp it's handle, where Sombra counted herself lucky to actually hold both weapons, before finding that the Princess of the Night was coming from another direction entirely, to the east by the looks of it. With that in mind she braced herself, locked onto the magical signature as she spun the weapon around, before shifting her grip as she sent it flying in the direction of Princess Luna, where the battleaxe rushed off without delay as well.

Sombra chuckled as she teleported back into the Gummi Ship as she undid all of the spells on the asteroid, where it was easy for her to tell that everyone was surprised by what had just happened and she said that she'd tell them later, as there was a lot of information she needed to recall before telling that story.

"Before that, Sombra, I have something to say: I told Hayner and the others that I won't be around for some time. I'm ready to get to work." Roxas said, because while the break from all of his hard work was nice, and part of him knew that he would love to just stay that way for a long time, he knew that saving the worlds from Master Xehanort was far more important than his desire to take a break.

"Very well. Then tonight we will have a special dinner... oh, that reminds me: Donald, a year's up." Sombra stated, as she had great plans for dinner tonight, now that she knew that Roxas was done with his time on Twilight Town, at least for the time being, and such a thing reminded her that it had been a year since she punished the duck for his crimes.

While the majority of the others were confused by her words, since they hadn't been here for the betrayal, Donald was overjoyed to finally be able to taste all of the delicious deserts he had been unable to eat for the last year, causing Sombra to chuckle as she got to work as she wondered how the Organization would deal with what was coming up next.

Nobody: A New Adventure

The day following Roxas returning to the Gummi Ship, and telling everyone that he was done with his time in Twilight Town, was followed by a surge of activity as everyone got ready to do their own tasks for the next stage of their war against the Organization and Master Xehanort's plans. Sombra was splitting them into groups, the force that would be heading to all of the worlds and directly dealing with the Organization's plans, a group that would be staying in the Gummi Ship to train and prepare themselves for the future, and a group that would be secretly watching the Organization's movements. Axel, Xion, Riku, and Larxene would be keeping an eye on what Xemnas was having the others do, one pair of eyes on the inside and three on the outside as Xion didn't want to return, and Marluxia was in charge of all four of them, an extra pair of eyes looking over a larger area in a sense. Aqua and Ventus were to stay in the Gummi Ship and either train with Kairi or help Ansem the Wise with his research, as he was working hard to find more clues about Terra, since Sombra was sure that there was a way to free him without having to deal with Xemnas, and while Kairi wanted to help she knew that she had to train to not be a hindrance.

With that in mind the group heading out into the worlds consisted of Sombra, Fluttershy, Radiant, Seras, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, though Sombra didn't give Mickey any roles because it was best if he was a free card that would keep the rest of the Organization on their toes, guessing at where their enemies were and what they might be doing.

Mickey also told them that there was someone they should check in with, the man who trained him in the art of using a Keyblade and using magic, because it was about time for them to make him aware of the situation they were in and see if he had anything to say about their war against Master Xehanort. At the same time there was another reason for visiting the King's mentor, he had three good fairies that would be able to quickly whip up some new clothes for them, as Sora and the pony girls had grown over the year they had been adventuring, so their original clothing was starting to look like they might outgrow them in the near future. It meant they could kill two birds with one stone, tell their last ally about the information they had discovered so far while also getting an update to their clothes, even though Sombra knew Radiant was eager to see if the clothing was as Mickey said or not. Mickey also mentioned that finding the tower could be hard to do, in fact there was usually a train that allowed one to find where it was located, though considering who they were he had a feeling that his master would allow them to find it easily.

Fortunately he had a direction to point them in before heading off to do his own thing, where Sora eventually found tracks in space that brought him to a small world, a single crooked golden-brown tower on a mountaintop, or the floating peak of a mountain, and standing at the door was a large chubby figure that had pried the door open a little, causing Sora and the others of the ground group to teleport down to the surface without delay.

"Excuse me, but, do you need help with something?" Fluttershy asked, though after regaining her form and training with both Aqua and Seras, to regain her skills and abilities, she was ready to tackle whatever the future held in store for them, though while she knew this person might be evil, he did seem to be lurking around the tower like a stalker, she wanted to be sure before they did anything.

"Nope, just waiting for my lackeys to return. I sent some inside this here tower, to find the master of it and turn him into a Heartless, as I hear he's a powerful sorcerer!" the figure stated, where Sombra immediately assumed he was an imbecile, as no evil person would be so foolish to tell random strangers their evil plan, not unless they intentionally wanted to lure the enemy into a trap, and right now this person, who Donald and Goofy seemed to recognize, was far lower than Maleficent had been in Sombra's mind, "You see, I want to make him into my bodyguard while I make my rounds in the various worlds that are out there, as I'm building an army to give to Maleficent so she can conquer everything, so having such a powerful Heartless with me will make things easier!"

"Sorry to tell you, but she's already been taken out." Sombra said, where the figure turned around and looked at them for a moment, where he came face to face with Donald and Goofy with a look of surprise on his face, something that made her a little eager to learn more about the figure that was supposedly on Maleficent's side, "You know him?"

"Yeah, Pete's been causing trouble for ages... both King Mickey and Queen Minnie have imprisoned him multiple times, trying to stop him from continuing down his path, but he's been very stubborn." Goofy replied, once more reminding Sora that he was smarter than he appeared, which was a good thing that they used against their enemies, as no one seemed to think that a Captain of the Guard could be smart, "Supposedly he was locked away in a different dimension or a special prison, but somehow got out... guess we can say Maleficent freed him."

"You're lying. There's no way you pipsqueaks did in Maleficent." Pete replied, showing them that he thought that the one who saved him was actually far more than what he thought she was, no doubt due to her springing him from the prison he had been locked in the last time the rulers of his world had been annoyed with his dark antics.

"Well, Sombra crushed her magic and then crushed her dragon form... word to the wise, don't make her angry." Donald said, because he knew that Sombra's power when she was blinded by rage had been more than enough to destroy the dark witch before she could do anything to her or the rest of the group, to the point where Maleficent's dragon form did nothing to slow the figure beside him down, plus he knew of her rage firsthand, hence why he wasn't in the mood to make her angry again.

Pete growled, stomped on the ground, and charged at them with his fist at the ready, where Sombra raised her right hand for a moment and caught the attack by stopping it with her pointer finger, only for her to grab Pete's head and toss him off into the distance, banishing him from this world and likely sending him back to his ship. With that done they entered the tower and found that it was just an entry level with a spiraling staircase heading up to the peak, though Sombra could see that there were a few doors for them to walk through, no doubt to skip segments of the structure. This time around Fluttershy stepped forward as she summoned her Keyblade, showing them that she had definitely matured after what had happened to her, giving her more resolve and courage than before, and Sombra was sure that spending time with her other half had something to do with the slight change in her as well. The enemies that ended up getting in their way were the Shadows and a couple of Soldiers, all weaker than the ones Sombra's allies had taken out when they faced the army of Heartless, so it was easy for Fluttershy to deal with them, wielding her Keyblade and her magic to take them out, while at the same time Sombra snatched the few freed hearts before they disappeared.

With such pitiful enemies in their way it didn't take them long to reach the peak of the tower, where they found an older man, a sorcerer who had incredible power inside his body, sitting in the chair that was across from where the door they entered through was located, who wore a blue robe and a blue magic hat, while having a long gray beard.

"Master Yen Sid." Donald and Goofy said, where they respectively bowed to the figure that was in front of them, which was followed by most of the group, save for Sombra, though no one was going to tell her otherwise, since they knew that she far outranked them in physical and magical ability.

"Donald, Goofy, it would seem that Mickey was right: you accomplished your mission and more." the sorcerer, Yen Sid as the pair called him, said, where he waved his hand for a moment and the room transformed, his desk forming into a table with drinks and snacks appearing all over it, showing them that he wanted to be a good host to them, "His message also told me that we had much to discuss, and that it was better delivered in person. Tell me, what have you discovered about the Organization and it's leader?"

"Plenty, actually." Sombra replied, where she and the others took their seats, some even helping themselves to the drinks and snacks that had been provided to them, though she knew that Yen Sid would be in for the conversation of his life, or at least an exciting one since he might not know much about the ongoing situation.

Sombra explained everything they had discovered so far to Yen Sid, telling him about how Maleficent had been planning on using the Princesses of Heart to open the 'Final Keyhole', how she had been used by Seeker Ansem, a Heartless that was made from Terra's body and Master Xehanort's heart. With them having recovered both Aqua and Ventus, something that made the sorcerer spit out his drink in surprise when he heard it, they now knew more about Master Xehanort's plan, one that both his Heartless and his Nobody were trying to complete by using their own means, the creation of the 'true' or 'pure' Kingdom Hearts. It was what they had dealt with back when they were facing Maleficent's forces, they sealed both the Door to Darkness and the Kingdom Hearts of Worlds that had been created by the Heartless consuming worlds, hence why Sombra was referring to it like that, while at the same time Xemnas, the Nobody, was building a Kingdom Hearts of Hearts. Both wanted power and knowledge, that seemed to be their excuse for wanting to form the powerful entity in the first place, and both Seeker Ansem and Xemnas had their own methods to bring about that reality, which they covered with ease, since Yen Sid was able to connect the dots based on the names of the two artificial Kingdom Hearts.

While they talked a trio of fairies, ladies who floated around and wore three different colored dresses, one red, one blue, and one green, came out and took the measurements of Sora, Fluttershy, Sombra, and Radiant, so they knew what to do when it came time to fix their clothing, but Sombra was focused on other topics.

She also corrected Yen Sid's opinion on Nobodies, as he claimed that they didn't have hearts and shouldn't exist, where Sombra told him that such a thought was horribly incorrect, as Nobodies could, in fact, use their own experiences to form their own hearts and become their own person. In fact there were several such individuals among her 'forces', as Yen Sid preferred to call everyone else for the sake of not getting things confused, as there was Sora and Roxas, Fluttershy and Seras, Kairi and Namine, and so on, all of whom had figured out how to form their own hearts. In addition to that there was Xion, someone created from nothing more than a bit of memory, who figured out how to make her own heart while also becoming her own person, to the point that she was able to manifest her own unique Keyblade, something that came as a surprise to Yen Sid. That brought Sombra to the crux of their ongoing mission, dealing with the remaining members of the Organization while at the same time trying to free Xemnas, at least, from the dark hold of Master Xehanort, to make him truly become his own person and break whatever dark plans Xehanort was working towards.

Yen Sid wondered why Sombra was willing to risk everyone on one individual, but decided that it was best to not question her decision, as he could sense the staggering power hidden deep within her body, even depths she was working towards at this very moment, and felt that fighting her, even with words, would be a bad idea.

Once he had a better idea of what they were going to do, even if it sounded weird to him, Yen Sid had them take turns in the chamber of the good fairies, where Sombra found that her clothing, along with Radiant's and Fluttershy's, were simply sized up to fit their older bodies and patched up to look brand new. Sora was the only one who got new clothing, as they found that his shorts became black and were chap styled with a blue inside, with a pair of yellow belts linked to a black belt on his waist, which were also connected to two red pockets for him to store stuff in. He was also wearing a new blue shirt that was under a black hooded jacket, the latter also having what appeared to be shoulder guards, and his shoes had a facelift as well, shifting to match his growing body and becoming more black than yellow. There was also something very special about this new outfit, as the fairies explained, as he could call on the power of Donald or Goofy and empower himself with new forms, similar to Riku's amulet, and his first 'form', the 'Valor Form', utilized Goofy's power while granting Sora a second Keyblade, a magical looking one.

"Might I suggest heading to Hollow Bastion, to start off this journey? It has changed since your last visit." Yen Sid said, as he knew that Sombra had a plan and he really didn't want to disrupt whatever she had in mind, rather he was hoping that this would aid her and her friends in traversing the worlds on their new quest.

Sombra nodded as their visit to the tower came to an end, allowing them to warp back to the Gummi Ship, though as Sora got underway she found that a raven flew into the chamber that had the fairies, with a familiar dark robe, and Maleficent was revived in no time, a figure who fled before she was discovered. Such a thing caused her to grin for a moment, as she understood what had happened, Maleficent had hid her essence, her heart in some form, inside the robe and tasked the raven with delivering the article to someone whose memory could revive her. If that was the case, and people could be brought back in such a manner, Sombra had to wonder if she could use Terra's heart, plus the memories of Ventus and Aqua, and something that held his essence or part of him, like his lost armor according to Aqua. She could bring Terra, the third and final lost Keyblade wielder, back from the brink and really screw over Master Xehanort's plans, something that caused her smile to widen as the others got underway for their departure.

She had a feeling that this adventure was going to be more interesting than she had previously assumed, especially with Maleficent accidentally revealing something to her, and it made her that much more interested in what the future held for her and the rest of her friends.

Nobody: The Land of Dragons

After ensuring that Leon knew to contact them if things changed with the Heartless army, Sora and his friends returned to the Gummi Ship before blasting off into space, as it was time for them to track down the first world they would explore, as Hollow Bastion seemed like the Traverse Town of this adventure. Sombra found that things returned to normal, or at least what 'normal' was during their flights between worlds, as in Sora, Donald, and Goofy were focused on flying while Radiant continued to gather resources in their private realm, and both Fluttershy and Seras tended to the garden area. It was as if nothing strange had happened during the end of their previous adventure, though she could see that Seras was helping Fluttershy out in whatever way she could, staying true to the idea that they were sisters and not anything else. Even the rest of the group that was inside the ship busied themselves with the work that they had either been assigned or had given themselves previously, even helping the trio in the private world since even hard work could be rewarding.

Eventually Sora encountered a new object in space, a warp zone that seemed to take the shape of a door, and found that it warped them to what appeared to be a battleground of sorts, as he had to navigate around an asteroid field of sorts and had to fire on the enemies that happened to be in the area. It was easy for Sombra to tell that the enemies this time were the same as before, various Gummi Ships with the Heartless and Nobody emblems on their surfaces, causing Sora to open fire on them the moment that one started to attack their ship, something that caused Sombra to smirk a little. Their ship had a collector that gathered all of the freed gummi blocks that were part of the enemy ships or even trapped inside some of the asteroids, plus a converter that transformed those pieces into additions for the ship's defenses and guns, and even added to the space inside the ship. The best thing was that Sombra and most of the others could sit back and relax whenever they found one of these areas, because Sora was far too skilled in flying the ship and dealing with their enemies, meaning there was no reason for anyone else to get involved, though Sombra did snatch the hearts from the Heartless ships.

In the end it didn't take Sora long to tear through the enemies that were in the way and bring their ship out of the area they had been warped to, where they found that they were above the first new world of their adventure, one that seemed to be a palace of some kind, and when Sora's group warped down to a safe area it seemed to put them in a bamboo forest.

"You know, it's nice to visit a brand new world... so much to discover and explore." Fluttershy commented, while at the same time Squeak sat on her shoulder and voiced his approval, even though Sombra knew the critter was only interested in the various chests that were waiting to be looted, so they could focus on their enemies, "I wonder if we'll find some new animals along the way... I haven't been able to use my other skill for quite some time."

Sombra knew what she was talking about, as the World had blessed Fluttershy with two skills before the start of their very first adventure, one being 'Tower Farming' and the second being 'Animal Friendship', though it was the latter that she was referring to right now, as she hadn't had a reason to use it for some time. It reminded her of Radiant's skills, those being 'Grand Walking' and 'Equipment Creator', both having been put to good use since they were always walking during their time in the various worlds, so Radiant was constantly growing as they traveled. In addition to that they had whipped her second skill into shape, creating all sorts of accessories that had aided them over the course of their adventure, like Riku's amulet that they had altered not all that long ago and the special coats they used to mess with the Organization. That was why both of them were able to keep up with Sombra's insane growth, since her 'Boundless Necromancy' allowed her to absorb the hearts of the Heartless they took out, but she had simply switched to collecting them for the time being.

Her thoughts were interrupted as they turned the corner and found a young lady, who was clearly pretending to be a man since she was wearing armor, standing in a clearing in the forest with a large rock nearby, one that just so happened to be where they noticed the shadow of a familiar noodle shaped dragon talking to the girl.

"Mushu? Is that you?" Fluttershy inquired, where they found that the pair stopped what they were doing and the dragon that had been one of their summons during their first adventure, who they only tested back in Traverse Town, emerged from his hiding spot, taking away the shadowy figure of himself that he had been using to talk with the girl.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy... Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy... and, um, I have no idea who you are." the red dragon, Mushu, replied, though he seemed happy to see them again, even though he was confused by Seras' presence, while they confirmed that he was definitely a small dragon with a noodle body, making him just as tall as Fluttershy's worker rabbits.

"My name is Seras, and I'm Fluttershy's sister." Seras said, as that was what she was going to tell everyone and there was no stopping her from making sure everyone knew that particular fact, not that any of her friends were going to stop her, which was when they focused on the girl that was awkwardly standing off to the side, "Whose your friend?"

"I am Mulan... no, um, I mean I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou." the girl replied, where it was clear that Mushu must have been in the middle of coaching her on what to say and how to act, since her acting was quite bad if Sombra was being honest, and Mulan could tell that they didn't believe her, causing her to groan as she leaned against one of the nearby stones.

Mushu was of the opinion that since the group had called upon his aid, back during the Heartless affair despite the fact that all they had done was test his power out, that meant they were in debt to Mulan, or 'Ping' since they needed to remember that fact, since he happened to be a Guardian Dragon for Mulan's family. Sombra was sure that the dragon wanted them to render aid to Mulan, who was apparently trying to protect her family's honor by taking her elderly father's place in the army, either because she feared for his life or because this world seemed to be one focused on honor. Since Mulan needed some time to get used to walking and acting like a man, so she could fit in with all of the other new recruits in the army, Sombra had Sora, Donald, and Goofy show her the ropes as best they could, especially since they could head into the main camp when it was time to do so. At the same time she, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras remained in the bamboo forest, keeping an eye on the Heartless that were definitely in this world, Shadows and Soldiers, though there were two more types that were of interest to Sombra, a centaur warrior she called 'Assault Riders' and a ghostly sorcerer that ended up being called 'Nightwalkers'.

The Assault Riders definitely had power and speed in their hearts, while the Nightwalkers were more magical based, as she sampled a heart of each to add them to her list of foes, though Sombra made sure to hide their presence in the forest as Sora's team dealt with the enemies, Shadows, assaulting the camp for some reason.

"Is there a reason we're staying behind this time?" Fluttershy asked, because while she assumed that this might be due to the fact that there would be too many of them if they went in with Sora's group, something told her that there was another reason behind the decision and she was interested in what Sombra's reason might be.

"As you saw females aren't allowed in the army, at least in this world... and honestly, I'm not interested in playing with the leader of the army that Mulan will be forced to listen to for some time." Sombra replied, as while she could have easily used her magic to cast illusions on them, to make them all look like males, she knew someone was going to mess things up and that someone was most likely Mushu, so it wasn't worth the effort in her mind, "So we'll stick to the shadows, keep an eye on this 'Shan-Yu' that the people seem to be fighting, and lend some aid when necessary... given that the Organization likely has a hand in this world, since the World formed a path of sorts here, we should be expecting resistance."

This was where Fluttershy's natural talent, boosted by the World to become it's own skill, came into play, as she could speak to the animals of the forest and the information flowed in, allowing Sombra and the Seras to go over what they were told as Radiant used her bow and her eyes to keep an eye out for potential danger. In addition to that Sombra had Squeak swipe a map of the region they were in and used that to pinpoint the locations of the information all of the animals brought in, only for her to rapidly write up reports on paper that she had Fluttershy send to the Commander by raven. From what she could tell the Commander seemed surprised by the sudden arrival of a messenger bird, though at the same time he was pleased, even though he maintained his stern face, to receive information on Shan-Yu's movements. Such a thing allowed Sora and his friends, accompanied by Mulan, to be sent out for a number of 'training' missions, letting them prove themselves to the Commander while at the same time giving their new friend a chance to grow her own skills.

While they did that, however, Sombra found herself distracted by something else that happened in the world, she felt the presence of something she hadn't felt since dealing with the enemies from their first adventure, it was a font of negative energy that resembled the heart fragments she had captured so far.

"There's a fragment here as well? How many of them are there?" Radiant asked, because she had given up on trying to figure out some of the abilities that Sombra had developed over their adventures, in fact she was sure that it came from her true skill, 'Boundless Necromancy', and any skill her enemies had became her own when Sombra devoured the hearts of the Heartless they bested, like the powerful ones during their first adventure, but even this skill seemed odd.

"I have three of them, and this makes four... when we find it. I'd guess there's seven, at the very least." Sombra replied, but as she said that she glanced at the bamboo forest for a moment as she noticed the strands of negativity seeping from some of the material, meaning the fragment was close at hand, causing her to stand up for a moment as the others glanced at her, no doubt eager to see what she did next, "Since Shan-Yu doesn't seem interested in moving, and the army doesn't seem very eager to get moving, we have some time to kill... might as well collect this fragment before we do anything else. I will be right back with the piece in hand."

Sombra entered the thicker part of the forest without delay and found that the heart fragment was floating in the air right in front of her, though instead of surrendering the piece rushed through the air, like it was trying to evade her, and she used her magic to ensnare it instantly. In that moment, however, she found that the fragment was full of energy, more than what she was expecting from such a thing, and she decided to free it for a few seconds and found that it's movements were more like someone who was playing, causing her to sigh as she used her magic to fake out the piece and try to capture it several times. This was the 'playful' side of the figure that the fragment belonged to, likely ripped out of them by Master Xehanort since he happened to be at fault for so many events in the World, in fact this seemed like an unfulfilled childlike piece that had been torn out of someone. Even as the dreaded Shadow Monarch, the Sovereign of Darkness, and her many titles, as there were many back in her home world, there were limits to what she did and this seemed far too excessive in her mind, hence why she allowed some of her magic to move around with the fragment.

Eventually the fragment settled down and allowed her to capture it, without offering any other forms of resistance, so she was able to add it to her collection as no memories surfaced after claiming it, causing her to sigh as she returned to the others, as there would be time to worry about Vanitas' fragments in the future, for now they had to focus on Mulan and Shan-Yu before worrying about the Organization's plans, making her look forward to what the immediate future held for them.

Nobody: Visiting the Underworld

With Beast and Belle at peace, for the time being, Sora and the others set off in search of another new world, since they had helped the previous one in what seemed to be record time, causing everyone to return to whatever they decided to do when they were traveling between worlds. Sure enough they found that it took him only a day or two to locate the next space gate, though once he found it everyone strapped in before he flew into the bit of magic, allowing them to observe as he entered a new area to fly through and earn some gummi material for the ship. This time around it seemed that they were flying through an eerie green portion of space that had a pirate ship hunting them down from the other side of the passage, so all Sora did was navigate the area as he tore through the enemy vessels that were in the way. Sombra was pleased to see that the pirate ship was definitely a large Heartless, it had a massive symbol on one of it's sails, and observed as Sora tore into it with the Teeny Ships, demonstrating his great skill in managing the Gummi Ship and navigating the space gates.

As they emerged from the space that had been on the other side of the third space gate Sombra smiled as she captured the heart of the Pirate Galleon, absorbing it and adding it's power to her own, though after doing that they glanced at the world that had been unlocked thanks to Sora's actions.

"Looks like we're heading back to the Coliseum." Sora commented, as he recognized the world that was in front of them, it had been one where they tackled all sorts of battles and Cups to grow their power, which they might not need at this point, but since the World had directed them to this world that meant the Organization was likely involved in some manner.

"I wonder if we'll see Cerbi again." Fluttershy said, as she had bonded a little with the three headed dog that was Hades' pet, or maybe a guard dog of some kind, and she wondered if he was going to be happy to see her again, before she noticed that the ship's systems seemed to be pointing them at a deeper location than they were used to, "Wonder why the ship has a new point for us to warp down to?"

"The old one has likely been altered in some manner." Sombra remarked, as the gate they usually stepped through did seem to be linked to another portion of the world in question, so if the warp point had been moved that meant there must have been a change to the gateway, which wasn't horrible all things considered, "Come on, let's get down there and see what sort of chaos is going on this time."

The others nodded as the system was engaged and they were warped down to the new starting point for this world, where Sombra found that they were in a dark realm of sorts that wasn't quite like Halloween Town, but still felt like someplace she would be at home in, with some sort of dark ooze that had to be the replacement for water. In addition to that there were two large gates in the area, with jagged sides to indicate that they were dark, plus there was a third path in the middle that was golden and seemed to be heading up to the coliseum, meaning they were actually pretty close to their destination, or at least it seemed so right now. In addition to that Sombra noticed that Sora and the others had a miasma of some kind wash over them for a few seconds, like this realm was sapping their strength or something, while she, oddly enough, remained untouched by the power of the area they were in. In the following moments they found a lady in a purple dress under attack by a group of Heartless, dog like Heartless that were roughly around Donald's height, though as she fell Sombra and the rest of the group closed in on the Rabid Dogs, taking them out in a couple of seconds.

Sombra made sure to capture those hearts as well, though at the same time she found that despite the curse that was part of this place, weakening the rest of her group, Sora and the others were still just fine as they helped the lady up and made sure she was just fine.

"Thanks, but... I'm fine." the lady replied, though that was when she focused on them for a moment and seemed surprised by the fact that they were standing near her, instead of someone else she was obviously expecting to come to her rescue, causing her to dust herself off before fully turning towards them, "And who are you guys supposed to be?"

"I'm Sora, and these are my friends Sombra, Goofy, Radiant, Fluttershy, Seras, and Donald." Sora replied, where he glanced at the golden path for a few seconds before turning his attention back to the lady, as he wanted to be sure that she was fine before they tracked down the two people that they knew from this world, the good guys anyway, "That's the coliseum, right? If so, we can swing by and see how Hercules is doing."

The lady raised an eyebrow and asked how they knew "Wonderboy", her nickname for Hercules no doubt, where Sombra explained that they had trained with Phil for a time during their last visit and that they were 'junior' heroes, something that caused her to laugh, as if she highly doubted their words and believed them to be liars. She did, however, believe that they knew Hercules and introduced herself as Megara, though her friends referred to her as 'Meg', meaning that she might think of them as friends that she could use to her benefit and Sombra was able to confirm that when she asked for aid. Apparently she was trying to convince Hades to go easy on Hercules, as he was throwing everything at the warrior in question and was tiring him out, endless battles without rest to be exact, but those beings, the Heartless as Sora told her, had stopped her in her tracks. This allowed them to know one important fact, they were in the Underworld, Hades' domain, so he likely knew they were here, though Sora told her that since they could fight the Heartless they could make their way to Hades and see if they could convince him to go easy on Hercules, causing Meg to thank them before returning to the coliseum.

"You know, it sounds like she's in love with Hercules." Goofy remarked, something that caused Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras to nod their heads in agreement, as they were more familiar with such things and understood what he meant, to which they focused on the path that was in front of them, the one Meg had come from.

Such a thing was when they walked through it and found a carved passage leading deeper into the realm, where they found a number of wisps forming all over the chamber, though as they expected there were more Rapid Dogs for them to fight, but they came in small groups of three or four. That meant there was no reason for them to worry, so half of the group focused on the enemies that were in front of them while the other half tracked down the path to move forward, allowing Sombra to observe and snatch the freed hearts that were released along the way. As they moved into the next passage, however, one of the Organization's members rushed by them and headed deeper into the Underworld, where Sombra resisted the urge to chuckle as she realized that it was Demyx, meaning he was likely keeping tabs on them. In addition to that there were a few Shadows that joined the Rapid Dogs in attacking them, not that it mattered since Sora and the others wiped the floor with all of them, making him wonder if the Organization would step up their game at some point.

There was one other type of Heartless that made itself known to them, an armored Heartless that had a thinner body than the Soldiers, though it carried a lance as it's weapon, causing Sombra to address them as 'Lance Soldiers', though it was easy to dodge their attacks and bring them down.

After that they stepped out into another portion of the cave that happened to be where Demyx rushed by them and used a Dark Corridor to leave the area, why Sombra had no idea, especially since she knew his secret, but she didn't say anything on the matter as they found that the area did have something for them, a lexicon that seemed like a portal to an area to fight someone. Sombra realized that it was likely a small remnant of Zexion's power, a final fragment of the Nobody's abilities no doubt, though instead of focusing on that Sora continued down the path that was in front of them and stepped out into an area that had a stone path winding it's way up to an odd stone palace, Hades' domain no doubt. Down below them rested a swirling green vortex of energy, what it did none of them knew and none of them were interested in finding out, causing the group to focus on the winding stone path and engaged the Heartless that were apparently protecting the path that lead to Hades' domain. In addition to the Heartless they had seen so far a number of Dire Plants joined the battle as well, which was just odd considering the nature of this realm, along with red Hook Bats as well, though Sombra was fine with this since it allowed her to capture more hearts and make up for the lack of hearts from Beast's world.

In the palace they found Hades talking with a man who was wearing what Sombra determined was a blood red haori with a blue lining, something she knew based on her studies of the other worlds, and his weapon was a curved greatsword that he rested on his shoulders when it was in use, with his left arm resting lazily out the front of his attire.

"Oh no, not you guys again!" Hades stated, interrupting himself as he noticed that Sora and the others were entering his domain, which was just more bad news for him since he wasn't expecting them to return at such a crucial moment in his plans to finally do away with his greatest obstacle.

"Hello again, Hades. Been a while, hasn't it?" Sombra said, as the last time they had seen each other the god had tried to do away with them by using some of his titans against them in the coliseum, and when that failed he found a way to summon a new warrior to fight her, the One Winged Angel called Sephiroth, "We'd love to stick around and chat, but we're here on business this time: we've come to ask that you give Hercules a break, as in let him rest a little before sending more waves of Heartless at him."

"You have got to be kidding me! Why would I give that loser a break?" Hades asked, something that caused the other warrior to pause for a moment as he realized that Hades wasn't lashing out at Sombra for her statement, like he knew something about the lady that the warrior didn't know.

"He's your great foe, and deep down you want to beat him in a way that satisfies you. Forcing him to fight constantly like this, and then getting him while he's exhausted, will only lead to utter disappointment." Sombra remarked, as she had pieced the god's plan together rather easily, because she had considered something similar in the past, when she was getting ready to fight Celestia and Luna, a plan that had been replaced with their actual battle, one she had been winning until they sealed her away and she activated her curse, "Trust me on this, it is better to find a way to defeat your foe that will satisfy you, instead of doing something that will only make you annoyed with yourself."

"And if I say 'no'?" Hades inquired, though he was sorely tempted to just lash out at the group while they were in front of him and get it over with, since heroes were zeroes in the Underworld, it was one of the rules of his realm, which was when Sora stepped forward and caused him to turn towards the boy.

"Then we'll just take his spot in the coliseum until he's rested and ready to go. Either way, he'll get his rest." Sora replied, as he knew that Phil would be overjoyed to have them back for a time, especially after their last couple of battles, so his words were right, no matter what Hades decided on this matter Hercules would be the winner in the end.

Hades, enraged by the mere idea of them doing anything that would help Hades, summoned the Heartless and attacked the group, where Sora and the others fought all of them off while Sombra surprised the god, as she lashed out at him directly, thus allowing the others, plus the new warrior, to flee from the palace.

"I don't get it, your powers should be far weaker in my realm... heroes are zeroes in the Underworld!" Hades stated, as this was something he wasn't expecting to discover, that Sombra, of all people, seemed to be unaffected by the realm that he ruled over, and it was annoying him more than he was willing to admit.

"Oh, I'm no hero... I'm a villain, Hades, and your realm has no power over me." Sombra replied, as while she was doing good for the World she could tell that even the Underworld still viewed her as a villain, meaning she had the upper hand right now and could likely unleash her full power if she wanted to, but for the time being she jumped towards the opening that was like a window, "See you later!"

Instead of saying anything else she leapt out the opening and warped herself down to the winding path, where the rest of the group, and the warrior named Auron, were fighting their way through the Heartless that were trying to stop them, but as Sombra expected they were tearing through all of them. With that in mind it really took them no time to return to where the tome was located and resumed moving through the cavern, though it was interesting to see that Hades wasn't bothering to chase them, especially in a realm that he had the advantage in. It didn't take them long to discover why the god had stayed behind, as there was a massive lock on the door they had used to enter this portion of the Underworld, not that it stopped Sora and his friends as he fired a beam of light into the lock and undid it in a matter of seconds. Of course that was when they found that there was also a guardian of the lock, who was late to the party since Hades must have sent it out after he placed the lock in it's position, and that guardian happened to be Cerberus.

"Cerbi!" Fluttershy said, where the three headed dog stopped growling at them as they realize who was in front of them, to which the large animal started to act like a normal companion by licking her and letting her rub his belly, though this time around he was more than willing to leave Hades behind and join her fully, appreciating her more than Hades.

"...What just happened?" Auron asked, as he knew that Cerberus was loyal to Hades, everyone knew that, so it was hard for him to understand why the animal would suddenly change his mind all of a sudden and join someone else, based on how he was moving at the moment.

Sombra chuckled and told the warrior that he would get used to this if he fought beside them more in the future, it was just how things went down for them these days, and it made her all the more interested in what else this world might throw at them in the near future.

Nobody: Hades' Plans

After spending a few minutes tending to Cerberus, who Fluttershy eventually used the orb on that allowed her to transport animals off world, the group headed for the stairs that would bring them to the coliseum, which was when Auron bid them farewell for the time being, like he couldn't go up there or something. Instead of worrying about him, since he was a skilled warrior and could handle himself, Sora wished him luck with whatever he wanted to do before he and the others headed up the stairs, allowing them to leave the Underworld and quickly return to a familiar place. Sure enough it looked like there was no change in the coliseum from when they were last here, in fact it looked like all of the damage that Sombra had caused during the fight with Sephiroth had been cleaned up, like it had never happened at all, but they were glad to see that the place looked like it was doing well. In addition to that they found that all of the Cups they had taken place in were resting on the walls around the gateway they had stepped through, a reminder of what they had accomplished and the trials they had overcome to become champions of the arena, or 'juniors' since Phil didn't like to hand out the 'true' portion of the title to anyone that wasn't Hercules.

As they approached the main door of the waiting room for the coliseum, however, the door opened and Hercules, looking a little exhausted and in desperate need of a break, though his mood was instantly brightened when he noticed the group walking up to the waiting room he had just been in.

"Guys! When did you get here?" Hercules asked, meaning Meg hadn't told him that they were visiting, which was fine since she likely wanted to make sure they completed their task before bothering to mention that the group had gone off to speak to Hades, even though they had a different plan in mind to help Hercules.

"Oh, not that long ago... wandered into the Underworld by accident, ending up chatting with Hades, took Cerberus... you know, the usual." Sora replied, where it was easy for him and the others to notice that he was surprised by that information, especially Meg who had followed him outside to be sure that he was alright, causing him to beckon for Hercules to follow as they headed back into the main structure.

Sora explained that they had found their friends, in fact Riku and Kairi were safe, so they were simply traveling and dealing with Heartless, plus a new type of enemy called the Nobodies, just in case Hercules had seen them in the past, though so far it seemed like the newer enemies hadn't come to this world yet, despite Roxas having been sent with Demyx in the past. In addition to that Sora told Hercules that they figured they would stop in, check up on them, and even talk with Phil for a time, who would no doubt pit them against some of the other matches that were scheduled for the day, meaning Hercules could relax and get his energy back. Of course the warrior was surprised to hear that they were willing to switch in with him, just so he could get some rest, though sure enough Phil walked in and was happy to see the group again, even though this was the first time they were meeting Seras and easily accepted that she was Fluttershy's sister. With that information he hand Phil did what he did best, he challenged each and every one of them to an identical challenge, destroying all of the barrels that were in the arena that he set up, similar to what he had everyone do the first time they came to the coliseum.

Seras also showed them just how skilled she was as she knocked the barrels around like they were nothing, impressing Phil to a degree before he allowed them to take part in the matches while Hercules slept, though as per usual they had to split into teams to be sure that they didn't overwhelm their enemies.

Sombra, being perfectly fine with sitting out, sat on the sidelines as the two groups tackled the Heartless that were supposed to battle Hercules, as Hades had called upon familiar faces from their first adventure and some of the newer Heartless from this adventure, all to catch his foe off guard no doubt. Such a thing allowed her to sit back and just capture a sea of hearts as they were freed from the various enemies that marched into the arena, preventing them from being snatched by Xemnas and the Organization, meaning their Kingdom Hearts would continue to go hungry. At the same time Phil was able to see all of their skills, that none of them had slacked off and that they were definitely stronger than ever before, which he approved of based on what Sombra was seeing, and even Hercules, who was supposed to be resting, was impressed by how much the group had grown since their last encounter. Of course Phil wanted to be absolutely sure that Sombra was as skilled as she had been previously, so when everyone else was done with their matches, scoring her a lot of hearts to add to the growing collection, Sombra stepped into the arena as the floor vanished, allowing her to see that it was a Behemoth.

Such a thing caused her to chuckle as she surrounded her left fist with two rings of magic, just like she did back when they were in Mulan's world, so when the beast rushed her Sombra flashed into the air above it and slammed her fist into the top of it's back, crushing it into the ground before swinging her Keyblade to defeat it, allowing her to capture it's heart.

"What... was that?" Sora asked, as while he knew that Sombra had used such a thing back during their visit to Mulan's world, or at least that's what he had heard, this was the first time he had seen the move in action and it interested him, hence why he asked about it while something interrupted Hercules' rest and he wandered off to the side.

"I call it the 'Galactic Fist', which is a combination of spatial magic, or in this case gravity, time magic, and my own strength." Sombra replied, because she had done some training on her own and found a way to overlay gravity magic on top of time magic, similar to how she merged both light and dark magic into a whole new thing, creating an attack that seemed to make a foe take the entirety of her attack in an instant, "It's quite effective, wouldn't you say?"

As Radiant and the others nodded their heads, especially since there was a chance that Sombra could teach them this and increase the power of the entire group, she stopped herself as they noticed that Hercules was walking over with one of the members of the Organization, only for the figure to pull their hood back without delay.

"Demyx? What are you doing here?" Seras asked, because while she assumed that he had been tasked to this world, much like how Xaldin had been tasked to deal with Beast's world, it was surprising to find the figure in front of them and not in the shadows, no doubt hiding from them after running by them in the Underworld.

"I'm supposed to be trying to talk to Roxas... Xigbar thinks he's been recompleted. However, I caught wind of Hades' plans and came to warn you: he's going to kidnap Meg and force you to undo some sort of lock." Demyx replied, which was a bit of fresh air, that an Organization member seemed to be going against the plans that had been set on them by their boss, even if it was a surprise that Xigbar had given the order and not Xemnas, to which he gestured to Hercules for a moment, "I told this guy about the plot and he's gone and gotten you something that can help: something called the 'Olympus Stone', which the gods use to negate the effects of the Underworld."

"Wait, is it okay for us to even use such a thing?" Sora inquired, because that seemed like an incredibly important item for this world, something they really shouldn't be given in his opinion, hence why he was looking at Hercules as he produced a medallion of sorts with a lightning bolt on it, like the mark of a god.

"Zeus figures that Hades might be attempting to open the Underdrome, the Underworld's coliseum that was sealed a long time ago, so he's willing to give you some aid." Hercules said, where he held it out and allowed Sora to take it, palming it for a time as the others studied the item for a few seconds, before they eventually turned their focus back to him as he let out a light chuckle, "Just use that once you guys are in the Underworld and you'll be able to use all of your abilities. I'll be resting in the meantime, but once I'm ready I'll call on Pegasus to come and join you."

"Sorry, but there's still another match for you." a voice commented, where they found that Hades appeared nearby and that he didn't seem interested in looking at Sombra, which was understandable since she had held him back while the others escaped, before they found that another creature appeared behind him, one that seemed more like a lizard while being on a height that was equal to Cerberus', "Allow me to introduce you to the Hydra, your next oppo..."

Hades found that he was unable to finish his statement as Fluttershy approached the beast and managed to convince it to lay down so she could rub it's belly, showing them that it was much like Cerberus, causing the god to whimper as he fled not a few seconds later, allowing her to capture it as well, much to Hercules and Phil's complete surprise. With that creature in her companion sphere, and Hercules was able to rest without worrying about any additional matches, the group departed from the coliseum and returned to the stairs leading down into the Underworld, allowing them to return to the dark realm without delay. Once they were down there Sora pulled out the Olympus Stone and held it up, where a light flashed from it's surface and surrounded the entire group, thus allowing everyone to utilize their full powers in this realm, causing him to put a smile on his face as they headed down the path on their left. Such a thing allowed them to enter a new area that had a new Heartless, a Search Ghost that was green and had red candles, 'Trick Ghosts' Sombra guessed, and a floor that was actually a layer of fog that prevented them from seeing the true floor.

The Trick Ghosts didn't seem to have too much power to them or have any tactics that were new, though they were joined by some Large Bodies, so Sora and the others wiped the floor with them as Sombra captured their hearts along the way, even the hearts of the Soldiers that joined the fray. It was clear that Hades was trying to stall them, while he figured out a way to prevent Hercules from joining them at some point, though it hardly mattered as the group tore through the Heartless and opened the way forward, while all of the freed hearts ended up in Sombra's growing collection. What was interesting was that this place seemed to be far shorter than the path that lead to Hades' palace, and there was an area that seemed to be large enough for a short battle of some kind, like this was where Demyx would have clashed with them had he been doing what Xigbar had told him. Since there was nothing stopping them the group walked through the door that was on the other side of the arena and entered an area that had some dark energy moving down into a stone, while there seemed to be next to nothing else in the area for them to worry about.

Sombra held up a hand as she looked at the stone, stopping the others from doing anything, as the material had a lock on it, exactly as stated previously, and next to it was a design that looked like a woman imprisoned inside it, meaning Meg had been cursed to be part of the stone.

"Another dark curse... well, time to work my magic." Sombra said, where Radiant and the others watched as she allowed a bit of her dark magic to appear around her eyes, while at the same time she applied a little pressure to the curse that was on Meg and shattered it, like she had done to the one that was on Beast previously, causing Meg to appear in front of them while the stone and lock remained fine, "And done."

"Hey! That's not fair!" a voice stated, where they found Pete standing nearby, like he was expecting them to undo the lock on the stone, just as Hades had planned, and he seemed annoyed, which was understandable since this meant that his plans for this world were also shattered by what Sombra had done, "You have to unlock the Underdrome!"

"Sorry, but your foe is the Shadow Monarch, Mistress of Curses, and many other dark titles... honestly, Pete, you never stood a chance." Radiant remarked, which was the truth, Pete's level of dark power and his intelligence were far below Sombra's own levels, in fact he was far below Maleficent's levels as well, so there was nothing he could do in the face of the power that was resting in front of him.

Sombra, to prove the point, unleashed a series of Galactic Fists into Pete's chest, crushing him into the side of the chamber they were in, though once that was done she and the others turned away from the lock and departed from this portion of the Underworld without delay. Meg was, of course, surprised by this turn of events, since she was expecting someone to undo the lock to save her, and while they were walking out of the Underworld they could practically hear Hades scream in anger as he realized that his plans had been utterly ruined by the group. Sombra was fine with this, as it gave meaning to all of her work mastering the dark arts before Celestia and Luna did what they did, as she could now use that knowledge to just undo whatever some villains were doing on their home worlds, which was actually kind of fun to do. Other that that there wasn't anything for them to worry about as they reached the stairs leading up into the coliseum's exterior and they were able to reunite Meg with Hercules, the latter being overjoyed by them risking their lives to save her, which he would have done if he hadn't been so exhausted.

While Sora was telling him that taking breaks were necessary they discovered that the Olympus Stone started to glow, thus allowing him to fire a beam of light into the lock it created as another new path was created for them to use, causing them to wish the pair well, and to get some rest, before they departed from the world and got ready to travel to whatever world was next.

Nobody: Castle of Light

Sombra found that Fluttershy was quite pleased with herself when they returned to their ship, as she had acquired two new creatures to add to their private realm and they were quite powerful, meaning she had more animals to tend to, though it seemed like Hades' former pets approved of this change. Other than that there wasn't a lot of changes for them to worry about, rather everything seemed to be normal in the grand scheme of things, at least inside their ship, meaning everyone was able to do exactly what they did in the past during their time traveling between worlds. This time around Sora found something that was quite odd and Sombra agreed with him, there was an icon that indicated that there was a source of Light that was beckoning them to come closer, causing him to tell Sora to follow it. She was sure this was coming from someone on their side, someone attuned to the Light, and if that was the case the World had likely seen they were in danger, or will be in the near future, and was sending them to that person's aid.

Such a thing made her curious as to what was going on, since this was the first time such a thing had happened, though she did discover that the path in question was shorter than they were expecting, almost as if they had moved through a Warp Gate, like they used back in their first adventure, as the ship passed by Hollow Bastion before reaching a new world not even two hours later.

"Is that... another castle?" Sora asked, though at the same time he made sure to call the others up so they could see what he was seeing, allowing Sombra to see that Donald and Goofy recognized this place, which meant it was a world they had been to before they found Traverse Town, and Sora, or it was their home.

"Not just any castle, Sora. That's Disney Castle, our home." Goofy replied, confirming Sombra's thoughts, though at the same time she could tell that something was terribly wrong, as this was Mickey's home world and it seemed like the Light Barrier that was supposed to be protecting it was gone, at least from what she could see right now.

"The World brought us here for a reason. We had best go down and see what's going on." Seras said, something that caused everyone to nod their heads as Donald pointed out another command on the console for Sora to use this time around, one that allowed them to move down into a passage that was on the outskirts of the castle.

It was a Gummi Hanger, the very place that Donald and Goofy had launched from at the start of their mission, and once the ship was docked the group found a door opening while a platform extended, allowing them to walk down onto a path that seemed to lead out of the workshop and would likely bring them out into the castle itself. As they walked Sombra was able to confirm that the Light Barrier was far too weak to do anything to her, she could barely feel it, as Mickey had told her there was a fair chance that the magic protecting this world would either reject her outright, cripple her during her visit, or even wipe her out. It made sense, as she was a being of Darkness and her only true weakness was Light, much like the Crystal Heart and what it had done to her, so her being able to walk around freely like this just confirmed that the barrier was far too weak to stop someone like her from entering this world. Her thoughts were interrupted when they reached a winding staircase, an odd choice in her mind, but Donald showed them that there was a magical rune that teleported them up to the entrance of this area, allowing the group to head out into what appeared to be the royal garden.

As Sombra admitted that Disney Castle was an impressive place, even for a castle, they were assaulted by a number of foes, Heartless to be exact, which was the final nail in the coffin for Sombra, where the group found that it was mostly Shadows, Soldiers, and a new one that was an egg with a visible dark body inside them that detonated after getting close to whatever foe they were fighting. Sombra decided to call them 'Egg Bombs', as it was a straightforward name in her mind, though they were easy to take down as well, a few hits with a weapon or magic were enough to take them out, though they refrained from using fire magic on them since that might make them explode faster. While they did that a pair of chipmunks, which had to be Chip and Dale, noticed their arrival and informed the group that the Queen wanted to see them, and that she was in the library, which Donald and Goofy could easily lead them to. With that in mind Sora beckoned for those two to lead the way to where Queen Minnie was waiting for them, even though it seemed like she had called for aid and the World had done all it could to bring them here as fast as they could.

While they moved, however, Sombra stopped and glanced at a rather large and imposing door that seemed far too large, as no one in the castle, from what she had seen so far, was as tall as it, something she figured she could ask the Queen once the situation was under control. Fortunately it didn't take them too long to reach their destination, despite the length of the hallway that Donald and Goofy went down, and when they finally entered the library Sombra could see that there were all sorts of shelves around them, with all sorts of books resting on them. She and Fluttershy glanced at each other, as both of them knew that Twilight Sparkle would have had a field day in this place, before they turned their attention to the figure that was standing in front of some of the shelves, no doubt looking for information on what was going on. It was a mouse, exactly the same height as Mickey, wearing a dress that was pink and red, with a golden tiara on her head, confirming that this was, in fact, Queen Minnie, not that Sombra needed further confirmation after Donald and Goofy stood and saluted her once she knew they were there.

"Donald, Goofy, I am glad that you two are back. I am also happy to have all of your friends here as well." Minnie said, which made sense when Sombra thought about it, as Mickey had likely come by during his latest mission and told his wife about all of them, since she didn't seem even remotely surprised by Sombra and the others appearances.

"Queen Minnie, why are there Heartless in the castle?" Donald asked, as all of them assumed that this was why they found the way to this world, instead of any of the others that could have been thrown at the group, so by cutting to the heart of the matter they should be able to deal with whatever was plaguing his and Goofy's home world.

"I... have something that I need to show you, but there are still servants that are in danger." Minnie replied, something that caused the pair from her world to instantly offer to track down those who were out there and bring them to safety, which she accepted without delay, causing her to turn towards the ones who carried Keyblades, "I need the rest of you to escort me back to the throne room, which is the large sealed door down the hallway."

"Sounds easy enough." Sombra said, where she and the others turned around and headed back the way they came, while at the same time Donald and Goofy headed off to do as their Queen had asked, but as she and the others readied each of their weapons they noticed that there weren't a lot of Heartless in the hallway.

There were Shadows and Egg Bombs, that was about it based on what Sombra was seeing right now, so they were able to cut their way through the enemies blocking the way and approach the door without delay, where Minnie held her hand up for a moment, where she undid the barrier and revealed a smaller door that opened for them. Such a thing allowed them to see that the throne room was massive, even though the throne itself was big enough for Mickey to sit on and seemed to be raised slightly, and there were a massive number of tower-like Heartless descending down towards the ground. They had an interesting power to call upon lightning to try and shock their enemies, causing Sombra to go with 'Bolt Towers' for them, all while she nodded to the others as they launched themselves at the new type of Heartless, allowing her to capture one of their hearts and absorb it, just to get a taste of their power. Sombra found that these ones weren't very strong, hence why they came at the group with a group of what seemed to be a hundred, a testament to the size of the throne room, a fact that was unnecessary in her eyes, though she happily captured the hearts before they escaped, to prevent the Organization from claiming them.

Minnie followed along, keeping herself out of the way so the others could do their work, though when she reached the area the throne was in she found a button and pressed it, where the entire throne pedestal started to shift, revealing a blinding light that caused Sombra to shroud herself in several layers of shadows, while the Heartless were evaporated in an instant before the light vanished.

"A little warning would have been nice!" Sombra remarked, though as she emerged from the shadowy barrier she noticed just how damaged the barrier actually was, the light had ripped through several of the layers like they were nothing, which meant that whatever was down in the depths of the castle was on par with the Crystal Heart, causing her to sweat as she wondered how much it would have hurt if she took the full force of the reveal.

"Sombra, why did you do that?" Sora asked, as that was something he wasn't expecting, the smartest member of their group, and even the strongest in certain aspects, to summon a barrier to protect herself and it made him wonder why she would do such a thing in the first place.

"She's an Umbrum, a Shadow Pony... light as powerful as that would have crippled her, if not shatter her form." Radiant said, as she remembered what happened in the past, before Sombra was sealed away and they both suffered a thousand years in different areas, while Fluttershy and Seras knew what had happened during her attempted takeover of the empire after her escape, so they knew why Sombra had done this.

Minnie apologized instantly, she had no idea that Sombra's weakness was the light, but she had a good reason for this as she lead them down into the basement, where they discovered a large room with a large sphere of concentrated Light energy, which was currently being blocked by all of the dark thorns that were wrapped around it, shrouding the area in pure darkness.

"This is the Cornerstone of Light, our protection against the Heartless and worlds that have fallen to darkness." Minnie said, which confirmed Sombra's earlier suspicions, there was something here that was protecting the world and it had fallen in some manner, hence why she and the Heartless were able to cross into this world with ease, before she gestured to the sea of thorns that were around them, while Sombra noted that there was something hidden in this chamber, "We have no idea where the thorns came from, they just sprang up overnight, but they're blocking the Cornerstone's power from exiting this chamber... what you experienced above was all it could muster to open the way for us to come down here and aid it."

"Thorns that sprung up overnight... reminds me of the plunder vines. We need Merlin." Sombra remarked, to which she just focused her magic for a moment and locked onto Merlin's magical signature, where she tapped out a message in a way that was like morse code, though it wasn't long before a surge of magic appeared nearby as Merlin teleported into the area, much to the surprise of the others, "I wish we could stop and chat, but we require some assistance."

"Indeed. It is a good thing you called on me, because this is most serious." Merlin stated, as he instantly understood what he was seeing, which had to be due to his insane mastery over time magic, where he held his hands out and moved them as he cast a spell, causing a silver, almost crystalline, door to appear nearby with a whitish frame around it, "Whatever is causing the problem is on the other side of that door... now, while you are on the other side of that door you might be tempted to do something foolish, so I must ask that you resist the urge when it reveals itself. In addition to that there should be an identical door to this one somewhere in the world I'm opening the way to, so once you have dealt with whoever behind this disaster you need to lock that door and secure this castle from our enemies."

"But, if we go back to when the Cornerstone is unbound, Sombra won't be able to come with us." Fluttershy said, though in the following moment a wave of dark energy washed over the figure in question, leaving behind a small gray fox with the same eye color as Sombra, whose tail seemed to be made out of pure darkness, causing them to look at the figure for a few seconds as they thought about what happened.

"Honestly, never thought I'd have to do this: shapeshift into a smaller form and use Tenfold Shadow Barrier... should keep me safe for an hour, maybe two." Sombra remarked, to which she sighed for a moment as she rushed over to the group and came to a stop on Radiant's shoulder, while her focus was on the door that was in front of them, since she knew what was on the other side and was as prepared as she could be, "Shall we get moving?"

Sora nodded as he braced the door's handles and opened it, revealing a white and black portal to whatever world Merlin had detected the problem in, causing him and the others to step forward as they prepared themselves to face whatever dangers might be on the other side.

Nobody: Light of the Past

It didn't take them long to step through the portal and appear on the other side, where Sombra found that they were in a world that was black and white, like monochrome, though that even applied to everyone in the group, as she and the others were also the same as this bizarre world. In addition to that she found that Sora's outfit had returned to how he was dressed during their first adventure, sized to fit his current body, while Donald and Goofy had been put into clothes that were likely stuff they had worn before they started to work for their King. Of course that called into question everything that was in the area the door's portal had brought them to, as there was nothing but a clearing and two paths that lead to another portion of the area, meaning this was definitely the past and that this was before the castle had been built. In addition to that she found that Radiant and the other pony girls were also black and white as well, in fact her fox form was the same way, letting them blend in with the people that were part of this world, if they happened upon any during their search.

That was when Sombra was assaulted by a pure surge of light and huffed for a moment as they found that one of their few targets happened to be right in front of them, as the Cornerstone of Light, in all it's glory, was right in front of them and she could practically feel it's devastating power, causing her to fall off Radiant's shoulder and nearly hit the ground, had she not been caught by Fluttershy.

"Are you okay? Should we get you back to the other side of the portal?" Fluttershy asked, because if this was how Sombra was going to react to being near the Cornerstone, essentially trapping her in a state that prevented her from being able to fight their enemies and still be assaulted by her weakness so severely, she really thought that they should take her back through the portal to spare her the pain.

"N... No. I can... handle this." Sombra got out, though she found that she was grateful for having set up the Tenfold Shadow Barrier before she and the others stepped through the portal, because based on her estimates the full power of the object would have sundered her body, so her preparations had definitely saved her life, "At least we know... the Cornerstone is safe and sound."

"Yeah, in a world that's black and white... how strange." Sora said, while at the same time he found that Donald and Goofy just looked at themselves like they were trying to remember when they had looked like this, though before he could even say anything else a guy that looked like Pete ran by, only he was wearing overalls and a captain's hat that looked like it was for a different type of vessel.

"Hey, have you guys seen any bad guys around here?" the figure, Past Pete in Sombra's eyes, inquired, which was definitely something the group wasn't expecting, since they were used to dealing with the Pete from their point in time, causing them to shake their heads in a 'no' fashion, "Well, keep an eye out. Someone's made off with my steamboat!"

As Past Pete walked off towards the pier, however, Sombra suggested that they follow him, because there was a chance that he might be able to point them towards the true villain that was wrecking havoc in the future castle, causing Sora and the rest of the group to follow after the figure as Fluttershy held onto Sombra's small fox form. She insisted on this, especially since she knew they didn't need all five wielders to be fighting at once, so she would make sure she was fine while the rest of the group dealt with their enemies, when they found them, meaning she was fine to just rest and use her power to capture hearts without having to do anything. The moment that the group caught up to Past Pete, and he learned that they wanted to help him out, without telling him that his issue might be connected to why they were here in the first place, he told them that his steamboat had been stolen and that he was sure it was the 'little runt', an employee of his no doubt. While Past Pete focused on areas that he suspected the steamboat would be in, places he was familiar with, the group returned to the hill that the Cornerstone was on and discovered a floating window of sorts that had a cord they could pull, like they were about to watch something happen.

What they discovered was that the scene started in the hill that the Cornerstone was in, where four doors, made in the same style as this viewer, were invaded by new types of Heartless, one being hammers brought to life, another being airplanes that had a pilot, the third had fireballs that just seemed like normal fireballs, and the last had Rapid Thrusters, and once all fours doors were gone their door into this world appeared.

"Oh, I get it now. This is a Past Viewer, allowing us to see important events that happened in the past... and how we have two new types of Heartless: Hammer Frames and Aeroplanes." Sombra remarked, as the group knew that she named all of the types of enemies they encountered, just to keep it all straight in her head since there were so many Heartless in the World, before she and the others turned around, seeing that the four doors had reappeared, "I'm going to guess that this world wants us to track down the Heartless and fix whatever damage they're causing... we might be able to get more Past Viewers and see what caused the thorns in our timeline to appear."

"Okay then, enter the doors, take down the Heartless, learn about the past, and save the future. Got it." Sora said, as that sounded like an easy plan to work with, especially since he was sure that it would allow them to track down the main villain that was bothering this world, causing him to draw his Keyblade as the others readied their own weapons.

With that in mind they went through the first portal, which brought them to what appeared to be a construction site that was under attack by the Hammer Frames, where they found that Past Mickey, who waved at them, swung into one and knocked it away from Sora and the others. Of course Sombra found that they had to fight on the scaffolding that the portal had put them on top of, though such a thing didn't seem to matter to anyone as they lashed out at the Heartless, crushing the group of Hammer Frames before they really had a chance to break anything, all while she captured all of the freed hearts. She also found that Fluttershy didn't actively engage in combat this time around, rather it seemed like she was making sure that her body was fine after being exposed to her only weakness like that, but even the Heartless that came at her were pushed back as she used her skill to make a barrier around her that punished those trying to attack her. There were also some Egg Bombs as part of the assault force, though they didn't do much to the group as they tore through them and Sombra collected all of their hearts as well, eventually ending with them wiping out all of their enemies and prompting Past Mickey to come in to shake Sora's hand before scampering off.

Sure enough there was a Past Viewer that appeared once the Heartless were taken care of, where they found that the new scene was from Pete's point of view, him being chewed out by the revived Maleficent, in fact she seemed to be planning on exiling him once she won against their enemies, which was where the vision cut off.

Following that they returned to the Cornerstone and headed through the next door in the line, bringing them to an area that appeared to be a village or city where they were giants, for some odd reason, with a cannon tower in the center of the area, though it appeared that the Aeroplanes were attacking everything. With the number of people protecting the town it looked like the Heartless didn't stand much of a chance, even though some Hammer Frames joined the fight, though that didn't do anything as they wiped them out and Sombra captured their hearts before finding another Past Viewer appeared after Past Mickey shook Sora's hand. This one revealed Pete complaining about how he was being treated and that he wished that he could go back in time, to when he was just a simple steamboat captain, something that caused his Past Door to materialize in whatever castle he and Maleficent were using. Of course that was where the vision cut off, but it confirmed that the Pete from their point in time was the one messing with this point in history, thus allowing them to return to the hill and head into the third portal to keep up the momentum.

This one brought them to a large building that was on fire, where they were assaulted by Shadows and what appeared to be some sort of vehicle, Hot Rods Sombra guessed, while at the same time Fluttershy used her magic to keep the fireballs from touching the building, thus allowing Past Mickey to work on dousing the flames. The only challenging thing about this one was the fact that the Hot Rods would go berserk and rush around the area that was outside the building, though Sora simply guarded in a way that knocked them backwards, thus allowing them to beat the Heartless as Sombra captured more hearts for the collection. Once the enemies were taken care of, and Past Mickey came out to shake Sora's hand before vanishing like always, allowing them to focus on the Past Viewer that showed up, revealing that Pete showed Maleficent the Past Door and she understood what it was, and when in time it was connected to. Maleficent knew how to use the door and seemed to have planned the disruption of the Cornerstone of Light so they could invade Disney Castle, to take it as their own, which was an interesting thing to hear, since she had been quiet since her resurrection.

The fourth and final portal brought them into a house with a black hole that was sucking in the furniture, where Sombra just secured them to the floor with her magic while the rest of the group dealt with the group of Heartless that were inside the room, though it didn't take them long to eliminate them. This challenge was one of the easiest ones they had faced and they found that it wasn't long before Past Mickey returned to shake Sora's hand, departing as another Past Viewer appeared for them to look at, prompting Donald to activate it so they could see what was going on. It confirmed that Maleficent realized that their Past Door was connected to just before Disney Castle was constructed, leaving the Cornerstone unguarded and vulnerable, where Pete's plan was to capture the sphere and then smash it to pieces. There was a slight change in plans as Pete opened the door and stepped into the past, instead of going for the Cornerstone immediately, like Maleficent wanted, he was going after his old steamboat for some reason, which explained why things hadn't changed so much since his arrival in this world.

With that in mind they returned to the hill and found that the Cornerstone of Light was missing, though Past Pete huffed as he headed towards the pier, mumbling something about how someone that looked like him had beat him up and stole his steamboat, causing everyone to follow after him and found that Pete was in control of the ship, with the Cornerstone in a large iron cage connected to the back of it.

Pete, noticing that they were coming for him, called on the Heartless to stop them as he pushed his past self away, though it hardly mattered to Sora and the others as they tore through every foe that was summoned to deal with them, all while the hearts were captured by Sombra's skill. In addition to that Pete decided to hurl junk at them while he moved the boat down the river, not that such a thing mattered either since most of the group was able to parry all of the items and hurl them back at their foe, stunning him and somehow redirecting the boat back to their side of the river. Such a thing allowed everyone to strike the cage and discover that it was actually thick wood, not metal, before Donald set the cage on fire and burned it until the Cornerstone was freed, allowing Sombra to lift the object with her magic and direct it back to where it was resting not that long ago. As she did that Pete retreated and headed back to an area that seemed to be storage for the various boats of this world, where he found himself backed into a corner as everyone approached him, causing him to remember the beating he had received previously as he called forth his Past Door.

Sora simply stared at Pete as he retreated from this world, causing the others to physically close the door before he used his Keyblade to lock it, causing it to phase and disappear like everything else he had sealed in the past, where they bit Past Pete farewell as they returned to their Past Door, returning to the future without delay and discovered that the thorns were no longer a thing, as the room as well lit once again.

"Welcome back, everyone." Minnie said, where it was clear that she and the others were proud of what the group had done while they were in the past, as Merlin had likely filled her in on what was going on, while at the same time Sombra noticed that a few more people had arrived, as in Aqua, Ventus, and even Riku, meaning Merlin must have noticed something while they were waiting, "Because of your bravery, our castle is safe and protected once more. Thank you all so much for what you have done for us. Sombra, how are you feeling?"

As Sombra opened her mouth to respond, since the others were curious as to why she was a small fox in Fluttershy's arms, a light appeared above her for a moment and she found herself being lifted into the air a little, though instead of being even a little freaked out she found that this reminded her of what happened when she first woke up before being sent to Traverse Town to find Sora.

The World acknowledges your struggle, and grants you a new skill: Greater Light Resistance. a voice said, which Sombra realized was the Speaker for the World, entities she hadn't spoken to since she was dropped off in Traverse Town, though at the same time she found that her body was no longer in pain thanks to the Cornerstone's light as a golden aura enveloped her form, leaving her dumbfounded for a moment.

"I knew you and your pony friends were special... but even then I had no idea the World had spoken to you before." Merlin commented, because now he was really invested in figuring out more about the pony girls that had joined Sora on his first adventure, and were changing things for the better from what he's been told, which was when Sombra undid her magic and returned to the form everyone was used to seeing.

"It has been a while since we've spoken to the Speaker, the World's representative... good to know they're still watching out for us." Sombra replied, which was the truth, because it looked like if they cleared very specific events or obstacles, or did something they deemed impressive, they would be rewarded with a brand new skill, though this made her wonder if there was another reason behind the existence of her new skill, before she focused her mind once more, "We can talk about this later. For now there is one more thing I would like to do before we leave for the next world."

As Sora and the others opened their mouths, however, a portal snapped open nearby that was the lingering magic she had felt before they delved into the past, where she beckoned for her group and Riku's to move into it, only for them to find that it brought them to a wasteland with a flat area, which happened to have a suit of armor kneeling with it's head bowed and it's Keyblade stuck headfirst into the ground.

"No... it can't be... Terra?!" Aqua inquired, because while she knew what had happened to her friend both she and Ventus couldn't help but wonder if some of Sombra's information was wrong, that Terra was in front of them, which was when the pair took a step towards the red and brass colored armor.

"Aqua... Ven... What... is going on?" the armor asked, where it sounded like a young man that was Aqua and Ventus' age was responding, in fact the head seemed to shift and lift itself for a moment, as if whatever portion of Terra that was inside it was resonating with the presence of his friends, before it reacted to someone else as it pulled the Keyblade out of the ground and pointed it at Sombra as it stood up, "Dark being... who are you?"

"Peace, we are not here to fight you... we are here to help you." Sombra replied, where she nodded to Aqua, Ventus, and Riku for a moment, because she had told them about a plan she had come up with after seeing Maleficent's resurrection, a plan that involved all three of them to remember Terra with all their hearts and focus on their memories, while at the same time she withdrew Terra's heart from her collection, "And then, together, we can go after Xehanort."

That seemed to get the armor's attention as it lowered it's arm, as if understanding that while she was dark she didn't agree with Xehanort's plans, in fact she stood against him, thus allowing the trio to form a triangle around it while they focused on their memories of Terra. Such a thing caused three blue transparent pillars to appear in the area, centered on the trio while Sombra weaved her power into the mix, where Sora watched as lightning flashed above their heads despite their being no sign of a storm, since this place was barren and rocky. They watched as a surge of magical energy wrapped around where the armor was standing and it seemed to lift it's head towards the sky, which was when Sombra introduced Terra's heart into the mix and they found that a sphere of light wrapped around her target. The lightning came to a stop as the magic died down, allowing everyone to see that a young man that was taller than Aqua and Ventus, had brown hair that reached the base of his neck, and was dressed in a set of attire that happened to resemble what they had seen on Mulan's world, and as the magic died down the figure stared at himself in shock.

Aqua and Ventus, however, embraced their friend as everyone else stood there, totally dumbfounded, though Sombra was fine with a delayed thanks from Terra, as he deserved some time to relax and come to terms with what had happened to him, and hang out with his friends, even though this made her even more interested in what the future held in store for her and her growing group of friends.

"As you can see, our plans are suffering heavy loses across the board." Xigbar said, as he and the other members of the Organization were sitting at one of the round tables that had been added to the castle after Seras joined them, one that had been utilized frequently by their boss when there were meetings that weren't as important as what they had in the room with all of the chairs, "The army in the Land of Dragons has been annihilated, the curse on Beast has been shattered, the Underdrome remains sealed, and it would seem that whatever happened to Disney Castle has been dealt with."

"Man, Sombra and her friends are working fast... I hate to say it, but I think the other plans are going to get folded as well." Demyx remarked, because while he usually trusted in the Organization's plans, even if he was lazy in completing his tasks, he also knew the danger that their current foe posed to everything they stood for and knew that she would turn the tide in an instant if she was able to.

"Unfortunately, I must agree with Demyx... our plans are going to be dashed in no time." Luxord stated, though he was still surprised by how much the laziest member of their group had grown, meaning his time spent with Seras' group had been for the best, and he also knew that his own interactions with another world were likely going to be stopped as well, based on everything else they were seeing.

"I see." Xemnas said, though he wasn't even surprised by that information, Sombra was undoing their plans and the plans of those that were on the planets her group happened to be visiting, to which he raised his tea cup, which had the type that he and Vexen used to make to calm themselves and others down, but it seemed to do nothing to quell the headache that had been messing with him recently, "Axel, what of your search for our missing friends?"

"Nothing. I've been using everything at my disposal, but I haven't found a trace of them yet... honestly, I think Sombra might have covered their tracks." Axel replied, where he found that it was actually a little too easy for him to trick the rest of the Organization into believing that he still held their best interests at heart, as they really thought he was searching for Roxas and Xion.

In the next moment they all heard the sound of a cup shattering upon hitting the ground and the members turned towards Xemnas, as it looked like he had put a little too much force into returning the vessel to the table, though as he tried to get up, to tell them that all was well, Axel watched as their boss stumbled, like there was something wrong with him, before he collapsed on the ground.

"XEMNAS!" Axel exclaimed, where he rushed over to their boss and knelt by him, though he found that Xemnas' eyes were closed as the rest of the members started to get up, causing him to pull off one of his gloves so he could feel his forehead for a moment, only for him to discover that Xemnas was burning up, "He's got a fever, one that's unlike anything I've seen in the past... let's get him to the medical area."

As Axel carried Xemnas, towards an area that was only used when someone was seriously injured during training, it was far too easy to see that everyone was surprised by this turn of events, even Xigbar, who he knew talked to their boss more often than everyone else, seemed taken aback by this, like he wasn't expecting it to happen in the first place. All Axel could do at the moment was set Xemnas down on one of the beds as the others that knew what to do got to work, while a number of Dusks came out to check on them, each worried about their boss, more than what he had seen in the past. That was the interesting thing about how Seras had changed some of them, as Xemnas was a better leader and most Nobodies seemed to care more for the others than they did before Roxas' group joined them, and what he was seeing right now was that some of the Dusks were worried for Xemnas' health. Axel truly had no idea what could have triggered such a fever, with next to no signs of it beforehand, but all they could do now was hope that their boss was able to recover without any major injuries or side effects, even though he seemed to be sweating as well.

While he took a step back, however, he found Xigbar talking to himself, no doubt trying to figure out how Xemnas could have reached such a position without anyone noticing what was going on, though there was one thing he said that made him take a moment to wonder if he knew more than what everyone thought he did.

"She found him... damn, that makes things even worse for us." Xigbar said, unaware of the fact that Axel was watching all of them and was taking mental notes on what everyone was saying at the moment, though his words were interesting since it confirmed he knew more than the rest of the Organization's members.

Axel had no idea what Xigbar was talking about, other than the fact that he was blaming Sombra for their troubles, a favorite of the Organization's these days, before focusing on helping everyone else tend to Xemnas before he was sent out by Saix later, all while wondering what the next couple of days might have in store for him and the rest of the Organization.

Nobody: Pirates and a Curse

Sombra found that Terra was totally surprised by everything that was going on and that he required time to get used to the fact that he even had a body again, as he had been lost in darkness for a long time, though that was why Aqua and Ventus were going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future, to help their friend out. Another thing they discovered was that there was a new entry in their magical tomes, where she found that it was a 'Reflect' spell, meaning that the user could just reflect magic, to a degree since this was the weaker version of the spell, back at the foe that cast it. While Sora directed the Gummi Ship towards the next set of Space Gates, even though it would take some time for them to reach their destination, causing the rest of the group to go about their normal routines once more as they waited for him to tell them he was about to enter one of the structures. Such a thing gave them time to talk to Terra and answer his questions, though for the time being Sombra knew that Aqua and Ventus would be out of commission, and she was fine with that since bringing Terra up to speed was important as well.

The interesting thing about him was that she could sense that his power was both Light and Darkness, which explained why Master Xehanort had been so interested in him, enough to make a plan to steal both his younger body and his power for his own terrible deeds, all while knowing that Terra was firmly on the Light's side. Sombra knew that they were the same to a degree, as Terra stood with the Light and gained some power over Darkness, either by his own hand or by Xehanort's plans, while she started out with the power of Darkness and was constantly stepping into the Light, even gaining the holy element to use it's power. That made her think of what the World had given her, a resistance to the one thing that could hurt her, to which she wondered if the power she could have gained at the start of her quest to help Sora out, the power that burned her hand before disappearing, could now be wielded. Part of her was sure it was a Keyblade, a true Keyblade like what both Radiant and Fluttershy had been given, but in the end she decided not to think about it as she focused on mastering the new spell they had gained after saving Disney Castle.

Eventually, after a few days, Sora brought them to the next set of Space Gates, where they found that the world that was off to their right was none other than Atlantica, Ariel's world, while the one that was in front of them appeared to be some sort of sea world, based on the ship that was part of it's design.

"I think I'll open both gates while we're here, then we'll head into the pirate world." Sora commented, as while he knew that they needed to check out Ariel's world as well, just to be sure there were no Heartless bothering King Triton, part of him had no desire to head down there right now, hence why his focus was on the other world right now.

Sombra was fine with that, as Sora was the pilot and everyone had grown to trust his judgement on which world to visit at which time, causing the boy to being them into the gate to their right and enter the space that needed to be cleared out so the way forward could fully be opened. What they discovered was that this path was half land and half water, or at least that was what it looked like as everyone glanced out of the windows, though Sora did what he did best as he opened fire on the Heartless and Nobody Gummi Ships, allowing Sombra to capture the freed hearts while the ship's systems claimed more of the Gummi Blocks to add to their vessel. Such a thing allowed Terra to see how one of the kids he and his friends had met in the past had grown up, in fact he seemed impressed by Sora's skill at handling the ship as he tore through their enemies, a fact that Aqua and Ventus were used to after having seen him fly around so much after they were saved. With Sora's skills it was only a matter of time before he found the exit and flew through it, opening the path to Ariel's world, though after that he turned around and headed through the second Space Gate, to see what it had to offer them.

The other Space Gate brought them to an area that could pass as an underwater area, as the earth was arranged in shelves and foes were walking on each one, with massive four legged Gummi Ships patrolling the area that awarded them a much larger amount of resources when one was brought down. Sombra was fine with this set up as more materials flowed into the ship's systems, where she found that Terra was interested in what she was doing and showed him how the system worked, where it sucked up the blocks from their slain enemies and converted it into material that went into improving their ship and the Teeny Ships. A portion of the incoming material went into expanding the inside of the ship so Terra could have his own room, as there was an entire floor full of bedrooms, while the rest flowed out into the rest of their vessel, strengthening it and empowering their weapons, to the point where a new gun or two might form if there was enough material. It gave Sora a boost in power, allowing him to inflict more damage on his enemies and maneuver out of the way of incoming attacks, as if he had always been able to do this, causing the others to just tell Terra that this was common.

Once he was done with the second Space Gate, and the way was open, Sora flew close to the world that was in front of them and came to a stop as one of the systems located a good place to warp them down to, where Aqua and the others remained behind with Terra as the main group warped down to the world's surface... coming to a place that appeared to be a port town of some kind, in the middle of the night.

"You know, this place is kind of different... in a good way." Sora commented, as there was something about this world that just stuck with him, even though they had barely seen anything of it, while at the same time he stood on a portion of the wall and glanced out at the rest of the town that was nearby, where he heard the sound of something happening, "We're barely here five minutes and someone wants to make trouble... come on, let's go see what's going on."

As they descended upon the town it didn't take them long to track down the troublemakers, where it was Pete talking to a group of pirates, especially one that looked like a captain, though Pete was annoyed that they were even here, because this meant that they were going to ruin his plans for this world, causing him and the Captain to depart. Some of the pirates did stay behind and attacked the group, though that was when everyone discovered something interesting, it didn't matter what they did or how they retaliated against the pirates, because the pirates remained unharmed after being struck with the edge of a Keyblade or after being set on fire. Sombra instantly understood what they were seeing right now, they were cursed in some manner, as they had some sort of immortality that prevented them from being harmed, causing her to smirk for just a moment as she focused her dark power on her target and shattered his curse, allowing her to cut him down. Such a thing caused her to discover that he seemed to morph into a golden ball of energy and rush off into the distance, totally different from a heart, though they also found that there was another way to bring them down, as the moonlight showed them what the pirates really were, skeletons without flesh and blood.

Sora and the others were able to confirm that they were able to harm the pirates in this state, meaning they had to make sure they were in the moonlight before they could even damage them, and sure enough each one that fell happened to be turned into a golden orb that rushed off into the distance.

Once the pirates were dealt with the group headed into the town, where they found a lady being carried off by some pirates and a young man seemed worried about her safety, though that was when more enemies, Shadows, attacked him and that caused the group to crash into them. Fluttershy asked the man about himself and the lady, allowing them to find out that he was called Will and the lady was Elizabeth Swann, though while she was the daughter of the Governor Will had no idea why she would be targeted, since these pirates seemed to be ignoring the actual wealth their town had. Such a thing allowed the group to see that there was another type of Heartless in this world, what appeared to be a round cannon that walked and fired off shots rather quickly, like a gun, which was why Sombra went with 'Cannon Gun' as she and the others tore right through them. As she captured the freed hearts they found that Will, whose full name was William Turner and that he really preferred to go by 'Will', was quite impressed by their skills, even admitting that his own fencing skills were no match for the skills the group possessed, so since Elizabeth had been taken he was hoping their skills would aid in her rescue.

"The pirates will be far away from Port Royal by the time we get to the docks, but that's not going to stop me from trying to save Elizabeth." Will said, which meant that he was in love with her, that much most of them could see right now, and that he would do anything and everything in his power to make sure she was safe, even if that meant tracking down cursed pirates to save her, causing the pony girls to realize that Elizabeth was lucky to have someone like Will in her life.

As they made their way to the docks, however, there were a number of Heartless, in the form of Shadows and the Cannon Guns, that tried to stop them from reaching their destination, though that didn't stop Sora and the others from tearing their way through the Heartless, while Sombra captured the free hearts. In addition to that there were a few more pirates that came out to attack them, which was interesting to see, though instead of wasting magic on them Sombra just kicked them out into the moonlight and allowed the others to bring those foes down, causing Will to realize that they had a lot of battle experience. Since the pirates and Heartless didn't matter to the group they were able to reach the docks in record time, to which they watched as a black ship sailed off into the distance at a speed that was unheard of, causing Seras to shift her gaze to Sombra for a moment, who nodded. It was a cursed pirate ship, or blessed in the eyes of the pirates, and it wasn't like the curse on the pirates, rather this one seemed to be more in the sense of increased speed, meaning they would need a great ship to chase after it without losing it.

"Looks like you were a little too late, mate. The girl is gone, and the Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable." a new voice said, where they found another pirate, this one looking more like a captain than even the enemy pirate captain they had seen, standing on a nearby ship, like he was inspecting it, meaning he was planning on taking it out for his own plans.

"What are you doing aboard the Interceptor? She's off limits to civilians." Will asked, though it seemed like he knew the pirate in question, as he was rather casual towards someone who seemed to be in the middle of stealing the ship, while Sora was simply beaming as they walked over to the ship.

"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then... she's going to make a fine pirate ship. Also, it's Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please." the pirate replied, naming himself so no one would say something stupid while he was working, even if it seemed like he was missing something incredibly important right now, that being a crew of his own, while Will sighed as he thought about something for a few moments.

Will told Jack that he wanted the pirate to take him out to sea and chase down the Black Pearl, that if Jack did this he would consider his debt paid since he had busted the pirate out of his cell earlier, though Sora was the one to sweeten the deal, as he offered them as the crew, which they'd be able to do rather easily.

"Really? You want to be a pirate?" Sombra asked, as that didn't seem too far out there, especially after how well Sora took to piloting the Gummi Ship and moving through space, so she wasn't too surprised by this fact, but she felt like asking after Jack agreed to take them off and told them to make ready while he went out to gather some items.

"Yeah, it's been a dream of mine since I was little. I never thought I'd be able to make it come true." Sora replied, because in his room in his parent's house in the Destiny Islands, before he and his friends were dragged into the battle between Light and Darkness, he had a number of ship and pirate related items, hence why he had fought with Riku so much to be the captain of their raft, "I can't wait to see what happens next."

Sombra chuckled a little as she and the others made the ship ready to depart, because it was good to see that Sora was so excited, instead of being worried about what the Organization was trying to do with the various worlds, and it only made her wonder what the future held for them and the people of this world.

Nobody: Cursed Treasure

As the group got the ship ready for departure Sombra learned a few things, like the fact that Will was a blacksmith who likely practices with his own blades, Elizabeth's father happened to be one of his most important customers, and the pirate captain was called Barbossa, who used to be part of Jack's crew before he mutinied. That allowed them to understand that Jack wanted his ship back and that he already had a replacement crew in another location, waiting for him to return with the Black Pearl, or at least that seemed to be the plan that he had in mind, even if he offered up nothing else on the matter, as if he wanted to keep parts of his plan a secret. Once the ship was fully ready they raised the anchor, unfurled the sails, and steered the ship out to sea, as it was time for them to track Barbossa down and save Elizabeth from his plans, and stop him at the same time since that was the right thing to do. While they did so Sombra kept her senses open, keeping an eye out for more Heartless that were on Barbossa's side, since Pete was on this world and that meant he was likely calling forth more creatures for them to fight, even though he claimed to be looking for Heartless for Maleficent's army.

In fact her thoughts were proven correct not too long after their departure from Port Royal, as Cannon Guns and Air Pirates attacked them, more Heartless for them to deal with, where Will and Jack watched as the group attacked the figures and brought each one down, all while Sombra captured their hearts before they could escape.

"Hey, Jack, why are you so fixated on that compass?" Sora asked, because the entire time they had been fighting, or even sailing, he and the others had noticed how their Captain was focused on the device that was in his hand, though while he did know such a thing was important for navigation he also realized that the pirate was oddly focused on his.

"Oh, this. It'll be she that leads us to the Isla de Muerta... that's where Barbossa's going. Savvy?" Jack replied, though at the same time he noticed how some of them were looking at him and realized that a number of them were curious about what he was talking about, causing him to close the compass for a moment before he held it up, "This compass doesn't point north, like most compasses do... rather, it points to the thing in the world that you want the most. Once upon a time that was Isla de Muerta and the Aztec Gold, as Hector and I were searching for it, but after finding the treasure he and the crew turned on me... that is why the compass is now pointing in the direction of my ship, the Black Pearl, which will be docked at the hidden island in question."

"But... if he already has the treasure, then why go back?" Will inquired, because it seemed like Barbossa had everything he could possibly want right now, ancient and legendary treasure and a legendary ship that could outrun anyone else that was on the seas, showing them that he was just lost right now.

"Because the treasure's cursed, right? Since his crew turned into skeletons in the moonlight, I would have to imagine that it ruined their lives when they tried to enjoy the gold," Sombra answered, because it was a curse she had considered once in the past, to deal with potential trespassers, though her version was designed to cripple individuals and not give them a sort of twisted immortality, where she and the others found that Jack nodded to confirm her statement, "which means that to break the curse Barbossa will have to return every piece of gold to the container they were cursed in... and I'm willing to bet a blood offering must be made, a repayment of sorts for stealing the treasure in the first place."

"Give the lass a hand, she's right on all accounts. Tell me, then, why would they kidnap Miss Swann?" Jack remarked, as he was rightly impressed by how well, and how quickly, Sombra had weaved together all of the information she had been given so far, somehow correctly and accurately figuring out exactly what the story was, so this was mostly for fun as he sailed in the direction of their final destination.

"The most likely answer is that one of your crew died around the time that the curse was activated, likely killed in a way that made it permanent without the others knowing." Sombra said, though at the same time she had to smile a little, because if she was right this curse was even more interesting than she originally thought, like it was multiple weaved into one, and she could see that everyone was eager to hear what she had to say, "If that's true Barbossa likely took Elizabeth because he or his crew believe that she's the child of the slain crew member, so their blood would run in her veins... meaning they'll likely sacrifice some of her blood to the container to try and break the curse. If it's successful Elizabeth might live to see another day, since the pirates might be grateful to have their curse broken... but if the curse remains, and her blood goes nothing for them, you can bet that the pirates will either kill her for lying to them or they'll hold her for ransom the next time they visit Port Royal."

"What's the name of the deceased member of the crew?" Radiant asked, because there was only one way for them to figure out if Elizabeth was who Barbossa was looking for, learn the name of the one who had perished and see if the lady was the key or not.

"William Turner... Senior, in this case." Jack answered, something that caused Will to pause for a moment, because now he knew that his father was a pirate and that his blood was required to break the curse, along with the fact that the pirates had taken the wrong person, someone who was about to pay the price that he should be paying in his father's stead, "He was a good man... a good pirate as well... though I was one of the few that knew him by his actual name, as everyone else called him 'Bootstrap' or 'Bootstrap Will'."

Will sighed and filled in the missing piece of the puzzle, that once upon a time he was sure his father had sent him a coin, one he was sure was a piece of the Aztec treasure Barbossa had looted, and he ended up losing it, but now he suspected it had been taken by Elizabeth's family when he was found and she happened to be in possession of it when the pirates showed up in Port Royal. Fluttershy and Seras realized why the pirates had taken her in the first place, she must have said that her name was Will's, meaning she was either in love with him, which was actually kind of sweet and dangerous of her, or the pirates assumed she was Bootstrap's child because she had the coin and didn't care about her truth. That meant that the one Barbossa and the others were after was actually Will, meaning that he held the key to breaking their curse and he now had leverage to use against the pirates if he so desired, but Sombra said it was a stupid idea to barter with Barbossa. The best thing to do was attack Isla de Muerta, force their way to where the treasure was resting, and then fight their foes, as she knew Pete would likely summon a powerful Heartless to fight them, so while Jack fought Barbossa, and they fought the rest of their enemies, Will could break the curse while everyone was distracted.

Jack was fine with the idea, he even had a single shot in his gun that he had been saving to take Barbossa down, so they had to time it right and everyone would win in the end, save for his mutinous crew, though before anyone could say anything else he spotted the Black Pearl up ahead, causing Jack to dock the ship across the bay from his ship.

As they departed from the ship, however, Sombra made sure to shield it with a bit of magic before they headed into the area that was ahead of them, though it wasn't long before they found more Cannon Guns, Shadows, and Air Pirates guarding the exterior of the island. Such a thing confirmed that Pete was present and was trying to keep the pirates focused on what they were doing right now, no doubt so the Heartless could steal the hearts of the pirates and turn all of them into Heartless for Maleficent, though it didn't take them long to run right into Barbossa's forces. It was clear that the pirates weren't expecting them to be there, in fact some seemed surprised to see Jack again, though that didn't stop Sombra and the others from just wrecking them, making sure to expose them to the moonlight before taking them out. Despite having years of experience on the seas, plundering whatever they wanted to and killing whoever got in their way, the pirates fell to their own arrogance, as in they were too used to their invulnerable bodies and failed to protect themselves when they were fulled into the vast area that the moonlight covered.

The path brought them to a chamber that was full of treasure, complete with a large stone coffin that was full of gold coins, where Barbossa was standing in the center with Elizabeth behind the container, though before anything could happen Seras rushed between the pair and forced the pirate away from the lady, allowing Will to catch her and the medallion that she was holding onto.

Such a thing caused the pirates to attack them for interrupting their ritual, or whatever it was that they needed to do to break their curse, though while that happened Jack went after Barbossa, where Sombra noticed their ally making sure he pocketed one of the other coins, without their foe noticing, no doubt to even the odds. While that happened the rest of the pirates came after her and the others, which was perfectly fine as they clashed with them, pushing them into the moonlight to wipe them out, something that caused Barbossa to call for Pete to lend him some aid. As that happened Barbossa and the others discovered the side effect of Jack taking the coin, it had cursed him into a skeletal form as well to even the odds, while at the same time Pete finally summoned the Heartless that would be aiding Barbossa in battle, a lizard type that clung to the walls and had a lantern of sorts on it's tail that sucked in the light. Such a thing meant that it's purpose was purely to keep Barbossa alive by removing the moonlight, basically allowing him to fight as much as he wants without having to worry about being harmed by the one weakness the curse had inflicted upon him and his crew.

"You know, this is a really bad match up for you, Barbossa." Sombra remarked, because the power that the World had given her, for saving Disney Castle despite the danger being near the Cornerstone of Light had put her in, made it so she could draw on the full power of her light magic, causing her to create an orb of light in the air that restored their sight and also mimicked the properties of the moonlight, much to their foe's dismay.

Sure, the downside of this was that Jack was exposed to the weakness as well, but he didn't seem surprised by this fact, as his left hand was like a fist as Sombra noticed that he was holding the coin he had taken, causing her to realize that he was already prepared to deal with Barbossa. Will, sensing that there was a plan in motion, made sure to collect the coin that was in Elizabeth's possession and used his own knife to cut open his palm as well, causing the two to share a quick glance with each other as the fighting went on, everyone just dominating Barbossa like he was nothing to them. Of course they had an unfair advantage over him since there were so many of them and only one of him, something that had caused Pete to flee as he realized that this world was a total disaster for Maleficent's plans as well, meaning no more Heartless were going to come out and fight them. Eventually the group seized upon the opportunity that Jack was looking for as he tossed his coin over to Will, something that Barbossa noticed as he drew his gun and pointed it at Elizabeth, though before he could fire Jack did so as he pierced the chest of their foe, who chuckled for a few seconds before feeling the cold grip of death claim him, which was when he noticed Will having returned both bloody coins to the chest, breaking the curse.

As Barbossa collapsed Elizabeth joined Will as everyone left the cavern, because they were the only ones who knew where to find the treasure and it didn't look like it would be bothered anytime soon, though in the process Sora found another gate to open, the beam was created by Jack's compass, causing them to wish the trio well as they returned to their own ship so they could set out for whatever world was next on their adventure.

Nobody: Return to Agrabah

As Sombra and the others returned to the Gummi Ship, and Sora got them underway to the next world that require their help, she noticed that something had changed during their time in Port Royal, Ansem the Wise was standing outside the lab area with a concerned look on his face.

"Ah, Sombra, good, I was wondering when you and the others would return. Something... has happened." Ansem said, but he spoke only when he was sure that it was him and Sombra, since he didn't think the others needed to be bothered by what he had discovered while they were visiting another world, causing him to beckon for Sombra to follow, "It's better if I just show you what's going on."

Sombra followed him into the lab area, seeing the space they were storing the unused Replicas in, the area that she worked in when she restored Seras and Roxas to actual bodies, the wall that held all of the computers Ansem worked on, and the magically sealed containers that held two things: one held the pieces of Vanitas' heart, the other held the Seeker's heart.

"Fascinating." Sombra commented, as the problem that Ansem the Wise was talking about was the fact that the heart of the Heartless that had taken on his name, the heart of Seeker Ansem as she called the figure in question, seemed to be in the middle of something, as there was some energy around it that was pulsing, almost like a heartbeat, "I see what you mean. If I had to make a guess, I would say that Seeker Ansem's heart is resonating with another's... it's not Vanitas', since you can see that the fragments aren't going crazy, which can only mean one thing: he is resonating with his brother."

"Brother?" Ansem inquired, because for a few moments that comment confused him, since the Heartless in question didn't have any siblings, not that he was aware of, before he fully understood what Sombra was talking about when he recalled what happened when someone, regardless of their power, was turned into a Heartless, their body turned into a Nobody, a fact that reminded him about Fluttershy and Seras, sisters they called themselves, "You're talking about Xemnas! Why would the Seeker's heart resonate with Xemnas?"

"Something must have happened to Xemnas when we brought Terra back... he probably went into shock and his brother is only now reaching out to him." Sombra remarked, which was interesting when she thought about it, as it seemed to suggest that the two beings who were made out of Terra and Master Xehanort had some sort of bond, one that was only now being revealed after Xemnas' heart had come into being, and based on what she was feeling it felt like the Seeker was concerned for his brother, "Interesting... I wonder if awakening Xemnas' heart allowed the Seeker to grow as an individual as well, using the bond that apparently exists between them... it might be more correct to think of them as twin brothers, in a sense, and that they currently making things that much more interesting."

Ansem figured this would be the case, that Sombra saw no harm in the Seeker's heart resonating with another's, but even he had to wonder what sort of information they would gleam from this, or if there was a chance that Xemnas' awakening his own heart was going to cause the Seeker to do the same. Such a thing made him wonder how this turn of events could alter the return of Master Xehanort, since both of them were convinced that the downfall of both the Seeker and Xemnas would bring back the figure that had ruined so many lives, but this turn of events left him full of questions. Sombra felt the same way, as there was no telling how the future was going to turn out now that things were happening to both of the villains she and her friends were going to deal with, making her even more interested in what the coming weeks had for them. For the time being she decided to just study the Seeker's heart and make sure nothing bad was happening to it, while waiting for Axel's report on what the Organization was planning on doing, and if there was any news about Xemnas to either confirm or deny her thoughts.

When she was done focusing on that Sombra watched as Sora found the next Space Gate that was part of the path they had to follow, where this one seemed to be a dark area while their ship followed an odd stone ring or road of some kind, though there were a number of racers on the path, including a big one that seemed to be the main target. It was almost like they were racing through the area or something like that, especially since there were pipes that seemed like they were tunnels of some kind, but once again Sora didn't seem to mind that all too much as he navigated the area and blasted the enemies that were coming at them. Sombra and the others just sat back and relaxed as the ship's systems collected more gummi material for them to use, just feeding the ship and making it even stronger in the long run, which was why everyone was able to relax since they trusted him to be able to get through whatever the space had to throw at them. Of course they discovered that the true 'boss' of this area was a missile shaped Heartless gummi that's body could actually move and become guns to fire at them, though Sora wasted no time in wiping it out with his skills, while at the same time Sombra claimed it's heart as they completed the course.

Upon exiting the Space Gate, however, the group found that the world it connected them to was none other than Agrabah, the world Aladdin and Jasmine called home, to which Sora parked the ship close to their destination, wished those that were staying on the ship well, and then warped himself and the rest of his group down into the city.

"Agrabah... I wonder how Aladdin and Jasmine are doing." Sora commented, because he remembered the trouble the pair had been in during their last visit, which was being caused by Jafar and his Heartless, so since the sorcerer turned genie had been locked up he was sure that their friends should be just fine, but since the World had brought them here that meant something was going on.

"And there's Iago." Fluttershy said, spotting the red parrot flying around the portion of the bazaar that they were in, who did seem slightly different than she remembered, because the last time they had seen him he had been trapped inside Jafar's black lamp, or at least had been pulled inside by Jafar, so if he was free there was a chance that Jafar was free, "But... well, he doesn't seem like he's up to anything evil this time."

"That right, I turned over a new feather... but, um, haven't said anything to Aladdin or Jasmine." Iago replied, though as he said that a wave of dark energy washed over him before he returned to normal, where Sombra told them that she made sure to remove any lingering attachments Jafar might have put on him, totally freeing him from the dark genie's hold, "See, I wanna apologize to them, but haven't found the way to do so without them screaming and capturing me... so maybe you guys can help me figure out how to convince them that I'm not evil anymore?"

As the group considered it they found that a number of Bandits showed up to fight them, one of the Heartless that called this world home, and a few Shadows joined them a few seconds later, though Sora and the others weren't worried about such a thing as they engaged the Heartless. Sombra found that the interesting thing this time around was the sheer number of enemies for them to fight, almost like the Keyhole they sealed during their last visit had never been sealed, though at the same time she wasn't about to complain since it meant she could capture more and more hearts to deprive the Organization of the components they needed to complete their Kingdom Hearts. As she thought about that, however, her senses told her that there was something else about this world that was different from their first visit, she could feel two heart fragments in this world, the fifth and sixth fragments of Vanitas' heart, which was interesting since she had never seen two in one world before. Such a thing made her wonder where the two fragments might be hiding, even though she was sure that they would run into them at some point in time, that seemed to be how things went whenever they were on a world a fragment was on, so she was interested in what might happen since this one had two.

While they fought the Heartless that were in the area Iago did something interesting, he flew around and some of their foes seemed to follow him, where Fluttershy had him move around a few containers and barrels, dropping them on top of the Bandits that were moving with him, allowing the group to bring them down. Such a thing confirmed another thing for Sombra as they took down the Bandit tide that was in the city, many of them were interested in Iago, which meant that his former master was likely doing something and either wanted his old minion back or he was seeking to tie up a loose end before he made his next move. Another thing she found was that the Heartless came out in one last giant push, for the time being based on what they were seeing, to which Sombra had the others get out of the way as the Bandits and Shadows just attacked from the front, causing her to smile as a dark purple magical circle appeared in front of her. Sombra unleashed a torrent of gravity magic on their foes, crushing them into the ground without actually weakening the ground itself, and with her spare hand she allowed everyone else to move through the spell freely, allowing Sora and the others to finish off the rest of the Heartless so she collected their freed hearts.

Once that was done, and they were sure that there were no more Heartless for the time being, Iago told them that he was sure both Aladdin and Jasmine would be at the palace, causing them to quickly move through the city before reaching the front gates of the palace, where the princess seemed to be inspecting things and turned to face them with a smile on her face.

"Don't be alarmed, Iago is with us... Fluttershy believes that he really wants to turn over a new leaf, or feather in his case, and Sombra broke a spell that Jafar left on him." Sora quickly said, as he suspected that the bird would become a topic for them to talk about, regardless if they addressed him or not, so he figured that eliminating this topic quickly might allow them to focus on Aladdin and whatever he was doing right now.

"I... I see... I take it he wants to apologize and amend his ways?" Jasmine asked, because she and Aladdin had agreed to think of the bird as Jafar's minion and be treated appropriately, though she also trusted this group far more than Iago, as they had gone above and beyond to save everything from Maleficent, where it was easy for her to see that the group nodded as soon as she asked the question, causing her to sigh, "I need to speak to Aladdin about this. He said he was in the Bazaar, but that is all I know... you know, sometimes he just seems so sad, like he's hiding something from me, and it makes me worry about him."

"Jasmine, Aladdin loves you, and after what happened with Jafar he's likely trying to keep you safe." Radiant replied, as she knew that when someone loved someone else they would do everything in their power to prove it, and even when they got together that feeling turned into the desire to protect the other from potential danger, which meant Aladdin might be doing his best to keep Jafar contained, without involving Jasmine, "But we'll go find him and see what's going on, and then help deal with the problem. Okay?"

Jasmine nodded and let them head back into the city, though as they did so they noticed an unusual scene, which happened to be Abu running off with a familiar black lamp, Aladdin chasing after him, and a short person, the Peddler, running after the pair, though it was easy to see that they had confirmed their suspicions, Aladdin was trying to keep Jafar sealed inside his dark lamp. The Peddler was annoyed with Aladdin, since he couldn't control Abu, though before anyone could do anything Sombra snatched the black lamp and let her magic wash over it, where she applied several magical seals to the lamp with a smile on her face, because this would give them time to obtain something to trade for the lamp. Sure, she could steal it and replace it with a replica, but based on the loook on Aladdin's face it was clear that he wanted to do things the proper way so he could be respected by certain people, or maybe he just didn't want to use Jasmine's connections to ensure that Jafar was finally sealed away. The Peddler even confirmed as much, his price was something from the Cave of Wonders, which was the legendary cave that Aladdin had found the Genie's lamp in before they arrived during their last adventure, a place that reset every so often, meaning it would be entirely different this time around and Aladdin was glad to have them on his side once more.

As the group started to leave Agrabah, however, Sombra stopped as she found a faint pink heart fragment floating in the air nearby, though as she gently captured it she felt what seemed to be a sense of love, like Vanitas had seen someone that caught his attention, before a sense of being torn apart that caused her to stagger for a moment.

"You okay, Sombra?" Seras asked, because she knew that the figure in question had used a few fairly powerful spells, it was hard to miss the weave of her magic at work, especially since she knew the former Ruler of the Crystal Empire had placed another spell on the lamp to keep track of what happened to it.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sombra replied, though this time she decided to keep the information she had discovered to herself, as this fragment seemed like it was from the time right after Vanitas was created, before he became the monster that Aqua and her friends knew, and it made her angry that Master Xehanort had the gall to sunder Vanitas' heart like this, stripping the bits of light that started to grow in his heart and leaving him in a pit of utter darkness.

She really wasn't sure what was going to happen when she recovered the last fragments of the light half of Vanitas' heart, but what she did know was that she was going to let Master Xehanort have it when the time came, to which she focused on the task at hand and headed out with the group to visit the Cave of Wonders, before worrying about whatever the future had in store for them.

Nobody: Back to the Cave of Wonders

As they departed from Agrabah, to track down the Cave of Wonders so they could find a worthwhile treasure to trade for Jafar's black lamp, Aladdin explained that Genie and Carpet had gone off to see the world, now that Genie was free from his own prison, and he did miss his friend. He told them that the city was quiet without Genie being around and that was part of the reason he liked coming out into the city, as he enjoyed seeing how busy everyone was and listening to the sounds, and that had allowed him to discover Jafar's lamp thanks to Abu constantly going after it. Such a thing was why he wanted to go back to the Cave of Wonders, as while he could have asked Jasmine for some assistance he didn't want to use her gold and resources in this battle, he wanted to prove that he was capable of helping her without actually falling back on her status for everything. Now that they were here, however, Aladdin was sure that they would be able to clear out the trials of the Cave and recover something to make the Peddler's head turn, enough to make him trade for the lamp, and if that was the case he was sure Sombra could seal it away somewhere where no one could find it.

Such a thing made her chuckle for a moment, as Sombra agreed with Aladdin, she was sure she could do something else to deal with Jafar and prevent his escape from his prison, they just needed to get something to convince the Peddler to hand it over, hence their current trek through the sands.

"You know, it is good to see you guys again... as well as Fluttershy's sister." Aladdin said, as he had been surprised by the sudden arrival of Seras and understood the explanation they had given him, even though the group didn't reveal anything about the fact that they were from another world, and he was grateful to have her since Seras was a skilled warrior in her own right.

"Sorry I wasn't around during the last visit, but I was... busy." Seras replied, because while she didn't want to draw attention to the fact that she hadn't existed at that point in time, at least not in a physical body, it was easy to make Aladdin believe that she had been doing something else and only recently joined her sister on her adventures, which was technically the truth despite a few things being changed to not reveal anything.

After that it wasn't long before they reached the Cave's location, as it seemed to be resting in the same position that they had seen it in the last time Sora and his friends visited this world, and, as Sombra expected, there were a couple of enemies for them to deal with. This time around it happened to be a couple of Nocturnes and Bandits, joined by a couple of Shadows, but that was about it for the guardians, where Sombra discovered that the Cave's head wasn't possessed by dark magic this time around and that meant they could descend into the depths once more. The path they discovered once inside seemed to be a diagonal walkway heading towards the next portion of the ever changing dungeon, where they uncovered a brand new type of Heartless: a feminine one, they could see the shape of their breasts through their violet vests. In addition to that the new foe seemed to be wearing the attire of a fortuneteller, Aladdin identified it for them, which was a large headdress made of cloth covering everything but her eyes, the baggy pants she wore, and the golden bracelets on her wrists, despite the fact that she wore heels and seemed to be balancing on a crystal ball.

Sombra wasn't too impressed by the Fortuneteller, that was the name she was giving them, even though the Heartless' own magic happened to be ice focused, allowing Sombra to add some power to her own ice magic when she quickly captured and absorbed the new Heartless' freed heart.

The path itself wasn't too difficult, all they had to do was make their way down the passage and fight the Heartless, before Sora and the others found two more new types just hanging out, one happened to be a small fiery globe and the other was an ice cube, both with legs, causing Sombra to label them as Magma Globes and Ice Cubes. All Sombra found out was that all of the new Heartless granted her more power to her elemental magic, just like how the hearts of the Angel Stars boosted her light magic, meaning all she was doing was strengthening her mana reserves while empowering her fire and ice magics. At the same time Aladdin discovered that his earlier thoughts were right, having the entire group, plus Seras, made delving into the Cave of Wonders much easier, especially when the Fat Bandits, enemies he recalled fighting the last time the group had come to Agrabah, appeared to fight them as well. Such a thing allowed him to discover that not even these foes stood much of a chance against the combined power of Sora and the others, they were just decimating the Heartless and clearing the way for them to progress deeper into the treasure cave.

That was when they stepped into a passage that was a wall of water on each side, a golden statue on the other side from the area they were standing in, and a floating light purple gem in front of them, an item that Abu snatched and caused the walls of water to disappear, only to be replaced by statues that summoned icicles to attack the group with. Such a thing barely stopped the group as Sora and the others avoided the obstacles as Radiant collected the gemstone, crossed the passage, and then inserted the gem into a slot that caused everything to stop, before the golden statue moved out of the way. Once the way was clear, and the ice shooting statues had calmed down, the group moved into the new passage and found that it was a set of steps heading down to a platform that seemed to be floating at the top of a chasm, a circular tunnel going down into the earth. Sombra checked the area out and nodded to the others, as it looked like the only way forward was to accept the challenge that was on the elegant sign, as one had appeared in front of them when they stepped onto the platform, to which Aladdin nodded his head and tapped the sign in a way that let it know they were ready.

The trial, as it turned out, was just more of the same, they had to defeat a number of enemies as the platforms disappeared while the group was fighting the Heartless, forcing them to fall to the next one without suffering fall damage, though Sombra let her friends do most of the work. The reason for that was due to the fact that their enemies were all of the Heartless they had seen since arriving in this world, which they had proved their worth against time and time again, so even with her doing nothing the others tore through the Heartless, offering her a feast of hearts as she captured each and every one of them before they could escape. This went on for two whole minutes, the platforms dropping at random and with no pattern, and the Heartless appeared in large numbers to compensate for their own large group, though Sombra did crush a few enemies as well, just in case the trial required all of them to do something during the battle. In the end it didn't seem to matter if she joined the battle or not, they were able to reach the bottom of the chasm and the final platform in no time at all, where there was a flash and a way formed for them to access another door, causing them to walk up to it and continue their search for a worthwhile treasure for the Peddler.

Sure enough the path brought them straight to the treasure room they had passed by during their first adventure, where all of them found piles upon piles of gold and jewels around them, a thief's wet dream, and there was a large golden statue on the other side of the chamber, with large gems placed in certain places, a single ruby, a single sapphire, a single emerald, and three amethysts.

"There, that should be good enough for the Peddler." Aladdin stated, as it was beyond anything he had seen in the Sultan's treasury, he had seen what was in there at one point in time, and he knew that it would appease the individual that they were trying to appease, before he realized something important, "Though now that I think about it... it's going to take some time for us to get that out of here and return to Agrabah so we can get Jafar's lamp."

"Not really." Sombra remarked, where she held a hand out as her dark power flared for a moment, wrapping around the golden statue that they were interested in before causing it to vanish, transported into a space where she could keep it safe before summoning it in front of the Peddler later, all while Aladdin and Abu were stunned, before she chuckled, "Oh, and Pete? I wouldn't if I were you."

Sora glanced back at the opening they had walked through and found that Pete was, in fact, standing at the opening, totally surprised by the fact that someone had noticed his presence, though he proved that he was a moron by snapping his fingers for a moment before fleeing, causing darkness to surround them before Sombra shattered the spell with a simple wave of her hand.

"Great, he's going to get back to Agrabah before us." Sora commented, as he knew that Maleficent's moronic follower had one of the strongest skills in moving from world to world utilizing the Dark Corridors, meaning Pete would go after Jafar's lamp the moment he reached the city, before he and the others found a dark oval appearing in the area in front of them, causing him to glance back at Sombra.

"Indeed he might, but we'll be him anyway." Sombra said, where the others nodded and rushed through the portal, while at the same time Aladdin found that they were back in Agrabah, and once Sombra was on the other side, and made sure no one was left inside the treasure vault, she closed the portal before glancing at the rest of the city, "Now then, let's find Pete and that black lamp."

What they discovered was that Pete and the Peddler were playing keep away with each other in front of the palace, Jasmine nowhere to be seen, meaning she had gone into the palace earlier, and when Pete got it Iago rushed in and nabbed Jafar's lamp, causing the pair to crash into a wall as he dropped the lamp into Sombra's hands.

"Oh, now you've done it!" Pete stated, where he slammed his fist on the ground as several things happened, the first being a large fat Heartless that looked like a mage of fire appeared out of burning some stuff, the second being an icy version of the first figure appeared after freezing a few things, and the third was that Genie flew down out of nowhere and hugged Aladdin as the others focused on the Heartless, "These are the Volcanic Lord and the Blizzard Lord... and they'll be the..."

Donald instantly used a chunk of his mana to summon a meteor and crushed the icy Heartless into the ground, opening the way for Sora and Goofy to beat their target up, though at the same time Fluttershy and Seras rushed into the air and used their Keyblades to knock the fiery one down as well, before Radiant struck both with her Keyblade, silencing them in just a few seconds.

"Let me guess: 'the end of you'?" Sombra inquired, while at the same time using her unique skill to capture the hearts of the two new Heartless that were just no match for her and her friends, in fact this just caused Aladdin and Pete's jaws to drop as they realized something incredibly important, the group was far stronger than either one had realized, "You know, Pete, you really should quit while you're ahead."

In the next instant she punched Pete in the stomach, hard enough for him to fall to his knees before opening a Dark Corridor to flee the world, allowing Sombra to focus on the lamp as she added a few more enchantments and spells to it to totally cut off Jafar's attempts to escape. While she did that Genie and Aladdin caught up on what had happened since the former was gone, while at the same time Carpet joined them, allowing the trio to regroup and have some fun as Aladdin decided that he could accept Iago's apology, something Jasmine agreed with since she came out after hearing the arrival of the two 'Lord' type of Heartless. While the princess thanked them, however, Sombra noticed a heart fragment floating nearby and caught it as well, feeling that it was a sense of freedom that was unlike anything she had felt before, meaning she had six fragments of Vanitas' light half, causing her to smile as she made sure it was safe and secure. At the same time Sombra also made sure to place the lamp inside the same storage area that the treasure statue was in, where no one else would be able to get their hands on it, which would appease the pair since it meant Jafar would be unable to return to bother them.

Once the couple was sure the coast was clear, and Genie was ready to take a break from his adventuring, Sora and the rest of his group departed from Agrabah, returning to the ship once they were far away from the palace, allowing them to set off for the next world and whatever troubles it might have to challenge them with.

Nobody: Strange Halloween

With the danger in Agrabah dealt with the group set off in search for the next Space Gate, allowing them a few days of rest in the process since it usually took some time for them to fly through the space between worlds, though no one was worried about it since Sora was a skilled pilot. Such a thing allowed Sombra some time to add the two fragments of Vanitas' light heart to what she had obtained so far, where all six of them seemed to swirl around each other, but they made no move to marge into a single entity, confirming that there was a missing fragment. Of course she had to wonder why the light half had taken on seven forms, though there was a chance that Master Xehanort ripped the light out of Vanitas seven times, just to make the point known he was to be pure darkness, hence seven light fragments. Still, she was interested in what might happen when she found and recovered the final fragment, as some had given her a glimpse into his past and it made her curious as to what he might share with her, before she set out to find the other half of his heart to make him whole.

She did have to look at Seeker Ansem's heart for a time while they traveled, as it was still resonating with Xemnas', which only made her curious as to what the pair were doing right now, since she was sure that the brothers were doing something right now, making Sombra eager to hear what Axel might say on the matter.

When Sora found the next Space Gate they discovered that the inside of it was like the one they had flow through to get to Aladdin's world, it was another 'highway' region with the rails that one of their foes used against them, like the region had been split in half for some odd reason. Sora didn't mind the similarities between this area and the last one he had flown through, rather he engaged the enemies that were flying at them and wiped them out with his weapons, proving that their ship was far stronger than everyone was expecting. In fact another version of the racing vehicle followed after them at some point during their flight, just like the other region they had flown through, though it did little to Sora as the boy zeroed in on it and tore it to pieces with the Gummi Ship's weapons, allowing Sombra to claim another heart in the process. Once he was able to reach the end, signified by a keyhole space opening up in front of them, they emerged from the Space Gate without delay and returned to the space between worlds, allowing them to see what world was up next on their list of places to visit and assist.

This brought a smile to Sombra's face as she realized that it was Halloween Town, one of the few worlds that had been given her approval, because it was a place she could call home if she needed to move worlds or something, while at the same time Fluttershy took a step back.

"Not this world again... maybe I can sit this one out?" Fluttershy inquired, as this was one of the few worlds that she didn't like, mostly because it reminded her of Nightmare Night and the fact that she usually hid under her bed until the event was over, plus this time around she didn't have Seras to take over for her, like what happened during their last visit.

"Come on sis, there's nothing to be scared of... not after everything we've been through. Besides, you'll have me with you this time around." Seras said, because while she knew that her sister could be a scaredy-cat at times, to the point that she had to manifest and take over her body during the last visit to this world, she also knew that having someone like her nearby would help her finally conquer her fears, or at least she hoped so.

Fluttershy stood there for a moment before letting out a sigh as she nodded, as Seras was right, she might be able to help her out, to which Sora brought the ship to a stop before warping them down to the world, allowing him to find that he was back in his somewhat vampire attire, while Donald returned to being a mummy and Goofy was the monster with a screw in his head. Following that he found that their friends were same as before, both Fluttershy and Seras were wearing the same vampire garb they had been given the last time they had been here, while Radiant was still a frost demon or frost dragon, and Sombra remained a feminine suit of armor that was also like a werewolf. The area that they appeared in happened to be the graveyard outside of the town, a smaller one that wasn't like the large one near the weird hill they used to reach Oogie Boogie's domain, and they found that Fluttershy was definitely nervous about facing this world again. For the most part the area around them didn't seem to be any different from the last time they came by, in fact it seemed like they might have timed their arrival either just before the main celebration or they had missed it this time around, it was hard to tell since the town and surrounding area was always so gloomy.

While they took in the surrounding area, and noticed that there were no changes at all, Sombra found that Zero, the ghost dog that looked like a flying sheet, flew into the area they were in, weaved around the group for a time, and then flew off in the direction of the town. The way Zero moved made it seemed like he was inviting everyone to join him, something that caused the group to follow after him without delay, even though they did pause for a time so Fluttershy could get used to the fact that she was going to walk into the town with her own two hooves. Fortunately it looked like the fact that she had gotten used to fighting the forces of Darkness, and maybe even having her body broken into a Heartless and Nobody, might have had an unknown side effect, as she was a lot braver than she had been the last time they came to this world, she just had to work up a bit of courage this time around. As they entered the town, however, it was easy for them to see that there was something off about everything, as there were lights that reminded Fluttershy of an event back home, decorations that didn't belong to the holiday of the town they were in, and a ramp that seemed for something to take off.

A few seconds later they understood the ramp's purpose as Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King, rode in on what appeared to be a sleigh made out of components from around Halloween Town, pulled by three bony reindeer no less, which used the ramp before coming to a stop in front of them.

"Guys! Welcome back... and Merry Christmas!" Jack said, which just confirmed that something weird was going on, since he was the King of Halloween, the scariest time of the year, not the King of Christmas, the merriest time of the year, as that was what Sombra had learned while they were giving Seras time with the Organization.

'Wh... 'Merry Christmas'? I mean, thanks, but... don't you mean 'Happy Halloween'?" Sora asked, because he was weirded out right now, since it seemed strange to have him talk about another holiday, while at the same time Sombra had to wonder if there was another holiday themed world either nearby or connected to this one, given Jack's change of attitude.

"Of course! Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" Jack replied, where he shifted his stance and took on what appeared to be a sort of scary form, which was per the usual given that this was his town, before he pulled back for a moment with a smile on his face, like he knew something that none of them knew, "Sorry, but I'm in a Christmas mood. Oh, whose your new friend... and where is Riku?"

"Riku's busy right now, and this is Seras, who is Fluttershy's twin sister, who was busy the last time we came by." Sombra said, though she knew that it wouldn't be long before they caught up with Riku and the others, they just needed to check out all of the other worlds that the World wanted them to visit during this adventure, mostly because of Pete, before regrouping with everyone else for the final push against the Organization.

"I see. Well, that's a shame... and nice to meet you, Seras. You see, I'm running the show again this year, but with what I have in mind this year I need Sandy Claws' blessing." Jack stated, something that caused the group to raise their eyebrows for a few seconds as they listened to him talk, while at the same time Sora tilted his head as he tried to put the information into a more reasonable explanation, "Which is why I'm off to Christmas Town to talk to him... though there have been some of those 'Heartless' around lately. What do you say that we go pay him a visit?"

Sora was immediately excited by this fact, as this meant visiting Santa Claus, someone he had been told didn't exist and had told Riku that he didn't believe in his anymore, back when they were having their rivalry before they were swept up into the wider World that they had dreamed of traveling. Now that Jack had confirmed that the figure was real Sora's wonder from all those years ago had returned in full force, causing him to agree to the idea of heading into 'Christmas Town' and speak with the figure in question, since it might allow them to learn a few things. There was something Jack needed from Sally, which was the reason that he wanted to visit her first, even though Sombra had a feeling that allowing Halloween Town to even make an attempt to handle another holiday was just foolish, since it might disrupt the natural order of the world. The area he brought them to was the Doctor's lab, who seemed to be working on a creature of some kind and had the three little troublemakers working for him, who tossed something onto the table and caused a small explosion that ruined what the figure was working on.

Sombra found that nothing had changed in this world, save for Jack, and the trio of troublemakers ran off without delay, to which Jack turned towards Sally and discovered that what she was working on would take some time to finish, causing the group to head back outside so they could follow Jack to the other town he had discovered.

As they expected there were Heartless outside now, where Sombra found that the enemies were Wights, the mummy type that seemed to be common on this world, causing the group to lash out at them like they had done in the past, crushing the Heartless before they could do anything more than worry the Mayor. Of course there were a few Shadows mixed into the group of enemies, but other than that Sombra didn't see anything new for them to worry about, unlike how some worlds had a few new Heartless for them to face, which was actually a little sad in her mind. As they took down the Heartless, and calmed down the Mayor that was cowering in the corner, there was something interesting that happened outside the town, Sombra felt Maleficent's energy for a few seconds, meaning that she was actually getting involved now and that Pete was either exiled or was visiting another world. With that in mind the group followed Jack out of town before heading out into the woods that were nearby, fighting off more Wights and Shadows, along with a little toy type of Heartless that was shaped like a mole with a drill nose, hence 'Driller Nose', while they did so.

Their destination was a special clearing with a bunch of identical trees sitting in a circle, though what was special about them was that they had doors inside their bark, shaped to match the holiday it was associated with, such as a heart, a four leaf clover, an egg with decorations, a firecracker, a jack-o'-lantern, a turkey, and a present, which Sombra guessed were what could be called the 'Holiday Doors'.

Jack opened the Christmas Door and they were sucked into the Holiday World he was interested in, where it took only a few seconds for them to appear in a winter filled world that reminded Sombra of the Frozen North, before she spotted a town at the bottom of the hill they were on, with a large factory that seemed important. Sure enough they found that the area they were in had a ring of identical trees, more Christmas themed with decorations and looking lively, which meant that each of the Holiday Worlds had an area like this that would lead someone into their town. In fact their attire was different in this world, as Sora was wearing a black Santa outfit, Donald had been turned into a snowman, and Goofy looked like he had been crossed with a reindeer, with the antlers and hooves. Fluttershy and Seras, on the other hand, wore green robes with red pants and a black belt buckle, plus a pair of pointed hats, while Radiant's more rigid frost dragon form had turned far more smooth with a top hat and a scarf, like a snow elemental or something, and Sombra appeared to be dressed in what appeared to be a rich business owner's attire, with a top hat, though she was also a ghost.

Sombra found that she could still interact with the world around her, as her hands could grip the snow and her hooves could kick the material, but at the same time she was somewhat amused by how both worlds had her in a spectral form, such as possessed armor and now a Christmas ghost.

The town was definitely nice and festive, befitting the fact that this was Christmas Town, while at the same time being totally different when compared to Halloween Town and what they were used to, which allowed them to see why Jack was so eager to do something with everything new he had discovered. Of course there were Heartless here as well, more Driller Noses and two toy box types, one that was a reaper with two scythes while the other was a soldier, so 'Graveyards' and 'Toy Soldiers' based on what Sombra was seeing right now, though so far none of them seemed to have any unique skills for her to gain from their hearts. Fortunately the group of enemies were no match before their might, allowing them to clear out the area before Jack headed into the workshop, meaning he must have come here several times and knew where to go next, to which the group followed after him. Inside the structure they found a person with a round form, dressed in a red version of what Sora was wearing, who had a beard and seemed far more magical than what they had seen so far, meaning that this had to be Santa Claus, exciting Sora to no end as they approached him.

Santa was pretty chill, rather he expected them to be there to see which list they were on and told them that Donald, Goofy, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras were on the 'Nice List', even though Donald betrayed everyone during their first adventure, while Sora wasn't on that list and was nearly ready to leave the 'Naughty List', for telling everyone seven years ago that he didn't believe in Santa.

"And what about you?" Santa asked, speaking to Sombra, who had been silent since they entered the building, showing them that he was more than happy to help the entire group out with knowing their place on his lists, only for him to find that the last person of the group held her hand up.

"No need. I am Sombra, and I know I'm at the bottom of the Naughty List." Sombra replied, she knew her placement easily, without having to be told anything, because she knew that after everything she had done before her defeat that she was never going to be on the Nice List, regardless of what the World said.

"Actually, you're one of the rare ones: right now you're in between lists." Santa said, as it wasn't often that someone was able to so drastically change, in such a short period of time, that it made him reconsider where he was placing them, which was a surprise to everyone in the group.

Sombra had to pause for a time as she heard that, as it didn't seem real when she thought about it, and yet there she found that there was no deception in Santa's words, something that made her wonder what was going on while wondering what else might happen while they were visiting the Holiday Worlds.

Xemnas found himself floating in what could only be described as a sea of darkness, like his existence was fading or had faded entirely, though at the same time he felt something... no, someone else... reaching out to him, a familiar presence he hadn't felt since the figure's fall.

"Come on, brother, you can wake up now." a voice said, where Xemnas found that he could open his eyes and discovered that he was in a room, one that twisted and turned like he was in a mental landscape of some kind, before he found out who was speaking to him, as it was Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, his other half, "Finally. I've been trying to resonate with you for some time now... I was worried that you were going to fade away and disappear on me."

"Ugh, I feel like something ran me over. What... no don't answer that, I know what happened." Xemnas remarked, though in the following seconds he found that he was able to sit up, even though he had been on a bed for some reason while his twin, in a sense, was sitting in a chair, even though he did have to groan a little as he started to overcome whatever had struck him recently, "Sombra found and revived Terra... didn't she?"

"That's right... caused quite a lot of backlash for us as well." Seeker Ansem replied, where Xemnas came to understand one important fact, the reason that his twin was able to resonate with him was because Sombra hadn't done anything to his heart, which was odd all things considered, before he found that his twin sighed for a moment, "I honestly thought I was going to lose you... but I was able to push back Xehanort's claws and pull you out of his clutches, or the clutches of his dark memories."

"What? How did you do that?" Xemnas inquired, because half of both him and his twin was Terra, which was why they had suddenly suffered so greatly after Sombra had revived Terra by whatever method she had used recently, though the other half was Master Xehanort, the very person that Xemnas refused to bend to.

"After observing Sombra for a time, and seeing how she's used her power over Darkness, I came to realize that there is more for me to learn and that I'm nothing like Xehanort, so I rejected his influence." Seeker answered, where he glanced at his twin for a few moments with a smile on his face, as both of them, in their own way, had grown after encountering Sombra, to the point where they were able to separate themselves from his dark sinister influence and his evil plans, before he let out a light chuckle, "Also, I've decided to give myself a true name... none of this 'Seeker Ansem' business."

Xemnas thought about that for a few seconds and briefly nodded his head, because if they were actually becoming their own individual persons, with their own identities, it stood to reason that his brother might want his own name, since they had stolen the original Ansem's name, even though he quite liked the name 'Xemnas'.

"Fair enough, since 'Seeker' is more of a title than a name. If I may ask, what name did you have in mind?" Xemnas said, as it felt good to talk, even though it seemed like he was in his own mind, or a special connection that had been forged between him and his twin brother, because it felt like it was helping him get over whatever had knocked him out, meaning that it was only a matter of time until he woke up for real.

"I was thinking... 'Sairaine Salvatore'." Seeker replied, as he was serious, he was done with Xehanort and the plan, he didn't care anymore, not after seeing the depths of power that could be obtained if one mastered the Darkness, truly mastered it, and what it could be used for, especially in service of the World, a perversion of Xehanort's thoughts that those who sought Darkness were truly evil, before he found that Xemnas was chuckling, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, just... I never thought you'd pick such a cool name." Xemnas answered, because while he had no idea why his twin wanted a last name as well, he was sure that there was a reason behind the decision, he honestly wasn't expecting such an interesting name, especially one that sounded like a warrior of some kind, like he was reinventing himself, "Though that does make me wonder: would I be 'Xemnas Salvatore'?"

"The Salvatore Brothers... I like the sound of that." Seeker, or Sairaine as he preferred to be called now, said, where Xemnas could see that his twin was pleased with the idea that both of them had the same last name, in fact it made both of them smile, because instead of them being driven by Xehanort's darkness they were now forging their own paths, and even now he assumed that Sairaine had a plan to restore his physical body.

As that happened the darkness was sundered by a burst of glorious light, like a sign that they were stepping out of the vast darkness that Xehanort's memories cast on them, causing Sairaine to keep the smile on his face while Xemnas found that he was getting lighter, and was starting to float for a moment.

"Well, it seems that you're waking up. Don't worry about me, I'll find some way to join you." Sairaine stated, as he intended on restoring his physical form at some point in the future, he just wasn't sure how yet, but he wanted to make sure that his brother knew that he would be catching up with him at some point in the future.

All Xemnas could do was nod as his world went white, his eyes opening to see his room in the castle while feeling fine for the first time in days, though instead of getting up, and speaking to the others, he decided to sleep a little more and then worry about whatever the future held in store for the Organization.

Nobody: Oogie's New Plot

After everyone had a chance to speak with Santa Claus about their placements on his lists, while Sombra remained silent since hers was the strangest of them all, Jack asked about himself, since he hadn't asked the other times he had been to this Holiday World, but before he could get an answer they heard something loud in the nearby room.

"Jack, what sort of trouble did you bring with you this time?" Santa asked, though at the same time he got up and walked over to the door in question, while Jack rubbed the back of his head and said it was a long story, since Sora was interested in what that meant, but for the time being they followed after him.

The room he walked into was a large workshop floor of a factory, with three conveyor belts and all sorts of machinery that were used in the making of presents for Christmas, or at least that was what Sombra assumed based on the information they had been given so far. For a few moments it didn't seem like anything was happening, but that didn't last very long as Sombra glanced up the walkway that was next to them, leading up to the second floor or the attic area, if they thought of this like an actual house, where she spotted Maleficent talking to the three masked kids. Instead of allowing her to get away, and do whatever it was that she was up to, Sombra summoned her Keyblade as she leapt into the air, crossing the distance with ease as Maleficent realized what was going on and quickly swung her staff to block the incoming attack, causing the air around them to shudder for a moment. In the next instant the dark witch, as if sensing that this wasn't a battle she could win, especially after their last encounter, created a dark portal behind her and vanished without delay, while making sure it closed before Sombra could step through it and follow her.

In the next instance Lock, Shock, and Barrel smashed one of the windows and jumped out into Christmas Town, though as that happened Sombra had to wonder how they knew about both the Holiday Doors and the realms they were connected to, but knew they needed to be locked out of the doors before something terrible happened. Santa was of the opinion that the trio should be brought back to be given a lecture, since they were quite naughty, and when Jack approached him to ask about whatever it was he wanted to talk about the other Holiday Ruler just brushed him off as he tended to the rest of his workshop. Since Santa was busy the group focused on the outside of the workshop and found that there were footprints in the snow, leading back to the Holiday Doors, meaning their targets had retreated to Halloween Town, where they found that a group of Graveyards and Driller Moles were waiting to bring all of them down. Of course that was an utter failure for the Heartless, allowing Sombra to seize their hearts as they ascended the hill and passed through the Holiday Door, which was when they reverted into their Halloween forms and were attacked by some Wights, not that it mattered since the group just tore through them as more hearts joined Sombra's collection.

As they did that she felt Maleficent's energy once more and tracked it to the hill that they used to get to Oogie's manor the last time the group had been here, where Sombra found that Maleficent was standing near the masked children, and a very recently revived Oogie Boogie, who seemed to be sleeping right now.

"Really? You brought back the bag of bugs? Oh Maleficent..." Sombra commented, where she shook her head for a moment as the others realized that the tale had been right, the dark witch was alive, and were now seeing that she had revived one of the individuals they had bested in the past, a foolish endeavor in her mind, "it seems I must reevaluate your intelligence... this makes me question why you were the one to stand above the other villains. I am very disappointed in you."

"Is that so? Well, you'll find that your overconfidence will be your downfall." Maleficent remarked, causing her to extend her hand as she loosed a burst of dark flames, intending on blanketing the area to make sure they were unable to interfere with her plans, only to find that Sombra raised her own hand and released a burst of light energy that evaporated her attack like it was nothing, causing her to flinch for a moment, "What the... light magic? Since when could you use light magic?!"

"Does it matter? I've grown since the last time we fought, Maleficent, and this time I don't even need my full power to beat you... I doubt I even need fifty percent." Sombra said, something that caused the dark witch to wave her hand and summon a powerful Heartless to fight them, what appeared to be a metallic upper body of sorts with a cage for the masked children to hide in, like a prison brought to life, while also causing Oogie Boogie to disappear as Sombra attacked, forcing Maleficent to use her staff to block the attack again.

She focused on Maleficent, going on the offensive as she made sure the dark witch was unable to flee from the area, while at the same time Sora and the others focused on taking down the Prison Keeper, where they found that it actually forced one of the children into it's mouth and attacked them with unique powers. Lock, for example, granted the Heartless the power to shoot out large fireballs at them while it moved around the area, Shock caused it to spin around like a top that forced them to attack from afar, and Barrel allowed the Prison Keeper to use a biting attack that everyone avoided. Sombra found that it was a disappointing Heartless, it didn't seem to have any power of it's own and required the use of others to deal damage to it's enemies, which was why she focused on Maleficent and forced her backwards while her minion was torn down. As the Prison Keeper collapsed, and it's heart was freed, the dark witch growled before vanishing, where Sombra waved her hand as she seized the heart and captured it, causing her to glance around the area for a time as she tracked Maleficent's energy, to pinpoint where she was going.

The masked children, seeing Maleficent flee, rushed off the moment the Prison Keeper was gone, though it didn't take her long to figure out where in the Holiday Worlds all of their enemies had ended up, causing Sombra to glance at the others for a few seconds, who were waiting for her to speak.

"Christmas Town, that's where they went." Sombra stated, where the rest of the group nodded their heads without delay, to which they departed from the hill and headed back to the Holiday Doors, as it was time to bring an end to whatever plan the dark witch or Oogie Boogie might have made before the latter fell asleep after being revived.

As they retraced their steps back to the Holiday Doors Sombra found that this time there were no new Heartless for them to face, rather what they discovered was that there footprints in the ground that matched Sally, Santa Claus, and even Oogie Boogie, meaning the bag of bugs was regaining more of his mobility. With that in mind they passed through the door that would bring them to Christmas Town, allowing them to shift back into their Christmas forms as they headed down the snow covered hill once more, setting their sights on Santa's workshop once more. Of course there were more Heartless in this Holiday World, confirming that Maleficent wanted to slow them down as much as she could, though that hardly mattered as the group tore through them and Sombra collected their hearts as they moved through the town. With their abilities it was easy for them to reach the door of Santa's workshop and enter it, where it took them no time at all to see that Ooogie, with Maleficent's help, had seized control of the entire inner workings of the structure, complete with his gambling dice.

Such a thing caused Sombra to sigh as they entered the inner portion of the building, because this was stupid and the plan that the dark witch had come up with was just plain ridiculous, using the inner workings of the factory to kill them, to which she just warped Oogie Boogie down to where they were standing and took a step back.

"Go on, beat him up." Sombra said, as she wasn't even interested in fighting the half-baked villain, because it seemed like Maleficent's spell had only partly worked and brought back only half of Oogie's brain, or whatever it was that fueled his very odd body, plus there was the fact that she wasn't needed at all, not with Maleficent having fled to another world by this point in time.

As Sora and the others dealt with Oogie Boogie, who revealed that his plan was to eradicate Christmas Town as he returned to the console he could stand on to control everything, even though they broke it with a few well placed attacks and simply repeated the motions a few times, Sombra noticed something weird. That weirdness was what appeared to be the seventh and last fragment of Vanitas' light side, though this one seemed to be merriment, like he had seen the wonder of Christmas once and it grew inside him, to the point that Xehanort had to tear that portion out of him. As she took hold of the final piece of Vanitas' light side, however, a memory rushed to life before her eyes, a complete Vanitas, in the sense that his newly born heart found a way to harbor light and darkness, looking forward to the holidays, like a kid in a candy shop or something, and to spending time with someone close to him. It wasn't that she thought that he was complete, she could feel the light and the darkness inside his heart, even in a memory, to the point where Sombra was sure that the Unversed were banished from existence, something that wasn't in Xehanort's plans no doubt.

Sombra staggered for a moment as she felt it, as this fragment held the memory of when Vanitas was sundered, his fragile heart that had gained it's own light being forcefully sundered, seven pieces escaping into the vast World with one holding the memory of Xehanort's betrayal, leaving behind a dark being that became the Vanitas that Aqua's group knew. That caused a genuine anger to burn in her body as she realized what it meant, as Xehanort had forced the being he tore from Ventus to walk the path of evil and any attempt on Vanitas' part to see or embrace the Light was met with pain and agony, to the point that his scars forced him to remain in the Darkness. There was a chance that Ventus' other half could have walked beside him, Terra, and Aqua, or walked a neutral path while exploring the World, and yet Sombra found that Vanitas had been unfairly robbed of the chance to be his own person, to decide both his destiny and his path in life. The sundering also had the side effect of bringing back the Unversed, which Xehanort used to trouble the worlds to draw Terra and the others out into his various traps, meaning no evil was too small for him and that he would go to serious extremes to complete his dark goal of claiming the power of Kingdom Hearts, the true version of it anyway.

As the group bested Oogie Boogie, destroying him once more, Sora was able to figure out how to unlock the next portion of the path they needed to follow, though as they departed Sombra continued to think about her plans as she looked forward to destroying more of Xehanort's plans, and seeing who else she might be able to save from his madness in the future.

Nobody: Pride Lands

After dealing with the dangers of Halloween Town, and stopping Oogie Boogie once more, the group returned to their ship and took off once more, though this time Sombra focused on the heart fragments she had acquired, as all seven of the light pieces of Vanitas' heart had been obtained, despite not knowing where the rest of him was located. As she added the last one to the container the fragments swirled around each other before coming to a stop, as a single half of a heart, which was interesting to see and it made her take note of what had happened, just in case she found any other heart fragments. She was also happy with the fact that she had been able to convince Aqua, Ventus, and Terra not to strike down the pieces of Vanitas' heart, even though he had wronged them greatly under Xehanort's orders, and knew that she needed to talk with them again, to make sure they stayed their hands. She remained in the lab for some time, making sure the fragment was safe and sound, that it wasn't about to disappear or something, before noticing that something was going on with the heart that belonged to the Seeker, whatever resonance had been going on previously was now over.

The interesting thing about it was that she was sure that the heart felt lighter, like whatever the Seeker had done caused a change in his heart, which made her curious as to what might happen to it in the future, and if she should try to commune with it at some point, to see if he might speak to her.

She worked with the hearts for a time, taking notes on them and what was going on with them, before Sora informed the rest of the group that he was entering the last Space Gate, because Sombra was of the opinion that there wasn't much more for them to explore and that this might be the last time they did this. Sure enough he flew the ship into the opening and they discovered that the area Sora had to clear out this time around seemed to be more like the tunnels cutting through one of the mountains, only the stone was made out of yellow smoke of some kind. Like before Sora focused on flying around and dealing damage to his enemies, while the ship collected the gummi materials and added them to the systems that would use them to improve the ship or the Teeny Ships that were with them, demonstrating his skills to them once more. The Heartless gummi turned out to be one with drills for hands, or weapons, but this time around Sora blasted it into oblivion, which was followed by Sombra claiming the freed heart as their ship continued through the path that the World wanted them to open before reaching the next world.

The end of the path brought them outside to one of the spinning gun Heartless ships, the more imposing ones, and Sora just blew it up without delay, opening the way for him to bring the ship to a stop near the next world, which appeared to be one of the more wild ones, before he and the rest of the main group warped down to it's surface.

What was interesting was that the area they had appeared in seemed to be either a wasteland or a gorge, though that was when they noticed their new forms, as each of them had been transformed upon warping down to this world, where Sora found that he was a brown lion cub, a fact that brought a smile to his face. Donald was a tropical bird that had his colors as well and he found that he had to carry his staff in his talons, while Goofy was a tortoise and his shield was on the top of his shell, though he didn't seem annoyed at all, rather he seemed to be enjoying his new form already. Radiant discovered that she was a zebra, of all things, and that she, like Sora, had to use her Keyblade with her mouth, which was going to take some getting used to, while Fluttershy and Seras were a pair of bats that were about the same size as Donald, while their weapons seemed to form sharp covers over their talons. Sombra found that she was a lot like Sora, only she seemed to be a lioness, her body darker due to her natural body color, and possibly due to her power over Darkness, though she did smile for a few seconds, as it felt nice to be back on four legs, despite how used she was to using two legs these days.

In the next moment they found that there were a large number of hyenas around them, like they had been warped down into enemy territory for the first time, where three of them leapt down to where Sombra and the others were standing and started to walk around them.

"Well well, what do we have here? Lunch!" one of the hyenas remarked, where Sombra noticed something important, they were hungry, either because of the area they were in or because their hunting grounds were lacking animals for them to hunt, hence the remark the hyena had made.

Sombra, sensing that the hyenas were going to come and attempt to eat them alive, pressed her paws against the ground and a circle of energy wrapped around where she and her friends were standing, which could expand into a barrier if the hyenas made a move on them. As the three hyenas approached, however, there was a mighty roar that tore through part of the area and it caused every hyena in the area to pause, before one mentioned 'Scar' and that he was upset, but instead of staying here they departed for another area, leaving the group to regain themselves. Once Sombra was sure that they were gone she dismissed her magic before turning towards Sora, where she showed him how to move with his new body, while the others focused on making sure they got used to their new forms, and that meant using their weapons in whatever way they could. Sombra found that when she used her weapon she could summon it into blades on her front legs, but if she wanted to use her scythe it would form at the end of her tail, causing her to think of interesting ways to use this discovery against whatever enemies they might find in this world.

As they worked on mastering their new forms, even though Sombra and Radiant were able to adapt easily, they heard the sound of someone being attacked by something and moved out into the gorge, where they found an adult lioness under attack by what appeared to be a pair of blue skinned dinosaur Heartless that looked like they might be partly made of bone for some reason. With that in mind Sombra went with 'Living Bone', it was the only thing that made sense to her, though as the lioness rushed off both she and Sora rushed into battle, quite literally since their animal bodies were faster than what she was expecting, plus they could even jump higher as well. As they engaged the Heartless they discovered that their power was far stronger than before as well, as both of them knocked their foes into the air with a single attack and opened the way for the others to release ranged attacks at them, blasting both Living Bones into the side of the rock wall that was nearby before crashing into them again. It was an interesting turn of events, like the bestial nature of this world was allowing them to draw upon more of their inner power, without sacrificing anything in the process, and when both Heartless fell Sombra was able to catch both hearts before they disappeared, adding them to her collection.

Once she was sure that the coast was clear she and the others walked over to where the lioness was waiting, who seemed to be surprised by what had just happened, which was understandable given that she wasn't used to Heartless and had likely discovered that her teeth and claws did nothing to the enemies that were in her lands.

"Thank you... you really saved my hide there." the lioness said, as she figured that it would be best to tell her saviors that she was thankful for what they had done, even though this was the first time she had seen the group in question, but she knew they couldn't be bad since they had saved her life.

"We're just glad you're safe." Sora replied, where he made sure to introduce all of them to the lioness, who told them that her name was Nala, though he did note that she was interested in him and Sombra, no doubt since they were different from the rest of the lions and lionesses that called this world home, "Tell us, did you see anymore of those creatures, which we call the Heartless, around here?"

"Is that what they're called? 'Heartless'? I'm not sure if there are more of them out there, as I usually don't hunt outside the Pride Lands." Nala answered, which told the group where they were, giving them a name to assign to this world, while doing nothing that would suggest that they weren't from the surrounding area, before she sighed as she realized that they were thinking of exploring the Pride Lands, "Look, things are too dangerous now... Scar and the hyenas have made things far too unbearable for everyone, as there's no food left and they've driven off all of the prey... at the rate things are going we're going to starve. Though after that display, you might be just what we need."

"Out of curiosity, whose this 'Scar'?" Sombra inquired, though based on how the hyenas had reacted she had to guess that Scar was a leader of some kind, an ineffective one that was damning the land he was likely ruling over, and Nala was likely searching for a way to get rid of him while restoring balance to the land.

"Our current King... he took over when our last King, Mufasa, died." Nala replied, where Sombra got the feeling that she liked the previous ruler far more than the one that was currently ruling over the Pride Lands, while the others understood what she was asking of them, she wanted them to dispose of Scar.

Sombra and the others glanced at each other for a moment, as they knew knocking rulers off their thrones was a bad idea, since they were supposed to be preserving the order of the worlds, but at the same time Sombra felt a familiar power that was somewhere in this world, someone they had worked with in the past. With that in mind she was sure she knew who was missing from the equation, to which she told the others that it would be best to escort Nala to an area she called 'Pride Rock', as there was no telling how many more Heartless were scattered throughout this world. Sora was curious if the rest of the lions and lionesses would be willing to nominate him as King if they took down Scar, but he told everyone that he would turn it down, he wasn't actually interested in such titles, he was just curious as to what might happen if they actually took Scar down. With that in mind the group turned towards Nala and told her to lead the way to Pride Rock, as all of them would deal with any Heartless that decided to attack, even though Sombra knew Pete was here, she could feel his signature, which explained why there were even Heartless in this world.

As they departed from the gorge the group crushed some Soldiers and Shadows that showed up as well, before heading out into what Nala said was the savannah, which was definitely dying, before crushing more of the Heartless as some Nocturnes joined the party. While they did that Sombra noticed the large mountain that was off in the distance, with a single peak and a ledge that was likely where a leader gave orders to everyone else, or just talked to their subjects, which she suspected was Pride Rock, given that it was the only thing like that in the surrounding area. There were a large number of Heartless in the area, which wasn't a surprise since Pete seemed to draw Heartless out of the various worlds he went to, but that was next to nothing to the group as they tore through the dark beings and Sombra captured the hearts. Nala continued to remain at a safe distance while her new friends dealt with all of the enemies that had appeared in the Pride Lands, finding that they were definitely the best option for them right now, and once all of the Heartless were taken care of she lead them into Pride Rock, so they could see what was going on.

When they arrived at the edge of Pride Rock the group found that the lionesses were sleeping right now, or resting, and that someone was approaching, a mandrill with a staff that Nala said was called 'Rafiki', their shaman, who stopped and stared at the group for a few seconds, causing the lionesses to raises their heads before lowering them as he shook his head.

"You might be able to help us take down Scar, but you don't have the right qualities to be King." Rafiki said, focusing on Sora for a moment, which was fair since he was still inexperienced in certain aspects in life, causing the boy turned lion cub to bow his head for a moment, because it lined up with his own thoughts, before he turned towards Sombra, "It is a shame that you weren't born a lion... you would have made a great King, as you have the right qualities."

"No, this is for the best... I know I would make a terrible ruler... probably be worse than Scar." Sombra replied, because while she knew what Santa Claus had said during their visit to his workshop, that she was between the Nice and Naughty Lists, it was hard to forget her past as the dreaded King Sombra, a tyrant who deserved everything he got, and she knew that such a position wasn't for her, "Better it go to someone else who truly deserves it."

"And yet that is why you would have made a good King, had you been born a lion. You know how a true ruler should act, and not let the power go to your head." Rafiki stated, showing them that he saw more than the others had thought, he could see what Santa Claus had seen, that Sombra was a changed individual and that the experiences she had been through, with all of the good she had gone recently, served as the right qualities in Rafiki's eyes.

With that information in paw, to use the terms of this world, the group departed from Pride Rock, though as they did so they could see an arrogant lion walking out of the main den, causing them to get out before anyone else showed up, though as Sombra asked if there were any other candidates for the position of King Nala mentioned Simba, causing her to smile as they set off, as it was time to find an old friend and set this world's wrong right.

Nobody: An Old Friend

As they departed from Pride Rock, and headed back out into the Savannah, Nala asked about Simba and the group told her that he had been fighting beside them not that long ago, in fact he had helped them take out some Heartless, which was the truth despite them not really relying on Simba's power all too much. Nala said that the best thing for them to do was to get away from Scar, since they needed time to track down their friend and tell him about what was going on in Pride Rock, and if things worked out it wouldn't be long before they were on their way back to deal with the tyrant. With that in mind she first suggested Wildebeest Valley, which was where Mufasa lost his life all those years ago, and there was a chance the beasts could pass through the area at some point, hence why Scar didn't care to enter the area at all anymore. Sombra glanced at the others and nodded, it sounded like a good plan for right now, causing them to follow Nala in the direction of the valley, where the lioness made sure to duck out of the way when they found more Heartless to deal with. This was a good way for them to operate, one leading the way while they dealt with their enemies, before finding their way to the valley, as it was just across the Savannah they had crossed previously, but far enough away for Scar to not care about it.

The interesting thing was that there was a large gap between the Savannah edge of the area and the valley side, where Nala backed up for a few seconds before rushing at the edge of the cliff, leaping into the air and crossing the gap with ease, to which she turned around and called for the others to follow her. Sora and Sombra stared at the gap for a few seconds before doing the same thing, rushing towards the edge and leaping into the air, though a few seconds later Sombra found that they were able to land safely, while Sora seemed amazed by the fact that he was able to do such a thing. After that the rest of the group crossed the gap, where Sombra had to use a bit of her magic to form magical steps for those that couldn't cross like a lion or lioness could, something that impressed Nala since she hadn't seen anything like it before. Once that was done they looked out at the valley and quickly discovered all of the dead trees that were around the area, though it was hard to tell if this was due to Scar or just natural to the rest of the world, but Nala didn't stop and continued forward.

Of course this also meant discovering new Heartless to deal with, a bird like creature with large gloves for punching, which Sombra assumed was an 'Aerial Knocker', though it didn't seem to offer much to the group as she and Sora tore through the first few that showed up, though she captured their hearts as they moved forward.

As they fought the Heartless, clearing the area before moving deeper into the valley, Sombra noted that Sora really liked his newfound speed, dashing around parts of the valley as he crashed into some of the Heartless and crushed them, yet it was all under his control and put a smile on his face. Sombra glanced at Radiant for a moment and found that she nodded not a few seconds later, because this was like when they made the amulet for Riku and empowered it, so this would put a brand new idea in their mind, to work on when they got back to their ship. While they moved Sombra also cleared something up, as she asked about who told Nala and the others about Mufasa and Simba's deaths, where the lioness confirmed that it had been Scar who told them the news, meaning if must have been in the valley when the deed happened, and might have done the deed to take control over the Pride Lands. As they talked she also discovered that Rafiki had followed them to the valley, where them fighting the Heartless had allowed him to catch up, though he walked up a short stone and pointed his staff at the rest of the valley as he claimed that 'it was time', causing Nala to realize he was definitely talking about Simba.

Such a thing caused them to rush out of the valley and head down a winding path that seemed to be heading to an area that was more vibrant than the rest of the Pride Lands, where a number of the Heartless they had encountered so far lashed out at them like before, causing the group to tear through them once more. It was one of the moments where Sombra agreed with Sora, the speed they were using in their new forms was very nice, as she zipped around some of the Heartless and just tore through them without delay, while utilizing her senses to make sure no foe caught her off guard. Radiant and the rest of the group really surprised Nala since she wasn't used to seeing zebras and other creatures of her home land fight like this, despite the fact that she knew they were Simba's friends, but she wasn't about to argue with the results or question them about things. That meant the group was able to reach the end of the path with ease, entering what appeared to be a jungle, something Sora and the others hadn't been to in a long time, not since Tarzan's world to be exact, where the group kept their guards up since it was hard to tell if there were enemies here or not.

While Nala explored another area, choosing to split up and cover more ground, Sora's group found what appeared to be a waterfall area, with a flat area that gave one a good view of the entire forest and everything else that was over here, they found an adult lion they recognized, Simba, and right now he was fighting some Aerial Knockers, yet when he roared each of the Heartless fled, like cowards.

"Simba! You haven't lost your edge." Sora said, where they found that Simba went on the defensive once he heard him talk, no doubt assuming more Heartless were in the area, though in the following moments he seemed to pause while the heat of battle died down, allowing him to see things much clearer than before.

"Sora! Which means that these are Donald, Sombra, Goofy, Radiant, Fluttershy, and... I don't know?" Simba replied, his tone telling them that he was pleased to see them once more, even though he was surprised by the fact that Seras was there, and she even introduced herself as Fluttershy's sister to make sure he knew who she was, "What happened to you guys?"

Before they were able to reply the group heard the sound of someone else calling for help, which Simba said was Timon and Pumbaa, his friends to be exact, and sure enough Sombra found that Nala was stalking a meerkat and warthog, because she was likely starving after the journey, but Simba's presence stopped her. In the moments following that the group shared all sorts of information, learning that Nala had actually been chosen to be Simba's wife when she was younger, meaning she had been next in line to be the Queen of the Pride Lands, while in, in turn, told her about the life he had lived out here, and his time fighting by Sora's side. Of course he was one of the few people who knew about the other worlds and his story was more like they had been in another portion of the Savannah, far away from the Pride Lands, causing Sombra to realize he was making it seem like they had been on another continent entirely, which was good to make sure Nala didn't start asking about the other worlds. Of course Simba hesitated on the matter of even heading back to Pride Rock and confronting Scar, both due to something called 'Hakuna Matata' and the guilt he felt over his father's death, something he laid on his own paws no less, which shocked Nala since she had figured Simba would be braver and ready to save his home.

"Simba, sometimes there are moments where we have to become the individual that others believe us to be... and right now the lions and lionesses need you to beat Scar." Sombra commented, causing the rest of the group to nod their heads for a few seconds, where Simba smiled for a moment as he realized that his friends would have his back, just like he had theirs during their first adventure, despite only summoning him once or twice, "We'll deal with the Heartless, and those hyena if they get involved, so you can focus on him... and besides, you have more reason to take him down than before: he's the one that organized the wildebeests to kill your father. You have nothing to feel guilty about."

Radiant smiled, as the old Sombra would have never said anything like that, rather he would have lashed out at someone or made fun of them feeling down, but the new Sombra was far better and much friendlier to be around, to the point that she was able to quickly convince someone like Simba of what needed to be done. She suspected the fact that Scar being behind Mufasa's death was a contributing factor, which just showed how respected and loved Mufasa had been before his passing, but this pleased Nala since it meant they could actually rebel against Scar and save the Pride Lands. With that in mind they wasted no time in departing from the jungle, though at the same time Sombra noticed that there was a formation in some of the clouds, a lion watching over Simba with a smile on his face, meaning Mufasa was proud of his son standing up for the rest of the Pride Lands, and when they emerged from the jungle Simba was ready. Such a thing meant that he tore through the Heartless that were in their way, fighting by Sora and Sombra's side at the front of the group, banishing the darkness that threatened his land, meaning that the days of Scar and Pete's darkness were at an end.

In fact the world seemed to be agreeing with that fact as the light followed in their wake, the last bits of night fading away, as they had talked for quite a long time since their arrival in the jungle, causing Nala to smile as they retracted their steps back to the Savannah, eventually reaching Pride Rock and a surprised Scar.

"What the... Simba?!" Scar remarked, where the rest of the residents of Pride Rock smiled as they realized that Mufasa's son was alive, plus annoyed that the Pretender knew that fact and kept it from them for so long, where Simba walked up the main path with a growl in his throat and anger on his face.

"That's right, murderer, I'm alive. I'm here to confront my past and take back my home... and avenge my father, since you were the one that caused the wildebeests to kill him." Simba stated, something that caused the rest of his pride to turn on Scar nearly instantly, as this was brand new information to them and it was clear that everyone was enraged, meaning that even if Scar beat Sombra they were going to kill him, regardless of how many of them died to do that.

"Uh oh... Sombra must have used time magic to show him the truth." Pete remarked, only for his eyes to widen as he quickly realized what he had said, especially since Scar was annoyed with his statement, though that was followed by Scar rushing into the den that was where the Rulers of the Pride Lands lived and Simba followed without delay.

Sure enough the hyenas followed them into the den, but it hardly mattered as Sora, Sombra, and the others beat the crap out of them, utilizing their incredible speed and powers to push them around the den for a minute or two, which caused the trio to leave for the wastelands that they called home. Sora and the others then moved up to the top of Pride Rock, where they found Simba and Scar moving around the area, each going on the offensive or defending themselves from the other, eventually ending in Simba knocking him foe off the edge, sending him to his death. In that instant, however, Sombra found an Aerial Knocker grabbed the False King and tore his heart from his body, she could feel it happening, and when Scar made the climb back up she noticed the somewhat black look on his face, save for the lingering feeling of anger and jealousy, as it was his Nobody they were seeing. It was just like when Clayton turned, his heart took on a new form, though this time the Aerial Knocker carried Scar's heart off towards the Savannah, where Sombra formed an arrow made of magic and loosed it without delay, striking the Heartless in the back and destroyed it instantly, but the heart she captured was the heart of the one that carried Scar's off.

Scar's heart, however, seemed to fade away, Sombra couldn't sense where it ended up, causing her and the others to focus on his Nobody, who roared and attacked them as darkness formed around the top of Pride Rock, where Seras and the rest of the group watched as Sora and Simba combined their power and just knocked the Nobody around, leading into Sombra just releasing a burst of Light magic into his chest and evaporated him, clearing the darkness in seconds.

"I know you guys were strong, but... that was incredible!" Simba remarked, because this just confirmed that whatever the group had been through had allowed them to grow by leaps and bounds, in such a short period of time, and he found that he longed to go with them again, to join his friends in hunting down the Heartless and whoever they were trying to bring down this time around, before he sighed, "Let me guess: you guys need to get going?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Don't worry, we'll come by later and see if we can find Scar's Heartless... stop his trouble before it can do anything." Sora said, as he knew that once they left for a time and came back it wouldn't take Sombra long to track down the missing heart, though he was impressed that an Aerial Knocker was able to carry off the heart before they were able to take it down.

Simba nodded and wished them well, while he headed back down to tell Nala and the others the good news, causing Sora, Sombra, and the others to depart from Pride Rock before finding an area to warp back to the ship so they could head out and see whatever the World had to throw at them in the near future.

Nobody: Peace in Atlantica

Sombra and the others found that there was no other path after taking care of business in the Pride Lands, rather it now seemed like Sora could bring them to any of the worlds they had been to before this point, though his target was one they had flown by previously, the world of Atlantica.

"Before we return to Hollow Bastion, and check on the others, I figured we'd check out Ariel's world for a time, unwind just a little." Sora explained, because he highly doubted that there were Heartless in the world in question, since the World made it a side path and not part of the main path, though he also knew that there was a chance he could be wrong in his thoughts and that the world could be in danger.

"Sounds like a fine idea to me... we could use a bit of a break." Sombra replied, as she agreed with Sora, that they ought to just go to a world that they could just relax in, since she assumed that being in the ship all the time was wearing on them all in some manner, and right now Ariel's world seemed like a decent place to visit for a time.

Since Sora had already opened the Space Door, since he had flown by it previously, there wasn't anything for him to fight this time around and that allowed him to dock the ship close to Atlantica, though once he made sure the ship's systems were ready to go he warped them down to the world's surface. Sure enough Sombra and the others found that they appeared in an underwater area, while finding that Seras's mermaid tail was red, nothing that would offend or cause anyone to panic once they noticed her, before noting how some of them were having difficulties moving. Sombra knew it was reasonable since it had been a long time since their last visit and showed her friends the ins and outs once more, as she had studied all of Ariel's movements and committed them to memory, in the off chance that they would have to return to this world. That, of course, meant that she was the best teacher for them since it didn't look like Ariel was in the area, though it did look like they had been warped down into the area in front of King Triton's domain, an area they had passed through before reaching where his throne was located.

Fortunately for them she was able to jog the memories that were in Sora, Radiant, and Fluttershy's bodies, while Seras just learned from watching and trying things herself, and just in time as well as Sombra could see Ariel coming their way, along with both of her companions, Sebastian and Flounder.

"Sora! Everyone! It's so good to see you again." Ariel said, where she swam around them and found that everyone was able to move just fine, something she was slightly disappointed by since it would have been funny to see them follow Flounder for a time, relearning all of the movements she had taught them previously, "So, what brings you back to Atlantica? We aren't in danger again, are we?"

"Well... kind of. Some of the worlds are in danger, but so far your world seems peaceful." Sora, replied, because Ariel and her friends were a few individuals who actually knew of the other worlds, because King Triton had known about that fact during their last visit and had confronted them inside Ariel, meaning she knew what her father knew.

"It would seem that we have visitors." another voice said, where they found King Triton approaching them, no doubt due to the fact that he was making sure his daughter was alright since he had a rocky relationship with her, before he glanced at Sora for a moment and clearly decided to be much friendlier to them than he was the last time, "It is good to see you again. I do hope there won't be any need for you to use your Keyblades."

"I doubt we'll even need them... I don't sense even a single Heartless." Sombra stated, which was something she knew King Triton would approve of, because it meant that his rule was secure and that he wouldn't have to worry about anything for the foreseeable future, and even if trouble came it would be the normal kind, "Honestly, our stay might be brief... with how peaceful your world is right now, even with Ursula hanging out in her grotto, we'll likely be on our way in no time."

"Well, while you're here, maybe you'd like to take part in our upcoming concert?" Sebastian inquired, which caused the rest of the group to turn towards him for a moment, even though his reasons for such a thing were somewhat different from what he had said, that much Sombra could tell rather easily, especially since Ariel wasn't happy with him.

While most of the group was interested in the idea, and Sombra wasn't, King Triton reluctantly agreed with the idea, since it might help his daughter out, causing him to pull back for a moment as Sebastian showed everyone but Sombra what to do, which was 'moving to a beat' like they were listening to music or something.

"I'm not surprised that Ursula has returned, but it is surprising that she has been silent since her return." King Triton said, keeping his voice low so only Sombra could hear him speak, because this was for the two of them and no one else, even if he seemed annoyed by the fact that he was going to ask them for some assistance, especially after how he acted towards the group during their last visit, "You can sense her... can I ask you to deal with her, if she makes a move?"

"Considering that we've arrived, it would be foolish of her to make a move against you... but I've seen some moronic villains lately, so anything is possible." Sombra replied, which was the truth, she could easily deal with Ursula on her own, in fact it would be child's play for her to just seal Ursula's grotto and prevent her from leaving the area until King Triton's concert was complete, before she turned her head a little, "But the answer is yes. If Ursula makes a move, I'll will deal with her."

King Triton nodded his head as the group moved into the concert hall for Sebastian's 'Shake a Fin' routine, where Sombra just remained in the shadows, allowing everyone else to have some fun while she kept her eyes and senses open for any odd feelings that might be connected to Ursula, all while wondering what the future would throw at them next.

Xemnas had remained in his room for a few days after waking up from his meeting with his brother, something he had since come to terms with, though the interesting thing was that the only one who came to check on him was Axel, as Xigbar and the rest of the Organization seemed to be busy, and he had asked Axel to keep it quiet for a time, at least until he felt it was time to reveal himself, which was why he was leaving now. What he found was that the Dusks came by as soon as he walked out into the hallway and bowed their heads, though while one might assume it was due to his position he could tell that the majority of them had been worried about his health, since this was the first time something like this had happened to a member of his group. It made him realize something he had missed beforehand, all Nobodies were capable of emotions, a fact that took losing so many of their number and his near death to learn, and he smiled at the Dusks in return, causing a few of them to tilt their heads in surprise before they rushed off. He knew that they would be weirded out now since he was a changed Nobody, he assumed his resonance with his twin's heart was the cause of this, but he didn't let that get in his way as he continued through the hallways and headed to the relaxation area that many of the members used.

Sure enough he found that Demyx was sitting on a sofa with his sitar, using the book of his to learn new types of music for his unique ability, Saix didn't seem interested in anyone else, Xaldin was going over his notes on the world he had spent a lot of time in, Axel was cleaning his weapon, Luxord was playing cards, not even a surprise, and Xigbar looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep recently, like something was bothering him.

"Friends, I have returned." Xemnas stated, where the remaining members of the Organization stopped for a moment before he found Demyx, of all people, getting up first and hugging him, where he smiled a little and returned the gesture, causing a wave of surprise to wash over the others, even though Demyx was smiling, almost like he knew more than he was letting on, or maybe he was overthinking things.

"So, what happened back there? Why did you suddenly faint like that?" Xigbar asked, because while he knew the reason, it was something only he and Xemnas knew, he needed to maintain his ignorance on the matter and act like his usual self that everyone was used to dealing with.

"Sombra has restored one of the missing Keyblade wielders, and my connection to said wielder caused some backlash that I wasn't remotely ready for." Xemnas replied, as he knew there were no plans for Terra to return to the World, Xehanort had made sure to make things so that his heart and will would be unable to rejoin his body, in the unlikely event that both he and his twin were destroyed, and Sombra just blew those plans out of the water, "While I was knocked out I discovered that my heart had resonated with my twin's, and it would appear that my talk with Sairaine allowed me to stabilize myself... or at least it seems that way. I won't pretend to be an expert on hearts, as this was quite the surprise."

"Sairaine?! Sounds like the Seeker picked a name for himself." Demyx said, which was good news in his eyes, especially as he pulled back for a moment and collected his materials, all while noticing that Xigbar seemed to be losing his mind right now, especially since this was new information that none of them had known previously.

"But that doesn't make any sense... Sombra destroyed him and did away with his heart. Or whatever it was that she did once he was taken out." Xigbar remarked, as it didn't make sense to him, there was no way for someone in the Seeker's position to suddenly grow their heart to the point that they were able to resonant like this, especially a Heartless resonating with their Nobody, which made him wonder what in the World was going on right now as he tried to keep himself from blowing his cover out of pure rage for Sombra's various deeds, "Why did all of this happen now?"

"I do not know... and right now I intend to get back to work. I might have a heart, but all of you are still in the dark." Xemnas stated, because now that he had confirmed that he had changed, and his conversation with Sairaine had revealed that he had a heart, the big goal of their plans since the very beginning when he ignored Xehanort's private goal, he knew it was time for him to truly focus on helping the rest of his friends, "Saix, you said that Maleficent was building an army... is that still true, or did she give up on it?"

"Her army is a thousand Heartless strong, and there are some strong members in their ranks... Hollow Bastion is doomed, if no one comes to fight the army." Saix replied, which was why they were banking on Sora's group coming to their aid, due to just how many Heartless there were and the amount of emblem bearers they had counted, enough to make sure that their main threat would be unable to touch them all, especially with the important fact Demyx had noticed, "And that's not all: the army is growing... we might be seeing twice that number in a few days."

"I see... All members, get ready to travel to Hollow Bastion!" Xemnas said, where he found that the rest of the Organization spread out and did as he commanded, though this time it was different from the original plan, because he was thinking of stalling the Heartless until a wielder showed up to dispatch them, as their weapons would only displace them for a time, a sad aspect of being a Nobody.

As he said that Xigbar frowned, noticing that something was definitely different about Xemnas, while Demyx just smiled as he got ready, because he was pleased with the changes and could only wonder what the immediate future held in store for him and the rest of the Organization.

Nobody: Heartless War

Sombra found that they remained in Atlantica for a time, enough for Sora and the others to do a few songs and hang out with Ariel, to just relax and take their minds off the worries of the other worlds, before leaving for the return trip to Hollow Bastion, as to not overstay their welcome. With no Heartless to crush, and Ursula being too frightened to do anything right now, there wasn't anything for most of them to do other than dance and sing in Sebastian's songs, all meant to focus Ariel for the big event, eventually causing the group to leave. Such a thing allowed them to focus on their main objective while she and Ansem the Wise resumed their work in the lab, as there was something the sage wanted to do when they returned to the world they were heading towards, specially in the secret lab that was his destination. Sombra also resumed her study of the light half of Vanitas' heart and Seeker's heart, as the heart of the Seeker of Darkness had been acting strangely and she was curious to see what she could learn from it, even though it only caused him to smile in the end.

Since they didn't have to fly through waves upon waves of enemies, an improvement over how they flew around during their last adventure, Sora brought them to a stop near Hollow Bastion and warped them down to the market, though this time Ansem came with them so he could do his self appointed task, only to find that some Soldiers were being chased off by a few Dusks.

"Nobodies... chasing Heartless?" Sora commented, which was definitely odd when he thought about it, because both sides didn't like him and his friends and usually attacked them, meaning it was strange for the two opposing forces to be doing such a thing, instead of attacking them, "What is going on here?"

"I would have to guess that the Heartless army we spotted previously has grown too much and the Nobodies are trying to get rid of them in their own way." Sombra remarked, as that was the only thing she could think of, even though the majority of the remaining members of the Organization didn't have weapons that could get rid of the Heartless, save for Axel thanks to the training he had joined, "We had best hurry to Merlin's place."

Sora agreed with her and they headed out into the market, finding that everything was in order despite having two groups of enemies come through in the last minute, though that was around the time where they found Cloud, wearing a new set of clothing that was pure black with a single shoulder piece, again the opposite of Sephiroth, standing nearby. He seemed like he was ready to do battle with Sephiroth, though there was another reason for him to be here, that being the Heartless that were gathering near the dark castle, an army that could wash over this world if no one stopped them. With that in mind they headed down into the area that Merlin's house was in and found that the city's defenses were rushing around, blasting the Heartless that dared to stop on the walls or roads before they had a chance to move, allowing the group to deal the finishing blows to their foes as Sombra collected their hearts. She knew what was going on right now, these Soldiers were scouts, the eyes of Maleficent to be exact, so she could prepare her army accordingly, though once she realized that they were here, on this world again, there was a chance that she would blitz the city in an attempt to take them all out.

Upon entering the house that Merlin called home they discovered that Leon wasn't around, which made sense due to the fact that he was likely focused on the army that would be coming their way in the near future, before Cid informed them that they found Ansem's computer, causing the old man to chuckle and tell them that he had some work to do. Obviously this was a surprise for them, since they weren't expecting to meet the real Ansem the Wise, especially since it told them that the one they had thought was him was an imposter, before they turned their attention to Merlin for a couple of moments. He had Pooh's book to show them, apparently it was damaged by the Heartless again, giving Sora something to look forward to when they recovered the pages in the future, but for now they headed outside and followed Ansem's directions so they could track down where his computer was located. They also encountered three small winged ladies who seemed eager to meet them, or rather seemed eager to see what Leon was up to, though when Sombra asked them about their loyalties the trio flew off without a word, suggesting that they were working for Maleficent.

Along the way they also encountered two new Heartless, an armored one that was like a knight, hence 'Armored Knight' for it, and a bronze funnel shaped bot that flew around and just watched, causing Sombra to go with 'Watcher', where she and her friends found that the Armored Knights were definitely stronger than the Soldiers. Of course that wasn't much in the face of their power, since each of them had fought some really powerful Heartless before this point in time, but this told her that Maleficent had found a way to draw in more minions for her cause, without them getting in her way. It was hard to tell what their foe was up to, since these enemies seemed to be more than scouts, but Sombra assumed that the main event was about to come, the dark witch was likely trying to distract them so that she could move her army into position. Such a thing meant that they had to hurry and that was what they did as Sora nodded before tearing through the remaining foes that were in their way, allowing them to reach the main structure that was their destination, where Aerith was waiting for them to arrive.

Since time was of the essence she started to lead them inside and Ansem the Wise took over immediately, as he knew the layout of his lab and domain better than anyone else, eventually bringing them to a room that was slightly tarnished, which caused him to sigh as he tapped something on the left wall, causing a portion to disappear, revealing another passage.

"We must be swift, as there is no telling when the army will arrive." Ansem commented, where he brought them down the passage and they discovered that it allowed them to see a massive area that was like a lab of some kind, with machinery that Sora wasn't even smart enough to begin guessing what their purposes might be, causing him to approach the console as Leon stepped away from it in surprise before he slipped something into it, "I should be in in no time... Tron's going to be very upset with me, I imagine."

"And you'll have to talk with Even, Ienzo, and Aeleus." another voice said, where they found Mickey standing nearby, without his robe since he looked more like a warrior this time around, likely because he visited Yen Sid on his own time, while they knew that those who had been traveling with him were safe, as Kairi had insisted on joining them and Riku likely took her to be trained somewhere else.

"Yes, I would image so." Ansem stated, to which Sombra noticed that his fingers moved over the keys with precision, as in he was able to enter his commands without wasting time, powering up the systems he was interested in, modifying whatever part of the computer's programs was annoying him so the systems worked as intended, before he stopped as he found that the screen that was his target flashed a bright red, an alarm to be exact, as he started to sweat, "What... what are these numbers?! The Heartless army... their numbers are at least three times what we thought it was!"

"Where did Maleficent and Pete get the Heartless to do such a thing?" Sora asked, because even with how skilled he and his friends were, and they had decimated a smaller army in the past, he had no idea if they could bring down such an army of enemies, even with the skills.

"Pete didn't have to use a Gummi Ship to move from world to world, so he's had time to siphon off the Heartless native to the various worlds, and find others we wouldn't be visiting." Sombra remarked, as it made sense to her when she thought about it, that the World would have sent them to the worlds that were the most in need, so the others might be just fine in the grand scheme of things, before she nodded to Ansem, who bowed his head slightly and input a code that would be sent to their lab on the ship, "But there's one thing Maleficent wasn't planning on: us. You have four Equestrians, and It's time we showed her what we're really made of."

Radiant smiled at that, because Sombra had fully embraced working as a team, instead of being a loner and possibly going out to fight the army on her own, which was the moment that Sombra weaved her power into a portal, allowing the group that would be fighting the army to move to an area that was just outside the walls. Sure enough they found that there was a lot of Heartless gathering near the edge of the canyon that rested between their position and Maleficent's castle, meaning it wouldn't be long before the war was upon them, though as they studied the square shaped arena they had been brought to Sombra stood near the edge, observing their enemies for a time. While she did that Sombra made sure Mickey made Riku and the rest of their allies aware of what was going on, because right now it looked like they were going to need everyone on deck to deal with what was in front of them, not unless she used her full power and destroyed everything to get rid of the dark army. She also noticed something else while they gathered themselves, Fluttershy even returning to the ship so she could get some additional allies, and what she found was that the Organization was here, no doubt to observe the war and see how many hearts they could secure for their false Kingdom Hearts.

In the next moment Sombra turned around and walked up to the top of the stairs that were behind them, where Sora and the others watched as she withdrew an item from her bag, a six pointed crystalline star that was powered by the Light, she had made it to do such a thing, and when she held it out the star split into six points and formed a door of light, which just expanded into a large light barrier around the entire city.

"I heard from Minny and Merlin that you were given a new power, but I didn't realize you could do this." Mickey said, where Sombra found that the King had returned with Riku and Kairi, the latter wearing a pink dress that was similar to her old set of attire while also being suitable for battle, thanks to Yen Sid no doubt, plus their friends from the Gummi Ship had come down with Fluttershy.

"Benefits of training, really." Sombra replied, though in the next moment he felt a shift in the air and turned back towards the area she had been standing in before setting up the barrier that would power itself until one of the six points was dealt with, where she found a pair of black coats and discovered that it was Axel and Demyx, much to the surprise of the rest of the Organization, as Xigbar was utterly stunned by this move, "I take it you've had enough?"

"I've done what I can... now, I want to fight by Roxas and Xion's side once more." Axel stated, where he tapped what looked like a normal button and his robe faded away, revealing the black casual attire he had asked to be made before he returned to the Organization to aid Sombra in spying on them, before holding his hand out as his Keyblade materialized, "I'm ready to fight, for the sake of the World."

"I might not be able to harm our enemies, but you have my musical buffs as well." Demyx added, the water around him just twisting around and forming his sitar, though the look on his face told Sombra volumes in an instant, as she was the only one who knew his secret and she wasn't about to tell anyone else, while he smiled at Xion, who seemed happy to have him on the team again, "I even learned a new song that should be great for everyone: it's called 'The World calls for aid'..."

"Let me guess: 'and the Heroes respond'?" Sombra remarked, as it sounded more like a statement and less like a song name, a song that was basically a declaration of war against Xehanort and his plans, which caused her to chuckle, because it was an appropriate one, since it might be seen as a call to action, where Demyx nodded his head to show that she was right, which was followed by another light chuckle, "Go ahead, I'm all for it."

The theme of the song was either metal or something Sombra wasn't aware of, which was understandable since she wasn't fully used to musical instruments and the types of music that were out there in the World, yet it had an immediate effect as the others started to glow for a moment. As that happened she found that the Heartless had noticed that someone was up and were organizing themselves accordingly, with Maleficent somewhere right in the middle no less, causing Fluttershy to toss her creature sphere into the air as she called out Cerberus, the Hydra, and all of the other dangerous creatures she had gathered so far, who were also buffed by the music. Sombra stood there for a moment as she felt the energy in the air shift as well, as if the World and it's Speaker were actually watching them right now, and the clouds rippled as a capsule raced into the ground in front of the flat area that she was standing on, one that was big enough for a person to be inside. Sure enough the device opened as a dark force seized control of what was inside it, creating a torrent of dark energy for a couple of seconds before the darkness dispersed, revealing the Seeker of Darkness in all his glory, who stood there and took a deep breath, like those who have been without air for a long time.

In the next moment he did two things, the first was that he undid the black cloak that was part of his attire, like he had no need of it anymore, while the second thing happened to be that the halberd he used back before his defeat materialized by him, which he grabbed and spun before facing Sombra.

"So, what do I call you? And are you an enemy?" Sombra inquired, because while she knew that some change had taken his heart, no doubt because of her saving Terra in the way she did, she wanted to make sure her thoughts weren't wrong, that the Seeker was a changed person and that this was his chance to show all of them.

"All of you, here me now: I am not Ansem, Seeker of Darkness... I am Sairaine Salvatore, and I fight for the World!" the figure stated, which was quite the surprise for Sombra, as she was expecting him to be more attuned to Darkness, but realized that he must have observed her and how she used her dark power, despite being trapped in a heart and in that container for a long time, and was inspired to follow the same path, before they turned as a Dark Corridor opened and Xemnas stepped out, much to the surprise of the Organization, "Brother... will you join us?"

"Do you even need to ask.?" Xemnas remarked, like he was overjoyed to have his twin say such a thing, causing him to just hold his hands out as he faced the Heartless army, summoning the energy blades that he was known for using, while at the same time Sombra noticed that Sairaine was on her right and Xemnas was on her left, "I am Xemnas Salvatore, and we are the Salvatore Brothers... let our enemies taste our power!"

"You know, if we're going to go crazy with things, I might as well try something." Sombra said, where she dismissed her own weapon without delay as she drew on the power of Light that was inside her, this time fully and completely, while thinking on what she was trying to do, while the sky above them crackled with golden energy.

Radiant found that a light mist came out of Sombra's eyes this time around, while at the same time her hair shimmered for a moment as a wave of golden energy washed over her hair and tail, demonstrating a significant change in her heart, before a golden light erupted from the sky and rushed down to her position. What it was just amazed everyone, as it was a Keyblade, one made from the Light, the polar opposite of Sombra's Darkness Keyblade, which was similar to Roxas' Oblivion, where it was two halves connected by something else, in this case two identical golden segments with a light black core that had four diamond cutouts in it. At the top of the last diamond was the head of the weapon, a golden curve that appeared to be a C shape, with three spikes on the outer edge that held black spikes that connected both segments, which looked similar to a crown of some kind, with a slight curved spike pointing upward at the end. It's handle was spherical in nature, the outer bit being golden while the inner portion being the black color, and the part Sombra could grip was a transparent crystal that reminded Radiant of the Crystal Empire, meaning even the World was rooting for her by restoring a power she had been denied at the start of their adventure.

Instead of issuing a war cry, to incite everyone into battle, Sombra grabbed the new weapon and held it out towards the dark army, causing the Heartless to rush at them and the city, before she pointed it at the sky for a few seconds and the swung it, a bolt of golden lightning crashing into one of the Darksides as it crushed some Heartless as it fell.

That was all the signal they needed as the group rushed into battle, allowing Xigbar to observe the madness that unfolded before him, as Fluttershy and Seras crashed into some of the Heartless while the fierce animals actually tore into the dark beings that were coming at them, like the animals were stronger than the Heartless were. Radiant constantly shifted from her Keyblade to her bow and back, raining death of her targets while using her magic to harm her enemies, though that was when Xigbar noticed the Vampires had joined the battle, literally tearing through their foes. That wasn't the only thing he found to be worrying, as Roxas' trio made sure to work together while defending each other from incoming attacks, ending Heartless in rapid succession in their part of the battlefield, as everyone was fighting in different groups. It was still quite the surprise that Axel had a Keyblade and that he was able to hide such a thing for a long time, without anyone else noticing a change in his movements, before he noticed how Riku gracefully moved around the battlefield, as a werewolf, while Kairi provided support, despite her supposedly being a nobody.

What frustrated him was that Terra, Aqua, and Ventus were some of the more damaging warriors among the force that was opposing Maleficent's army, their great skills taking down multiple Heartless without missing a beat as Aqua channeled a fair bit of magical energy into blasting her way through her targets. The next frustrating thing was that Demyx was aiding the defense force, his music boosting their already incredible powers, almost like he was declaring war on Xehanort, or maybe it was the plan that the Organization had been working towards for a long time. And then he came to Xemnas and his twin, the one who now called himself Sairaine, where Xemnas spun around and used his energy blades to slash through some of his foes, weakening them since his weapons couldn't fully defeat Heartless, while at the same time Sairaine dashed around the area as he used both his weapon and his red magical energy to tear through his enemies. King Mickey followed in their wake as he ended the Heartless that were weakened, no doubt keeping an eye on them while making sure to free as many hearts as he could in the process, and yet neither figure seemed annoyed, rather they seemed to welcome his presence as he also used magic to wreck his enemies.

And yet that wasn't the worst thing that was happening right now, because most of Xigbar's focus was on Sombra, a force of Darkness who could give the Darknesses a run for their munny, a being so evil that she had the power to manipulate hearts in some manner... and yet, despite all that, the World itself had chosen to bestow onto her a Keyblade of Light, as if Sombra was the World's champion, and not Xehanort.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing right now, that she was able to wield the power of Light without harming herself, as Xigbar was sure that such a power would have crippled such a dark figure, and yet Sombra was gracefully moving around the battlefield, slashing at the enemies that were in her way, like she was a dancer. It was like she had found a way to use the power that should have destroyed her and was channeling it into all of her existing attacks, as when Sombra thrust the rip of the Light Keyblade into the ground and a series of golden spikes erupted around her, piercing the Heartless and crushing all of them in seconds. Of course the hearts that were freed disappeared, confirming that she was still doing something while the war was going on, yet Sombra seemed to pay that no mind as she worked on the Heartless, cutting them down, before Xigbar's eye widened in surprise and fear as she extended her left hand and grasped her Dark Keyblade. He couldn't believe what he was seeing, she had found a way to utilize both powers without destroying herself in the process, and when she came to a stop Sombra moved her arms, creating a horizontal line of energy with her dark weapon before creating a vertical one with her new weapon.

Such a thing created a large cross of magical energy, a medley of Light and Darkness, that tore through the ground, wiped out all of the Heartless that were in the way, and wrecked the dark castle in an explosion that took it off the face of the map, an attack that scared off Maleficent and caused the surviving Heartless to flee in an instant.

"Come... we're heading back to the castle." Xigbar stated, as it was clear that they weren't even needed anymore, at least that was how he chose to let the others see him right now, just someone who was retreating since their objective, to stop the army, had been completed by someone else.

"What about Xemnas?" Luxord asked, because he and the remaining members of the Organization were looking down at the battlefield and knew that it would be foolish to get involved, there were too many strong warriors in a single area and a fight would only end in their defeat, but it felt wrong to not go down and just be sure their companions were fine.

"You can ask him whenever he returns to the castle." Xigbar remarked, as he didn't want to deal with this right now, there was far too much going on and he had no idea how to go about understanding what he had just seen, so he needed time to think before worrying about anything else.

Luxord glanced at the others before they returned to the castle, knowing that Xemnas would be back in no time, though as he opened his own Xigbar frowned as he glanced down at the battlefield, only to find that Sombra was staring right at him, causing him to flee as he wondered what the future held in store for him, Xehanort, and their grand plans.

Nobody: Reborn Dragon

After dealing with the army of Heartless, and scattering the rest of them, Sombra found that Xemnas and Sairaine left the area without saying much, no doubt because they wanted to catch up with each other and figure out what their next steps were going to be, but she was fine with them leaving, since she didn't see them as enemies anymore. Since Ansem was fine with dealing with the computer that was inside his secret lab, and that he would have to talk to the apprentices that had been brought back since their Heartless and Nobodies had been wiped out, she didn't see much of a reason to stick around Hollow Bastion. Aqua's group was planning on staying with Merlin's group for a time, same with Roxas' group since all three of them wanted to be ready for when they were needed for another fight, while Demyx was just going to stick around and help everyone as best as he could, even though Sombra knew she would be speaking with his other personality at some point in the future. Riku and Kairi decided to come with Sora, as they wanted to join him on his adventures and this was their best chance to join him, especially since this time around Riku was sure they would be dealing with more of the Organization and wanted to make sure they brought down whatever plans were thrown at them.

Such a thing meant that both of them were able to get used to Sombra's routine, making sure they trained during the trek and rested when they needed to do so, while at the same time she and Radiant took Riku's amulet and empowered it with a few new forms, before having him test two of them out.

"The first one was inspired by our visit to the Pride Lands, where Sora experienced the speed of a lion." Sombra stated, as it was easier to just mention Sora and no one else, even though the others knew about some of their visits to the other worlds, just to keep things rolling so they didn't spent too much time on facts that weren't important, "The first addition to your amulet, Riku, will allow you to draw on the power of that form, taking on a bipedal form like your werewolf form, but this one will be more focused on speed and less on power."

Riku nodded and tapped into the power of his new form, where he confirmed that it was his human form mixed with a lion, a few tones darker than Sora's to symbolize Riku's connection to his dark powers, and when he trained in the training area he crashed into one of the mountains. Such a thing caused Kairi to rush over to his side so she could heal his wounds, as she was both a fighter and a support mage, offering healing and spells depending on the situation, showing them that she had been serious about her training, no doubt because Riku ensured she knew how to handle herself. Once he was back on his paws, which he had experience with thanks to his werewolf form, Riku let out a sigh as he attempted Sombra's training again and this time made some progress in controlling his new speed, though it would take some time before he fully mastered this form. Of course the greatest test of all was against Sombra herself, where she closed her eyes and allowed Riku to come at her whenever he wanted, where Sora and Kairi found that she simply avoided the attacks like she could see them while never opening her eyes, and this time it didn't look like she was using any of her magic, this was just pure skill.

When she wasn't assisting Riku, or being a target for Kairi's magic since she could cancel them out with her own shield spells, Sombra focused on the one thing she wanted to be sure about, the Light Keyblade she had gained, where she found that it wasn't a one time thing, she could summon it at will, just like her other weapon. That meant she was practicing between using her light weapon, using her dark weapon, or using both of them at the same time, while at the same time mastering the new power that had been growing inside her since they helped secure the Cornerstone of Light. She was sure that that event was when everything changed for her, it made sense when she thought about it, and yet visiting the worlds that came after Mickey's castle had allowed Sombra to, eventually, embrace the change she hadn't noticed until it had been revealed to her by several others. While she did that Radiant even jokingly said that the Light Keyblade could be called 'Royal Crown', due to the fact that the head segment looked like a crown, though Sombra figured a name would come to them in due to as she focused on her training, mastering her new skills and powers for whatever the next world had to offer them.

After some time Sora tracked down the world that was next on their list, which happened to be Mulan's world oddly enough, causing him to glance back at the others for a moment after he brought the ship to a stop, because he was confused by the fact that they were back here.

"What do you guys think? Should we bother, or should we move on?" Sora asked, because while he was thinking of heading back down to a world they had visited previously, to see how Mulan was doing and if anything had happened since their last visit, he knew that besting the Organization's plans was more important right now.

"We head down... I'm feeling an Organization member down there." Sombra replied, though this time it was hard to tell if it was her own powers helping her out, like her Boundless Necromancy had evolved to the point where she could feel those who didn't have hearts yet, or at all depending on when a Nobody was born, or if it was the World aiding her, but she knew this was the best course of action.

Sora nodded and warped them down to the world in question, finding that the ship brought them down to the ruined village they had passed through when they were trying to help Mulan take down Shan Yu, though as everyone looked around they instantly found who they were looking for, as the black robed figure freaked out as soon as he spotted them and ran away as fast as he could.

"That felt like Xigbar... he must be seeking more hearts to replace what they lost during the war." Sombra commented, as it made sense when she thought about it, the Organization was still building their Kingdom Hearts, or at least some of them were, since she was sure Xemnas would have words with them when he returned to their castle, before she heard the sound of someone approaching.

"Sora! Everyone!" a familiar voice called out, which they found to be Mulan's, as she came running into the village and came to a stop when she reached the area they were standing in, allowing her to catch her breath since it looked like she had been running for a long time, while her eyes were on where the figure had been, "Are you guys following that black coat figure?"

The group confirmed that she was correct, that was why they were here, as the figure was no doubt plotting some foul plan for Mulan's home and they were trying to stop him, and those like him, to which she joined the group without delay as they headed towards the peak where Shan Yu's army had been buried by snow. Sure enough they found some Dusks waiting for them further along the path, though while Mulan found that her weapon really didn't work on them, a unique property of their white bodies, Sora and his friends tore through them with ease, though there weren't many of them and the group was taken out rather quickly. Following that they headed up to the peak as Mulan informed them that she was tracking them due to rumors of a spy in black lurking in the mountains, some had claimed to see it inside the Imperial City, but before anyone could say anything they found an army of Rapid Thrusters coming down from the peak. Sombra resisted the urge to sigh or even bring her palm to her face, as it was plainly obvious that the Organization was seeking more hearts and that they were going to keep attacking worlds to make them free more hearts for their Kingdom Hearts.

Riku held a hand out and the others stood back as he tapped into the power of his amulet, shifting into his new lion form in a matter of seconds, surprising Mulan in the process, though once he was done he rushed into battle, swinging his Keyblade at the Heartless and freed their hearts, allowing Sombra to capture them as the others kept an eye out for Xigbar or any other foes they had to be worried about.

"Is this all Xigbar is doing?" Seras asked, because if that was the case she was sure this was desperation, caused purely by Sombra's presence, though before anyone could say anything the ground shook as part of the mountain erupted, spraying snow everywhere as a blue serpent dragon Heartless, with wings of sorts on it's front limbs, emerged from a portion of another portion of the mountain, "Okay, that's more like it. Fluttershy, shall we?"

"Right." Fluttershy said, to which she and Seras burst into the air and rushed at the newly formed Heartless, which seemed to have the power to control lightning since it was flashing around the figure, where they drew their Keyblades and lashed out at it, causing the beast to roar as it attacked them in turn.

While they did that Sombra noticed something in the area that the Heartless had come from and teleported over without wasting time, where she found Xigbar, with his hood down, standing over another dragon, this one being slightly smaller than the Heartless dragon, but thinner and more like a serpent, much like Mushu, with white and silver scales while having blue eyes, where she flashed down to him and kicked the Organization member away from the new Nobody.

"What the... YOU?! What are you doing here?!" Xigbar asked, because this was just the icing on the cake after the disaster that had been the war for Hollow Bastion, the new Heartless he had formed was being fought by Fluttershy and Seras, while it's Nobody seemed to be cowering behind Sombra, or maybe it was trusting her over him.

"What do you think? We're crushing your plans, one world at a time, to stop Xehanort's plans." Sombra replied, though as she said that she summoned both of her Keyblades, Light in her right and Darkness in her left, something that caused Xigbar to take a step back as he realized that she was very serious about this, she was going to fight him here and now, "Don't think you can run, Xigbar."

"I just... I don't get it. Why did the World decide to give you a Light Keyblade?" Xigbar remarked, as he didn't care enough to even hide his knowledge of the weapons, though if anyone knew his 'Braig' form they would know of his obsession with the weapons after meeting Xehanort, so he thought he was safe.

"I have a few ideas... maybe if you stop your madness, and join us, I might speak about my ideas on the matter." Sombra said, which she highly doubted, since some of the members of the Organization seemed keen on following the plan to make their false Kingdom Hearts, but even then she was holding some hope that they could be saved, because Xemnas was no longer the same person they had been told about and that meant the others could follow his path.

Xigbar stared at him for a few seconds before summoning his arrowguns and opened fire on Sombra, while also utilizing his power over Space to open spatial portals that caused him to rain down a hail of projectiles on his dangerous foe, only to find that a barrier had appeared around the serpent as Sombra appeared in front of him. That was a surprise, the fact that she had used a protection spell and caught up to him in the span of a few seconds, further confirmation that she was dangerous and that this wasn't the best place to fight her, to which Xigbar dismissed a weapon and snapped his fingers. Such a thing caused the area around them to shift, as his power over Space allowed him to warp the area he was fighting in, regardless of where his arena was, and he dragged Sombra into the heart of it as he pulled himself through a few spatial gates to appear on the highest peak of the mountain. As he did that Xigbar noticed that the Heartless dragon shrieked and collapsed into the ground, dissolving into nothingness as it's heart was released, but, like always, the heart was captured by Sombra's power and disappeared, while at the same time Sombra was regaining herself.

In that moment, however, Xigbar felt a chill run down his spine as he noticed that his shifting of the area was coming undone on it's own, though that was when he noticed the hand movements and gave a weak chuckle as he watched the scene that was happening before his eyes.

"Oh man, you're copying my power now? Yeah, I'm out." Xigbar remarked, as he wasn't sure if Sombra was actually copying his power over Space, and if she was then he knew he was screwed if he stayed here longer, or if she was using her magic in a way that made it look like mimicry, though he wasn't eager to find out as he opened a Dark Corridor and fled before the figure had a chance to catch him.

"What a coward." Sombra stated, because so far the rest of the Organization, the remaining members to be exact, were starting to fall below her expectations of them, after she read Seras' notes on her fellow Nobodies, to which she dismissed her weapons before turning towards the serpent dragon Nobody, who coiled around her body, like a hug, and nuzzled the side of her face for a moment, causing her to chuckle a little, "You're very welcome."

"Seems like you've made a new friend." Fluttershy commented, as she and Seras had noticed Sombra having moved to this area and found her with the newcomer, though after everything all of them had been through she was no longer afraid of dragons, causing her to smile at the creature as well.

As Sombra nodded Mulan told everyone that there would be a reward for stopping the attack on the Imperial City, to which she figured they could head down for a while, share some information with the Emperor, and then be on their way to the next world, which made her eager to see what the future held in store for her and her friends.

Nobody: Interrupted Dance

After departing from Mulan's world, and heading out into the vastness of the World, Sombra told the others that they were going to wrap up some of their adventures in the other worlds, as in whatever might have happened since their last visit to each world, causing the others to nod their heads in agreement. Of course in Mulan's case the last time they had been to her world they had been helping her gain honor for her family and succeeded in doing so, since she was aiding the Captain in protecting the Emperor, which was the highest honor, especially for a woman since her world seemed focused on men going to war and whatnot. With that in mind she had to assume that when they found Beast's castle, for example, they might find their friends attending a ball or something, since Beast was trying to win over Belle's heart the right way, while some of the other worlds might be different, like how Simba's world might be dealing with Scar's Heartless. There was no way for them to know what the worlds would have to offer them, not until they arrived, so for the time being she let Sora focus on flying through the space between worlds while she and the others trained like usual.

In addition to all of that Sombra and Fluttershy set up an area for the Nobody dragon to reside in, as there was a peak in the private realm they set up a shrine of sorts, like what Mushu had shown them when Fluttershy asked about it before they left Mulan's world, which seemed enough for the dragon. In the end the pair named the dragon 'Lei Shen', because it seemed to be a fine name and might be good based on his elemental power, as Fluttershy was able to confirm the gender while they were working on the shrine, and the serpent dragon seemed to approve. Of course they had no idea what the name of his original self was, not even Mulan knew and it would take too long to ask the scholars since there wasn't enough information to give them, so giving him a new one was the best that they could do on the matter. As it turned out Cerberus, the Hydra, and all of the other animals seemed to approve of the new arrival, even if he was different from all of them, and Fluttershy was pleased to see that everyone was getting along just fine.

Eventually they found their way to the next world, which was Beast's oddly enough, where Sora brought the ship to a stop and warped them down to the castle's entrance, though as they headed inside they found Beast pacing in the area they had first encountered him in, this time looking more groomed than before and wearing a nice suit.

"Hey Beast... nice suit. I take it something big is happening soon?" Sora asked, because Beast usually wore rages or his cape, showing off his beastly side and the power this form possessed, though at the same time Sombra glanced around before shaking her head, so far the world seemed to be safe, but they knew what had happened in Mulan's and kept their guards up in case Heartless or Nobodies showed up.

"You... could say that." Beast replied, though while he seemed to be somewhat annoyed by their presence, since he wasn't expecting them to be here, at this point in time, but at the same time he found that them being there seemed to put him at ease a little, especially since they might stop Xaldin if he shows up, "Tonight is... very important."

In that moment Belle, wearing a familiar yellow gown that had been what she had worn before her abduction by Maleficent, or the dark witch's goons, who walked out of the wing Beast had given her and smiled as she found the group standing by the entrance, while Beast walked up the stairs, causing Sombra to realize that they were having a ball. In fact Beast took her hand and escorted her into the ballroom, the pair walking towards the center of the area before they started to dance, all while the enchanted furniture gathered around part of the area to observe and watch this event. It was a romantic gesture, where Sombra remembered that the spell that had been cast on everyone here, save for Belle since she hadn't been in the castle when Beast pissed off the enchantress, could be broken by true love, and right now it looked like Beast was on his way to doing this on his own. It reminded her of her own struggles, that she overcame something through great effort and new bonds that were important to overcome who she had been before being 'cursed', and while she could have offered to just break the curse herself, like she did previously, this time she knew her power wasn't needed.

As she thought about that Sombra noticed the familiar swirl of a Dark Corridor opening and used her magic to snatch the user as they stepped out of the portal, tossing them into the entry hall of the castle as she appeared at the top of the stairs, though as the hood was pulled back she found that it was Xaldin again.

"Sorry, but tonight is far too important for them, and I won't let you ruin it." Sombra remarked, though at the same time she held a hand out and magically marked Xaldin's chest, preventing him from using the Dark Corridor to bother Beast and Belle with his presence, before holding her hands out as she drew her Keyblades, showing Xaldin that she was serious, "I'll say this once: leave this world, or I'll force you to change your mind."

"You think I'll just give up, after everything I've done to get my heart back?!" Xaldin inquired, where he snapped his fingers and a number of Dragoons appeared around Sombra, showing her that he was going to beat her up and then go mess with Beast so he could get his Heartless and Nobody, "Well, your sorely mistaken."

"And yet there's a way to get a new heart, to make you your own person." Sombra stated, though in the following moment Xaldin watched as his foe spun around, her Keyblades stopping the incoming lance attacks before they even came close to hitting her, before flashing down to the bottom of the steps as all of the Nobodies collapsed, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared, "But, if you want to fight, we can take this outside."

Xaldin found that he and Sombra were teleported outside the castle, to the courtyard, causing him to growl for a moment as he summoned his power, creating a number of lances that landed around him, where two of them ended up resting in his right hand, one in his left, and three floating around him. The pair stared at each other for a few seconds before rushing at each other, where Xaldin found out something alarming as Sombra shifted her body and let all of the lances pass by her, not a single one touching her, before she swung her Keyblades and knocked him backwards in a second. In that instant he realized why Xemnas had deemed her to be a threat, something Xigbar agreed with despite the Nobody in question having a different reason for his thoughts, as Sombra's skills were greater than he had assumed, to the point where she was able to crush his defenses without wasting even a single moment. She was able to bypass his guard as if it didn't exist in the first place, that part came as a shock to him as he stood up again, wiping off the area that had been hit before reclaiming his weapons as he faced her, showing her that he wasn't about to stand down.

That was the insane part of everything, that despite the danger he was in, and the fact that his defenses were crushed with such ease, he found himself smiling, there was a level of excitement that came from fighting someone as strong as Sombra, facing a brick wall that none of the other Organization members had been able to overcome. As he rushed into battle Xaldin found his weapons stopped as if they were nothing, yet Sombra had yet to call on her true power, meaning he was facing at least half of her overall power, maybe even a fourth or even less based on what was going on right now. Xaldin thrust his lances at Sombra, the air shaking as their weapons collided with each other, before rushing off to the side and came to her from another direction, one she shouldn't be able to sense him from, and yet she dodged out of the way like she could see him, like she had eyes in the back of her head. It was insane, that her powers seemed to be on a level that were beyond his own, a wall he couldn't even begin to overcome, yet that only seemed to keep the smile in place, like he was thrilled by the mere idea of enjoying a fight, even one he couldn't win, and even when Sombra punched him in the chest, sending him back into the iron gate and denting it, Xaldin found himself enjoying this.

As he stood back up, however, Xaldin felt something within him change, a beat that wasn't there before, though as he quickly rushed back into battle he found Sombra smiling as she dodged the attack and grabbed his left wrist, like she was saying that the battle was over.

"There... you can feel it... right?" Sombra asked, where she raised a hand for a moment and Xaldin found that she pressed it against his chest, though in that instant he realized what the beat was, the strange change that had overtaken him, she had found a way to wake him up, wake his heart up, just like she had done to Xemnas and the others, "Congratulations, Xaldin... Xemnas will be happy when you tell him the news."

"How did you know?" Xaldin inquired, because before the fight he had felt what he had assumed were the falsehoods that all Nobodies pretended to feel whenever something happened, but now he had to wonder if Sombra's actions before the war for Hollow Bastion, plus Xemnas' supposed betrayal of the Organization's main goal, according to Xigbar anyway, had been the sparks to ignite the change in his being.

"Because I'm a master when it comes to the heart." Sombra replied, at least in terms of the World's version of things, since she wasn't an expert in matters of love, which was the usual definition of the phrase, though in the next moment she found something emerging from the forest, causing the Nobody to follow her gaze.

It was a large box shaped Heartless, one Roxas had encountered and called the 'Infernal Engine', an emblem Heartless that had several silver archer figures on top of it, another thing recorded in Roxas' reports, though Sombra wasn't worried as she felt something coming down to join them. Apparently it was Lei Shen, the serpent seemed eager to have fun, or maybe he had just brushed against the controls in the cockpit and had been warped down on accident, but he noticed the Heartless and seemed to recognize them as a threat, causing the sky to light up. Sombra realized that the dragon was going to release a burst of energy at the Heartless, that much she could see with the lightning that was flashing right now, and when Lei Shen coiled around, head facing the forest, Sombra shrouded herself and Xaldin in a barrier as the dragon released a large beam of lightning from his mouth. The torrent smashed through the stonework in front of Sombra, tore through the Infernal Engine and it's Archers, and collided with the ground a bit before being cut off, detonating and blowing away a portion of the forest in seconds, while Xaldin just dropped his lances as his jaw dropped in surprise.

Sombra found herself chuckling at that sight as she petted the dragon's head, even though this meant she would have to train him to control his power, before Xaldin dismissed his weapons and vanished from the world, which caused her to look forward to what the future held in store for them as she regrouped with the others, to share stories before worrying about whatever else might be thrown at them next.

Nobody: Important Distraction

After dealing with the Heartless that were bothering Port Royal, as Sombra was sure that the reaper type had been behind the return of the undead pirates, Sora and the others returned to their ship with another new passenger, as Luxord was telling the truth, he wanted nothing to do with Xigbar's madness. Such a thing caused Sombra to wonder about the rest of the Organization, as there had been seven at the start of this adventure, as she was counting Axel in that number since he had been her spy for quite some time, and it caused an interesting picture to unfold before her. The number was quickly reduced when Axel and Demyx jumped ship, and then further cut down when Xemnas, the leader, just left them to join his brother in assaulting the Heartless army back on Hollow Bastion, leaving only four. Of those four she was sure that Xaldin was no longer aligned with Xigbar's wishes, and Luxord had jumped ship the first opportunity he had been given, meaning only two remained, the self appointed leader and Saix, and yet Sombra wasn't even worried about that.

The reason she wasn't worried about Saix was because Axel had told her that he would deal with his former friend when the time came, meaning all Sombra and the others had to worry about now was Xigbar and tracking down The World that Never Was, since it wasn't wise leaving their false Kingdom Hearts left alone.

Luxord, on the other hand, got a good view of the inner workings of their Gummi Ship, as he had been wondering what sort of life Sombra and her friends lived while they traveled from world to world, and he could see just how wonderful things were as he noticed the room and the functions each one had. In fact he was surprised by how well the ship expanded, as if there was an excess of material for Sombra to use as she changed the insides of their vessel, which was definitely larger on the inside than what the outside seemed to suggest, because the figure was able to add a whole new room in seconds, one fully ready for Luxord to use. Luxord found that he could outfit himself with the robe that he had seen Sombra's friends use, when they first encountered them in Hollow Bastion, causing him to slip out of his old Organization attire before putting on the new attire, even though he also found it could be summoned and dismissed. Such a thing allowed him to discover that he could wear his actual clothing without having to worry about the robe, where Sombra found that he went with a black pair of pants, a teal vest, and a white shirt under the vest, like he was a worker at a casino, but it seemed to fit his persona as a gambler, which he was fine with.

As they made their way through the space between worlds Sora made a short pair of stops that Sombra really wasn't even a little interested in, he stopped by Atlantica and his portion of the group, being himself with Donald and Goofy, went down to join a song, while Sombra noticed no movements from Ursula. The second one happened to be Agrabah, where he quickly made sure that nothing major was happening, while at the same time Sombra retrieved Jafar's lamp from the storage area she had locked it in and studied it for a couple of moments. Sure enough she found that he was unsuccessful in breaking any of her seals, though just to be absolutely sure she reinforced the existing seals and added a few more after some thought, each binding a different magical aspect to fully bind the evil genie, making it so his power would be unable to leak out of the ebony black lamp. With that done she quickly returned the lamp to where she had been keeping it all this time, among all of the items she had stored in the past, and then closed the gate to the storage area, allowing her to focus on Sora finding that all was fine and that there were no new dangers for them to worry about.

What surprised her was that the path they seemed to be following brought them back to Halloween Town, causing them to warp back down to the world's surface as Luxord stayed behind, mostly to explore the ship, where they found a bunch of presents scattered around the area and Jack, in his Santa outfit, picking them up.

"Oh, perfect timing friends! Help me pick these up, will you?" Jack stated, seeing them as he entered the area they were in, which happened to be the area that the Holiday Doors were in, though in that moment he paused as he stared at the group, noticing Riku was among them, along with someone new, "Oh, who might you be?"

"I'm Kairi. Nice to meet you." Kairi replied, where they found that she was dressed in a dark purple witch's attire, complete with a witch's hat that had multiples zippers on it, with black and white stripped socks under her black witch boots and a pair of black gloves over her hands.

Sora had to ask the question that was on his mind, that Jack had found the presents here and hadn't made them as some sort of excuse so he could visit Christmas Town again, where the Pumpkin King told him that he was actually done with his whole 'Christmas Phase', but kept the suit as both a reminder and something he could use for Halloween. Sombra knew that a skeletal Santa would freak kids out, which seemed to be the whole reason for keeping the outfit, even though Jack said it was also due to Sally's hard work, before he asked them to help him with the rest of the presents. As they collected the rest of the presents Riku had to ask if Jack was kidding or not, where Sora chuckled and told him that he'd find out soon enough, because once they had the rest of the presents they followed Jack through the Christmas Door and appeared on the hill that overlooked Christmas Town. They found that Kairi was a lot like Sora, as in her attire was a black elf with the hat covering one of her eyes, while Riku found that he was mostly human in this world, save for the wolf tail, and his attire was also dark for some reason, but both of his eyes were fine since his hat was firmly on top of his head.

That was followed by the scene that Sora was eager to see, Riku's jaw dropping in surprise as he discovered that Santa Claus was a real figure, despite him telling his friends that he was made up, while Santa seemed partly grateful for the presents being returned since he was still blaming Jack for everything, while Sombra headed outside for a moment.

"Sombra... aren't you going to help find the present thief?" Radiant asked, because she knew when Sombra was bothered by something and right now it seemed like she was definitely bothered, in fact it looked like she had been expecting them to reach the Pride Lands so they could deal with Scar's Heartless, which should have materialized by now.

"No. And you don't need me for anything... there are no Heartless and no Nobodies on this world. It's totally peaceful, even though it was chaos the last time we were here." Sombra replied, which just made it odd when she thought about it, there was no reason for the World to have them visit this world in the first place, even Jack could do this on his own, he didn't need them to follow him around and help him with whatever plan he had in mind, which caused her to raise a hand to her head for a moment, "Look, I'm going to go for a walk in Halloween Town... need to think about this for a time. I'll come find you guys when I feel the time is right."

Radiant stared at her for a few seconds before nodding her head, because she knew it was best to leave Sombra alone when she was like this, plus she wasn't worried that her friend would turn evil on them, so there was no reason for her to chase Sombra into Halloween Town. With that done Sombra headed up the hill and returned to the first Holiday World that they had discovered, before turning and heading out into the wilderness, as the forest seemed to be a good place for her to just walk and think for a time, especially since this visit made no sense. She wasn't kidding when she told Radiant that there were no Heartless and no Nobodies in this world, it was like Xigbar had determined that this world was just a waste and likely sent Saix to one of the other worlds, or maybe they were guarding the main castle, which was in danger of falling since there were only two members of the Organization now. She knew that the World was watching them, there was even evidence of it thanks to the power she gained in Mickey's castle and the summoning of her Light Keyblade, but this happened to be the only time she found herself questioning the World's decision to bring them here, enough to warrant such a visit.

Part of her felt like screaming at the World, to demand an explanation, but before she made up her mind on that regard she felt a Dark Corridor open nearby as a grey hooded figure emerged from it, one of her allies, though it was easy to figure out who it was since everyone else had set their cloaks aside.

"Okay, you look both frightening and intimidating in that form... possessed armor that looks like a werewolf, yeah, I'd run if I saw that coming at me." Prexus commented, as Sombra knew which persona the figure was using by how he acted and how his hood was positioned, because he preferred to keep his identity a secret from everyone, which was why Sombra went out of her way to play along as she pieced the puzzle pieces together.

"Prexus, I know you wouldn't come to me without a reason. What can I do for you?" Sombra asked, because now she had a reason to understand why the World might have caused them to stop on this world, that the Master of Masters might need a word with her, and her alone, so it arranged for an opportunity for them to speak without anyone else realizing what was going on right now.

"It's better that I just show you." Prexus replied, where he held his hand out and a mass of darkness appeared in front of him not a second later, something that caused Sombra to look at it as she raised her eyebrow, because it wasn't just any sort of dark energy, it was pure darkness, in fact it reminded her of the dark energy of the Umbrum realm, before she felt the dark presence inside the energy, causing the Master of Masters to nod, "That's right, this is one of the thirteen Darknesses that threatens the World as a whole... the Thirteenth, to be exact, one I've kept hidden in a place only I know the location of. I also hold the Twelfth, using my body to keep it contained until a permanent solution can be found, to either destroy them or keep them imprisoned forever."

Sombra took a step forward as Prexus noticed something interesting, her right eye had the Light energy around it while her left eye had Darkness around it, like she was using both elements at the same time, though the way she moved around the mass that was the captured Thirteenth Darkness made him realize she was studying it. As Sombra did that she raised her right hand for a moment as a chest formed before Prexus' eyes, one made of enchanted gold and silver, he could feel the magic woven into the material as it was created, reminding him that Sombra wasn't someone he could mess with. Inside the chest rested something that surprised him, thirteen slots that seemed sized to fit thirteen identical gems, causing him to figure out that Sombra remembered the tale of the Thirteen Darknesses he told him in the Realm of Darkness. In the next moment an eerie dark crystal grew out of the ground nearby and Sombra shattered it, forming thirteen identical pieces in the span of a few seconds, eleven of which were inserted into the chest as Prexus realized what Sombra was doing.

In the next moment he gripped his chest as he felt the Twelfth Darkness disappear from where he was holding it, where he raised his head and found two dark entities literally screaming as they were drawn into the eerie dark crystals, and once the pair were inside their designated crystals, which had their numbers emblazoned upon them, two lines of runes appeared on the crystalline surfaces.

"And done. Two of the Thirteen Darknesses, sealed in magic nullifying crystals, with runes of Darkness and Light to prevent their escape, specifically designed for one of each side to come to an agreement and know the magic to unbind them." Sombra stated, as if this was common for her to do, while at the same time inserting the two crystals into their slots inside the chest, before closing it and storing it away in her storage area, another layer of protection in her eyes, before she looked at Prexus with a smile, "Basically, you would need someone attuned to the Light and someone attuned to the darkness to agree to break the seals, and they must know the specific spell structure to fully break my locks... and, since I'm the only one who knows that specific sequence, no one can break them out. Not even they can free themselves."

Prexus couldn't believe it, that Sombra had figured out how to permanently seal away even one of the Darknesses, much less two of them at the exact same time, while creating all sorts of safety features to make sure they couldn't escape from their new prison, though while he did wish Sombra had arrived far soon than she had, as she could have saved them from so much despair, he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Sombra, thank you for this great gift. I will do everything in my power to make sure you are able to seal away the remaining Darknesses and bring peace to the World." Prexus stated, and he meant it, there was no way he could turn on Sombra after realizing that she was the key to imprisoning the Darknesses in a place that they would be unable to escape from, and now he had to work out how to get the other eleven to Sombra so she could do her thing.

Sombra opened her mouth to say something, but found that Sora and the others were back in this world, so she wished Prexus well before heading out to meet up with her friends, to see what else the world had to offer them before worrying about the Pride Lands and whatever else Xigbar wanted to throw at them.

Nobody: Change of Heart

Sombra found that the culprit behind the presents being stolen was the Professor's latest creation, like a Nobody that just wanted to experience the joys of Christmas, though this just confirmed that the world was more of a distraction, nothing about the situation screamed Heartless or the Organization. With that in mind they wrapped up their time on the world and departed without delay, continuing on their way to the Pride Lands since it was the last world on Sombra's list before he worried about The World That Never Was and the false Kingdom Hearts it contained. While they traveled she learned that Lock, Shock, and Barrel had been inside Santa's workshop again, doing stuff to some of the machines to cause chaos or just to have some fun at Santa's expense, before the group sent them packing and used the device to make some presents to lure out their target. Of course their trap worked and that's how they discovered that it was the Processor's machine, which they beat up before knocking it out, but that was the tale on what had happened and part of Sombra was glad she had spent her time assisting Prexus, since that was more worthwhile.

Following their departure from Halloween Town it was more of the same thing, just flying through space, training to make sure everyone's skills were as good as they could be, and just enjoy some good food, as Luxord and the other new arrivals were discovering that Sombra was such a great cook.

While they flew between worlds Sombra focused on what she had done back in Halloween Town, creating a special chest to house all thirteen Darknesses, the greatest force of Darkness in the World, so they can't escape and cause problems, and that two of them were already stored inside it. Of course that made her wonder where in the world the other eleven might be located, even though she doubted that it was with Xehanort since they seemed more like rulers and less like followers, and even if they were on his side they would have seen the Darknesses make a move by now. With that in mind she really had to wonder where the others were lurking, since she agreed with Prexus on the matter of capturing them, because taking all of them out meant they would be able to fully save the World from whatever plan they had been working on before they were discovered by Prexus. Other than that there wasn't much for her to worry about, plus the chest was in an area that only she could access, so she didn't have to worry about anyone finding it and stealing it for their own purposes, allowing her to focus on preparing for whatever dangers the Pride Lands had for them this time around.

When they reached the Pride Lands the main group went down, this time finding that they were alone in the area they had landed in previously, none of the hyena were present, allowing them to turn towards Riku and Kairi, the former being a pale blue lion, slightly taller than Sora, while the latter was a lioness about Sora's height and had auburn fur.

"So, just like Atlantica, you'll have to adapt to a whole new type of movement, and we'll teach you what we learned the last time we were here." Sora commented, as he could see that Riku and Kairi weren't used to walking or running on all fours, in fact they were surprised when they found that their Keyblades appeared in their mouths, as they were biting on the handles, so some training was required to make sure they got used to their new forms.

Sombra and the others watched as the pair got used to their new forms, rushing around the graveyard and testing their speed, so they could aid everyone in battle without being a hindrance, though at the same time Sombra knew that Simba was likely having some problems, given that Scar's Heartless was somewhere in the Pride Lands. Part of the reason behind that decision was due to the fact that she could feel it's presence, seeping into the ground and decaying the land, or at least it sure seemed that way based on what she was feeling right now, which was making it hard to pinpoint it's location. Once the pair were ready to go the group headed out in the Savannah, where they found the trio of hyenas wandering off to one of the other portions of the Pride Lands, in fact they wanted nothing to do with the group, not after what happened the last time they visited this place. Sombra nodded to the others as they made their way across the Savannah, there was only one Heartless signature and it was scattered, constantly appearing in different locations of the Pride Lands, meaning it had to be gathering power before manifesting.

When they reached Pride Rock they noticed some dark particles form into a shadowy version of Scar, though as Sora and the others approached it Sombra jumped down on the specter and crushed it, banishing it like he must have been doing since he started seeing them, before smiling as he noticed them.

"Guys, your back! As you can see, Scar is still troubling the Pride Lands." Simba stated, his tone both happy to see them and sad that it had to be under such circumstances, in fact he seemed like he wanted to just relax with them for once and not have to fight anything, which was understandable since some of them loved taking a break during their travels, "Sombra, I know you are skilled in the same arts as Rafiki... please tell me we aren't dealing..."

"With Scar's Heartless? I'm afraid so." Sombra replied, as this was one of those times where she wished she could tell their friend or the local ruler that things weren't as bad as they thought, that what they were dealing with was just something else, though as she said that Sombra detected a large surge of dark energy and found a bunch of it heading out into the massive Savannah, where all of the energy was gathering, "Oh, so that's why you haven't been able to beat him... he's been hiding his core all this time, as he was waiting for us to arrive so he could crush all of us at once."

"Talk about a sore loser." Riku commented, as he and Kairi didn't know a lot about Scar, other than what they had been told during Sora's last visit to this world, but it seemed like the lion's heart held a grudge against them for beating him and now had the power to stand against them, causing him to sigh for a moment, "Come on, let's go take him out."

As they rushed out into the Savannah the group noticed that Scar's Heartless was massive, in fact it dwarfed even the large Behemoths they had fought in the past, to the point that Sombra was sure that it even stood taller than Pride Rock, as it was titanic in size. It was a four legged skeletal creature, more like Scar had been when he was alive, though most of it's body was covered in green moss, grass, and other plant life, as if it had torn a piece of the earth out of the ground itself, especially since there were trees growing on it's back. In addition to that it's head had a number of small red horns around it, with a pair of large elephant tusks attached to it, one on each side of the head and stopping at the end of it's muzzle, making it look deadlier than before, and there was a large humanoid shaman on it's back. The shaman seemed to be like a passenger of some kind, even though it seemed to have part of Scar's power as well, but since the four legged beast had the emblem that told them what their target was, since Sombra was sure that crushing it would crush the shaman.

She didn't have to think of a name for the Heartless, not when a single step caused the ground to quake, which was why she went with 'Groundshaker', though with that in mind she and the others separated from each other, attacking the titanic Heartless from multiple directions as they unleashed some of their stronger attacks.

The reason for that was due to the fact that Groundshaker was massive, so some of their attacks might not do anything to it and others might do major damage, but Sombra suspected that by unleashing a number of incredible attacks they might be able to bring it down a lot faster. To that end she was preparing one of her stronger attacks as the others distracted the titanic Heartless, forming a sphere of dark energy and a sphere of light energy behind her, to mix them into a single point in front of her, an attack Riku recognized since she had used it back in the Realm of Darkness. The point behind this attack was to weaken the Groundshaker to the point that the others, namely Simba, could bring it down without her having to do much else, and right now it seemed like they understood her plan without her having said anything on the matter. When the attack was ready Sombra fired the combined orb of elemental energy and watched as it barreled into the Groundshaker, knocking it to the ground with ease and opened the way for everyone else to tear into it, eventually breaking it down and releasing it's heart for her to capture.

This time, however, she absorbed the heart of the Groundshaker, granting her it's elemental power, causing Sombra to land on the ground with her claws digging into the earth, where she channeled her new power into the ground and purified the Pride Lands, something that caused her to smile as she joined the others, to make sure Simba was alright as they wondered what the future held for them.

As that happened Axel stepped out of a Dark Corridor and returned to a familiar area in Hollow Bastion, where he and his friend had met Ventus for the first time, though in his hand he carried a bag that had a number of their favorite ice cream bars, the specialty of Twilight Town, but he had another reason for coming to this area.

"So, you are giving up on her again, are you?" a familiar voice inquired, where Axel found that his thoughts had been right, Saix was standing off to the side and seemed to be focused on the reason behind them eventually joining the Organization in the first place, in fact he had pulled down his hood before Axel had even reached this area, "Too focused on your new group of friends to care about her, or the friend you left behind?"

"Oh Isa, I never forgot... I just have different resources than you do." Axel replied, to which he reached into his bag for just a moment and pulled out one of the bars, one he tossed to his old friend and found that Saix caught it without delay, though he had his eyebrow raised as he waited for Axel to explain himself, "I finally figured it out. You were focused on Xemnas and the information Xehanort might have left him, but wouldn't acknowledge any other paths... but I have access to Ansem and his computer, Xemnas and Sairaine are working together, and I have access to the greatest mind the World has to offer."

Saix stood there for a moment as he understood what Axel was saying, there was no reason for him to remain with Xigbar now that most of the Organization's surviving members had jumped ship, leaving only the second as the one in control of the castle, because if he asked Sombra for assistance the quest for the missing girl would be over in no time. He knew that it was within Sombra's skills if she so desired, as her power was out of this world and it seemed like the World itself favored her, if what they had seen during the Heartless War was any indication, and he found himself debating things. He hated to admit that Axel was right, leaving the Organization and falling in with Sombra's group had been the wisest thing he could have done, because it only only reunited him with Ventus' group, but it also gave him access to all sorts of information that no one else had access to. It was possible that he could now track down the missing girl and find her, just like they had planned to do when they originally joined Ansem's apprentices, plus he knew that rejoining his friend would benefit him as well, as it would allow him to awaken his heart in due time.

In the end Saix found himself sighing as he realized that Axel was going to hold this over him for a long time, but it was the smartest move that was available to him right now, and it would signal the end of the Organization as a whole, which would annoy Xigbar to no end.

"As much as I hate to admit it, you speak the truth." Saix said, where he noted that Axel did, in fact, raise an eyebrow for just a moment, but said nothing as he realized what this meant for his old friend, to which he stored the ice cream away in his robe as he took a step towards Axel, "Well then, shall we join your friends and see if they're willing to take in one more? We can focus on the search once Sombra comes back."

Axel smiled as he beckoned for Saix to join him, because it was good to have all of his friends back, even his first best friend, and he could only imagine the look on Xigbar's face when he realized that the Organization was done, that he was alone in his quest to forge their Kingdom Hearts, all while wondering what Sombra would make of this situation, causing him to look forward to what the coming days held in store for him and his friends.

Nobody: Regrouping

After dealing with Scar's Heartless, and ensuring that the Pride Lands were free of his darkness, Sora and the others, once again, returned to the Gummi Ship before setting off for whatever world was next on their list of places to visit, though this time around that number was lower than ever before. He stopped by Atlantica for a time, where Sombra found that Ursula had made her move while they were away and there really wasn't much else they could do but swim and watch as Ariel's prince used King Triton's trident to bring about her end, with Sombra capturing her heart to make sure she didn't come back in the future. There was a party celebration of sorts, though they didn't stay for long since they knew King Triton didn't like having so many Keyblades in his world, even if the wielders that carried them were friends to his kingdom, but Fluttershy did note that he seemed more open to his daughter dating a human, despite his old thoughts on the matter. It was a nice thing to see, as it meant even someone as stubborn as him was capable of changing, though Sora focused on heading back to Hollow Bastion, since that seemed to be Sombra's preferred stop so they could bring this adventure to an end.

As it turned out Sora also stopped by the Coliseum for a short while, mostly to see if anything new was happening, where Sombra found that Hades was controlling Auron with some sort of soul doll and used her magic to break it, allowing the warrior to go free while they departed for their true destination.

When they returned to Hollow Bastion, however, Sombra smiled as she found something interesting, that being the fact that there was a force of Nobodies that seemed to be helping the people, and not just the Dusks, but every type that Seras had told her about in her various reports. Such a thing was confirmed as they spotted Xemnas nodding his head as he looked at the Nobodies, in fact he barely looked like he was ordering them around, rather it looked like he was simply making sure the city was safe from danger and was observing the Nobodies as they worked. Standing nearby was Sairaine, who seemed to be in the middle of planning new defensive measures once the city was fully fixed up, since it looked like more of the old world was coming back and soon 'Hollow Bastion' would be a thing of the past, and Sombra suspected that Ansem's group was involved with his decisions. She also suspected that the rest of the Organization's former members were spread out around the world, doing what they could to prepare for her eventual assault on The World That Never War, but such a thing was no longer fully important, not with the limited number of foes they had to worry about.

Sombra suspected that she, alone, could head to the final world and just bust the doors down without having to do much, but there was no telling what Xigbar might have added to the world to compensate for the fact that he was lacking members to defend the false Kingdom Hearts that had been formed over the years.

"I was wondering when you guys were going to get back." a voice said, speaking right after the group warped down into the area outside the market and had some time to see what was going on with the world, where Sombra found that it was, as she expected, Demyx, especially since the figure in question was still hiding his identity as the Master of Masters, "Xemnas and the others have been waiting to speak with you."

"I imagine that it's about The World That Never Was, and your Kingdom Hearts." Sombra commented, because that was the only thing of importance right now, save for the potential revival of Xehanort, and if that was the case she knew they were no doubt hoping to discuss her plans for the world, and when Demyx nodded his head she beckoned for him to follow, "Well then, let's head to Merlin's and see what's going on."

As it turned out Merlin's house was far larger on the inside than it had been the last time they were there, as he knew that a lot of people would be coming and had prepared accordingly, making a large gathering area while setting his stuff and Cid's stuff in two separate areas. Sombra also discovered that food was being served and decided to show off, where she took all of the materials that were in front of her and started to form far more delicious courses, even if these were more casual than what Sora and the others had seen on the Gummi Ship. In order to make sure enough food was prepared Sombra utilized a 'shadow clone' spell, it allowed her to make realistic copies of herself that could do everything she did, which allowed them to make a bunch of party food for the rest of the people that were here. It was during her work that she discovered that Axel had brought another guest in the form of Saix, in fact she could see that they had talked for a time before coming to some sort of agreement, meaning Xigbar was the only member of the Organization left.

"Man, no wonder Seras insisted on making good food... she got to have this when she was part of Fluttershy." Demyx stated, as none of the members of the Organization had tasted Sombra's food before, at least not before Luxord joined the group that used the Gummi Ship and got to sample the food, and he could tell that Sombra's list of skills was just growing, even though Sombra knew he was just acting since he had sampled her food in the form of Prexus a long time ago.

"I agree. Her food is simply amazing." Ansem the Wise replied, as he and those from his workplace had joined them after they learned that Sombra was on the world again, allowing her to find that the reborn Nobodies that had been cut down had finally been reborn, such as Even and Ienzo, who were Vexen and Zexion's Somebodies, who had informed them that this world was actually called 'Radiant Garden' now.

"Sombra, you have been instrumental in helping the Nobodies form our own hearts, and I wish to both thank you and join your group." Xemnas said, because while the food was beyond delicious, he had never tasted anything like it before, he did wish to be serious right now and that meant focusing on the task that Sombra was no doubt focused on, even though he also knew that he would have to chat with Terra and several of the others later.

"Very well... but I want to make one thing clear: I am not your commander, general, leader, or lord. Just friends is fine for the time being." Sombra replied, where she noticed that Radiant couldn't help but smile, and this time around she was joined by Fluttershy and Seras, because they knew what she had been before they came to this portion of the World, the monster she had been, and knew that saying this meant that her heart, her very soul, had changed for the better, "But you wish to know what my next move is, correct?"

"All of us are interested. I mean, you've beaten countless enemies, convinced others to join you, and did several things that were considered impossible." Sairaine remarked, because he had learned his lesson after facing her in battle, he had been far too arrogant for the lackluster power over Darkness he held, as Sombra's had been far stronger than anything else, and right now her heightened power was likely enough to bring down Xehanort, "We want to know what you have planned and what we can do to help you out."

"She explained the idea on the way back to Hollow Bastion... sorry, Radiant Garden." Sora said, as he knew that his remark would offend Ansem the Wise and his apprentices, who were okay with the comment since everyone was getting used to the new name, before he turned towards Xemnas for a moment as the rest of the assembled group seemed interested in what might be said next, "If you're willing, Sombra wants to open a Dark Corridor into The World That Never Was, basically so we can invade the world the Organization used to call home since she's sure Xigbar will have done something to prevent those who have betrayed him from entering the main castle. From there it should be a simple matter to get to the false Kingdom Hearts and bring an end to whatever Xigbar is planning... and maybe we can convince him to stand down."

Xemnas seemed surprised by the simple plan, but at the same time it was understandable, there was literally nothing on The World That Never Was that could stop Sombra from taking control of the castle and the Kingdom Hearts they had crafted with all of the freed hearts, but he also found himself interested in what might happen in the very near future.

Xigbar was pacing around the common room that many of the Organization's former members would gather in before they bothered with the missions that Saix assigned to them, because too many things had happened recently and he was having trouble coming to terms with all of it, as none of it made sense to him. The plan had been going well, even despite the loss of those who went to Castle Oblivion, but it was after that event that things seemed to just spiral out of control, because after that Xemnas went soft, focusing more on members who weren't there and those that had been taken from them. That was when they discovered that Aqua had been saved from the Realm of Darkness, Larxene and Marluxia had betrayed them, and Ventus' missing body had been found and his missing heart had been returned to it, eliminating a possible host for what he and Xehanort had planned. Yet that wasn't the end of the madness that had plagued his life recently, rather it was just the start of a bad time that seemed to be getting worse and worse as the days and weeks went by, to the point where he really had to wonder if any of this was real or just a figment of his tired mind.

Seras had betrayed them to side with her original Somebody, calling Fluttershy her 'sister', Xaldin's plans to corrupt Beast to the point that he would be turned into a Heartless and Nobody had failed, and he found that other worlds were suffering the same thing, which was Sombra breaking curses while her group wiped out countless Heartless.

The Heartless War had been the turning point that should have restored their plans, to allow them to form the rest of their Kingdom Hearts so he could prepare it for transport, as he had found a way to potentially use it for his own goals, but that was where things went wrong. Axel and Demyx just straight up betrayed them, the Seeker of Darkness returned before turning his back on his own dark nature to become 'Sairaine Salvatore', Xemnas jumped ship to join his brother, and then the greatest upset of them all happened, one he was still struggling to understand. Sombra, a being of darkness, had gained a new Keyblade, a Keyblade of Light, the direct opposite of her own power and form, and yet nothing had happened to her, rather it was as if the World itself had granted her some sort of protection of the other power. He still couldn't understand that decision, because Sombra was doing something to hearts and seemed to be growing more powerful as she tampered with them, which was the work of someone who sided with Darkness, and yet the World was fine with that.

That infuriated him, that a weapon of the Light was in the hands of someone who reeked of Darkness and would no doubt use it for all sorts of dark deeds, and Sombra had ended the Heartless War with a powerful attack that used elements of both Keyblades, which he couldn't even begin to wrap his head around.

After that things just unraveled further, because the Organization had been crippled with the loss of their leader and two of their warriors, which was why he sent the remaining members out to track down new members, even if they were mostly to stall Sombra while he came up with a plan on how to destroy her. That had backfired when Sombra stopped him from his plans to recruit the serpent dragon Nobody into their ranks, in fact it seemed like it had been turned into a war pet and was being used against Sombra's foes, not that she needed more power in his eyes. After that Xaldin went out to make another attempt on Beast, since the beastly figure would make a strong Nobody, but he had simply disappeared, but his icon further in the castle was still activated, which had worried Xigbar more than he was willing to admit. Then there was Luxord just totally jumping ship, he was sure of that, when the group reached the pirate world, and while he was preparing the world for Sombra's eventual arrival Saix had gone missing, leaving him as the last member of the Organization dedicated to the plan, even if his plans were different than everyone else's.

"Damn... the Old Man's not going to like this one bit... he's probably reforming in the Keyblade Graveyard, now that I stop and think about it." Xigbar commented, as the plan had been to find enough worthy vessels to fill with the dark fragments of Xehanort's heart, thirteen Seekers of Darkness to clash with the Seven Guardians of Light, but now he had no idea how they were going to do anything since the Organization was essentially done for, "Okay, here's what I'll do: loot the castle, see if I can find some secrets to use against the others, and maybe blackmail some of them into helping me out when the..."

Xigbar stopped talking as he felt a Dark Corridor open, one that was powered by Sombra's magic of all things, and glanced out at the city that was in front of the castle, where he found a force of warriors, with the main troublemaker at the head of the group, stepping into The World That Never Was, and he noticed that the rest of the Organization's surviving members were standing with her, weapons at the ready.

"...yeah, screw that noise." Xigbar remarked, because there were too many warriors in the group for him to even consider fighting in open combat, and that wasn't counting the fact that Xemnas and the other Nobodies were with Sombra, which meant their powers could help her counter his own, to which he abandoned the blackmail idea entirely.

With Sombra's forces invading The World That Never Was, no doubt with some plan in mind for the world, Xigbar opened a Dark Corridor to the Keyblade Graveyard and fled before he was discovered, as it was time for him to see if Xehanort was reforming and see if there was a way to salvage the plan, all while hoping that Sombra hadn't completely screwed them over.

Nobody: The World That Never Was

Sombra glanced at the world that was around them, finding that it was definitely as Seras described, a dark city that seemed to be man-made, as there appeared to be houses and tall buildings, restaurants and theaters, and everything else a city might have to offer, a reminder that the Nobodies had done everything they could to resemble their old selves.

"So, this is The World That Never Was... it's an interesting place." Sombra commented, though at the same time she glanced at the area that was around them, turning her head to the left and then the right every now and then, because after taking the time to think about her notes on this world she had been expecting an attack, before she felt Xigbar's power, causing her to chuckle as she realized what it was, "And it looks like we can relax a little, as Xigbar just departed from this world."

"Guess he didn't want to deal with all of us." Sairaine remarked, which was a little disappointing if he was being honest, as he hadn't had a chance to fight much since the Heartless War and had been hoping to see what had caused his brother to pick Xigbar as his second, though at the same time he and the others dismissed their weapons, as it appeared that they wouldn't need them this time around.

"So... is that it? This adventure is over?" Sora asked, though as he said that they started to walk around the area, simply to make sure there were no traps or anything waiting for them, since there was no telling what Xigbar could have done before their arrival in the world, only to find that they must have beat him to the punch, as there was nothing here.

"It would seem so. The path to our Kingdom Hearts is exposed, now that Xigbar has withdrawn." Xemnas said, something that caused him to glance at the castle that was in the distance and the floating heart shaped object that he had spent years painstakingly crafting from the freed hearts they could collect, all because of something that proved to be far easier for him and the others to obtain, "I honestly expected him to stick around for a time, to see what we were up to... not to retreat as soon as he saw us."

Sombra glanced out at the surrounding area for a moment and held a hand out for everyone to stop, as the path leading out of the city, and heading towards the castle, was no longer safe as she and the others noticed that a large force had appeared out of the shadows, half of it all of the remaining High Ranks of the Nobodies and the other half the Neoshadows. This was confirmation that The World That Never Was was incredibly close to the Realm of Darkness, especially since the Heartless that were in front of them were usually only seen in places with a strong concentration of dark energy. As Sombra thought about that something interesting happened, the two forces made way, forming a line on either side of them before both the Heartless and the Nobodies knelt, bowing their heads as if they were showing respect towards their leader. In the following moments a surge of darkness erupted from the area below the castle and Sombra raised an eyebrow as she spotted a very familiar figure stepping out of the newly opened dark portal, it was the Ancient Heartless dragon known as Tiamat, which only further confirmed the connection between worlds that existed here.

"Woah! What is that?!" Sora asked, though as he started to draw his Keyblade, and the others started to shift their stances to ready their weapons, they noticed that Sombra was the only one who didn't seem to be doing anything right now, like she knew the figure in question, especially since she was walking towards the figure.

"Tiamat, one of the three Ancient Heartless that calls the Darkworld home. What can we do for you?" Sombra asked, as she knew that the dragon had a reason for being here, even though it was still interesting that she was here in the first place, a fact that made her wonder if other dark beings could be drawn to this place, maybe even her own kind.

"The balance of power in the World is shifting... things that weren't possible previously are now possible, and it caught my interest." Tiamat replied, where she walked off to the side and Sombra noticed a path leading into the castle itself, almost as if the false Kingdom Hearts was beckoning for her to come to it, like it resonated a power and was drawing everything to it, and yet Sombra was sure that the dragon was smiling, "Go, claim Kingdom Hearts... I am interested in seeing what you might do with it."

Sombra sighed for a moment as she beckoned for everyone to follow her, promising that she would explain everything later, before they stepped onto the bridge and found that it brought them to the bottom level of the castle, though that was when things got interesting, as there were Dark Corridors in front of them. By that she found that they formed a straight line of sorts, going from one part of the castle to another, like the World itself wanted them to reach the false Kingdom Hearts as soon as possible, like there was a chance for it to be used for evil and it was doing what it could to stop that plan. Xemnas and the other Nobodies glanced around the castle, their home, wondering what their future held now that most of them had achieved their goal, they had their own hearts and those that didn't would no doubt soon obtain one, even though he and his brother had plans of their own now. Both of them were going to oppose Xehanort and whatever plans the old man had in store for them, since they couldn't be good for the rest of the World, especially after seeing what his other plans had done in the past, and Xemnas was hoping the others would join them in this fight.

It didn't take them long to reach the summit of the castle, thanks to the series of Dark Corridors they had walked through, to which they stared up at the yellow heart shaped moon that was hanging near the castle as everyone came to a stop, which was followed by Xemnas sighing as he turned towards Sombra.

"So... this is where you, I don't know, capture our Kingdom Hearts and steal it's power?" Xemnas asked, because that was the one thing they couldn't figure out about Sombra's power, he and the others had been unable to learn how her power actually worked and how they could counter it, so he had no idea what Sombra was going to do with their Kingdom Hearts and the power it contained.

"...No. The World! I have a request to make!" Sombra called out, while at the same time her power wrapped around the large source of hearts that was in front of him, though everyone else seemed shocked that she was trying to speak to the World itself, despite the fact that it had talked to her in the past, "I wish to use the power of this Kingdom Hearts to give the Nobodies, each and every one of them, their own bodies, to allow them to be the people they desire to be!"

Your request is heard. a voice said, something that surprised everyone that was around Sombra, even though that had heard it before, while Demyx's eyes were wider than anyone else's, as this was a discovery he hadn't even considered when he made contact with Sombra, and it wasn't long before a new light appeared around the figure, And is granted.

Sombra closed her eyes and lifted the false Kingdom Hearts into the air with her magic, where everyone watched as she just cracked it with her power, as it looked like the entire thing was getting ready to explode before their very eyes, which only made them wonder what in the world was going on. In the next instant the heart shaped object exploded, a storm of shards scattering this way and that, but in the following moment Xemnas found that all of the shards were actually hearts, each and every one they had recovered since the Organization was formed. The freed hearts rained down on The World That Never Was, where Xemnas and the other Nobodies found that they did exactly what Sombra had said, they tracked down their old bodies and joined with them, causing a sea of flashes throughout the city as the Nobodies were given their old forms back, but even then they were changed. That was due to the fact that those who had been Dusks were incredibly flexible, those who had been Samurai carried their weapons and seemed to be dressed in the cloth attire of a ronin, and the others had a similar change, as if their new bodies carried the power of their old Nobody forms.

As for the former members of the Organization, however, they were granted a blessing as well, as those who haven't had a chance to form their hearts found that they were now blessed with one, and others, such as Demyx, were able to separate themselves into their Somebodies and their Nobodies, two lives born from one body, even if they found that Demyx's Somebody had his hood up, hiding his form from them.

Radiant found that more was happening than just the Nobodies being given a new existence, and the Somebodies of the former Organization members being confused by their new existence, where she found that Xemnas and Sairaine refused to acknowledge the parts of them that were Xehanort, causing dark wisps to leave them. In addition to that the Heartless that were in the city seemed to pause as well, some looking at themselves as if they had been awakened from a deep slumber, or in the cases of the Neoshadows given a new perspective on life that they didn't have before this event. She realized that the World had realized that there was more to the request than what Sombra had said, but instead of being angry the World had empowered her to help as many people and individuals as she could, and from what Radiant could see even the dark dragon seemed to be enjoying what was currently happening to the city. It made her realize just how different Sombra really was now, she was no longer focused on power, rather she was focused on undoing Xehanort's plans and making the World a far better place than it was when they first arrived in Traverse Town.

Such a thing made her wonder what the future held in store for them now, because after all of this Radiant had to wonder what Xehanort would do when he finally came back to the World, as he might just surrender and let them end this before something terrible happened, yet she knew they would face it with a smile on their faces and found herself eager to see whatever might happen next.

Xigbar stepped out of the Dark Corridor he had opened and found that he had reached his intended destination, the large wasteland world that was known as the 'Keyblade Graveyard' these days, due to the fact that there were hundreds of those weapons embedded in the ground, markers for those who died during the last Keyblade War. He thought about what had caused the event to happen, what had happened after it, and what he had done over the many years since that day, while following the mission his own master had given to him before his disappearance, a duty he had tried to follow to the best of his ability. He sighed for a moment as he reflected on the fact that Sombra's existence, and the existence of the other three pony girls, hadn't been planned for, there was nothing in his master's plans that could have prepared him for what he and the other members of the Organization had seen since discovering the trio, which was now a group of four. He then took a moment to let out a more frustrated sigh, as Sombra had just wiped out any plans he and Xehanort had on completing the X-Blade, to summon the true Kingdom Hearts and do whatever the old man had planned, since that part he still wasn't too sure on, even after working with him for so long.

After that he noticed a number of dark strands flowing through the air and followed them, finding that they lead him to the large stone pillar that had served as Xehanort's battleground with Terra, though while it wasn't where he had turned into a Heartless and Nobody, since that was back in Ansem's study, this allowed them to gather without Sombra realizing that her main target had been restored.

"Hey old man, are you alright?" Xigbar asked, as he could see that the old man's form had been restored, he was still his old self, which had been why he sought out Terra's body since it was both young and connected to the Darkness, plus he could see that his head was still bald and that his shoulders were still hunched, with a crooked back, and his attire was similar to what his former Heartless, Sairaine he reminded himself, wore.

"No... my... rebirth... is not as I intended." Xehanort replied, where he found that he was still weak from regaining himself, all while he was sure his powers were still scattered and that it would be some time before he was back at full strength, but he did hold his hand out, forming the black Keyblade that had a goat head icon above the handle while it's head was shaped like a demon's wing, meaning some of his power was intact, "Braig, tell me what has happened since I took over Terra... I must know how our plan is progressing."

"First of all, the name's Xigbar now. And second of all..." Xigbar stated, where he cut himself off as he wondered how he was going to even explain all of this to his old partner, especially since he and the other members of the Organization had been unable to actually figure out Sombra's powers and develop a countermeasure to them, and he could see that Xehanort was waiting for him to reply, "To tell you the truth, the plan is screwed... you can thank Sombra for that."

"I'm sorry... who?" Xehanort asked, because there were many individuals and groups he had known about before setting his plans into motion, though he didn't know anyone by that name, and he could see that Braig, or Xigbar as he preferred to be called right now, was upset by whatever had happened during his absence.

"She's... well, the best way to describe her is that she's a monster: she's beaten your Heartless, twisted your Nobody into a mockery of his former self, tainted your Heartless, she's sealed one version of Kingdom Hearts and likely stole the other, and she's wiped out the Organization." Xigbar said, where he noticed that Xehanort raised an eyebrow in response, as if he didn't believe what he was saying, though at the same time he couldn't blame the old man for not believing him, because there were times where he had to wonder if he was living in a waking nightmare that refused to end, "And that's the short version of events... there's also the fact that she wields the power of Darkness, can apparently wield the power of Light, was chosen by the World itself to carry two Keyblades, and who knows what else... and even then there's three more of her kind with her, all of whom have their own outrageous powers and abilities. There's also the fact that Sombra somehow found Aqua, in the vastness of the Darkworld, managed to track down both Ventus' body and his missing heart, restoring him again, and was also able to figure out how to bring Terra back without defeating your Heartless and Nobody. Plus I don't even want to know what they're doing in The World That Never Was... I'm sure Sombra's doing something insane that is breaking the laws of the World."

Xehanort stood there for a moment as he realized that they were going to have a long discussion about what had happened since he took over Terra's body, and something told him that he was seriously going to dislike the information he was about to learn, all while wondering what the information might have for his plans and for the immediate future.

Interlude: Unexpected Arrivals

After Sombra used up the entirety of the Kingdom Hearts that the Organization had crafted, which had served a far better purpose in Xemnas' eyes as he looked upon the faces of the former Nobodies with a smile on his face, the castle was turned over to the one who saved them and provided them with what they cherished most. Sombra suspected that the world itself needed a new name, since The World That Never Was didn't seem to fit after what had just happened to the residents of the world, causing her to wonder if 'Betwixt' might be good, a way to say 'between'. With that thought in mind she considered 'Things Betwixt', a land of convergence when one realized that the world was between the Realms of Light and Darkness, and that the residents of the world had once been that way, trapped between the forces of the World. Even now, after her work with the now extinguished false Kingdom Hearts, the residents of the world were torn between Light and Darkness, as there were Heartless wandering around, the transformed Nobodies were hanging out, and the Somebodies of those who let themselves be split into Nobody and Somebody were exploring the world.

Fluttershy had been right, Sombra had forever altered the course of this world's fate by helping it's residents, but even then Sombra realized she wouldn't do anything different, she would make sure the Nobodies were given the hearts they desired and even use the power of this world's Kingdom Hearts to do what she had done.

Of course this also came with altering the castle as well, because without the need to build a Kingdom Hearts there was no reason for the peak, and some of the other areas seemed to be obsolete now, so Sombra found that it was a lot like their Gummi Ship, it could be manipulated and changed as one desired. With that in mind she let most of the exterior remain the same, but the insides were altered, making it more reasonable for those who would be calling it home, where Xemnas and the others watched as it became more like an actual home and less like a fortress. It was still a place that could be defended if it came to it, but Sombra wasn't expecting an attack to actually reach this place, where Xemnas' group watched as she just made the castle into a larger copy of the insides of the Gummi Ship, save for the portal to their private region. The rooms were far better than what Xemnas had seen when he and his friends had first formed their rooms, and each one would be crafted to fix their personal tastes, but she told them that they didn't have to stay here if they didn't want to, they could go out and be their own person.

And that was just the beginning of her work, as the castle was large and she wanted to make sure everything was in a space that was proper for it, and she made sure to check in with Xemnas' group, ensuring that her ideas were okay and accepted, and if someone had a better idea she was willing to listen.

"We'll have to make some changes to the rest of the world as well, now that we've got an army living here." Xemnas stated, as there were a large number of beings calling the Dark City, the area in front of the castle, home, and considering that many of them were Heartless, Nobodies, or even Somebodies, all altered in some manner thanks to Sombra requesting that the World itself use the false Kingdom Hearts to aid the Nobodies, "So, what do we do now?"

"We do what I was doing before: keep an eye on our enemies, gather information, and then attack when the time is right." Sombra replied, as it was exactly what she had done when she and the others were preparing for war with the Organization, and now they had far more resources and individuals who could keep an eye out for Xehanort or his allies, since Xemnas had confirmed that Xigbar was one of the old man's allies, the only one left that he and Sairaine were aware of. "Are you two are sure that Xehanort has no more allies?"

"If there are more allies, they would have been chosen after we were created, no doubt by Xigbar's hand." Sairaine said, but he understood why Sombra was asking, because there was no way Xehanort would allow something like this to happen and not have a backup plan ready in case he lost the Organization like this, causing him to sigh for a moment, "If they exist, we don't know about them... Xigbar clearly didn't trust my brother enough to give him all the details, and I never talked to the one-eyed sniper, so he didn't tell me anything."

Sombra sighed for a moment, as she had been expecting a little more information than what she had gotten, but she wasn't about to argue with what they had given her so far, since it allowed her to plan ahead, but before she or the others were able to say anything else she felt the air shudder a little, as something magical was happening in this world, and the magical signature was Equestrian in nature.

"That can't be good." Radiant remarked, because it wasn't just Equestrian magic she and the others had felt, it was the type of magic that the Umbrum possessed, which could be a bad thing considering that they were just as bad as Sombra had been when he was a tyrant, and sometimes they were even worse than he had been, but it also made her wonder how in the world they were here.

As Sombra and the others headed to the outskirts of the castle, so they could see what was going on, she noticed that there seemed to be a parade or something making their way through the large courtyard area that was right in front of the bridge that connected the castle to the rest of the world. What surprised her was that the figures were definitely Umbrum, it was hard not to recognize them since she knew her coat color and mane color anywhere, plus they seemed to be wearing dark iron armor that resembled his old attire, when he was a tyrant, but they didn't have the cape. Such a thing made her take a moment to wonder how this could be happening, before wondering if the realm that the Umbrum had been contained in had been linked to the Darkworld in some manner, allowing them to escape into an entirely new world. The interesting thing was that they seemed to be making music, as some were beating on drums, others using trumpets, and a few others, like this was a royal procession, and the ones at the front were actually carrying flags, causing her to raise an eyebrow as she and the others laid eyes on the main targets.

What she found was that there was an older male, wearing metal plate with a lush cape, while having a crown on his head, but his features reminded Sombra of herself, or what she would have looked like if she had retained her male form, and to the figure's right was a female Umbrum that looked an awful lot like Sombra, only her hair was lusher and her chest was a couple of sizes smaller.

"Make way for King Nebula!" the Umbrum at the front said, almost like it was a song of some kind, even though no one was actually singing, meaning that someone had told them to speak like that for this event, but the name was a knife to Sombra's mind as she staggered and raised her hand to her head, as it meant something to her, "Make way for Princess Umbra!"

"Sombra... what's wrong?" Fluttershy asked, as this was the first time that Sombra had reacted in this way to anything, even after everything that had been thrown at them since they started their adventures, and she was worried that this might cause some problems for Sombra, causing her to glance at the pair, who were actually riding crystalline horses, "Do you know those two?"

"No... and yes. I knew them, once upon a time, then forgot they existed... and now here they are, making me remember with just their names." Sombra replied, though as the pain went away she got up and lowered her hand, causing her to warp all of them to the bottom of the bridge as she stepped forward, gesturing to Lei Shen and Tiamat to stand down, since the pair of dragons liked to rest in front of the bridge, before turning towards the pair as they climbed off their steeds and walked up to where she was standing, "Father, sister... what are you doing here?"

"Wait, they're your family?! But... but I thought you were an orphan." Radiant said, though now she realized why both figures reminded her of Sombra so much, they were her family, but even that raised questions that she suspected would only make her more curious about everything that was going on, and she wasn't the only one interested in the pair, since Fluttershy and Seras were curious about them.

"Blame the magic that caused him to appear in the Crystal Empire, it seems to have sealed a number of his memories in the process... or her memories, based on what I'm seeing." the second figure, wearing casual clothing that didn't scream that she was a princess, rather Radiant had assumed that the real princess had been hiding until Sombra noticed her, though she did walk around Sombra for a moment and studied her body for a few moments, before stopping by their father with a pout on her face, "No fair, I'm the older twin, but your body makes it look like your the older twin... and now I want to see what you'd look like in a dress, and make sure you're okay with your new body."

"Wait, hold on a moment. SOMBRA'S A BOY?!" Sora remarked, even though there was a lot of information for them to digest, especially Riku since he had fallen for Sombra's looks when he first encountered her and he could see that he backed off just a little and hid himself so he could think about all of this, and there was the fact that their friend had remembered none of this before the force arrived in this world.

"Formerly, to be exact... you can thank my own actions and the World for that. I guess I should reintroduce myself, since I now know my unknown past." Sombra stated, where she realized that she was going to have to talk with everyone once this was over, because all of the sealed memories just made things bad for her, not to mention the arrival of her family, which she didn't know she had until this very moment, "Sombra, Third Prince of the Umbrum Empire, younger twin of the Second Princess, Umbra... though now I would be 'Third Princess', I guess. Where is the First Prince, Tenebris?"

"He is exploring, said he found an old and powerful font of temporal magic that interested him." Nebula replied, as all three of his children had an interest in magic, each for their own reasons, and while his own interests had been on conquest he did allow Sombra and her siblings to use their powers for whatever they wished, which was why he had been proud to see his third child actually succeed in her plan before being beaten by the alicorn sisters, "When Umbra felt your magic she said that it felt 'different' than the last time she felt it. Would you care to explain yourself?"

"It's better to just show you." Sombra said, where the pair watched as one of her eyes produced the dark mist that she was known for, a sign of her innate dark magic, before her father raised an eyebrow in surprise as Umbra clapped her hands in an excited manner, as they noticed that the other eye produced a light mist, "Long story short I've done some impossible things and was rewarded appropriately. If you'd like the full story, well, you had better come in and let me tell it."

There was also the fact that she needed to think about how the arrival of the Umbrum was going to change everything she had considered previously, even though it looked like her father's force was being dismissed to explore the world, something that caused her to wonder what the future held for her and the others now.

Interlude: Truths

After greeting her long lost family, since her sealed memories had been returned, Sombra had a short while to consider all of it as she brought her father, her sister, and the rest of her friends to the main eating area, which was now far grander than what it was when the Nobodies were in control of the whole castle.

"Sister, I noticed that there are a significant number of twins in this world. Why is that?" Umbra asked, as she was curious about everything they were discovering right now, especially since it looked like the transformed pegasus near Sombra had a twin of her own, even if the twin looked slightly different than the pink haired one.

"That's because some of them are 'Somebodies' and some are 'Nobodies', and to understand that you'll need to know a few things." Sombra replied, though as she sat down she sent out some of her clones into the kitchen, where her family found that they were preparing drinks and snacks, while at the same time she formed an image in the middle of the table to help them understand what they would be talking about, "First of all, this world is one of many that exist in the universe, which is called 'the World' by everyone... and the latter is with a capital, by the way... but most people are unaware of the other worlds that made up the World. The people of the worlds are generally called 'Somebodies', and for a long time that was the only thing of importance, but then things changed when Xehanort, the main villain of our story, just... oh by the World, how can I even explain him and his countless sins?"

"I take it he's a horrible person? One that even 'King' Sombra finds annoying and vexing?" Nebula inquired, because he and the rest of the Umbrum had heard of what his son, now daughter, had done while she was in control of the Crystal Empire, a dreaded figure whose name cast fear on those he ruled over, even though they know they had bested him, a level of fear that many in his empire were unable to replicate.

"Well, he tore Ventus's heart in half, manipulated him and his friends into an adventure to get Terra's body while crafting the X-Blade, and sundered Terra's heart, left Aqua in the Realm of Darkness, and left Ventus in a coma," Sombra remarked, to which she beckoned to the trio in question for a moment as the image changed to what she had seen when she learned how to wield time magic, and wanted to learn more about things before being told everything from those who experienced it, a fact that made her sigh for a moment, "And on top of that, that's the shortened version of what those three were forced to deal with... even Vanitas, Ventus' other half, was subjected to Xehanort's cruelty, as the old man literally tore Vanitas' heart to pieces and scattered the light fragments, and Vanitas' emotionally shattered existence means the Unversed were made in the first place. Xehanort also released his own heart from his own body to take over Terra's body, causing him to use his own Keyblade on him to shatter Terra's hold, creating a number of fragments of Terra in the process... which I found and used to bring him back... and Xehanort used his new body, despite being a blank slate, to become a student of Ansem the Wise, who he eventually betrayed and sent to the Realm of Darkness."

"Yes, and it was shortly after that incident that things got worse: namely the weakening of the barriers that allowed kept the Heartless out of the World, and sundering his form into a Heartless and a Nobody." Xemnas continued, where the image in front of them changed to show the form of Terra that was known as 'Terra-nort' before he was separated into himself and his twin brother, causing Sombra's family to glance between the image and them for a few moments, "I was the Nobody that was formed when Xehanort's heart was forcefully removed from Terra's body, as the darkness had claimed his heart, but I was born from his body... my brother, Sairaine, was the Heartless that was formed by his heart falling into darkness. Both of us went our own ways, following Xehanort's plan of crafting and taking possession of Kingdom Hearts: Sairaine, then known as 'Ansem the Wise' since we stole our master's name before separating, used the other Heartless, and a council of villains, to conquer worlds so the Heartless could devour their hearts and bring them to the 'End of the World' to form the 'Kingdom Hearts of Worlds', while I gathered hearts freed by the Keyblades and formed the 'Kingdom Hearts of Hearts'."

"And... and what is 'Kingdom Hearts'?" Umbra inquired, because it sounded important, though she wondered what the two beings were named like that, as hearts were 'Heartless' and bodies were 'Nobodies', due to the fact that she believed they should be reversed, but her focus was on the main aspect they were talking about right now.

"It... well, simply put it is a fragment of creation, at best guess, and it's power could be limitless. I will admit, I honestly don't know much about the subject." Sombra admitted, though in that instant a heart shaped moon appeared in front of them, shrunken down to fit in the image magic she was using right now, something she stared at for a few seconds, because it was the only part of the puzzle that Xemnas and Sairaine were unable to tell her about, which was why Xehanort wanted it so badly that he was willing to do so much damage to the World, "But what I do know is that it is pure unfiltered power, unlike anything else that exists in the World, and while Xehanort's reasons for wanting it are unknown, for not even Xemnas or Sairaine know what his plans are, I will not allow him to have it... not after what he's done so far."

After that comment Sombra returned to the topic of the Heartless and Nobodies, telling her sister and father about the ins and outs of the beings that were born when the Heartless stole their hearts, the creation of them, the High Ranks that had served the Organization, and the members of the Organization who were now freed from Xehanort's influence. There was a lot of information to share with them, and she did so without delay, as they were interested in everything that the World had to offer, even though she knew that her sister was curious like Twilight Sparkle, meaning she would no doubt go out to see the rest of the worlds at some point. Sombra also explained her form to everyone that was around her, because they knew that she used to be the Third Prince before arriving in Traverse Town, even though she only just now remembered this once she saw her old family, where they learned of how her old body was destroyed and her soul, her heart, lingered, eventually coming to Ponyville and possessing Fluttershy's body. Because she was attached to Fluttershy when they were warped to this portion of the World, her heart covering the mare's, causing the conscious of the World to make her a female body, despite the fact that she had been male.

She also mentioned that the World had offered her a reward once upon a time for helping Sora and his friends, but she had honestly forgotten about it until this very moment, and was sure that she had used it to help the people of this world before her family had shown up.

"So, when were you planning on telling us about this?" Riku asked, as he was still conflicted on this matter, because part of him still cared for her, but at the same time there was the sting of being lied to for so long, so he was asking something that was bugging them, even if Sora was fine since Sombra had remained true to their group.

"Honestly, I've been so focused on dealing with Xehanort that I completely forgot to plan on telling anyone about this... just goes to show you how important beating him really was." Sombra replied, which was the truth, she had been so focused on their main target, and the pieces he had created, that she had neglected to consider the possibility of her friends learning the truth about her, and yet a part of her was relieved that they appreciated this version of her and not the tyrant king that her father had talked about a little earlier.

"So I can see that you two are going to be having a lover's quarrel later... and it's cute by the way, sister... but can we take some time to talk about these 'Keyblades' you mentioned earlier?" Umbra asked, as she had seen several of them since she and her father had come to talk to the group, and she was fascinated by her sister's cooking ability, but she was more eager to learn about the key shaped weapons that some of them were using, "Do you think I can use one too?"

While Sombra chuckled at the idea, because if she could use a Keyblade, and even gain a second, she was sure anyone could learn to use one, she also knew that she and Riku would need to talk, though all of this made her mentally sigh as she took a moment to wonder where her brother was and hoped he wasn't doing anything stupid.

"And that is everything that has happened since the day you lost your memories." Xigbar finished, as he had told Xehanort every detail about what had gone down after their failure to create the X-Blade, every failure that was due to Sombra and her friends fighting against those that got in her way, and he had moved them to an area that provided some cover while letting his partner have some tea.

Xehanort said nothing for a time as he looked down at his tea cup for a few seconds, as that was a lot of information that his partner had imparted to him and he required time to think about what it meant for them, because it was insane to think that a dark being like Sombra could wield the Light and a Keyblade of Light.

"This is... troubling news, to be honest." Xehanort said, where he sipped his tea for a few more seconds before setting down the cup, allowing him to look around a smaller chamber that was like the thirteen throne chamber that Xemnas had taken over, an area he had intended to use once he and his Seekers were good and ready to reveal themselves, only the thrones in this area were on the same level and weren't as grand as the ones that Xemnas had access to, "We need allies... my younger self should be able to connect with us at some point, but that's only three and we need thirteen total."

"Perhaps I can help with that?" a voice inquired, where Xigbar turned for a moment and found that someone had found out where they were hiding, a figure that stood as tall as Sombra while being leaner, more like a prince he realized, who wore a dark gray shirt and a black pair of pants, though he wore a lush red cape with white fluff around the top, something that a prince would wear.

That wasn't what Xigbar was focused on, however, rather it was the fact that the stranger had markings on the backs of his hands, where his eyes widened as he realized the right was the symbol for time magic and the left was gravity, before both he and Xehanort noticed the figure's eyes. They were slit, much like Sombra's where when she was angry, yet the right was the teal blue of time magic and the right was the vibrant purple of gravity magic, while the area around his eyes contained the same eerie green color that Sombra's had possessed when she went full power. In fact Xigbar could see the dark mist coming from the stranger's eyes, meaning he likely had the same dark magic that Sombra possessed, while he had short black hair that was much like Sombra's, only there were small white pointed stars in a ring around his hair, as in they were part of his hair, and the stars had four points. In addition to all of that the stranger definitely looked like Sombra and the rest of the pony girls, with the ears, tail, and hooves in place of feet, and yet he seemed totally different from anything Xigbar had encountered, like there was more of him lingering in the darkness that was around them, waiting to be unleashed.

Every inch of Xigbar's body was screaming at him right now, to just run and not look back, because this figure seemed far too dangerous for him to get involved with, and yet the fact that Xehanort was still sitting meant he might be thinking of letting the figure join them, meaning he should trust his partner.

"Who are you? You don't seem like this 'Sombra' character I was told about." Xehanort inquired, though this was a good turn of events for them, because the figure seemed like someone they could use to bring about his plan to forge the X-Blade and claim Kingdom Hearts, and let him bring balance to the World at long last.

"I would think not, for I am far more than that loser of a brother could ever hope to achieve. I am Tenebris, First Prince of the Umbrum Empire." the stranger replied, where a chill ran down Xigbar's spine as the figure spoke, because it sounded like he viewed his sibling as being lesser than him, to the point that Tenebris was superior in every way, though he did note that he called Sombra his 'brother' and not his 'sister', "Here, let me show you what I mean."

Tenebris walked up to Xehanort for a moment and placed a finger on his head, where Xigbar felt like he was using magic to look into the old man's mind for something specific, before a wicked grin appeared on his face as the glow of time magic appeared on his right hand. Such a thing was followed by him holding his hand to the empty space that was in the chamber, where the pair found a circle of time runes appearing on the air before breaking into what looked like a time portal, where he pulled out a figure that Xehanort recognized instantly, for it was his younger self. In addition to that he noticed a smaller figure that looked like Riku when he was possessed by the Heartless that was formed when Terra-nort made his Heartless and his Nobody, the 'Riku Replica' as Xigbar called him since he was sure Vexen had created him before Castle Oblivion was taken by Sombra. Xigbar had to resist the urge to drop his jaw, because this was a blatant disregard for the time rules that existed in the World, that much he knew after everything he had been through, as he knew they needed a Replica to house the hearts of those that were going to be Xehanort's vessels, but if the stranger had this power it might be easier for them to find the remaining vessels.

"Now, let us talk about why you need these vessels and what sort of a partnership we can form... something tells me that both of us can benefit from aiding the other." Tenebris said, though the smile on his face told Xigbar that he might have seen more than just the past version of Xehanort when he delved into the old man's mind, meaning this could very well be a trap, but it might be one they had to deal with to fulfill their plans, "And you can tell me all about my idiot brother while your at it, just so I know how to hurt him the next time we cross paths."

Xigbar really didn't like Tenebris, he seemed like the type of person that would backstab them when the time was right, and decided to keep an eye on him for the time being, though he could only hope that Xehanort knew what he was doing as he wondered what the future might hold for them in the coming days.

Interlude: Declaration of War

After all of the talking, and making sure that her father and sister had their own rooms since it seemed like they were going to be sticking around for the foreseeable future, Sombra focused on making sure that the newcomers were integrated into what they were going, giving the realm a lot more people to support. It was just about what Sombra expected, her father was letting them do what they wanted, just as he usually did, though Nebula join some of the training sessions so he could see what they were doing and also joined in, using a dark scimitar as he clashed with Radiant. She was impressed by how well Radiant had improved, as once upon a time she had been terrified of the Umbrum, frightened of what they could do while trying to make the most of her time in the dark realm Sombra had called home, but now she was a fierce fighter, capable of standing up to them. Even Fluttershy, who had started as a coward, was standing up to them as she trained with those that wanted to learn about the Keyblades and other weapons, and they were quite fascinated by the Nobodies and their various powers, which Umbra echoed as she studied and observed them.

Sombra knew that facing the various Heartless and Nobodies had strengthened all of them in some way and made them stronger in the end, meaning they would be ready for whatever the future held in store for them and she was afraid they were going to need it, because as the hours turned into a day she realized that Tenebris wasn't coming, causing her to wait a few more days before calling the others to the area they had talked in earlier.

"The First Prince isn't coming... and I think I know why." Sombra stated, as part of her wanted to be wrong, she didn't want her brother to be allied with their enemy, but that was the only thing that made sense, as she had felt his dark energy at work several times, coming from different parts of the World to keep her from tracking him down, "Father, you said that he was searching for an 'ancient source of temporal magic', right? Well, as far as I know there are only two people that could fit that description: Merlin, whose an ally and certainly would have told us if Tenebris had approached him... or Xehanort, as he was an expert of time magic in his younger years."

"And he's the one that your brother went to visit." Sora said, because he had spent enough time listening to Sombra to know that something was up, and right now he knew something bad was happening, because when she mentioned her brother it sounded like there might be more to the story that they haven't been told yet, "How bad is he?"

"Tenebris is a master of Dark Magic, just like Sombra and Umbra, along with Time and Gravity Magic... he's not someone you can take lightly." Nebula remarked, where he sipped on his own drink for a moment as he considered what this meant, as he had been interested in seeing how his son and his transformed son would have reacted to each other, but now it seemed like war was coming to the World, "As you know Umbra didn't care about conquest and focused her attention on learning what she could about magic, while Sombra had the ambition to actually take over the Crystal Empire before being beaten in the end... Tenebris harbored no such desire. No, his focus was always on power, what he could gain and how he could gain it, and he saw Equestria, plus the rest of Equus, as nothing more than a place for him to steal power, as all his plans involved beating the Solar and Lunar Princesses and stripping them of their magic. With access to all sorts of magic, and all sorts of new powers to learn about, Tenebris likely went for the one person who could give him what he wanted, while potentially hiding something he would absolutely desire."

"Such as the power of the true Kingdom Hearts?" Prexus asked, because he had chosen to remain with the group after he saw what Sombra had done for the Nobodies, even though he refused to lower his hood, and it seemed like the best idea since there was a player on the board that none of them could have prepared for, "A fragment of Creation, said to contain vast power and vast amounts of magical energy... would he go for such a thing?"

"Without a doubt. That much power, and possibly the power to become a literal god, would be too tempting for him." Umbra said, though she looked down at the table as she thought about it, because she knew this was bad, the World was full of all sorts of things that her brother would want to obtain, powers to make him a monster, more than he already was, and part of her was filled with dread by just simply thinking of what Tenebris could do with a year or two, "If he's sided with Xehanort, you can bet he'll make the alliance known..."

Umbra cut herself off as she, Sombra, and Nebula sensed a surge of dark energy as a crack appeared above the table, one that opened like an eye until a circular mirror floated in front of them, before it spun around and formed an orb that allowed all of them to see the same thing, despite it being from different angles. What they discovered was that it was none other than Xehanort standing in front of the mirror or sphere that was on his side of the magic, though at the same time Sombra and the others discovered that he wasn't alone, as Xigbar was standing nearby, looking nervous and unsure of what was going on right now. After that she discovered two things that screamed that things were wrong, the first being that a younger version of Xehanort was standing there and he was joined by a copy of Riku when Sairaine had took possession of him, and there were a number of black robed figures behind them, a new Organization. This meant that someone had just undone all of their hard work to dismantle the Organization, though it looked like there were more than thirteen individuals, and that was counting the present Xehanort, and Sombra was sure there were at least twenty of them, but without Replicas this meant her brother must have broken time.

That brought her to the second thing that told her something was wrong, as her brother was definitely standing next to the Present Xehanort and Tenebris' power was definitely stronger than she remembered it being, in fact she might be the only one that could bring him down now.

"Greetings, Guardians of Light. I am Master Xehanort, and I am here to declare war on all of you." Xehanort stated, which was what he had been planning from the beginning, thirteen Seekers of Darkness and seven Guardians of Light, as that was what Xemnas had told them after he recalled the information, no doubt to reforge the X-Blade and claim Kingdom Hearts, which Mickey added, but it seemed like Tenebris' presence had boosted his confidence, "In one year, on the anniversary of the last Keyblade War, we will gather on the Keyblade Graveyard and do battle on the ancient battlefield, where we shall forge the X-Blade and bring an end to this long conflict."

"I wouldn't if I were you, Xehanort. Breaking the laws of time will have serious consequences." Sombra remarked, because it was the only way for the figure to have a force at the ready, even if he was giving them one year to prepare, why she had no idea and honestly she didn't care, all while noticing that Xigbar was looking at Prexus with confusion on his face, which was very interesting in her eyes, before she turned her head, "Brother, you have to..."

"So, this is what you've become... I must say, I'm disappointed in you, brother." Tenebris said, stepping forward as the dark robed figures started to head out, no doubt to start their preparations for the war that Xehanort wanted to have, while she focused on her brother, as he was an important threat that she had to keep an eye on, "I heard that you had the chance to obtain two different Kingdom Hearts... falsehoods, sure, but still packing power... and you gave them up, scattering all that power in the blink of an eye. You are weak, Sombra, and are hardly worth my time... so train, gather all the power you can, and in one year I will break you, shatter your pitiful Keyblades, and offer your heart to Kingdom Hearts, not to mention the hearts of your pitiful and weak companions. Father, sister, I offer you and our people one chance to join us, and on the day of the battle you will make your chosen known to everyone... stay with Sombra and I will sacrifice you without hesitation, or join me and forge the X-Blade."

"What sort of brother are you?" Sora stated, as he couldn't believe what he was hearing right now, as Tenebris seemed like the insane one of the three siblings, like he was born without emotions or something, and the fact that he was willing to sacrifice his family, and all of his people, meant he was the worst of the worst.

"Quiet, worm." Tenebris replied, where he held his hand out and Sora was lifted into the air, like he was being grabbed by an invisible hand while his neck was slowly being crushed, though as Sombra readied his magic Tenebris relaxed his hand and the boy dropped into his chair, huffing as he rubbed his now bruised neck, "You are lucky that the old man wants you for the Keyblade War, said something about you being special... personally, I'm not seeing it... otherwise I would have torn out your heart here and now. As for the rest of you, I'm looking forward to you struggling against your fate... try to put up a good fight, will you?"

As Kairi tended to Sora's neck, however, Tenebris laughed as the connection was terminated, though this had confirmed her worst fears, her brother was still totally unhinged and had sided with Xehanort, meaning there was no telling what he would do with the powers of the World.

"Pardon me for saying so, but... Sombra, your brother is completely insane. And I don't mean Pinkie insane, I mean actually insane." Fluttershy said, as she actually liked Nebula and Umbra, they were interesting, weren't as bad as she had thought they would be, and were actually nothing like the horrible Umbrum she had heard about, but Tenebris was on the other side of the spectrum, an embodiment of the darkest aspects of Sombra's people.

"You're telling me." Sombra remarked, though she sighed as she leaned back in her chair for a moment, because this wasn't a good development for them, not when her brother seemed willing to break the laws of the World to get what he wanted, before he noticed that Prexus was getting up to leave, "Prexus? Is everything alright?"

"I need to go check my information on something, should only take a day or two, but then I'll be back... and then we can talk about the Runeblade." Prexus said, though as he turned to leave he paused for a moment, clearly debating how much he should say since there were so many people in the room, before turning to look at Sombra for a few seconds, because he was on their side and they needed all the help they could get, "It's... well, the counter to the X-Blade, a weapon forgotten by nearly everyone, except for me and the World. If they're planning a war, and both sides have more than the number needed to forge the X-Blade, we're going to need it."

Sombra nodded her head as she straightened herself, allowing Prexus to leave to do whatever he needed to do, before she told everyone to prepare themselves for the training of their lives, because if it was a war their enemies wanted it was a war they were going to get, and she was going to do everything in her power to make sure they won, causing them to look forward to what the future held for them and the World.

Interlude: Xigbar's Decision

Xigbar had been following Xehanort for a number of reasons, to see the end of the war between the Guardians of Light and the Seekers of Darkness so the Gazing Eye could witness everything, plus there was the fact that Xehanort promised to hand it over to him once he got what he wanted. Even when Sombra entered the scene, and utterly ruined all of their plans, he had promised to uphold his side of the bargain so Xigbar would remain by his side until the end, since he was one of the few allies the old man had left, even though this meant they would have to track down more allies to fill the ranks. It had been a plan that had been on his mind for some time, after seeing the downfall of Maleficent's council, the downfall of the couple of members who were sent to Castle Oblivion, and the unbelievable corruption of the Organization itself. Even when Tenebris showed up Xigbar was sure that they could have made it work, that he was the key to rebuilding the True Organization so they could start the Keyblade War with the Guardians of Light, but things had quickly changed as he got to know the figure that was Sombra's brother.

Tenebris was a monster, plain and simple, who had no regard for the rules that made up the World, as he just summoned different versions of anyone and everyone that might be useful in the grand scheme of things, such as the members of the other members of the Organization, villains who were beaten and desired revenge, and anyone who might be useful to him. He was building an army to face the army that his sibling had created, so both sides were stacking the field and that meant that the X-Blade would be forged without delay, in fact he was sure that it would happen within the first couple of minutes of the war, meaning Xehanort would be able to summon Kingdom Hearts and seize it while everyone was busy. Xigbar, on the other hand, had a feeling that Tenebris would be waiting for that moment, the instant that the greatest power in the whole World was exposed and ready for the taking, and then steal it while everyone was fighting. If that happened he assumed that it would be the End Times, the literal end of everything, and not in the way that Xehanort was planning, since the old man was planning on erasing the current World to make one free of Darkness, to lead them to a better future.

It left him with an important decision to make, did he continue to side with Tenebris and Xehanort, marching towards the far more literal end of the World, or did he bite the bullet, say that things had spiraled out of control, and try to join Sombra, as he was starting to see why Xemnas and the others were on her side.

"Oh Xigbar, what did you get yourself into this time? More importantly, what would Luxu do in this situation?" Xigbar said, talking to himself as he stared at the area that was around him, the thirteen stone pillars that had been chosen to serve as the meeting place for the True Organization, while off in the distance he spotted the dark crystalline walls that were part of Tenebris' citadel, a place created to be his domain until the final battle started.

He knew what he would have done in the past, stay the course and just watch, but he was a servant of the Light, working to defeat the Darkness and safeguard the World from the dangers that plagued it, and right now he paled at the mere thought of serving what seemed to be a being far worse than even the Darknesses. In that moment Xigbar made his decision as he pulled his hood up, shrouding his head and face once more, where he made his way back to the dark citadel and heard the sounds of people fighting, training for the battles ahead of them no doubt. Sure enough he sees an army of dark robed figures fighting each other in Tenebris' name, training with each other as ice, fire, wind, lightning, and all of the other types of magic were flung around without concern, as these ones didn't care about those that were around them. In fact the spells and powers stopped every now and then as Xehanort and his younger self unleashed their time magic, all while Tenebris sat on a dark throne with a hungry look in his eyes, no doubt slowly devouring the knowledge that was in front of him, and yet he knew this wouldn't be enough to satisfy him.

In that moment Xigbar held his hand out and called upon a power he hasn't used for a long time, where Xehanort watched as his Keyblade, the same Gazing Eye that belonged to Xigbar and had been made by the Master of Masters, where it just vanished from the old man's hand and caused him, and others, to look around in surprise, before it reappeared in Xigbar's a few seconds later.

"I don't know who you are, but you will return that weapon to it's rightful owner." Tenebris stated, though this was amusing to him, because if Xehanort was able to lose his Keyblade that meant it might be possible for him to steal them after all, and that caused an idea to form in his mind, but this was mostly to force the old man into his debt if he returned his weapon to him, since it looked like he couldn't summon it back.

"Sorry, but I won't hand it to the likes of you." Xigbar remarked, this time using one of the older voices he had used in the past, ones that none of them would be able to recognize right away, while at the same time channeling his magic into the tip of the Gazing Eye as he loosed a burst of light energy into the crowd, blinding everyone in Tenebris' army.

In the following seconds he jumped backwards and opened a Dark Corridor, escaping from the Keyblade Graveyard before appearing in the outskirts of The World That Never Was, causing him to close the portal as he glanced out at the area for a few moments, taking in all of Sombra's allies as he did so, before two figures appeared nearby, Sombra and a grey robed figure that he recognized from it's energy.

"Master?! What are you doing here?" Xigbar asked, because while he had seen the grey robed figure when Tenebris made his declaration of war on Sombra's forces, which seemed to be moving at a more normal pace, he didn't dare think that the figure in question was actually the missing Master of Masters.

"Things have changed, Luxu. The plan is no longer in effect... Tenebris threatens all aspects of the World, and I figured that lending my aid was necessary." Prexus stated, which was the truth, Sombra's brother was threatening everything and he had to lend Sombra his aid, especially with the legendary weapon he was going to help her obtain, though having his apprentice back meant more than his ally could possibly know, "You took the Gazing Eye back, which was a good move... can you call on the others?"

"You mean the Foretellers? Why?" Xigbar inquired, though at the same time he lowered his hood, allowing Sombra to see his current face, even though he was sure that the figure had figured that part out before he even said anything, but it was odd that his master would ask about the figures that held four of the thirteen Darknesses, "You said not to call on them until the Keyblade War, Xehanort's I'm assuming, was over."

"And now I'm telling you otherwise. We'll need their help as well." Prexus said, where he nodded to Sombra for a moment and his ally summoned a chest that stunned Xigbar, the enchanted gold and silver chest that contained two of the thirteen Darknesses inside it, something that caused him to chuckle as he noticed his apprentice's reaction, "Sombra's found a way to seal the thirteen Darknesses... if you summon the Foretellers we can enlist their aid in stopping Tenebris and seal each of your prisoners as well."

Xigbar stood there for a moment before nodding, where he remained still as Sombra noticed four vortexes open up behind the figure, where four elegant robed figures stepped out of them, one with a unicorn helm, one with a snake helm, another with a bear helm, and a fourth with a leopard helm.

"You know, I never cease to be amazed by what the World has to offer." Sombra commented, because that power, one that Xigbar must have been keeping inside himself for the fateful day it would be used, seemed to be a bridge between when the Foretellers were banished, or whatever happened to them, and the modern day, allowing them to travel through time in a way that was different from what Tenebris had done, "And we have another ally coming."

This one appeared to be a fifth elegantly robed figure, also with a different color since all five had different colors, and this one was a woman, much like the snake mask, though she had a fox mask and her presence surprised Xigbar, though it did look like Prexus suspected she would return as well.

"Ira, Invi, Aced, Gula... Ava." Xigbar said, where the five figures stopped in a line and looked at all of them, because it looked like they were shocked to see each other and their former master, causing him to sigh for a moment as he realized just how much he was going to have to tell them so they understood what was going on, "Long story short, things have changed... all of our plans have been changed, as there is a new force of darkness seeking to devour everything. Sombra here is, well, also a force of darkness, but has been blessed by the World itself... and apparently she has discovered a way to seal the thirteen Darknesses."

The Foretellers were, of course, shocked by this information, or maybe they thought their friend was lying, because all five of them recognized him as Luxu, but Sombra showed them the truth without wasting time, a Xigbar and the four figures he had summoned fell to one knee for a moment, before Ava followed suit. The group watched as six masses of darkness appeared in the air above them, while at the same time the chest opened and they discovered the crystals that were inside it, etched with the numbers of which Darkness that was to be contained inside them. She did take a moment to ask Prexus which ones she needed this time around, who informed her that the Sixth through Tenth were needed, along with the Eleventh for Luxu, which was followed by the six gems floating out into the air. The six individuals braced themselves for a moment as they felt like something was being torn out of them, where the dark entities literally screamed as they were sealed inside the depths of the crystals that bared their number, one per crystal as they discovered, and once the deed was done two lines of magic, Light and Darkness, wrapped around each one.

Xigbar was amazed, Sombra had really found a way to seal the Darknesses, cutting them off from the World itself, and once all six gems were in their slots she sealed the chest and dropped it off in an area only she had access to, causing him to realize that siding with her was the best move right now.

"Come, I will introduce you to the others and explain things to you... and then we can get to work preparing for the war that my brother wants to start." Sombra stated, allowing the dark and light mists to vanish from around her eyes, causing the five Foretellers to look at her in surprise and amazement, because she was unlike anyone they had seen before and it made all of them eager to learn more about her and what was going on.

Sombra knew that this would be a big boost to their forces, with six skilled Keyblade wielders joining her side, though she did have to wonder what the future might hold in store for them with everything that was going on right now and hoped that it was enough to stop Tenebris and Xehanort when the time came to clash with them.

Interlude: Visiting the Forge

Xigbar found that Sombra's allies were lightly surprised by his arrival and the arrival of the Foretellers, people that none of them had known about since no one had told them about Ava's group, rather it looked like they were expecting her to find more allies and weren't even remotely caught off guard by his arrival. Despite the fact that he initially decided to depart from this world and join Xehanort, which had been part of the plan from the beginning, he found that Xemnas and the rest of the Nobodies that had made up the Organization were glad to have him back among their ranks. Of course some were caught off guard by the fact that he had a Keyblade, that was harder to hide than he thought it would be, but they sensed that he had a reason and told him that he would be weaving the tale for them in the future, since some were interested in his past and what he had done. He figured it was a small price to pay in the end, because Xemnas and the others could have treated him differently after realizing he intended to join Xehanort, but it seemed like Tenebris' existence had changed things, a fact he knew well enough since Sombra's older brother had forced his hand as well.

Such a thing also brought about a discovery he hadn't considered before this point, Sombra was a great chef, her food was beyond what he was expecting from someone like her, and even the Foretellers, who hadn't had a meal in some time, were surprised by how good the meal was.

"You know, Luxu, it's good to have you on our side." Demyx commented, though as he said that he tore into the blueberry pie that had been placed on the table, extracting a portion of it for himself while leaving plenty for the others, because he enjoyed Sombra's food far more than he was willing to admit.

"Demyx... how do you know that name?" Xigbar asked, because he had yet to actually tell anyone his true name, in fact he had asked his friends and his Master to let him tell the others this information, so Ava and the others had referred to him by the name that this version of him was known by.

"Right, I haven't told you the truth yet: I was actually the Master of Masters the entire time, but after Sombra liberated the Nobodies I became Prexus' Nobody." Demyx said, where his other self, the true Master of Masters, didn't even attempt to hide his name this time around, as if it was time for everyone to know his name, which Sombra felt made sense due to the fact that they were united under a single banner to stop her elder brother.

"And the answer to your next question is 'yes'. I've been watching over you since my 'disappearance', a watcher watching the watcher, in a sense." Prexus added, because he knew his apprentice enough to know when he was going to say something and already had a response prepared ahead of time, even though he knew that Luxu and the Foretellers would need some time to come to terms with everything he needed to tell them, "I also trolled you a little with the book that looked like the Book of Prophecies, just my way of having a little fun while making you refocus on the duty you were given... there were a number of things you could have done differently, Luxu, but you did well. Now, however, we must join forces and focus on stopping Tenebris from claiming the X-Blade and the power of Kingdom Hearts... and to do that we need the Runeblade, one of the three Ancient Weapons. If possible I'd love to add the Supreme Keyblade, also known as 'Ultima' by those who have carried it into battle, to our arsenal... courage and wisdom should do battle against power, after all."

Sombra listened to this with interest, because it sounded like each weapon was essentially unknown to the people for what they truly were, though while the Ultima seemed to be the most well known, since Prexus mentioned that there were others who had used it, the X-Blade was lesser known than the first and the Runeblade was virtually unknown. Prexus told them that this was intentional, because if it was known that there were three immensely powerful weapons out there, and not the one that people knew about, it would no doubt cause far more pain and suffering for the people of the World. Normally he would simply stand aside and just watch events unfold, but since Tenebris was likely going to steal the X-Blade as soon as Xehanort forged it, he was sure of that, Prexus knew that one or both of the other two were necessary to stop him, before Sombra's elder brother did something stupid. It was for that reason that he was going to have them visit the Keyblade Forge, which Mickey said was currently in the hands of the Moogles, the small while creatures that were merchants and item makers, though while Prexus didn't correct him, meaning there was more to his comment than what they knew, he did tell the group that a number of people had to come with them as well.

This caught Sombra's interest, especially since this was the first time Prexus had mentioned such a thing, and while the rest of the group talked she made sure she knew who needed to come with them, just so she knew who to talk to before they traveled to the Keyblade Forge.

Such a thing took a few days, as there were people that needed to be talked to and items that needed to be obtained, since Prexus knew the components required for this process, but when they were done Sora found that a large number of people and beings came to the Gummi Ship. He found that some of the people were Axel, Xion, Roxas, and pretty much the rest of the elemental bearers that existed among their forces, and some of the creatures in question were the likes of Tiamat and Lei Shen, beings of Darkness, wielders of the Light, and those stuck in-between. Sombra realized that this was every power in the World, every element that could be called upon, which made her wonder why Prexus wanted all of this, but he had put his trust in her and that meant she should trust him as well, which she did since he had no reason to betray her, not when her older brother was a threat to the World. Once everyone was together on the ship, and Sora was in the captains chair like usual, Prexus raised his hand for a moment and the air in front of the ship shifted, a portal in space opening for them, which Sora flew through without delay, only for them to reach an area that looked like Yen Sid's tower.

By that Sombra noticed that it was a large floating island in the middle of space, with a circular tower that was straight, like a pole she guessed, though she remained silent as Sora took them down to what appeared to be a landing area, allowing them to disembark without delay.

"Prexus... this isn't the normal Keyblade Forge." Mickey commented, as he had seen the forge in question and had visited it a few times in the past, and had been planning on visiting it to empower his own main Keyblade up for the war against their enemies, since Tenebris was beyond what they were expecting of a final villain.

"That's right, this one is far more special than a normal forge, since this one is connected to the energy of the world... know that this won't make one a god or anything, but it's needed for the Runeblade's spark." Prexus stated, though as the group entered the inside of the tower Sombra noticed that there was just a rectangular stone table in the center, while there was a ring around the outer edge and there were gemstones, in specific patterns, lining the walls, while the roof looked like one might be able to open it, "Sombra, if you would place your Keyblades on the platform we can begin. Everyone else, start preparing your powers... we'll have one chance at this."

Sombra understood what Prexus was talking about as she approached the central area, this entire tower was a conduit for all of the World's powers, as in the elements and both the Light and the Darkness, a font of magical energy that only Prexus knew the existence of and would no doubt erase it from their memories to keep Tenebris from learning about it. That told her that this was a way to supercharge the main two powers of the Runeblade, Light and Darkness, which caused her to quickly realize that they were merging her two Keyblades into a single entity, the third Ancient Weapon. As she placed both weapons on the conduit Sombra found that Prexus and Demyx approached the center of the tower, the former carrying a hammer infused with the Light and the latter having one infused with Darkness, fonts of the two energies. Both versions of the Master of Masters primed themselves before delivering powerful hammer strikes on both Keyblades, something that caused both to spark and shine for a moment, and when they backed away Prexus had Sombra raise the Light Keyblade first, which she did.

As she did that, however, Sora and the others who wielded the Light channeled their energy into the blade, which happened to manifest as a torrent of crackling light blue energy that turned golden, causing the blade to transform into what seemed to be a bolt of lightning that was infused with Light energy. Following that Tiamat and those who commanded Darkness did the same, releasing their elemental power on the Darkness Keyblade, dousing it in dark flames before it transformed into a flaming blade, giving her two transformed weapons in the span of a few minutes. Prexus and Demyx touched the walls for a moment as the ceiling opened, drawing in the elemental power of the World itself, which was when everyone else started to loose their powers into the center of the tower, something that was followed by a vortex of silver transparent energy just wrapping around the area that Sombra was standing in. In that instant Sombra realized that it was actually a vortex of fire, the flames of creation in a sense, where she called her own powers to the surface, her eyes emitting the light and dark mists again, before bringing the two elemental halves together in front of her.

Such a thing caused the center of the tower to explode, where Radiant protected everyone with her magic, though as the smoke cleared they found Demyx grinning, because as the smoke cleared they found Sombra holding a new weapon, one that seemed to be dark silver in color, like steel. Xigbar looked at it with shock on his face, because at a glance it looked like the Runeblade resembled the Gazing Eye, before he realized that he was mistaken, as the handle was the same color as the blade, in fact it was made of the same material, while the circular around around the handle looked to be thin dragon horns, yet the tips didn't connect to the base of the handle. The blade itself was like the blade of an actual sword, with jagged tips near the handle area, while the tip of the weapon ended in a point and didn't resemble an actual key like some of the other Keyblades, rather it reminded him of the crystalline tip of the X-Blade. They then found that a line of runes went down the center of the blade, hence why the Master of Masters called it the 'Runeblade', where the one near the handle, right below what appeared to be a design of a dragon's head, again like the Gazing Eye's goat head, had a faint light glow, then one with a faint dark glow, before repeating until it reached the seventh and final rune.

Everyone had to admit that the Runeblade was an impressive weapon, a Keyblade that rivaled the X-Blade, and Prexus also told Sombra of the power he knew about, where Sombra could actually think about it and cause it to take the forms of her two main weapons, and to recreate this powerful weapon she just had to lay the two on top of each other.

"It's a way to hide the weapon, in case you don't want to reveal the Runeblade's power before the big event." Prexus said, to which he found that Sombra nodded, it made sense when she thought about it, before he turned and faced the rest of the group, because while this was a massive jump in power for Sombra that meant the others would fall behind, "Radiant Hope, Fluttershy, I will do what I can to prepare you two and the others for the battles ahead of us... the World gave you powers, and it's time to fully awaken them."

Sombra smiled as she wondered what sort of powers her allies would gain before the big battle with her brother's forces, especially since it was overdue for them to learn new tricks and powers, though she found herself looking forward to what the future had to offer her and everyone else, since there was no telling what would happen in the days to come.

Interlude: Newfound Power

After forging the Runeblade, and Sombra learned how to wield the power of separating it into her original Keyblades and putting them back together to form the Ancient Weapon, everyone got serious about training, everyone focused on trying to learn a new skill or improve part of their existing skills. There was a reason for this, because Xigbar reported that the dark army Tenebris was forming happened to have a large number of strong individuals and was sure that some might do some serious damage to those that were following Sombra's group, meaning they needed to train to win the final war. Prexus and the Foretellers agree with him, because while five of them had missed feeling Tenebris' power they knew their friend wouldn't lie to them about something like this, so all they could do was prepare for what the future held in store for them, hence why they took to training everyone else. Even Merlin and Yen Sid, both skilled wizards who didn't fight much these days, were with them, utilizing their powers to stimulate better training conditions for everyone, to help Sora, Donald, Goofy, and everyone else to focus on whatever portion of themselves they wanted to improve.

In fact Sombra was learning the highest tier of the magical spells that were available to her, because that would widen her own arsenal, and that meant speaking with Mickey to learn 'Ultima', which appeared to be the strongest spell around, as it might come in handy when it was time for them to engage Tenebris' forces.

"So, how long will it take to make the other Ancient Weapon?" Sora asked, as Prexus had said there were three in the World, an Ultima Keyblade to join the X-Blade and Runeblade, and he was interested in how long it would take the figure to collect all of the components needed to make the final weapon so they would be ready for the final battle.

"It won't be ready for some time. There are a few special components that need to be obtained before we can forge it... in the normal forge this time." Prexus replied, because the final weapon was made out of a number of items that were hard to obtain, the World had made it that way to ensure only the most courageous could craft it, but right now he knew it would let him gather all of the items he needed, without the various trials.

"You know, I think I'm starting to understand something: I think Radiant and I can unlock new powers based on the abilities we were given at the start of our adventure." Fluttershy commented, as she had been doing her best to train and even found that all of her animals were getting in on the action, as if they knew the danger that the World was in and wanted to do their part to make sure they won the final battle, even if there were enemies far stronger than them, "You know how the World gave me the ability to befriend all sorts of creatures, an improvement to my natural skills, plus the farming skill? Well, I've been wondering what might happen if I found a way to combine my skills into a single power and then used it to empower myself. I might be able to stand near Sombra's level again."

Sombra knew what she meant, because while each of them had grown since the start of their adventure, learning all sorts of new tricks along the way, only she had grown by leaps and bounds, which was due to her unique skill she wagered, despite her having not actually absorbed the hearts she had collected for a long time. With that in mind she focused on assisting her friends and companions in seeing if they could actually learn new things, since this would help them in the last main event they had to worry about, as there was no telling what sort of dangers Tenebris had summoned into his army. As such she and the others were doing everything in their power to make sure Fluttershy and Radiant figured out how to wield whatever new powers they thought they could unlock, especially since Prexus agreed with them on that fact, due to the fact that the World favored them more than anyone else. He was sure they had been given more powers and that they could only be accessed through hard work and effort, and in the face of Sombra's elder brother this seemed like the best time for them to unlock those new powers, in order to protect the World from the danger it was facing.

Eventually, however, Fluttershy proved herself right as her magical power flared during their training session, though at the same time two of her animals, one of the rabbits that worked in their private world and Sabor, the leopard from Tarzan's world, started to glow for a moment before they were lifted into the air. In the next moment they seemed to turn into small spheres and surged into her body, where Sombra and the others found that she stopped and was consumed by light, as if she was transforming before their very eyes, but all Sombra could do was smile, since this was the key. When the light finally faded they discovered that her body was now covered in leopard spots, her hands were claws, and her eyes were more like Sabor's now, while at the same time her hooves had turned into rabbit feet, she had a rabbit tail, and her ears were rabbit ears. In that moment Sombra understood what they were seeing, Fluttershy's ultimate power was to call upon the powers of her animal companions, utilizing their strengths and none of their weaknesses, and that likely meant she could use one at a time or even all of them at once, and with the likes of Cerberus and the Hydra in hand that gave her the potential for being a ridiculously strong fighter.

She even proved that fact, as Fluttershy rushed around the area with Sabor's speed, while the rabbit gave her incredible jumps and even powerful kicks since she knocked Riku back when he had her try her power on him, meaning this 'Chimera' power was her ultimate skill, and it was a strong one at that.

"I'd wager you would get three heads and strength from Cerberus, and incredible regeneration from the Hydra." Sombra said, though as she said that Fluttershy reverted to her base form as her surprised and confused animals appeared nearby, as neither of them had been expecting such a thing to happen, but Fluttershy herself was pleased with this, because it told her it was a good thing she had been befriending and gathering animals from some of the worlds, since it meant her power could give her a lot of abilities when the time came, "This is definitely a great power."

Radiant, on the other hand, took a few more days to figure out what her other power might be, and when she did so it came with her literally exploding into a ball of fire, though when the smoke died down Sombra found that it was more like she was fire, like she was capable of manifesting an element's power in her body. The reason she suggested such a thing was due to the fact that Radiant could launch powerful fireballs and even channel the power into either her bow or her Keyblade, which boosted her combat abilities to a whole new level since that made her attacks are more deadly. Plus it wasn't just fire she was restricted to, as Radiant displayed the ability to call on water, earth, and wind at the very least, and Sombra confirmed that she had the power to merge the elements into even more devastating types, like lava and steam, and while all of it just told them she needed to be careful, since there was no telling what this power might mean for her, she was happy to have a new power. Her Elementalist power was definitely strong, especially since she could create crystalline walls that stopped her enemies in their tracks and utilize potent elemental attacks to harm her attackers, meaning that she and Fluttershy now had the power to take down enemies without Sombra or the others getting involved.

It was good to see, honestly, and Sombra found herself looking forward to what happened next, because it felt like they were gaining ground and might be able to end this war quickly when it came time to fight Tenebris, but she also kept her eyes and ears open, since there was no telling what might happen next.

"Sombra, I want you to take a few days off in the future... you and I are going to track down the other four Darknesses and seal them." Prexus said, speaking when the two of them were alone, with no one else in the surrounding area, a statement that reminded Sombra that the Master of Masters had sealed four of the remaining five Darknesses in a datascape, which meant he was planning on heading back and allowing her to capture them, "I'm still looking for the last one, though, so it'll be some time before the full set is complete."

"Don't worry, I have a feeling I know where to find the last Darkness." Sombra replied, because all of the information she had gained previously pointed to Vanitas being the host of the final target Prexus wanted to capture, in fact she was sure that Ventus had been a prison for that Darkness and Xehenort freed it when he created Vanitas, but she had another reason for tracking down Vanitas and hoped it was possible to do what was on her mind, "Just tell me when it's time to get going and I'll follow you to the prison... I'll be ready to seal them away."

As Prexus nodded Sombra found herself staring at the stars as she wondered what the future held in store for them, since things had derailed whatever plans the Master of Masters, Luxu, and Xehanort had created over the years, and she could only hope that they were prepared for whatever their enemies decided to do next.

Interlude: Imprisoned Darknesses

Sombra found that it was some time before Prexus decided that it was time for them to make their move against the rest of the Darknesses, since that happened to be what the Master of Masters was focused on, giving her and the others time to prepare themselves and their allies for what the future held in store for them. The only problem she was facing right now was the fact that her brother had been so silent since his declaration of war, but while she assumed that his absence was due to giving them time, given what she knew from her rediscovered past, it still made her nervous. Tenebris wasn't a foe that could be underestimated, his hunger for power the main driving force in his existence, a hunger he clearly couldn't control, but his power wasn't to be laughed at, because out of all of them Sombra knew she was the only one that could bring him down. Even with that in mind she was making sure everyone else was as prepared as they could be, because once the year was up they were going to engage in the last war for the fate of the World, she hoped so anyway, and weak links would only allow her brother to seize victory that much sooner.

Eventually a month had passed since the declaration of war, which was when Prexus announced that it was time for them to make their move, though this time around he only wanted a few of them to come with him, which turned out to be Sora, Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras.

"Sora, I have a gift for you." Prexus commented as they boarded the Gummi Ship, which turned out to be a new Keyblade, one that was as long as the Runeblade, and likely the X-Blade when Sombra thought about it, where they found that the blade had three lines, almost like the Roman numerals for three, with a bladed guard and a crown at the base of the handle, and the head was impressive as well, "Ultima, the Ancient Weapon of Courage, as I promised. I would like to point out that this is an incredibly powerful blade, just like it's sister weapons, and I would like to suggest that you only use it when you deem it necessary."

"Like the powerful 'boss' monsters we've fought in the past, or the members of Tenebris' dark army?" Sora inquired, which was followed by him taking the weapon in his right hand for a moment and found that it was as light as the Kingdom Key, a fact that told him that he wouldn't have to learn how to use a heavier or lighter weapon, before he caused it to vanish, like he did with his Keyblade, before summoning the Kingdom Key and then made sure he could summon the new one, "Don't worry, I'll be sure to use this when I need it."

"Good, though you're going to need it today: we're going to the ruins of Scala ad Caelum." Prexus stated, where he held his hand towards the space that was in front of them and a portal opened, just like when he brought them to the area that the stronger Keyblade Forge was resting in, nodding to Sora so they could fly through it as he turned towards the others, "We are going to an area that I have hidden a console in, the only entrance into the Datascape that four of the remaining five Darknesses are trapped inside. I have been keeping careful watch over them throughout the years, just to make sure the prison is holding, and the original plan was to make sure they never escaped... but with Sombra's ability to seal them, which we have confirmed multiple times, I decided to capture them now and not worry about the original plan. Once they're taken care of we'll have one more Darkness to track down... and then the long battle with them will be over."

Radiant and the others shared a glance as Sombra focused on the portal, as this meant that they were likely going in at the same time and would be fighting the four prisoners, but Radiant had to wonder why all five of them were coming, since this seemed like something only Sombra needed to do. Part of her guessed that they would be clashing with the Darknesses and Sombra was going to seal them once they were weak enough, though such a thing made her wonder if Prexus really thought they had the power to bring down, or even weaken, the Darknesses, even with their training. In the end, however, she just braced herself for what the near future had in store for them as they flew through the portal and appeared in the space that was above a world that looked ruined, like a war had been fought here at some point in the past. The white marble that was all over the place, plus houses and structures that were ruined, seemed to suggest that this place had been a thriving nexus at one point in the past, though she focused on what was going on right now as they followed Prexus' directions.

He had them land on what appeared to be one of the few pristine towers of the world, where he disembarked immediately and walked over to an area that seemed to be where an elevator might have rested at one point, though there was a single terminal and a teleportation tube.

"I'm going to send all of you into the area of the Datascape that the Darknesses are contained in, four of you are going to beat them into submission, and then Sombra will seal them." Prexus stated, where Sora stepped forward first, showing him that he was ready to face this danger and make sure another threat was removed before they worried about Tenebris, and as he worked the Master of Masters glanced at them for a couple of seconds, "Be warned, these four are part of the first five Darknesses to form, as the other seven followed after them, and they will be stronger than you might be expecting."

Sora nodded as he stepped into the tube and let the device warp him into a world that seemed to be a digital copy of one he didn't recognize, likely a world that only Prexus knew about, and as he stepped forward it wasn't long before Sombra, Seras, Radiant, and Fluttershy warped into the world as well. Sombra jumped up onto the top of the tallest building in the area and found that there were, in fact, four dark signatures coming from the area around them, one in each direction, and she found that each had their own form to set them apart from each other. One seemed to be a large tiger made of energy, another seemed to be a rather vicious looking crane, the third appeared to be a powerful looking oxen that could trample the area, and the last was a dark serpent dragon, plus each of them were stronger than the Darknesses she had captured, like these were 'dark gods' or something. It made her realize why Prexus had asked for the others to come, why he had gone to such lengths to hide them, and made her understand that if Tenebris absorbed them and their power he would be worse than he currently was, all while confirming a few things about Vanitas in her mind.

In the next instant she nodded to the others and they got moving without delay, showing that they understood that this was going to be a harsh fight for all of them, where Sora took the serpent dragon, Fluttershy picked the oxen, Radiant the crane, and Seras the tiger, and when the sky flashed with lightning the four battles started without delay.

Sora reacted to the threat immediately as he summoned Ultima, instead of the Kingdom Key, and rushed through the air as the black serpent dragon came at him, which opened it's mouth and loosed a beam of dark energy at him and everyone else, as it looked like it was trying to blow a hole in it's prison. Instead of letting that happen Sora focused on the task at hand as he spun the Ancient Weapon around and found that he could stop the beam in it's tracks, though when he quickly gripped the handle and thrust the blade forward he discovered that the power of the weapon tore the attack apart. He zeroed in on the Darkness and swung at it, finding that it parried the attacks from his new blade and that it seemed to be pulling back as he pressed the assault, like it was afraid of the power that was contained inside it, which had to be part of the reason Prexus warned him to be careful with it. At the same time the blade glowed and he understood the true power of this Keyblade as it transformed when he focused on the glow, as it turned into a thinner blade with a red inner line, while possessing the same guard, but it was when he swung the weapon that he fully understood it's power, as multiple Keyblades seemed to follow his swings and attacks.

It was, in the simplest terms possible, what Sombra would call 'Unlimited Keyblade Works' and it allowed him to literally fly around his foe and deliver an unholy amount of blade attacks on the black serpent dragon, in fact Sora could see new ways to fight, even with his base weapon, as he appeared behind the beast and it produced all sorts of light from it's body before exploding in a pillar of dark energy.

As Sora engaged his foe, however, Radiant wasted no time in calling forth her new power as the crane rushed at her, where she shifted her form into that of a powerful mountain and grabbed onto the beast as it collided with her, finding that her guess was right, strengthening her body to this degree allowed her to stop it. In the following moment she decided not to let the battle go on too much as she reached for the depths of her new power, deciding to fight this creature as it deserved to be fought, and when the crane released a wave of black flames she countered it with a wall of water. As the wall fell she and her magical copies, each born from a different element, rushed at the now confused black crane, surrounding the Darkness as they lashed out at it, punching and kicking it before it had a chance to fight back, causing her to realize just how much stronger she had actually become over their adventure. Such a thing caused her and her copies to create rotating orbs of energy above their heads, each of the element that they were using, like how she was using earth right now and another was using water, before they hurled them at the black crane.

The barrage of elemental attacks was far too much for the black crane to handle, no doubt because it had no defenses to the majority of the various elements she was using, and in the end she discovered that it was consumed by a pillar of dark energy as it detonated.

Seras, on the other hand, wasn't having too much trouble with her foe as she focused on her unique power, that of blood, As she pricked one of her fingers before hurling a spear of crimson energy at her target, striking the tiger before it could jump out of the way. The pricking of her finger, or even fingers since she could do it with each one, was mostly symbolic since this was her transforming her magic into weapons and attacks that looked like they were made out of blood, and yet she found that it seemed to weird people out, which was why she did this. As the tiger released a burst of energy at her Seras just let her magic form a barrier around her, absorbed the attack, and then redirected it back into her foe's face, much to it's total surprise, but that was merely a distraction as she formed her final attack. It was a rain of blood spears that burst out of the air above her foe and struck it multiple times in a row, damaging it's body while it tried to get out of the way, before it found that she had set up a barrier around where it was currently standing, preventing it from fleeing.

She smiled as the beast succumbed to the barrage of blows, where she knew they would have been tougher had they been out in the real world and not trapped in a prison like this, before Seras turned as the black tiger exploded due to the damage it had received from her attacks.

Fluttershy, after having spent a lot of time with Sombra and the others, was ready to face the dangers of the World and just stood there as the black oxen came at her, where she pulled out the critter orb that held all of her animal companions, and it also had information on Lei Shen and the others who weren't contained inside it. By magically absorbing it she was able to use the strengths of the various animals that were inside it, though for the time being she picked just Lei Shen as scales appeared on her arms and legs, while her tail mimicked their own serpent dragon's tail, and she added Cerberus' strength to the mix. Such a thing allowed her to avoid the incoming charge and kick at her foe's side in an instant, knocking it away from her, and she was able to rush after it without delay, delivering a series of quick kicks and punches to the Darkness, before knocking it to the ground. In the next instant she decided to tap into another of Lei Shen's powers as she floated into the air and held a hand towards the sky, where she called on the wind itself and it formed a spiraling sphere above her hand, one that transformed as it mixed with her magic, forming a massive attack that was larger than the oxen itself.

By sending the attack down at the black oxen she pressed it against the ground and it was consumed by the attack, resulting in a dark explosion that rocked the area she was in, all while the same thing happened all over the area, as all four of them caused an identical explosion to happen at the same time.

"Magnificent work everyone." Sombra remarked, where she held her hand out and she snatched the four essences before any of them could escape, allowing the others to watch as the four Darknesses were pulled down into the chest that she had summoned, where the First through Fourth crystals were filled with their essences and sealed without delay.

This put a smile on her face, because it meant that there was only one more Darkness left and she had a feeling she knew how to find him, they just had to be patient, and she was sure that Prexus would be pleased once this threat was sealed and they could focus fully on Tenebris and the threat he posed to the rest of the World, something they would deal with in the future.

War: Interrupted Cooking

After dealing with four of the remaining five Darknesses, essentially freeing Prexus and Xigbar from the majority of the pains of their pasts, Sombra found that she and the others were able to relax, rest, train, and do whatever they wanted while she waited for Tenebris to make his move. It was actually quite weird that there wasn't a lot of movement from her brother, as she expected him to do something, anything, to just piss them off and disrupt their preparations, but it seemed like he was focused on the knowledge and power he could gain from the World and his dark recruits. This basically allowed her and the others to make all of the preparations they could possibly make, without being disrupted or annoyed, and it caused the days to turn into weeks, which then turned into months without delay, allowing the worlds to continue as if nothing was lurking in the shadows. As such that allowed everyone to focus on other things as well, such as hanging with friends that didn't know about the danger that was threatening to overwhelm the worlds, or simply finding other things to do while they waited for the time of the Keyblade War to start.

Sombra, for example, found that Scrooge McDuck was planning on setting up a new eatery, a bistro to be exact, and that it was going to be set up in Twilight Town, though while it was getting set up she discovered that he had a long list of things he wanted to do to achieve his newfound goals. What was interesting was that the duck happened to have someone in mind for his head chef, not that Sombra wanted that position since her focus happened to be on other things, but it just showed her that Scrooge was well prepared for the various plans he had in mind. Twilight Town seemed to be the new hub world for all of them, because there were merchants from other worlds among the vendors, meaning they knew that this was the best place to be to sell some stuff to the heroes that would be fighting the darkness in the future. Roxas was more okay with this than everyone else, because it meant that he was able to hang out with his friends from this world more than before, while at the same time Axel and Xion joined him, making a group of six that was as thick as thieves.

Things only got weird when Sombra noticed something odd, that being the presence of Heartless on this world, because a number of Powerwilds appeared in the forest outside the town and started messing with people, to which she, Fluttershy, Radiant, and Sora's group took care of them... only to find that the Heartless had been messing with a blue rat.

"Are you okay little one?" Fluttershy asked, though as the rat approached her, and seemed to be communicating with her with his hands, Sombra and the others noticed that there was a lot of fruit and other items scattered around the forest, all the rat's based on what they were seeing right now, "This little guy is called Remy, or 'Little Chef' as Scrooge calls him, and he was attacked by the Heartless... and he would like to thank us by making us something back in the bistro."

"Oh, this I've got to see." Sombra remarked, because this was a first for her, a rat that had a passion for cooking, and if that was true she might look into getting him a more humanoid form since that would make things infinitely easier for him, since she had to assume that running around the kitchen got tiring, causing her to chuckle as Remy looked at her, "I'm a chef as well... not an official one, mind you, but I have some excellent cooking skills. Just ask them."

"Oh yeah, her food is... I can't even begin to describe it, it's just that good." Sora said, as Sombra's food had been one of the many reasons that they had been able to get through so much together, even though her powers and the skills of the others had been a more critical part to everything, "She would even punish us by taking away our dessert privileges for a time... just ask Donald, he had to go a whole year without them."

"Made me learn my lesson." Donald stated, as that year had been the most annoying in his entire life, those delicious and mouthwatering desserts that he had been unable to partake in while everyone ate them, he even recalled running to his room to avoid growing too jealous over everyone else being able to eat them.

"Now he wants to see you in action." Fluttershy said, which was a good thing in her eyes, because Sombra seemed to enjoy cooking, even if she wouldn't admit that it seemed to be one of her passions, and this would allow her to relax a little more before they worried about whatever her older brother had planned.

Sombra nodded as she lifted the cooking materials with her magic and carried them back to the bistro, where she and Remy headed into the building as Sora and the others remained outside, mostly to keep an eye on what was going on while eager to see what sort of dish their friend might make. When they entered the kitchen Sombra found that Remy's style most of the time was to climb onto someone's head and then pull their hair to make them do what he wanted, to which she shook her head and just focused on them working together. The dish the rat wanted to make was the Tarte aux Fruits, a shortbread dessert made from fruit, and while he started work on that Sombra pulled out some beef so she could make a beef stew, a favorite among her friends, family, and allies. Remy walked by as she worked and carefully sampled her work, using one of the spoons like an actual chef would, causing Sombra to smile as she did the same to his dish, and it wasn't long before the two were laughing and helping each other like they had been cooking together for years.

It didn't take them too long to make their dishes, Sombra even plated hers like she worked at the bistro, and she carried the pair out to Scrooge and the others, allowing the duck to taste the dishes while the others did the same thing, though when he tasted the beef stew it was clear that he found something he liked.

"Woah, now that's a good dish... and you made a good impression on Little Chef. Maybe you'd like to be hired as well, and work with him as partners?" Scrooge asked, because one great chef had been quite the discovery, but finding that someone he knew was actually just as good as Remy was, perhaps even better, was the discovery of a lifetime that he couldn't pass up, as he was sure that this would increase food sales even more than what he had planned.

"Well, we have some business to attend to first... but maybe we'll swing by and share some new ingredients with Remy so we can make something new?" Sombra replied, where she found that the blue rat seemed to enjoy the idea, especially after he discovered someone that could actually keep up with his cooking ideas, not to mention his skills, and it made her wonder what he would think of the other ingredients that were aboard their ship.

As she said that, however, part of the sky darkened as a tornado of Heartless, Shadows by the looks of it, moved around the air, where Sombra found that they seemed to be converging on a font of dark energy that seemed to be the core, before she found that it was moving more like a serpent and less like a tornado.

"What is that?!" Sora asked, as this was the first time he and the others had seen anything like this, though Sombra, once again, seemed to be the only one that understood what they were seeing right now, as she was just staring at it while likely thinking back to the last time she laid eyes on it.

"A Demon Tower... a rather powerful type of Pureblood Heartless, made from Shadows and takes on the form of a twisting spire, as you can see." Sombra stated, though at the same time she noticed the power that was coming from it and found that it was definitely stronger than the ones she saw in the Darkworld, in fact it seemed like this one had a small bit of her brother's power lingering on it, causing her to frown, "Oh, I get it now... brother, what are you doing? Tenebris is drawing in the Heartless from other timelines now, just like he tore his dark recruits out of their own positions in time... his arrogance and foolishness truly knows no bounds."

As she said that both Fluttershy and Radiant burst into the air, Fluttershy calling on Sabor's speed as she landed on the top of the Demon Tower and ran down the length of it, her Keyblade cutting into the edges of the Shadows that made it up, all while it was unable to stop her. While she did that Radiant waved her hand and released a volley of fireballs into the air, that rushed all around the area before zeroing in on their foe, blasting it into oblivion as soon as Fluttershy jumped off it's back, where it collided with the ground not a few seconds later. Such a thing was followed by the rest of the Keyblade wielders, as in Roxas and the others came over after sensing that there was a disturbance in this world, arriving to help deliver the final blow, allowing them to hack apart the Demon Tower before it could escape, and they made sure to wipe out the Shadows that had gone into making it. Sombra didn't even get involved with this fight, there was no need, especially since it told her that the others were able to do things on their own and didn't need her to save them every time they fought their enemies, but it did mean that her brother was finally getting ready for the final hurdle.

"It's time, isn't it?" Roxas asked, as it had been a long eleven months since the declaration of war had been given, and while they were still a month away from the official date of the Keyblade War he also knew it was possible that Tenebris might be targeting other worlds just to annoy them, which would be the last few weeks leading into the war.

"Yes, it is." Sombra replied, pulling out a device from her pack, a gummi device that Chip and Dale had made, which the pair had called a 'Gummiphone', something she had helped them test a few times to be sure it worked, and once they had been completed they had been distributed to every major player in their massive army, to which she tapped in a command that was reserved for this day, "Attention to all warriors that are preparing for the Keyblade War: Tenebris has sent a Dark Tower, a powerful Pureblood Heartless, to attack Twilight Town, but while we have taken it down my brother's message is clear. The countdown to our war for the fate of the World has begun, so make your final preparations, rest while you can, and make yourselves ready for the fight of your lives."

Radiant knew that this wasn't what Sombra wanted, to go to war after everything that had happened back on their home world, but this was all they could do since her brother wanted to wage war with them, to which she wondered what the next couple of days held for her, her friends, and the worlds that they would no doubt visit before the war started.

War: Stopping Hades Again

After meeting up with Hercules, and letting him know exactly what was going on with Hades this time around, the group found that he wanted to start from the top of Thebes, the city they were now in, though before they could do so a number of fireballs struck the market area in front of them. That was when a new Pureblood Heartless revealed itself to them, one that was black and hair what looked to be hair that was on fire, or part of it that was shaped to look like flames, and they were far too happy to spit fireballs at whatever was around them. Due to their spherical bodies Sombra went with Flame Cores for them, and, just like the rest of the Purebloods, these ones didn't have hearts when they were taken out, which was a little annoying in her mind, but she was used to that and focused on slashing them down. As she did that the others joined in, all while she used her magic to stop the statue of Hercules from collapsing on top of them, since a volley of their new foes took it down, but she and the others were more than willing to deal with the Flame Cores.

Once the group of enemies was taken care of they found that Hercules wanted to start checking out the rest of Thebes and that meant starting at the very top of the city, which seemed to be the highest peak that was available, causing Sombra to weave her magic around them for a time as she moved them to the area in question.

It wasn't long before Hercules pointed out the area that he wanted to start in, which seemed to be at the peak of the highest point in the entirety of the city, though as they moved Sora spotted Meg and Phil on Pegasus, who seemed to know that the city was in danger and that they were going to help in some of the other places. Much like before Phil told them to attack the Heartless, knowing that Sora and the rest of his group were the only ones that could permanently save Thebes, mostly due to the fact that the Keyblades could deal with the Heartless more than Hercules' fists could. When they reached their target area Sombra set them down and everyone started moving down the stone streets, helping those that needed assistance, as they trusted Hercules more than some random strangers, while fighting off the types of Heartless they had see so far. Such a thing brought them to an area with even more Flame Cores, which were having fun tearing through parts of Thebes while also setting other parts on fire, so while most of the group tore through them Sombra used her magic to extinguish the bits of flames.

While she did that, however, Sombra noticed Maleficent and Pete watching them from one of the roofs, and upon noticing that they had been spotted they fled, though they weren't the darker versions of themselves, rather they were the ones from this timeline, meaning the pair knew not to screw with them and had fled before a fight started.

"You know, it's a good thing you have the power to manipulate water, like Poseidon. Certainly helps us move around, since we won't have to worry about getting burned." Hercules commented, though as they descended into another portion of the city he discovered a pot shaped Heartless that Fluttershy decided to call a 'Popcat', since this type was a small thing and was more like a cat at times, and Sombra discovered that these were Emblem Heartless, allowing her to capture their hearts as they were brought down.

Of course there were plenty of Shadows, Air Soldiers, Large Bodies, Soldiers, and the two new types, giving them plenty of foes to fight this time around, as Sombra counted the exact number of enemies they fought each time a group attacked and discovered that each one was definitely larger than what they experienced during their first two adventures. There were a good number of people that were happy to be saved, in fact they offered a few potions and some ethers for the group, and there was even a girl who only let Hercules rescue her from where she was hiding, on top of a marble pillar. Everyone also saw a good amount of destruction as the Heartless tore through buildings, collapsing them on top of other parts of the city, though Sombra wielded her time magic to reverse the damage, enough to make sure people weren't crushed and allowed Hercules to save them. Once he was sure the area was clear Sombra would release her time magic and they would continue down the path that lead deeper and deeper into the city, allowing them to wipe out more and more Heartless while Sombra made sure to capture the hearts that were freed, because while Tenebris didn't have the same plan as the Organization she knew it was best to deny her brother any form of power.

Along the way they also discovered another new Heartless type, a small humanoid like the Soldier that was an archer, which they called Bizarre Archers, and Sombra snatched their hearts since they were Emblem Heartless, only for them to be caught off guard by a fourth new type that was an armored giant with a large axe, even though it was made of rocks.

"And a Rock Troll... you know, a new assortment of enemies is quite nice." Radiant remarked, because fighting the same old enemies constantly had gotten old and this was far better than she was expecting, even though at some point she knew that they would have to fight them with smaller groups, as they were able to crowd around it and bring it down after it tried to hit one of them with it's axe.

After bringing that down they found that the mountain they had landed on was now swirling with dark storm energy, which had to be the Titan made out of wind, to which Sombra surrounded them with her magic and they flew out of the city like they were fired from a cannon. She brought them to the base of the mountain path and everyone got running immediately as they crashed into more Heartless, while Hercules noted that a river they passed by was never as full as it was, causing a surge of elemental energy as Water Cores, black like the Flame Cores and having watery parts, attacked them. There were even a few spiky ones that looked like they were controlling the earth as well, so Earth Cores, which just made Sombra and the others take a moment to wonder how many more types of Heartless were out there, and why none of them had shown themselves in the past. This also made climbing the mountain that much harder, due to the fact that there were so many types of Heartless to contend with, so some of them focused on one type of damage while others simply struck them with their weapons.

It was actually quite amazing how often they had to stop and engage the Heartless that were coming after them, because it was like the Darkworld had turned against them and was ensuring that they had more enemies to fight, though both Sora and Sombra made sure that they paused every now and then to keep their energy up.

"I'm going to go up ahead and see if I can't stop Hades, or at least slow him down." Hercules commented, mostly because he knew that the group didn't need him fighting beside them all the time, so for the time being he called on Pegasus, who came without Meg or Phil on his back, and took off without delay, which was fine with the group as they stopped resting and just continued climbing up the mountain.

The best thing about visiting the world in this manner was that they were able to actually explore a larger area for once, as a good number of their visits to all of the other worlds had been like following a straight line through a maze, and if it wasn't for the immediate threat of Hades' plan Sombra was sure they would explore instead of saving the day. Fluttershy found all sorts of new ingredients for them to use in the future, since she was sure that Sombra would be able to use them at some point, which she agreed with while everyone tore through the Heartless, especially with the discovery that the Earth Cores could make a sand pit and could control it. Radiant knew this was different from the past, these Heartless were stronger and more skilled than the ones they had seen in the past, and Sombra was a little peeved by the fact that half of them were in the Emblem category, since she was sure that she could use the core type Heartless to improve her elemental powers to a new level. Even with that in mind they continued to move up the mountain, tearing through the enemies that stood in their way, while noticing how it continued to get darker and darker the higher they went, until the sunny area gave way for the storm and rain, meaning they were catching up with one of the four Titans.

Sure enough they discovered that the two headed Rock Titan above them, tossing chunks of the mountain at them, though as the group moved forward Sombra and the other Equestrians channeled their magic and blasted the rocks, shattering all of them into shards that landed on the ground below them. Sora and the others joined them, pushing the Rock Titan's rocks back, in fact Sora was able to rush up the stones and used the Kingdom Key to knock their foe backwards, forcing it to move away from them and continue up the storm-riddled region they were moving through. Eventually they reached the area that the Rock Titan stopped in, where they rushed into the air and separated, attacking the beast from both his feet and from all around it, this time not holding back in the slightest since this was a Titan in it's full power. Sombra even noticed something odd about the Kingdom Key, it was starting to manifest it's true power, likely because of the presence of two of the three Ancient Weapons, and that seemed to be a train that rained destruction on the Titan, something all seven of them were put on as Sora controlled the new weapon.

This allowed them to send the Rock Titan over the edge with a barrage of attacks, which seemed to manifest from the smoke and took on the form of fireworks of some kind, though as they landed on the ground, and the tracks vanished, everyone looked at Sora, who was looking at the Kingdom Key.

"So the Kingdom Key was far stronger than we assumed... maybe it's a fourth Ancient Weapon." Sombra remarked, as that barrage of attacks was beyond what the weapon had displayed in the past, in fact it was like the World knew they would need all the power they could get their hands on and was stacking the deck against Tenebris.

Sora rubbed the back of his head for a moment before they focused on the path that was ahead of them and discovered that the area on the other side was a golden staircase leading up to what appeared to be the gates of Olympus, a golden shining area that was beyond everything they had seen in the past. Such a thing was followed by yet another new Heartless, a humanoid type that was tall, like Hercules, but walked with hooves in place of feet, armor over their bodies, and a helmet to cover their heads, as there were at least twenty of the Satyrs, as Seras called them. Sure, they were stronger than some of the other Heartless they had fought in the past, but it was a good challenge for everyone as each of them dodged attacks and dealt their own in turn, and Sombra happily captured their hearts before they could escape. Following the destruction of the other Heartless, however, they found a surge of power high up in Olympus and everyone turned towards Sombra, who just nodded her head and wrapped her magic around them, rushing them up into the air as she zeroed in on the area that seemed to be the throne of Olympus.

Sure enough they found that someone was being imprisoned by the Lava and Ice Titans, while the Tornado one seemed to be watching from afar as Hades focused on some beings that seemed to be gods, or the gods of this world, and Hercules just smiled as they caught up with him.

Following that the Equestrians focused on the Ice Titan as Sora's group focused on the Lava Titan, each of them lashing out at the two large figures that were in front of them, while at the same time Sombra snapped her fingers and kept Hades on the outside of the arena, forcing him to watch what was going on. Their powers, strengthened from training for a whole year in preparation for the upcoming war, caused the Titans to stagger away from the central pillar, allowing Hercules to leap up on top of it and smash the top, freeing a shining man in a toga, who caused Hades to back up. Sombra found that the Titans were far weaker than she had originally assumed, as while they were definitely stronger than when they fought their lesser fragmented forms, back in the coliseum, and even the Tornado Titan seemed to understand that as he absorbed the other three, as it moved away to grab the Rock Titan, before returning to suck up the Ice and Lava Titans. Instead of engaging the beast, however, Hercules just grabbed the base of the Tornado Titan's body, swung it around, and then tossed it into the air, sending them into space where the Titans just exploded into a burst of energy, ending all of them in an instant.

Hades just stood there as Zeus freed the other gods from their bindings, where it was clear that he was suffering from just too much failure, and when he turned back to look at them it was clear that his fire was gone, he didn't want to fight Sombra or her friends again, not after what happened the last time they visited his world.

"Eighteen years, flushed down the drain... it's official, I hate you guys." Hades remarked, though at the same time Hercules did punch him in the face, stating that his attack was because of Hades' allies wrecking Thebes, causing the god to summon a surge of darkness as he faded away, telling them that he had a long memory, where Zeus hit him with a bolt of lightning as he warped back to his realm.

Sombra and the others smiled as they lowered their weapons, because this was a resounding victory over Hades, and they knew it was some good warmup for what the future held for them, causing everyone to look forward to whatever worlds they would be visiting in the coming days before the war for the fate of the World.

War: World of Toys

After making sure that things had settled down in Hercules' world, which wasn't hard to do after Hades backed off and the Titans were disposed of, the group found one of the warp points and returned to their ship, allowing Sora to move them into space once more so they could find another world to visit. Such a thing meant that he could practice his skills and tackle the dangers that were lurking in the depths of space, which meant more flying around as he blasted asteroids apart, tracked down more of the crystals to empower the Gummi Ship, and opened more treasure spheres. It allowed Sombra and the rest of the group to rest and train, to prepare themselves for whatever the next world had to offer them, though this time she just decided to relax for the majority of the trip, observing the space that was around the ship while Sora focused on carefully navigating the rocks and asteroids around them. The other only thing Sombra did was make snacks for everyone, as well as a meal when it was time for Sora to take an actual break, even though she was focused on tracking down any new signatures of her brother's tampering with the other worlds that were out there.

One thing they passed by happened to be a multi ringed structure made out of metal, which held the power of a warp point for them to use in the future, which their ship registered as Sora flew by it, before a large Heartless Gummi Ship, in the form of a warrior's upper body, flew by and a dark barrier surrounded the area they were in.

"Looks like Tenebris isn't going to make this easy... you'll need to destroy it to move forward." Sombra remarked, though at the same time she knew this would be a minor inconvenience, the Heartless Gummi wouldn't do more than stall them for a few moments, causing her to focus on the world that was beyond the barrier, and the power that was coming off of it, "I hope I'm wrong, but it sure feels like someone was messing with time magic on that world."

"Sounds like your brother, and if it was him there's no telling what he's done." Sora commented, because Tenebris seemed to have a habit of messing with time, based on what they had seen so far, before he focused on the foe that was in front of them as he engaged the ship's systems again.

What they discovered was that the shoulder pieces of the Heartless Gummi could open near the top and fire shots at them, it's right hand, a claw device, could be fired at them and Sora had to dodge it before it collided with the ship, and the weapon on it's left hand fired a volley of blasts in the span of a few moments. It was an interesting machine, though it couldn't stand up to the might of their Gummi Ship since all of the various materials went into empowering it during their previous space explorations, allowing Sora to bring it down and blew it up, while Sombra snatched the heart that was freed from it. Once that was done they watched as the barrier came down and revealed a world that looked like a toy, that was exactly what it looked like based on what everyone was seeing right now, with toys scattered all around the place for some reason, which told Sombra they were likely going to be turned into toys. Other than that it didn't appear like there was anything else for them to worry about, to which Sora started to search for an area to land in, letting the ship's systems do the work like their visits to the other worlds, while everyone else got ready to warp down to a new world.

In the next moment the screen in front of them came to life with what appeared to be a show or video of some kind, a group of people fighting what appeared to be mechs while trying to save a damsel in distress, all while reality seemed to be in the middle of breaking around them... and yet Sombra focused on the leader, a serious boy that was Sora's age, in black clothing that almost looked like Sora's, who had a red eye and a blue eye, while carrying an energy sword and a crossbow.

"Woah... what was that?" Fluttershy asked, because this was the first time they had seen something like this when the ship got close to a world, like a warning or something so they could be ready for whatever was happening down on the world, to which she glanced at Sombra for a moment, "What do you think?"

"I'm not sensing any disturbances that would do what we just saw... but I get the feeling that this boy is real." Sombra said, as there was something about the figure that lead her to believe that he, and that meant his friends and his world, were real as well, but she couldn't place her finger on what that something was, causing her to raise her hand to her chin, "Interesting. I'll have to think about this some more. For now, let's head down and see what's going on."

Sora nodded as he stopped the ship and engaged the systems, allowing them to warp down to the world that was in front of them, though when they appeared in the area it warped them to the group found that they were, in fact, toys now, though all of them appeared to be dressed up as action figures. It was actually quite interesting when Sombra looked over herself and tapped her arm, finding that it felt different from what she and the others were used to, while she noticed that her gear looked more like a black knight, Fluttershy was dressed as a druid, Radiant as an archer, and Seras, as usual, was a vampire in regal clothing. Of course they found that there were a number of Heartless in the area as well, what appeared to be either troopers or scuba divers, though everyone agreed on 'Toy Troopers' since they also looked like toys, and that all of them had been shrunk down to the size of actual action figures, which was also very interesting. Since they knew that there were foes to deal with the group rushed out from under the bed they had appeared under, Sombra wasn't even questioning it as she found that they were in someone's bedroom, only to discover that there were Shadows and two Nocturne types, the red and yellow ones.

Even with that information in mind it didn't take them long to bring down the Heartless that were in front of them, just like before, though Sombra knew that there would be far more as they explored this world, but there was a source of temporal magic somewhere in the world, just as she felt from space. As she thought about that, however, a group of toys approached them, one appeared to be a piggy bank given life, one appeared to be a green dinosaur, maybe a t-rex, and the other two were far more interesting than anything else they had seen so far. One happened to be a cowboy, maybe even a sheriff, but it seemed like he didn't have a weapon on hand and that meant he was either fighting the Heartless with his fists or was just letting the others do the heavy lifting. The second was what Sombra would call a space explorer, he was dressed in what had to be a space suit, she could even see the glass helmet that would come up if he tapped something, and it seemed like he might have a pack on his back, but while the cowboy was happy to see them, and the t-rex was overly excited, the spaceman was more cautious.

The most interesting thing was that the t-rex and the piggy bank addressed Sora as 'Yozora', confirming Sombra's thoughts that the boy on the video had looked a lot like Sora, where the latter seemed to think they had been bought by 'Andy's mom' and that seemed to pacify most of them, long enough for Sora to introduce themselves to the group.

"It seems like something happened recently. Can you tell us what happened?" Sora asked, because the t-rex, called Rex by the others while the piggy bank was Hamm, seemed to mention that their friends were missing, which meant that they might be able to help them in some manner.

"One day we just woke up and most of our friends, and Andy, were just gone... those intruders also showed up, Buzz's laser started working, and we found one other toy." the sheriff, who called himself Woody, replied, while the other figure called himself 'Buzz Lightyear', though he did it with a pause when he was addressing himself, like he was nervous or wanted to be dramatic for some reason, "We haven't seen their face, but they're wearing a black robe and the intruders seem to be under their command."

"A black robe? You mean like this?" Sombra inquired, where she used her magic to make an image of the Organization, or at least those who followed Tenebris since everyone who turned to their side had switched to the gray colored version to show that they were no longer following Xehanort's path, something that caused the group of toys to nod, "That's an enemy for sure, working with someone who is seeking to do harm to the World. Where are they?"

As Woody started to respond the group found that there were little green soldier guys with them, along with three short light green skinned figures that were likely aliens, the latter each having three eyes each, who acted quite strange, almost like all three of them believed that they were aliens. After that the leader of the green soldiers, Sarge as he was called, reported that the figure they had seen was at the nearby toy store, Galaxy Toys, and when they climbed onto the nearby desk, allowing all of them to see out into the city, they discovered that it was quite far away, too far for toys to get in any significant amount of time. With that in mind Sombra formed a circular platform with her magic and made sure it was large enough for everyone to stand on, even made sure the edge was secured so no one fell off, before lifting them into the air and pushed them in the direction of the massive toy store, as it seemed to have three stories and who knew how many shops. As they did that their new friends were surprised by her magic, or at least everyone but Rex and Hamm, but she didn't let them distract her from ensuring that they reached their destination safely, and she found that in their toy forms that this place did seem to be like a colossus when compared to their new tiny sizes.

Once they reached the outside of the shop Sombra set them down and they headed inside, finding that there was no one here as well, in fact it was like the entire world was devoid of life, while all of the toys that were inside the structure weren't like Woody and his friends, they were still, before Sombra held a hand out to stop everyone.

"Come on out, ally of Tenebris! I know you're there, hiding in the shadows." Sombra stated, where she was proven right not a few seconds later as a Dark Corridor opened and Young Xehanort stepped out of it, wearing the black robe that was linked to her brother's side in the conflict that was threatening to consume the rest of the World, "Young Xehanort, the root cause of Xehanort's dark deeds... what are you doing here?"

"Though this is our first time meeting, I'm honored that you view me as a threat worth remembering." Young Xehanort said, where he snapped his fingers and some of the Toy Troopers emerged from the darkness, climbing into the motionless mech toys that were around them, like they were actually pilots, causing them to get up and jump down into the area that Sombra and the others were standing in, much to the horror of Woody and Buzz since they were forcing the toys to move against their will, "As for what I'm doing here... well, I am studying the way the hearts of this world are bonded together, so I made a copy of this world and then pulled those hearts apart."

"You're a moron. You can't copy a world... and now I understand what I felt earlier." Sombra remarked, though at the same time the mech attacked them and Fluttershy raised a barrier in front of them to stop the attack, while Radiant and the rest of the group brought down the other mechs, allowing her to focus on the figure that was looking down at them, "What you did was bind one timeline to another... you pulled Woody and his friends out of their world and dropped them in a world that is like their own, but plays by different rules. It's the freaking multiverse theory in action: the main world was one where none of these guys could use their weapons like actual weapons, and this one is one where toys have the power to fight with lasers, blasts, and everything else. You and Tenebris have no idea what sort of game you are playing: time isn't a toy for you to screw around with, and the more stress you put on it the more dire the consequences will be."

Of course Sombra knew that one could, in fact, copy a world if they made a datascape version, but this was a real world, not a simulation, meaning her thoughts had to be correct, her brother was screwing with the natural order of things and was just threatening the fabric of reality with every dumb decision he made.

"I do have to disagree with your brother on one thing: you are quite smart... far more than Tenebris gives you credit for, all things considered." Young Xehanort commented, though as he said that Sombra noticed that there was someone watching, a bronze scaled dragon humanoid who seemed to be female, who vanished once she realized Sombra had noticed her, all while the young villain didn't seem to notice the strange figure while he talked, "You are correct: we took the strands of time for two versions of this world and mixed them together, pulling and displacing people among them so I can learn about the connections a heart can make. We don't need any additional forces for when the war starts, so I am sating my curiosity before the war finally starts."

As the others brought down the mechs and the Toy Troopers, with Sombra catching their hearts, Young Xehanort left before he was caught, causing Sombra to sigh as she wondered what else they were going to discover in this world, and how much danger her brother was bringing to the World, all while hoping they could stop him before he did something incredibly stupid.

War: Fighting in the Toy Store

After dealing with the Toy Soldiers, some of which were able to enter the Gigas toys and control them since there just so happened to be a seat for a pilot to sit in, Sombra and the others glanced around the area for a time, mostly to see if they could track down Young Xehanort since he was likely still watching them.

"So, what were you talking about earlier? He said something about 'copying' the world... and then you called him a moron for saying such a thing." Woody asked, because the topic had gone right over his head when they found the other toy that was a stranger in their world, but he did understand that he was a danger to everyone, while at the same time finding that Buzz was saddened by how the Heartless had forced some toys to fight them.

"Because he didn't copy the world, he and my idiot brother just twisted together the threads of two different timelines, thus making what you're currently seeing." Sombra replied, though at the same time she found that the remainder of the toys, the soldiers, Rex, and Hamm, went out to explore the rest of the toy store, before letting out a sigh as she wondered what else her brother had damaged since taking over Xehanort's forces, "Basically you guys have been ripped out of the timeline that is your home and have been brought to a version of your world that allows you to use your weapons like actual weapons... I would hazard a guess that the yous from this world are somewhere in the world you came from, displaced and scattered, as per Young Xehanort's twisted studies."

"You seem to know quite a lot on the subject. Can you fix this mess?" Buzz inquired, because he suspected that if Sombra knew so much about time and how not to mess with it, which he assumed was true based on what they were hearing, she had to know how to undo the damage that's been caused so far and fix the problem that he and Woody had been dealing with since their friends mysteriously vanished.

"Yes... but also no. Right now we're engaged in a conflict with Young Xehanort, my brother, and their forces, and we don't have the time required to separate the timelines safely... I could destroy both worlds on accident." Sombra stated, as she knew why Buzz was asking this, in fact she would have asked the same question if she was in his position, but she knew that this was a bad idea since they didn't have the time for her to study the spellwork and then formulate how to reverse it, and if she made one mistake she could destroy both versions of this world, or do something even worse, "Trust me, I want to fix the damage they've done so far, but we just don't have the time. Once they are taken down, and we have a chance to relax, I can assure you that I'll undo what they've done to your world."

It was clear that Buzz wasn't okay with this, or maybe he wasn't fine with the fact that they were now being forced to fight toys who were being possessed, but at the very least Woody seemed to convince him that helping Sora and the others would benefit them in the long run, since driving off Young Xehanort seemed like a good thing to him. Following that Sora pointed out how they were going to get to the upper levels of the store, since they couldn't use the elevators and he suspected that it would be rude to force Sombra to carry everyone repeatedly if they moved between the floors constantly, and what he was looking at was a gumball machine with rails leading to the second floor, third floor, and ceiling. As they crossed the floor it allowed them to see that Galaxy Toys was an interesting place and definitely had something for everyone, from baby toys to the toys that kids and even teenagers seemed to like, the latter more in a more collective sense. After thinking about that the group headed into the gumball machine and made their way up to the rail that would bring them to the second floor, while Sombra kept an eye out for Young Xehanort or the mysterious stranger who disappeared after she spotted her.

What they discovered on the second floor was that there were a number of Toy Soldiers rushing towards the various shops, only to stop and turn towards the group as they realized that the warriors were there, causing them to engage the Heartless while also carefully eliminating those that tried to jump into the Gigas.

Eventually they entered a shop with a stand for some 'Monstrous Monsters', giant Gigas sized toys that were monsters and had weapons, in the form of cannons and guns, on their backs, where they discovered that some of the red ones had been possessed by darkness, the power of the Heartless. There were two other types according to the boxes, one walked on four legs, almost like the Groundshaker from the Pride Lands, that was purple colored, while the other one was tall and teal, but all three of them were lizard creatures of some kind. As they clashed with the toys, something that Buzz steeled himself for since he wanted to protect his friends and found that the toys were attacking them without them provoking them, Sombra noticed that Fluttershy was tending to the lizard toys as if they were living critters. When the light gathered around the dark emblem of the Heartless, however, both Sombra and Sora realized what they could do as they loosed beams of light into the area that the dark marks were in, pushing out a group of dark cloud Heartless that were controlling dolls, meaning they had to be Marionettes.

As Sombra and the others dealt with the Marionettes, allowing her to capture their hearts, they found that their work had been successful, all of the monsters had been freed from the Heartless, but it was more than that, they were awake, just like Woody and his friends, as if their Keyblades had awakened them. Following that they also found Rex on a toy plane that was connected to the ceiling, how Sombra had no idea and she wasn't interested in figuring it out, though this did open a vent for them to reach one of the locked stores on the third floor. Woody and Buzz made sure that the dinosaur went back to the entrance, when Fluttershy and Seras caught him before he hurt himself, though once that was done they decided to rush up to the vent and see if they were right in thinking it was important, and they were proven right when a green soldier came out and told them that one of their members was missing. Apparently their radios worked, allowing them to converse, and they knew that the missing one was somewhere in 'Babies and Toddlers', which was where Hamm was last seen, causing the group to thank him for the assistance as they headed up the vents without wasting time.

There were a few Heartless in the vents, just Shadows, Large Bodies, and Nocturnes, plus a new pole cannon shaped type of foe that fired blasts, a 'Pole Cannon' Sombra guessed, though she caught their hearts as she and the others tore through all of them, as they weren't very good either.

Such a thing allowed them to find a number of toys on the walls, just like the floor below them, though these seemed more like what little girls might like, since Sombra found a number of dolls and animal plushies, but the Marionettes were the first foes taken out first, to prevent being overwhelmed by toys. Following that they spotted toys that matched the name of this area, toys that were made of wood and made for toddlers, and yet the toys were quite nice looking, which might be to bring in more customers since parents would follow the desires of their kids at times. One thing all of them agreed on was the fact that the soldier mentioned music and there was only one place for that in this room, which appeared to be a record player that was connected to a number of frog toys that appeared to be musicians. The reason for that was because when Woody and Sora ran on it the frogs started playing, so Sombra used her magic to keep it going so they could investigate the one that was off the mark, the tuba, and inside it happened to be the missing soldier, who told them he had been stuffed into the musical instrument by something.

As it turned out Hamm was hiding inside the dollhouse, and when they opened it the group discovered that the one that had attacked the green soldier, a tall girly doll that was intended for young girls, though just like before the group quickly used the power of their Keyblades and liberated her, crushing the Marionette in the process.

"You know, I'm starting to dislike that toy... seeing others as nothing more than tools." Buzz commented, though at the same time the doll, who was dressed like a maid with fake rabbit ears, seemed to be recovering from the haze that she had been put under, but she remembered that her name was 'Amber', which was good news.

"Yeah, Young Xehanort is kind of a monster, isn't he?" Sombra remarked, where she opened part of the glass window that was in front of them, it was designed to open based on what they were seeing, only to find that a flying saucer was flying into another portion of the shop with the three aliens, causing them to sigh for a moment, "At least this will be easy."

Woody and Buzz found that Sombra wasn't joking at all, her magic was more than enough to seize control of the possessed ship, while the damage everyone else dealt to it destroyed the Marionette that had tried to abduct the aliens, who seemed saddened by the loss of the ship.

"Well... you weren't kidding." Woody said, though this was good for them, as it meant everyone was accounted for and they could get them out of here before they worried about the other toy, but as he said that Seras found that the door below them opened and Rex happened to be heading in there.

As it turned out the shop was a game store, where Rex was looking for the guide on 'Verum Rex', which happened to be the game that they had seen the trailer for before they warped down to this world, in fact there was a poster and other things of the main character, Yozora. This seemed to be a trap on Young Xehanort's part as he tried to take control of Buzz, for some odd reason, though Sombra liberated him not a few seconds later, causing the young man to take a step back as he quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to fulfill his plan this time around. Sombra and Young Xehanort stared at each other for a few seconds, each silently daring the other to make a move, where she could see that the young man seemed to be silently debating how to go about this, especially since he knew just how smart and strong she really was. In the next moment he loosed a burst of darkness as he escaped into a Dark Corridor, fleeing to another world entirely, where Sombra and the rest of the group found that the orb transformed into an arena made of toys with what appeared to be a unique dark saucer in the center of it, baring the Heartless Emblem.

Sombra found that it was like the Armor Heartless, in terms of coloration, and it's ability was a defensive type to stop itself from taking too much damage at one time, and it seemed to have missiles to fight back with, but in all honesty there wasn't much for them to worry about as she and the others smashed it, allowing her to capture it's heart as they returned to the game shop.

"So, he ran away... he's hollower than any toy I've seen." Woody commented, though at the same time he and Buzz looked at each other before nodding and then faced the group that was in front of them, because it looked like they had something they wanted to talk about before Sora and his friends departed to chase down the figure and his allies, "Sora, can we help you fight your enemies? It seems like your fight might be bigger than you originally thought."

"I want to say no... but something tells me we might need all the help we can get." Sora replied, because he knew that they had to keep the order between the worlds, to prevent chaos and whatnot, but at the same time Tenebris was going to break every rule that was keeping the World safe and sound, and he suspected they might be calling in some old friends when the time came, "Sombra, what do you think?"

"It all depends on how bad the damage to the World gets, but knowing Tenebris... well, keep your eyes open and help out all of the new toys that have woken up today." Sombra stated, as he understood that the monsters, Gigas, and even the Amber maid doll might be drawn into the conflict if her brother damaged the fabric of reality too much, which was why she was hoping they could stop him before he did something incredibly stupid, and as she said that she spotted the bronze dragon figure slipping into the shadows again, "Something tells me we might be needing all the help we can get."

This was one of those times where she hoped she was wrong, that this wasn't going to be a war involving all of space and time, that her brother wasn't stupid enough to put the entire World in danger for the power of Kingdom Hearts, and sighed as she wondered what the coming days had in store for her, her friends, and the rest of the World.

War: New Friends, New Enemies

After dealing with the dangers of Woody and Buzz's world, and Sombra made sure they knew that once they had free time she'd be back to help them with their dilemma, the group returned to the Gummi Ship and set off again, to see what else the World had to offer before focusing on the upcoming Keyblade War.

"Are you sure you can fix the mess that Young Xehanort left that world in?" Fluttershy asked, because while she didn't doubt Sombra's powers, especially since they had no idea what her limits were since it had been a long time since she brought her full power to bare against their enemies, she wanted to make sure she hadn't lied to Woody's group.

"I'm positive that I can... and even if I can't, there is someone who seems to be linked to time magic following us, though I am unsure if she is an ally or an enemy." Sombra replied, where she noted that everyone else seemed confused by what she was saying, to which she raised her hand and summoned an image of the odd dragon figure she had seen, someone all of them had missed, just as Young Xehanort had missed her sudden arrivals and departures, "I noticed that she was linked to time magic, so I'm assuming that someone is checking on Tenebris' damages to the World... but like I said, I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. For now, let's keep it between ourselves, at least until I'm sure which side our visitor is rooting for, because I don't want my brother learning of her presence."

Sora nodded his understanding, he trusted Sombra and if the figure said they needed to keep this between them, until she was sure of what was going on with the World, he was going to do just that, hence why he focused on piloting the ship while Sombra tracked down the next source of dark energy. While he did that Sora found that the area of space he moved them through had more challenges for him to deal with, more materials to acquire, and what appeared to be an asteroid that had a Heartless Gummi Ship, in the form of a large worm that was eating away at the rock, who attacked them. As he did that Sombra calibrated some of the machines in the ship and formed a scanner that would allow Sora to track down the far more difficult enemies that were flying around space, because the Heartless Gummies were strong and claiming their hearts just meant depriving Tenebris of their power. That was Sombra's hope on the matter, that everything they were doing meant her brother had less to use against them when the Keyblade War started, so he didn't summon in a force of ships to attack them or something, before focusing on tracking down the dark signatures coming from the various worlds.

Eventually they tracked down the next world on their list, which appeared to be one with a tower based on what they were seeing right now, and it, too, was guarded by a space guardian, a Heartless Gummi Ship that seemed to be shaped like a flower that bloomed and sealed itself while they fought. It, like the space warrior, fired blasts at them and found ways to fire missiles as well, though at the same time Sora didn't seem at all worried about their chances, as he navigated around each of it's attacks and fired his weapons in return, harming the enemy ship since it was the only one taking damage. Radiant and the others knew that it was due to his skills in piloting their ship, because Sora had the skill to avoid attacks, deal damage on his own, and utilize the various systems that were installed in their vessel to their advantage, so they simply relaxed while he downed another powerful Heartless Gummi. With that done the barrier that was blocking the next world disappeared as the enemy ship's heart was captured by Sombra, adding another one to the collection, where Sora remained at the ready, just in case there were any new enemies for them to worry about.

Once he was sure that the coast was clear, and the others were in agreement, he got close to the world and brought the ship in again, where Sora repeated what he did whenever they visited the other worlds before warping all of them down to the new world, which was a pristine and lush world, with a kingdom far in the distance.

"This is such a pretty day." Fluttershy remarked, which was the truth, this world was far different from what they had been suspecting, in fact she was hoping that this would be one of their more peaceful worlds, where they didn't have to fight and could just go about their business like usual, before she sighed, "Sombra, someone's here on this world, aren't they?"

"Yeah, I can feel one of Tenebris' dark allies on this world, watching us." Sombra replied, not that she was surprised, for this was why the World had sent them here in the first place, to stop whoever had been sent here from doing whatever they were supposed to do, just like how Young Xehanort wanted to study the bonds between hearts, "And there are a number of Heartless coming our way."

Sure enough they found that it was a number of Bizarre Archers and a new type, a black puff ball with flower heads, which was why Fluttershy went with 'Puffball', and they were chasing a guy who seemed like a coward, he just didn't seem like the warrior type, though the group clashed with the Heartless as he ran by them. Of course the man asked them if they could handle the creatures and Sora confirmed it, allowing him to depart while they clashed with the Heartless, but he did leave a name for them to call him by if they saw him again, 'Flynn Rider'. In addition to those enemies they found that there were a number of green Nocturnes, not that anyone was surprised by their presence since the Nocturnes were some of the more common Heartless they had discovered over the years. Once the Heartless were dealt with, and they were sure that no more were coming their way, Sora and the others investigated the area that was behind them, the area that Flynn had run off in as they fought the various Heartless, and found that it was definitely a dead end, at first glance anyway.

Sombra moved some moss and vines out of the way and they discovered a secret passage leading into a hidden caldera, an area that was nice, pristine, nearly untouched, and had a tall tower that was like what they had seen before warping down to this world, meaning it had to be important.

"Okay, I have to admit that this looks impressive." Sora remarked, though at the same time it was easy for them to see that two figures were emerging from the tower, Flynn was climbing down the exterior of the tower while a teenage girl with very long hair, far longer than any that the group had seen in the past, threw her hair out of the highest window of the tower and used it to slide all the way down to the ground.

Based on what Sombra saw it sure looked like this was the first time she had visited the outside world, in fact she was afraid to touch the ground and had to gently touch her feet, her bare feet since she didn't have shoes to wear for some reason, in the span of a few drawn out moments. Flynn, after climbing down the outside of the tower, informed them that this girl was called Rapunzel, and they had made a deal with each other: he was going to escort her to the city to see the light show they were going to be putting on soon, and she would give him something he needed. He did tell them about the snag, he knew of the Heartless and knew he wouldn't be able to stand against their might, so he had added a requirement to the deal and that was that his 'sidekicks' had to come along with them, where Sombra shrugged it off. It was for the best, since this meant they didn't have to explain why they were here to the group, Flynn had provided them with the perfect cover, and based on how Rapunzel was acting it was clear that this was her first time outside the tower, since she was fascinated by the water that was gathering in a small area near her tower.

As it turned out Rapunzel was split between how to take her sudden act of rebellion against her mother, since that seemed to be what she was talking about, because one moment she was overjoyed to be outside and the next she'd switch to being terrified of what her mother would think if she discovered her disobedience. This appeared to be something she needed to work through, as she moved to the nearby body of water and talked to one of the flowers about it, seemingly okay with this act of disobedience before becoming worried about what might happen once her mother found out. Following that she went into a cave to mope for a few moments, worried that this could kill her mother, before rushing through a field like this was the best day of her life, and then she climbed into a tree and placed her head against the bark while telling them that she was a terrible daughter. To Sombra and the other Equestrians this seemed like the madness Discord could create, though at the same time Sombra remembered doing this to someone that had annoyed him greatly, something that caused her to take a moment and wonder if she should break the madness herself.

In the end it turned out that she didn't need to do anything, the mental war seemed to end when Rapunzel noticed them, all seven of them, at long last and pulled out a frying pan of all things to use against them, where Flynn explained things to her, that these were his 'sidekicks', allowing them to introduce themselves to her at long last.

As Flynn lead the way Sora and the others discovered that Rapunzel wanted to stop every now and then, something caught her eye or she had some fun in a way that was unique to her, and there were wanted posters of Flynn that the man tore down as soon as he saw them, while ensuring that Rapunzel didn't see them. Further along the path they discovered what seemed to be a large white fluff ball, which ended up being an even larger Puffball that had leaf shaped arms and a set of attire that made it look like a chief, the 'Chief Puff'. What was hilarious was that Rapunzel was actually able to help them, as she used her hair like a whip, since she was carrying most of her hair, and she could also latch onto a tall tree and swing all over the place, which seemed to damage their enemies. Sombra realized that Rapunzel had some sort of power inside her, a power that was similar to the Princesses of Heart, causing her to figure out what was going on, they were here to save one of the new bearers of the pure Light, as the previous generation had lost their Light after Maleficent's schemes, though Kairi was still one of the new seven bearers.

That told her that there were six more Princesses of Heart out there and that the World likely wanted them to know who all of them were before the big battle started, though that didn't stop them from wiping out the Heartless and capturing their hearts, allowing the group to continue on their way towards the kingdom of Corona, according to Flynn.

As they pressed forward the group found yet another new type of Heartless, which was the trend for a new world, to just add more to the growing list of enemies for them to fight, and this one was a more feminine type with a dress and a parasol, so 'Parasol Beauty', though while this type seemed to be a defensive type it was still easy to take down. Of course they were backed by a number of Bizarre Archers and Puffballs, though this just gave them a lot more Heartless to take down and all the more hearts for Sombra to snatch, since all of them were Emblem Heartless and that produced a lot of hearts when they took down their enemies. After that Rapunzel stopped at an area that had a lot of dandelions and seemed to want to see more of them fly in the air, to which Donald used Aero for a moment and knocked the flowers into the air, spreading their bits around like the girl wanted, which put a smile on her face. She also wanted them to save some rabbits from a number of Nocturne Heartless, the rabbits leading them to a treasure chest when the coast was clear, Rapunzel splashed around in a decent sized puddle of water, and she asked them to get some birds so she could hear their chirping up close, which was easy for Fluttershy to do with her natural ability.

What eventually stopped them in their tracks was a flower that had yet to bloom, a large one at that, and it happened to be made out of the same material that a Nobody was made from, which was understandable since it turned out to be one of the Reaper Nobodies when it emerged from the ground.

"Sorry guys, you won't be able to harm these foes... they're different from the Heartless." Sombra remarked, where she just gestured to the path ahead of them and Flynn took the opportunity to get himself, and Rapunzel, out of there before a fight was started, and she found that the Reaper just stared at them, it's body darker than the Nobodies they were used to seeing, to which she glanced at the area, "Okay, follower of Tenebris, you can come out now."

"So, you knew." a familiar voice said, where they found Marluxia standing there in the dark robes of Tenebris' Organization, his eyes tainted with darkness, meaning he had either been 'Norted', possessing a fragment of Xehanort's heart, or he had fallen into the darkness of his own free will, "You may refer to me as 'Dark Marluxia', if you wish... anything with 'nort' in it is unacceptable."

"And let me guess, you're either here to fulfill some personal goal before the war starts, or your interested in the Princess of Heart that's here." Sora stated, though Sombra had to smile a little as she heard that, because it seemed like working with her for as long as they had must have rubbed off on the young warrior, in fact she was sure that Sora's time with Kairi was also part of this, since she was still a Princess of Heart.

"The latter, actually. We could not find the Princesses of Heart in my timeline, so I wanted to see if I could find them in this timeline, or at least a few before the war started." Dark Marluxia confirmed, which was interesting to see, that he was willing to just tell them what he was doing here and what he was interested in, though at the same time he turned to the side for a moment as a Dark Corridor appeared nearby, "Do keep her safe... I know she's not needed in this timeline, but I would like her to remain safe all the same."

Seras and the others didn't have to say anything as Dark Marluxia stepped through the Dark Corridor and disappeared, but this did mean they would have to pay attention to Rapunzel until they dealt with whatever darkness was chasing her, and Sombra had a feeling that this world was going to be more eventful in the hours to come and was looking forward to the challenges that were no doubt coming their way.

War: Interrupted Festival

After talking with Dark Marluxia, and determining that there was definitely something off about him since his timeline was different from their own, the group moved into the area that happened to be beyond where he stopped them and found a number of Heartless that were the new ones they had discovered on this world. In addition to all of the other Heartless they had found so far there were also Powerwilds, the blue monkey Heartless, that wanted a piece of them, though once more none of them really stood a chance against Sombra and her friends, showcasing just how good they were as a team. The larger amount of enemies was still a concern, since there were more foes this time around than all of their previous travels through the worlds, but even then it wasn't too much for them to worry about as everyone weaved through the Heartless that were blocking the way forward. At the end of the path Sora discovered a dark forest, or a dark portion of what they were used to seeing, to which he and the others stood to the side as Sombra glanced at what was in front of them as she found that it was a marsh.

At the same time they discovered a woman approaching them, who wore a hood to cover her head, though she pulled it back as she stopped near them, revealing that she was well dressed and had black hair, but at the same time Sombra could sense the darkness that was inside her heart.

"Hello, dear travelers. Do you know where Rapunzel might be?" the woman asked, where she made it look like she was very worried about the young woman that was with Flynn, before she noticed that they had their eyebrows raised, causing her to give them a fake bow that was almost like a real one, "Apologizes, I am Rapunzel's mother, and I've been worried sick about her since I discovered that she wasn't home. Can you tell me where my dear, sweet girl might be?"

"She's on her way to the city... in fact, I'm sure she's already there." Donald replied, because he didn't trust the woman, this was too convenient for her to show up when they were separated from Rapunzel and Flynn, so while many weren't willing to lie to the woman, since they had told the truth to so many, he was willing to lie.

Sure enough his decision had been the right one since the woman scorned them for being worthless and wandered off into the marsh, in the opposite direction of where Rapunzel's light energy was coming from, as Sombra was able to navigate the area and reach where their companions were standing. As it turned out there was a white horse that happened to be in the middle of tormenting Flynn, or at least it had been before the gecko on Rapunzel's head convinced it to stand down, which was when Fluttershy worked her magic and spoke to the animals for a moment. It didn't take her long to actually convince the horse, Maximus, to help them out, though it worked doubly well when Rapunzel joined in and they brokered a sort of peaceful resolution to the entire situation, even if Flynn didn't want the horse with them at all. With the agreement made the group was able to continue on their way to the city, even though the woman from before was clearly going the wrong way in Sombra's mind, but she wasn't too worried as they focused on moving through the area that was ahead of them.

This time around they moved into a rocky area and discovered that there were no enemies around to worry about, at least for the time being, before Rapunzel located areas that she could use her hair to swing across, while Sombra and Radiant used their magic to form walkways for everyone else to use.

Of course Sombra wasn't sure why Flynn was taking the hardest route to the city, since this involved scaling cliffs, which was when they found that there were a few enemies in the form of Shadows and Bizarre Archers, foes they breezed through with ease, before finding caves to pass through. These areas happened to have some Earth Cores, Shadows, and a new bat type of Heartless that was a Pureblood, the 'Fluttering' as they decided to call them, though Sombra stood back and let the rest of the group deal with them, mostly so she could keep track of the energies that were dancing around the world. While Sora and the others took out all of their enemies, however, Sombra came to understand a reason behind why there was a larger number of enemies during this adventure and suspected that it had to do with her brother messing with time. Since they knew Tenebris had pulled in all of his dark allies, in the form of Dark Marluxia and everyone else that was no doubt with him, it stood to reason that the Heartless and Nobodies of those timelines were invading their timeline, using the portals that her brother had ripped in the fabric of space and time.

As she thought about that they reached an area that seemed to be where a Powerwild was waiting, with a pillar of new foes that looked to be carriages stacked on top of each other, one of which revealed that it had an equine form when it was on it's own, and when the Powerwild noticed them it actually smacked it's rear at them.

None of them were sure why the monkey had decided to do such a thing, but that didn't stop them from engaging the foes that were in the area, crushing all of the other Powerwilds that appeared in the area as Sora, Donald, and Goofy focused on distracting all three of the Chaos Carriages. The interesting thing was that the tower of Carriages could actually fire at them, as in they fired cannonballs at them, though since everyone was used to keeping an eye on things they avoided the attacks and even returned a few to the tower without delay, hurting it in the process. As it turned out the Chaos Carriages on their own were actually rather worthless, all they did was speed around the circular area that was around them and then stop for a time before turning and doing it again, and when one fell the next in the trio stepped up to fight. It was actually a sad thing to see, because it seemed like these foes might have something interesting to share with them, but as far as Sombra could tell the power of this Heartless was just to be fast for a time and barrel into things, thus allowing everyone to tear into them without wasting time.

After Sombra caught the hearts of the Heartless they continued along the way and found a forest path that brought them to an area they could slide down, so many of them did so without delay, allowing them to reach a stretch of road, a shore, that linked up to a long bridge that went right into the city.

"So, this is the Kingdom of Corona... it's an interesting place." Sombra commented, though at the same time they walked over to the bridge and started to cross it, finding that there were guards and citizens all over the place, meaning the road that was behind them must go to a village or town, but the city was their main focus.

"Yes, and it's all thanks to you that I'm able to see it." Rapunzel said, where there was a look of excitement on her face as she looked at the area that was around it, though at the same time it looked like Flynn had something inside the city to focus on, even though he mentioned that the lanterns would be going up after dark, which was what Rapunzel wanted to see.

As they entered the city Radiant found that many of the people were welcoming and didn't even seemed concerned by the fact that Flynn was among them, it was possible that none of them knew what he had done, nor were they worried about her and the other Equestrians, just like they had seen in the past. Another thing they discovered was that Rapunzel was pulled over to one of the larger groups and her hair was pulled in, as they braided it, folded it like they were smiths, braided them in turn, and eventually pulled into a long patch of hair that was no longer being dragged on the ground. After that the people of the city pulled out some instruments and stared to play music as the party portion of the festival started, where a number of people started to dance and have fun, in fact they were willing to pull Sora and the others in as if they were friends and not total strangers. Sombra suspected that this kingdom was one of the friendlier ones, despite the darkness that was in the odd woman's heart, yet found herself enjoying herself as she and the others joined the festival, giving them a chance to just relax, enjoy some food, and just have some fun before they worried about the future.

Eventually night came and they found that the people dispersed for a time, where Sombra and the others watched as both Rapunzel and Flynn headed out for the water, allowing them to rest on the docks as they watched as a sea of paper lanterns were released into the sky, just as Rapunzel wanted.

"I've got to say, this place knows how to party." Radiant remarked, where Fluttershy and Seras nodded their heads, because they knew Pinkie would have adored coming to this place, something to keep in mind for when they got back home after all of Xehanort and Tenebris' plans were taken down, before she noticed a Dark Corridor open on the watchtower outside the dock area, "And, of course, someone has to ruin the fun."

As it turned out it wasn't Dark Marluxia, as they were expecting, rather it was Young Xehanort and he had a mass of time magic in his hands, which he unleashed on where the group was standing before they could do anything to stop him, but as Sombra's magic interacted with it the scene around them shifted until they were back near Rapunzel's tower.

"Wh... What just happened?" Fluttershy asked, as she was sure that Young Xehanort had used time magic on them, that part she and the others didn't need to be told about since they were used to seeing Sombra use that power from time to time, but she wasn't sure what the specifics of this magic were supposed to be, hence why they were looking at Sombra.

"Young Xehanort is screwing with time still... that or Tenebris told him to do this. He cast us forward in time for a couple of hours." Sombra remarked, which meant that he had done so to prevent them from getting involved with the second half of Rapunzel's story, in fact her light went out inside the tower, causing her to growl as she drew her keyblade, which she quickly pointed at the tower, "Come on, let's go deal with whatever darkness is about to show up."

As they moved, however, Sombra stopped as she glanced back and found the bronze time dragon figure standing behind her, where the sands of time formed a message telling her that the figure had mended the damage to this world's time, no doubt a message to make sure she didn't do something stupid in her anger. Once the message was delivered the figure just disappeared, either by magic or because this was an illusion in case someone else was watching them, causing Sombra to focus on the area that was around the tower as something fell out of the uppermost window. It was the cloak that the one pretending to be Rapunzel's mother had been wearing during their brief meeting, though it bared her heart and was taken by the darkness, producing a large tree stub shaped Heartless with four arm like appendages and a tail. The tree Heartless attacked them by using it's four arms against them, summoned a storm of the Flutterings, or lashing it's head down at them, all of which were easy to avoid since the Heartless' attacks weren't that great.

It did, however, have an ultimate attack of sorts, where it would wrap around the top of the tower and then summon what appeared to be rings of roots of some kind to keep them contained and force them to find the weak one to progress to the next one, all while dropping acorn shaped bombs on where they were standing. As Sombra pulled back, however, she noted the creation of the Heartless' Nobody in the area that the cloak would have landed in if the darkness hadn't claimed it, to which she sighed for a moment as she used her own dark magic to quickly terminate the figure. She knew that keeping the figure around would cause problems for Rapunzel and Flynn, so getting rid of the woman meant that they would be able to focus on their lives after this point, and when she turned back to the battle that was going on she found that she wasn't even needed right now. The others were more than enough to bring down the Heartless, the 'grim Gardianess' she guessed, and the moment it was brought down she captured it's heart, though that was also when a new light emerged from the tower, a fact that meant Rapunzel had to be safe.

As it turned out the fake mother had stabbed Flynn and Rapunzel's tears had the power to heal, even though her hair had been cut to a shorter appearance, while also turning a brown coloration for some reason, but at least the pair seemed fine after everything they had been though, and as the others chatted with them Sombra knew things were getting bad if the dragon figure had to get closer, making her worry about what the future had in store for them and the worlds.

War: Monsters and Emotions

With the danger in Rapunzel's world dealt with Sora and the others returned to the Gummi Ship and set off for another portion of space, following the guidance of the World since it was directing them to the worlds that Tenebris' dark forces were interested in, either for their own reasons or because it would help him out. As it turned out the path brought them into a new portion of space that none of them had been in before, so the first thing Sora did was track down the closest of the Warp Stations, so they could warp back to Twilight Town if they wanted to do so, and they might since Sombra had a lot of ideas to share with the little rat chef. The best thing for Sora was that the Heartless Gummies that were in this portion of space were definitely stronger than the ones he had faced off against while they were moving between the last couple of worlds, even though Sombra and everyone else knew he'd beat them anyway. It was actually amazing how he had started as a newbie when it came to using the Gummi Ship and was now one of the best pilots around, allowing him to cut through all of the enemy ships while the systems collected the excess materials.

Just like before there were areas for him to loot, gems to smash for their components, and enemies to fight, some no doubt guarding the worlds that happened to be in this area, where the Heartless Gummi that was blocking the way to the first world, one that appeared to be a factory with doors, seemed to be a shark shaped ship. Not only did this foe fire off blasts at them, like all of the other enemy Gummies, it also deployed round attack orbs that created energy blades to attack their ship with, all of which Sora tore through with the weapons that were at his disposal. It's only other attacks were to turn invisible or to try and bite through them so it could destroy their ship, but Sora was ready and waiting for whatever tricks it had, to the point where he was able to bring it down in no time at all. Sombra nodded as the others cheered, while at the same time she snatched the ship's heart to make sure it was put to good use, allowing the darkness around the new world to disperse so Sora could land and let them see what this one had in store for them.

As they approached the world, however, Sombra felt something off about it, as she was sure that it held the presence of one of Tenebris' allies, but there was something else that seemed oddly familiar as Sora brought them to a stop in the space just outside the world's border.

"Guys, be sure to keep your guards up... there's something about this world that's oddly familiar, I just can't tell what it might be." Sombra commented, all while noticing that the system for integrating them into the type of people that inhabited this world was active, meaning they would be assuming new forms when they went down to this world, meaning it was going to be far more exciting than what she and the others might have assumed after they looked at it.

Sora nodded as he warped everyone down to the world's surface, only to find that they were placed outside the factory that was part of the design they could see while flying through space, where he found that he took on a bestial form with gray furred skin with black stripes, his pants and shoes were gone, and he had a small canine tail. Donald was mostly the same as his normal form, but he had a single eye, two small like fangs on his beak, his tail was now a small lavender spike and he had a pair of small leathery bat wings on his back. Goofy was much like Donald, in that his overall form looked the same, though he had aqua-green skin with black spots, his forearms and calves were elongated and larger than the rest of his arms and legs, his ears were gone despite the fact that he could still hear them, and he had heterochromia as his right was blue and his left was red. Fluttershy and Seras were shorter than normal, in fact they were about half their normal sizes and were now red skinned individuals, with black horns on their heads that had thin white strips at certain intervals, imps Sombra guessed, and they were nearly identical, since they were technically twins, Fluttershy having pink hair and Seras having red.

Radiant found that her new form seemed to be that of a centaur, though it was more like a spider, because she had all eight legs of a spider and the lower body of one, hence why she thought of herself as more of a 'centaur' in a sense, though this was their first time encountering such a creature. Radiant also found that the new spider body seemed to possess her own colors as well, making it look like she was naturally born in this body, though her upper body was still human, or still that of an anthro pony, which was just odd as she moved her new limbs around. Sombra, on the other hand, found that she was far different than she could have imagined, as while her form still resembled a human, to a degree, she noticed her fingers were red claws, but then the area from her palms to her elbows were pure darkness, in fact the same was true for her feet, she had three toed clawed feet and a small odd heel, all four red colored, while the darkness on her legs stopped just above her knees. The upper parts of her arms and legs, plus her main body, were actually a crystalline blue and seemed to be furred, plus they had intricate golden tattoos that seemed to be her light side, showing the unity between her light and darkness, all while her head appeared to be somewhat human with pointed ears and her curved horn was still in place.

She even discovered that she had a scaly tail in place of her normal tail, like a dragon's and colored like her hands and feet, red at the bladed tip before moving into the portion of darkness that rested between that and the crystalline blue of her main body, and just like everyone else she had to stretch her body and get used to it, even though some of them were slightly freaked out by how the others looked.

"We're... monsters?! This is so weird." Sora commented, though he was happy to see that even Donald was surprised, despite the fact that he knew of the magic that did this to each of them, causing him to look at the factory that appeared to be their main destination for the duration of their stay in this world, which had a motto going 'We scare because we care', "And yet I'm excited for what this world might have to offer us... does that make any sense?"

"Yes, because everyone feels the same." Radiant remarked, where she and the others entered the facility, allowing them to see that there was a short round green skinned figure with a single eye, a large furry figure that seemed like a beast of some kind, and a little kid in a pink outfit that seemed to be having fun right now.

As it turned out the kid seemed to notice them first and the green monster seemed worried about the group seeing the kid in their possession, not that the blue beast seemed to mind, and the kid pointed at Donald while saying 'Mike Wazowski', a fact that annoyed the green monster. Mike seemed to think that they would raise the alarm and indicated that it was some sort of code, but since none of them were scared of humans the blue one, Sully, was more than willing to talk with them and they told the pair their names. Such a thing allowed them to see that the little girl, a toddler based on what they could see, really preferred to call Donald by Mike's name, before she cowered behind Sully for a moment and pointed at something that was behind the group. Such a thing caused them to glance back and quickly discovered a number of small black critters that could have passed for Shadows if they were rounded, and they had dark blue tips on their heads, before noticing that there was a massive toad shaped creature entering the large lobby area as well.

Fortunately the massive toad had an emblem on it that didn't match the one that belonged to the Heartless, nor did it match the one that belonged to the Nobodies, rather it was a heart of sorts that expressed emotions, which was all Sombra needed to realize who was in front of them.

"No way... Unversed?! Here, of all places?" Sombra remarked, as this wasn't something even she was expecting, and yet she had a smile on her face as she noticed the emotional creatures, because if they were back, in full force, then that told her one simple fact, Vanitas was back and she realized that he was here, on this world, "Of course... it all makes sense."

Sora had no idea what Sombra had figured out and knew that it would have to wait for the time being as she engaged their new foes, as Goofy and Donald had only heard of the Unversed from their King, the smaller 'Floods' and the larger 'Spiked Turtletoad', the former much like the Shadows and the latter like the Large Bodies. This was due to how both moved and how the group had to deal with them, as the Floods were fast, like lightning, and the Spiked Turtletoad was slow but had a hard shell that allowed it to tank attacks like they were nothing. The group also found that Sully and Mike were eager to help them out, their claws and hands knocking the Unversed back into the attacks of the others, which was nice to see, though Boo, the toddler, was hiding while they engaged the enemies that had appeared out of thin air. Even with their new bodies it took them no time to bring down the Unversed, where Sombra noted that they, too, didn't release hearts, which made sense due to the fact that they were just emotions given life, but this left the smile on her face.

When the battle was completed their new friends moved to tend to Boo, to make sure she was fine, where Sombra found that her friends walked over to her for a moment, no doubt to ask some questions before they got started on helping the pair of monsters with whatever they might need help with.

"So... Unversed... does that mean what I think it means?" Sora asked, because Ventus and the others had talked a lot about their big adventure that had caused one of them to end up in the Realm of Darkness, one had his heart fractured so his body could be stolen, and the third had been put to sleep because his heart had been pushed out of his body, so they knew about the various types of Unversed from the tale, and the one controlling them.

"It does. Vanitas, he's here... though in what emotional state, I cannot say." Sombra replied, as Vanitas was known for being a dark being who relished in being evil, even though it was all for Xehanort's sake, but after collecting all of his light fragments, the pieces of his heart that had been ripped from him to force him to walk on darkness' side, Sombra realized that there was more to Vanitas than one could possibly know, "What I know is that he's here, somewhere, and we'll have to deal with him at some point... I'd like to restore his heart, if at all possible."

Radiant smiled as she heard that, because it just showed her that Sombra was a new person, caring about others, especially villains who had no choice but to follow this path, and it made her happy that they were brought to this portion of the World so they could see Sombra change like this. While she thought about that the group agreed to help Sully and Mike get Boo back to her home world, which meant tracking down her door and sending her back through it, because once upon a time the monsters had scared children and traveled to their world using closet doors. It was interesting to see, which meant they were more like boogeymen, though Mike insisted that they were done using 'scream power', rather they had discovered that laughter was far more potent than scream could ever be, meaning they had an even better way to provide power to the rest of the city. The interesting thing was that there were also Unversed emerging from some of the closet doors that were set up in stands to keep them upright, and standing in front of them was a black robed figure with a black helmet, like a mask of some kind with black glass at the front portion of it.

"No, stop... don't go in there! Why... Why are the Unversed ignoring me?" the figure said, where it looked like he was trying to stop the emotional creatures from doing more harm than what they were currently doing, and was failing by the looks of it, though the moment he noticed them standing there he freaked out and vanished through a Dark Corridor.

"Oh, that's not good... Vanitas, he's... his heart is scattered." Sombra remarked, in fact she was sure of it, the remaining bits of Vanitas' heart were on this world, given physical forms by the looks of it thanks to the presence of the Unversed, though she suspected that there was a 'Dark Vanitas', one from Tenebris' tampering with time, somewhere on this world, no doubt the true master of the Unversed, hence the fragment's mention of them not paying attention to him.

Sora had learned to trust Sombra's thoughts over the years and trusted that she knew what she was talking about, though at the same time this discovery made him wonder what was going to happen as they aided Sully and Mike in getting Boo back home, as it seemed like they were in for a wild ride this time around and he hoped that they were ready for whatever else this world had to offer them.

War: Danger in the Facility

Once the fragment of Vanitas was gone, and the group was sure that the Laugh Floor was clear of Unversed, Mike quickly revealed how they were going to get Boo back home, they were going to call in some doors and ride them into the Door Vault, which was the easiest thing to do. Sombra asked why he wasn't just calling in Boo's closest door and Mike told them that the keycard for her door wasn't at the desk that they had placed her folder on when they brought her in for a visit earlier, meaning someone had her keycard and he was willing to bet it was one of the Unversed. Since they had no idea which foe had the item in question Mike just assumed it would be easier for them to head into the Door Vault, find the door, and then activate it with Boo's laughter so they could send her home, since laughter was ten times as strong as scream. With that in mind Sombra didn't have anything to critique, to which she and the others watched as the doors were lowered into the devices that held them, though since there were only three doors Sombra and the Equestrians used their magic to fly through the air.

As such they moved into the massive backroom that was the Door Vault, where there were lines upon lines of rails that the doors were moved along, devices to sort out which ones were needed and which ones needed to remain in the 'vault' area, and, as the group expected, some enemies in the form of Nocturnes attacked them, though they wiped them out as their hearts were collected by Sombra.

What they discovered was that there were platforms for them, and the workers of this place, to stop at and work from, an area Mike told them they had to stop at since there was a door there that should be connected to another part of the facility, though since it was offline Sully had to entertain Boo. Such a thing meant he would get her laughing, but to make sure she was safe the rest of the group had to deal with the Heartless that were coming at them, which involved Soldiers, Nocturnes, and a few Large Bodies, which was odd to see both the Unversed and the Heartless in the same world. Sombra guessed that this was partly due to Tenebris' tampering with the timelines, allowing multiple things to happen to the various worlds, while at the same time his allies were doing things that allowed more foes to invade the worlds, hence what they were seeing at the moment. Such a thing caused her to sigh as they crushed their enemies and Boo laughed at whatever Sully was doing, a fact that was followed by the door powering up and Mike opened it to reveal another portion of the facility, where the group quickly moved through it.

It brought them to another portion of the Door Vault and they jumped on a new rail without delay, Sora's group remaining on the rails while Sombra's flew around them with magic and Sully's trio remained on the door they had grabbed onto, as the pair knew to let them deal with the enemies that were in their way. Sora thought he could throw himself across the gap between their rail and the next one, which was where Boo's door was located, and when he missed Sombra grabbed him with her magic and put him on another rail, allowing them to move over to another platform to engage some Heartless. By that point Sombra could see that Boo's door was a lost cause, it was part of the massive wall of doors and tracking it down was going to be a nightmare, especially since her keycard was missing, which had to be in the hands of the main villain that happened to be lurking in the darkness. Once those enemies were taken care of they found another door that brought them to the bottom of the door wall, where they just so happened to find a door that looked a lot like Boo's, laying against a wall like nothing was wrong, even though something was clearly wrong with this picture.

Sure enough Sombra grabbed the figure that was hiding on the door, a purple chameleon creature that was definitely one of the monsters of this world, and since the door behind him was powered she threw him through the opening, allowing them to enter another portion of the facility, but she was victorious as she picked up the keycard he dropped.

"What the... Randall? How'd you get back here?" Sully asked, because this wasn't something they were expecting to see, as he and Mike had assumed that the chameleon would have remained banished for the rest of his life, and yet here he was, being a thorn in their sides once more, "He was a bully and a creep that was Boo's scarer once upon a time... we banished you for trying to collect screams by force, by planning to kidnap children and forcefully extract the screams from them. The door we sent him through was turned to sawdust, to make sure he couldn't come back."

"Yeah, but a real nice guy in a dark coat opened the way back for me... and now I'm taking over the company, to restore it to it's former glory!" the purple monster, Randall, stated, though before he could do anything Fluttershy grabbed his neck and headbutted him, which was both a surprise and not a surprise to the group, as she was the kindest of them all, yet when she found someone that annoyed her she usually reacted like this.

"You know, Fluttershy's usually a kind person... but when you do something like this prepare for her to beat you down in no time." Seras remarked, though at the same time Sombra wrapped her magic around the monster and trapped him in a dark ball, almost a marble really, which she pocketed for the time being as she turned to everyone else, "And then you have the likes of Sombra, sometimes stopping stupid villains in their tracks... oh well, this let's us focus on our true foe."

Sully and Mike didn't know what to make of the situation that was in front of them, but decided not to ask questions, since they were on their side, which was why they headed deeper into the portion of the facility that they were in, which appeared to be an area for making door frames and other items for their work. Sure enough there were more of the Flutterwings and the turret Heartless for them to wipe out, but the main worry about the area in front of them happened to be a number of lasers, where Sombra could see someone at the controls, a dark coated figure. When she and her friends got close the figure wandered off, though she could feel what was going on with just a quick glance, the fragments of Vanitas' heart were lost, as if his darker side never had a chance to properly reform. Her thoughts went back to the one they had seen on the floor that all of the workers of the main work force happened to work on, the scarers turned jesters and comedians, and that told her everything she needed to know, to which she pulled back and silently weaved her power throughout the world, while also connecting the power to the light portion of Vanitas' heart.

Her plan was simple, she was going to use the restored light half of Vanitas' being as a beacon of sorts and draw in the bits of Vanitas' heart, because if she could get all of them together in one place she was sure that she could restore him to who he could have been, had Xehanort not robbed him of his potential and his potential future.

Following the first chamber they found more Unversed, who wanted them all dead, but even with Sombra holding back to let everyone else fight she knew that it hardly mattered, as Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras were more than enough, and when she added in Sora's group their enemies didn't stand much of a chance at all. Eventually they reached an elevator that had no power, so the best thing to do in Mike's eye was for him and Sully to enter a painting station for a few seconds, where the pair emerged with a new paint job that caused Boo to laugh, powering the machinery for them to use it. With that done all of them climbed onto the lift and used it to access another floor, though when they did so the group walked out into an area where a pipe broke a little, dousing Boo's monster guardians with water and got rid of their purple and blue paint. A couple of Water Cores came out to attack the group as well, though Sully and Mike continued to see that they didn't need help, to which Sombra told them that they were more like exterminators, taking care of these beings and cleaning up the area, as she could see that the pair were curious about their professions.

It was the simplest answer that could be given without disrupting the natural order more than the Heartless and Unversed were doing, and the pair accepted it without delay, though she told Sully and Mike that they'd help deal with Randall once they got to a machine that would allow them to use Boo's keycard.

Along the way the group discovered another malfunctioning machine that Sora's group disabled, so the trio they were in the middle of escorting could follow after them, since they trusted them to lead them to safety, only to stop by an area where a combined force of Heartless and Unversed were waiting for them. As they did that Sombra noticed that a number of figures in dark coats were watching them from afar, though while everyone else might be worried about this turn of events she was calm and collected, as each one held a portion of Vanitas' heart, she could feel the pull of their emotions. Each one held one piece of his darker emotions, his rage, anger, hatred, envy, pride, and everything else that Xehanort had forced him to live with over the years, she could practically feel his darkness trying to reform itself, yet something was holding it back. In that moment Sombra understood what was going on, there was another piece of the dark being missing, not a fragment of light since she had all of those, but it was part of his darkness, and without that part he couldn't reform as a full person.

After wiping out the remainder of their enemies they reached the central control point, a terminal that was also broken, and to overload it they had to make Boo laugh once more, though Mike failed with his tennis joke, using his eye like a ball that was being hit back and forth between two players. The key to making her laugh came from them making funny faces, which was actually Sora's idea, and her laughter definitely overloaded the system, causing the door to open so they could head out into the Power Plant, as there was another route to the Door Vault they could use. When they got outside the group found that a number of larger Spiked Turtletoads just wrecking stuff, setting fire to the outer portion of the facility in the process, a side effect it looked like, and there were a few helicopters moving around, dropping yellow suited monsters who were trying to fight the flames and the Unversed. With that discovery in mind the group went to work once more, some of them fighting the Unversed while a few of the others used their magic to put out all of the flames, earning the thanks of the yellow suited monsters before they rushed off to save another portion of the facility.

From there it was a matter of repeating the same thing, taking out the Unversed and putting out the fires, as the outside part was just the same thing on repeat, even part of the area exploding really didn't stop them all that much, and they only came to a stop when they spotted what appeared to be a massive glob of dark emotional energy with machine parts.

"And there it is, the last piece of Vanitas' fragmented and shattered heart: fear." Sombra remarked, where she held a hand out for a few seconds and let her power rush over the Unversed's form, like lines appearing on a cracked surface, and sure enough the monster shattered into goo fragments, which wrapped around each other before turning into a small glass-like shard that was filled with the dark emotion.

Following that they discovered a door that lead them to one that Sully and Mike recognized, the one they used to banish Randall, so Sombra released the figure and Seras just tossed him through the door, where they heard the humans on the other side talking about hurting him. To be sure he was forever sealed off Sora also used his Keyblade to lock it, causing the door to disappear in a burst of light, though he was sure that it would prevent Randall from using the other closet doors in the world, effectively locking him in exile. Once that was done they tracked down the door wall and climbed up to, though as soon as they reached Boo's door something interesting happened, her door and several others moved towards the Laugh Floor like someone wanted to use them, causing them to ride the doors for a time. When they reached their destination the group could see what was going on almost immediately, there were a number of black coats, each the same height while moving in different ways, and yet when Sombra entered the area all of them stopped, watching her like she was the one that would fix them.

As she landed, however, Sombra held out the dark shard she had recovered and everyone watched as the crowd of figures turned into a mass of darkness that swirled around the item, and when everything was said and done only a single person stood in front of them.

"Everything... is quiet. I am myself once more." the figure said, where he pulled back his hood and revealed the dark mask that Vanitas was associated with, while at the same time Sora noted that the figure's voice was oddly like his own, only a tad bit darker, before glancing at himself for a moment as he verified that his dark heart was complete, "However, I am still far from whole... brother, I need the part of me that you hold."

"No, you don't... what you are feeling is the echo of Ventus' heart, which was sleeping inside Sora." Sombra replied, though at the same time she held her hand out and the glowing light half of Vanitas' heart appeared above her hand, something that caused the figure to take a step back for a moment, while everyone else stared at her as they waited to see what she was going to do next, "What you are looking for is this: the light half of your heart. I now return it to you."

As the missing portion of Vanitas' heart was returned to him several things happened, the first being that the Darkness that Vanitas truly was, as Prexus told Sombra all about the prison and everything, was restored to it's full power, but Sombra just silently drew it out of the figure without harming Vanitas, as he was his own person and the last Darkness was sealed away in no time. The next was that part of the mask cracked, revealing one of Vanitas' yellow eyes, the sign of a user of darkness in the World, but at the same time Sombra noticed that a light blue ring appeared around his eye, like the light was settling into place and he was finally returning to who he used to be before Xehanort shattered his heart. After that both she and Sora saw the confusion in Vanitas' eye as the mask cracked and revealed that he looked like a copy of Sora, save for his dark hair, and yet that was when Sora made a move that Sombra had been silently hoping he'd make, he embraced the figure that was lost and confused. Ventus had told all of them the tale multiple times, mostly to get the facts straight, about how Vanitas saw him as a brother, especially since he was torn out of Ventus' body, and how they guessed that Sora saving Ventus' heart could have an effect on Vanitas... and here Sora was, accepting Vanitas, giving him someone to embrace, a hero comforting a lost kid or a crying sibling.

It had the effect that Sora wanted, Vanitas, despite himself, returned the gesture, though it also caused some magic to wash over him, changing his form into a slightly darker version of Sora's world form, only Sombra was sure he was more feline than canine, while his attire turned into a dark gray version of Sora's... it was like what Fluttershy and Seras had experienced, twins with slight changes to tell them apart.

"Ah, how the mighty have fallen." a new voice said, where Sombra found that Young Xehanort was standing nearby, like he had watched the union of Vanitas' heart fragments and still understood nothing, which made her wonder what it would take to convince him that he was the one in the wrong, "Oh well, we still have the version of him from a darker timeline... this one is worthless to our cause."

Sombra said nothing to the figure as Sully attacked from behind, the sudden scare surprising Young Xehanort, though she did bind him with golden chains while the larger monster picked him up, which was when Mike used four keycards to bring in four more doors, ones that didn't get used frequently. In the following moment Sombra put a bit of a curse on the dark figure, cutting off his power to use the Dark Corridors for a time, which was when Sully sent him flying through the first door, pulled that one out of it's metal frame, and then hurled that door through the second. He then repeated that with the third and fourth doors, sending the one before it through the next in line, and once the fourth door was closed the two monsters used a 'door shredder' to cut up the last door, effectively locking Young Xehanort out of the world. Once they were sure he was gone Sully and Mike made sure to escort Boo through her door, though not before Sora's group gave her a couple of silly faces, causing her to laugh as she headed back to her bedroom in the human world.

Of course Vanitas was confused on what to do, he had all of his heart back, his future was in his hands at long last, and yet he seemed conflicted on what to do, something that caused Sora to take his hand with a smile, all while the rest of the group smiled as well... and yet he offered them a light friendly one as well, to which Sombra knew they would be helping him crawl out of his shell, all while curious as to what the future held for them now.

War: Icy World

As they returned to their ship Sombra found that her thoughts were right, Vanitas was a mess emotionally, which wasn't a surprise since his heart had been restored, he now knew that Xehanort was behind his suffering, and Young Xehanort had just tossed him to the side like he was a worthless toy or something. They discovered that since he was influenced by Sora, which was why he looked nearly identical to the boy, Vanitas' attire shifted into a red and black version of Sora's attire, like the colors had been inverted for some odd reason, but this meant they might need to get him his own attire soon. For the time being he seemed fine with what he had, and he could still summon his Keyblade, so it wasn't like Sombra had crippled him or anything, but he required time and that was what the group was offering him. While they did that Sora took them out into space once more and resumed what he usually did when he traveled between the worlds, which was tearing through the Heartless Gummies, collecting resources, or just having some fun.

The part of space that they moved through happened to be where they found a number of massive ice fragments floating in their way, so Sora had to navigate around them so he didn't damage the ship, where he found a large chunk of space ice that shattered upon him approaching it. What they discovered was that there was a large Heartless Gummi, a fortress, waiting under the ice and attacked their ship as soon as all of the ice that had been covering it was gone, causing Sora to move into a defensive stance as he engaged the Glacial Fortress. Based on what Sora was seeing the outer wall was his current target, he had to break the large ice crystals that were used to divide a beam of energy into six pieces, cutting into the area that he could use to dodge through, but it only made him smile as he navigated through the danger and fired at the crystals. There were a number of smaller Heartless Gummies that joined the fight as well, a difference between the guardians of the other worlds and this one, but Sora was fine with that as he destroyed both the crystals and their enemies.

Sombra made sure to snatch the freed hearts as Sora tore down their enemies, and when the wall fell Sora fired on the main ship without delay, destroying all of the outermost guardians and the laser docks that were part of the fortress, and when he found the main core, at the top of the main tower, the entire Glacial Fortress shattered, allowing Sombra to claim another heart as they focused on the world that was ahead of them.

"I have to admit, that one was more interesting than I thought. Certainly had more health than some of the other enemies I've fought in space." Sora commented, though at the same time he looked at the screen that was in front of him and found that the world that was in front of them was a world of frost, snow, and ice, while the systems indicated that there was no magic they had to worry about, no new world forms to take, causing him to bring the ship to a stall before glancing back at the group, "Vanitas, do you want to come with us, or do you want to sit this out? I know you're still thinking about what just happened, but fighting and directing your emotions can be a good thing... I'm not going to force you, if you don't want to join us. It's entirely up to you."

"No, fighting might calm me down." Vanitas said, where he looked up at the group and wondered how he'd fit in with them, he was just another Keyblade wielder at the end of the day, a strong one at that, but decided that another pair of eyes would be good since they had no idea what sort of dangers would be waiting for them this time around.

Sora nodded as he warped all of them down to the world's surface, where he found that it was a cold and snowy place, just like what the visage they saw in space looked like, and while he was cold for a time, like a few of the others were, he found that Sombra and Radiant were just fine.

"What? We grew up in the Frozen North, even if we were inside the Crystal Empire's barrier most of the time, and this cold is just like home to us." Radiant remarked, though she had to admit that this felt nice, it was just like home, a comfort she had been missing, and the same was true for Sombra, making her hope that they could return home once all of this was said and done, before noticing that the sea nearby was turning to ice.

The cause of this happened to be a white haired girl, a princess based on her tiara and the elegant nature of her dress, even if she had a purple cape and one of her hands had a glove over it, though she was running on the water and her footsteps were leaving the area around her steps frozen. It was a makeshift bridge, but it was painfully obvious that she had no control over her power and that power was now eating away at the entire area around where she had walked, freezing both the rest of the water and everything that was around it, like the ships near the city. Sombra glanced at the others for a moment, who nodded before following after the girl, because her power was wild and out of control, meaning there was no telling what sort of damage she could do, and with Sombra there Sora knew that they could lend the princess some aid. Sure enough it wasn't long before they found some Heartless getting in their way, more Soldiers with a number of the Parasol Beauties, the latter being a more annoying type, but that didn't stop them from attacking them, where Vanitas rushed behind them and struck the Heartless with his gear-like Keyblade.

Of course there were some water Nocturnes and a few Flutterings as well, but the group barely worried about them as they tore through their enemies, before they discovered another new type of Heartless, a deer shaped type that seemed to be made from frost, 'Winterhorns' as Fluttershy called them.

"Wait, so you guys name all of the enemies you take down?" Vanitas asked, as that seemed odd to him, though he reflected on it and realized he must have done the same thing when he named the various Unversed that had come from his cracked and broken heart, even if he didn't remember doing such a thing.

"Helps us keep track of them." Seras remarked, where she moved through the air and struck down the new enemies that were in the middle of a jump, while at the same time the rest of the group engaged the others, taking all of them down in a short period of time, which just showed Vanitas how skilled they were.

An interesting thing they had to do this time around was run up some of the flat stone walls in order to move forward, just like they practiced before this adventure had started, and Vanitas studied them for a few moments before doing the same, as he wasn't about to be left behind on his first world visit with them. Sombra smiled as she looked back at him and Sora, as while the pair weren't actually brothers, since Sora was an only child, the two were acting as if they were actual brothers as they climbed the mountain, one casual and one serious. It was like Vanitas was the serious older brother all of a sudden while Sora was the more carefree and freely casual brother, and while it was clear that Vanitas wasn't fully comfortable with everything, he still required time to come to terms with everything, it did seem like a part of him enjoyed the idea that he was actually traveling and working with one of his 'siblings'. Such a thing made her wonder how he would take to working with both Ventus and Roxas, the other two that were part of the group, but she knew that was something they would have to worry about later as she focused on what the rest of the path held in store for them.

Eventually they caught up with the princess, who was huffing as she walked through the snow as well, because it looked like she had taken an entirely different path to reach this point, which was possible since this was a mountain they were in the middle of climbing, and, of course, she was surprised by their presence.

"Who are you people? Where did you come from? And why are you here?" the princess asked, though at the same time it was far too easy for the Equestrians to see that she was nervous and shy, but also in a way that made it clear that she had something she was trying to hide, which Sombra and the others of her kind realized had to be the icy power they had seen after arriving on this world.

"I'm Sora, this is my brother Vanitas, and these are our friends." Sora replied, without even missing a beat, something that caused Sombra to mentally smile for a moment, he had certainly come out of his shell after talking to so many different types of people, and now he was taking charge like a leader, or at least a courageous hero, "We're actually from an island that's much warmer than this... and the reason we're climbing this mountain is because we were worried about you, since there are Heartless wandering around."

"Honestly, it's not safe out here... especially for a princess like yourself." Vanitas added, because it didn't look like she had any other powers or combat abilities, and she certainly didn't have a weapon, so that meant she was in danger if a group of Heartless decided to suddenly attack her, so they had to get her somewhere safe he reckoned.

"Princess? No, I am Queen Elsa, of Arendelle." the woman stated, which caused most of the group to stand there for a few seconds before saluting her, mostly because it was what had to be done, though at the same time Sombra knew that she must have been newly crowned and was currently running away from said crown, meaning she was more like an exile and would be a queen of nothing, but decided not to mention that.

As it turned out they didn't have that much time to talk about something else as more Winterhorns attacked, where Sora and the others got a glimpse of Elsa's power, she was able to wave her hand and ice followed, piercing the new Heartless in their chests and freeing their hearts, which Sombra snatched. When one of the Rock Trolls showed up, however, the group engaged the Heartless and let Elsa flee, where they lashed out with their powers and skills once more, taking care of the rest of the Winterhorns first since their speed was more annoying to deal with. Once those foes were dealt with, and they were sure there were no more to deal with, the group turned on the Rock Troll and dodged it's attacks, slashing and blasting at it's arms and legs while they did so, though at the same time Sombra noted that Elsa was definitely fleeing, she had created a large wall of ice and was on her way to the summit. It was clear that she didn't want them following her at all, even if they had good intentions, meaning she was scared of everyone, but for the time being she focused on their foe and brought it down with ease, causing the group to turn towards the ice wall for a moment.

In the next instant they found that a Dark Corridor opened and discovered that another familiar face stepped out of it, for it was Larxene, only she was wearing the black coat that meant she was 'Dark' Larxene, one of Tenebris' allies, though that was followed by them focusing on her for a time.

"Dark Larxene... let me guess, you're here to spy on Elsa?" Seras asked, though this was sad, because she was friends with the version of the woman that was in front of them, but it just confirmed how twisted Tenebris was that he had created so many dark and twisted timelines, yanking their dark warriors out to fill out his own ranks.

"Good guess. Honestly, since we don't need the seven lights anymore, thanks to the change in our plan, I'm just killing time before the war starts." Dark Larxene replied, where she sounded impressed that they had guessed her motives so quickly, but at the same time it didn't seem like she overly cared about but she did raise her hand as lightning crackled around her fingers, which she used to shatter the ice wall, "Though to be honest, while ice isn't my forte, I need to do something to all of you to make sure you don't ruin the show too soon... so here, have fun in an icy prison."

Sombra found that their foe was infusing the ice with darkness, creating a sphere around them that moved them into some sort of pocket dimension, which happened to be a large fortress made of ice, which just told her that Tenebris' allies were getting far stronger if they were able to do things like this.

"She's definitely more skilled than I thought she'd be." Radiant remarked, though the ice fortress seemed to be on par with the designs of the Crystal Empire, which was a shame since it was all ice and darkness, but it did mean Dark Larxene had good taste in interior decoration, even if it meant her ability to manipulate other elements was quite good as well.

"Yes, but she's given us a good place to fight our way out of." Sombra stated, where she and the others noticed that there were a number of Heartless in front of them, along with the Ninja Nobodies that were Dark Larxene's, only darker than their original counterparts, causing the group to summon their weapons as they faced their enemies, "Let's have some fun before we catch up with Elsa."

Sora, Vanitas, and the others nodded their heads as they rushed out and clashed with their enemies, though at the same time she found herself wondering what other obstacles this world might throw at them and what they would discover in the near future, making her smile as she focused on the here and now, leaving the other stuff for when they got out of this icy prison.

War: Songs, Ice, and Darkness

After dealing with the dangers that were in the icy prison that Dark Larxene wanted to lock them inside, and collecting a fair number of hearts while doing so, the group found the exit portal and returned to the path, though Elsa was no longer in the area and that meant she was still climbing the mountain. With that in mind the group did what they did best, which was just cutting through the enemies that were in their way, which consisted of the Nocturnes, Flutterings, and more of the Popcats they had seen previously, the latter being discovered in large groups. From what everyone could see the Heartless seemed to be lost, or maybe they were just bored and were having some fun before they were pulled into the Keyblade War, but that didn't stop them from wiping the floor with the enemies that were in the way. Goofy even noticed that they were high up on the mountain, to the point that Arendelle and it's castle looked like they were so far away from this height, allowing them to just look out at the vastness of this world before worrying about what was ahead of them.

Eventually they reached what appeared to be the snowy peaks of the mountain, where the group paused for a moment as they heard Elsa's voice over the wind, her singing about 'snow glowing white' and 'no footprints to be seen', something that caused the Equestrians to chuckle as they continued towards the peak.

"This certainly feels like home." Fluttershy remarked, because it was just like Ponyville, she and the other ponies sang about all sorts of things, from the wrapping up of winter to what they would do at the gala, causing her to realize why Sombra and Radiant had made the comment when they first appeared on this world.

They followed the sound of Elsa singing, where she mentioned that this was a 'kingdom of isolation', that she happened to be it's 'queen', and all sorts of other things that made it clear she was keeping a bunch of emotions inside her, such as the 'swirling storm inside'. What was interesting was that Elsa let go of her other glove and let the wind take it, while letting out her powers for the first time, willingly Sombra noted, to the point that she made what appeared to be a little snowman, only to let go of her cape as well. Eventually she reached a turning point where Elsa started to use her power differently, where Sombra watched as she channeled her power and made a staircase made out of ice, forged from magical snow or frost, and when she reached the highest point of the peak that was when things got interesting. When Elsa brought her foot down in an area of the peak Sora and the others watched as an icy platform grew out of the ground, rather it was like she channeled her power down into the ground to make several pillars grow out around her before connecting into a platform, and that was followed by her weaving her power into an icy palace that was on the side of the mountain.

The Equestrians glanced at each other, as this was almost certainly like home with a place that was like Canterlot, and when Elsa emerged from the palace her attire had been transformed into an icy blue dress that seemed like something a princess or queen of ice would wear, and she had discarded the tiara.

"You know, despite being alone up here, it looks like Elsa is just fine." Sora commented, which was good since it appeared that Dark Larxene was just interested in observing her, instead of attacking her, meaning their influence in this world was going to be far lower than anything they had done in the past.

"What, aren't you worried about her?" a voice asked, where they found that Dark Larxene stepped out of a Dark Corridor, as she must have been observing Elsa from afar and decided to investigate their arrival, even though her eyes were resting on the icy palace that was near them, which was rather impressive from someone whose power was ice itself.

"Oh, we are... but you aren't a danger to her. We're looking for the darkness of this world to seek her out." Radiant replied, as that was the truth, the members of Tenebris' dark forces weren't interested in the Guardians of Light, rather they were just killing time while they waited for the countdown to finish so they could engage in the war for the fate of the World, "Once we take care of that darkness we'll be on our way... isn't that what you want?"

"Honestly, I don't know anymore and I really don't care... Tenebris said we could do whatever we wanted, and that is what I'm doing before he claims the X-Blade and Kingdom Hearts." Dark Larxene stated, her tone telling them that, just like her dark ally on Rapunzel's world, she really didn't care about the overall plot that she would have followed had Xehanort been in control of everything, before she thought about something, "Actually, I don't care who wins, I just want to have some fun before the winner is decided."

"And speaking of 'fun', why don't you have some?" another familiar voice remarked, where Sombra and the others had just a second to realize that it was Young Xehanort speaking, a prick that none of them liked at all, before time shuddered and they fell through the air, dropping down into the snow below them.

"By the World, I'm starting to absolutely despise that boy." Sombra stated, though at the same time she held out her hands as she formed a number of snowboards out of ice, allowing all of them to grab onto one before she made sure they safely landed on the snow, which in turn allowed them to start sliding down the mountain side, "We skipped through time again... a few minutes this time, sure, but Young Xehanort doesn't seem to be aware of the damage he's doing to the World. At this rate Tenebris is going to break something..."

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound behind them, where they found that an avalanche was happening, which was being caused by a few snowy Heartless dragons, a trio of 'Frost Serpents' Sombra guessed, so the first order of business for the group was to outpace the avalanche. One thing they discovered was that the Frost Serpents would fire beams of frost at them, which everyone had to avoid, though at the same time everyone focused on maneuvering around with their new toys, because while none of them actually knew how to use the snowboards they were learning on the fly. The Equestrians also found areas to use their magic in, opening holes in the ground to force a bit of the snow inside, plus there was the caves all of them passed through that allowed them to cut down the amount of snow that was following after them. It was a very interesting time for the group, since no one had been expecting such a thing and they were fine with some variety, and the moment they landed in a clearing, that wasn't being covered in snow, the group turned and fought the Frost Serpents.

The frost serpents weren't that hard to deal with, where the group found that they attacked with gusts of freezing wind and the beam attacks, though Sombra was glad they were able to bring them down, because every heart captured meant one less that would be used against them in the final battle.

After that time skipped again, this time ending in them laying on the snow in another location, causing Sombra to groan as she realized that things were definitely getting worse for the World is this was starting to become a common occurrence, only this time it looked like the snowman from before was talking and walking. Such a thing was followed by them following it, since the creature was connected to Elsa and might have news for them, while Sora was interested in the magic that had caused it to come alive like this, but as they caught up with the snowman they found two other people with it. One was a girl that was around Elsa's age, wearing protective snow gear and had orange braided hair with a sliver of Elsa's hair color in part of it, while the other was a young man who was also wearing winter gear, which made sense given the mountain area that they were currently climbing. There was even a reindeer with them, which seemed to be the male's animal companion, and the group of four was surprised to see that there was another group wandering around the mountain, without the proper attire no less.

The girl introduced herself as Anna and that she was Elsa's sister, the snowman was Olaf, her escort was Kristoff, and the reindeer was Sven, and she, just like Elsa, sang a little while getting a point of hers across while Kristoff lead the snowman away for a time, allowing them to see that Anna and Elsa were estranged sisters. Sombra realized that it had something to do with Elsa's ice powers, she didn't want to hurt her sister, which had to be why Anna had the icy piece in her hair, but the conversation was ultimately cut short as Kristoff told them that Olaf was in pieces. None of them were very surprised by this discovery, and Anna told them that if they found his parts they would be able to put him back together, though that was just a simple thing for the group, Sombra carefully used her time powers to track down where each piece had landed and sent the others to recover them. Fluttershy and the others tracked down the pieces with ease, confirming that this was far too easy for them, though while Olaf didn't have his nose it was revealed that Sven had slipped it into his mouth, causing his handler to retrieve it from the reindeer, who acted like the animal was responding to his words.

As the group gathered together again, and the group of four started to climb the mountain on their own, everyone felt the now familiar tug of time magic as they were yanked around again, this time appearing outside Elsa's palace where a giant evil snowman was hurling Anna and Kristoff away from the palace.

"What the..?" Sora asked, just in time for them to go sideways as they were yanked through time again, this time landing in an area that looked like a forest area covered in snow, with the brutal looking snowman raging in front of them, though as he and the others regained themselves time shifted again.

"What's going on?" Vanitas remarked, where this time around they landed in what appeared to be an area that was in the middle of a snow storm that was covering the entire kingdom, or at least everything that was near the castle, just in time for them to witness Anna turn into an ice statue as she protected her sister from being cut down.

The shockwave caused the prince with the sword to be sent flying backwards as he hit his head on the ground, which also caused the darkness inside him to surge outwards, warping all of them into a world that seemed to be far away from the rest of Arendelle, and the larger snowman was with them for some reason. The dark mass transformed into a white wolf that was floating, even though it looked like the head and front paws, with darkness forming the body, causing Fluttershy to call it 'Skoll' as she picked herself up and summoned her weapon, which the others did as well. All Sombra could tell was that the meddling of Young Xehanort and Tenebris, in relation to the time line, had cracked something and for some reason they had experienced it on this world in particular, which was just a symptom of the problem the World had. They had to take down the ones responsible for this damage, but to do that they had to finish checking the rest of the worlds that were important to the World this time around, before engaging in the final Keyblade War.

"It's Young Xehanort, he's screwing with time again... it's like he's testing how much strain the time line can take." Sombra said, though at the same time she and the others looked at Skoll for a moment before getting ready, this was the pressing matter for them to worry about, because if it got out of the dark prison they were in she knew that it would cause chaos in Arendelle, and whatever worlds it traveled to.

"Let's get it!" Donald stated, because he was tired of the time tampering and them skipping through time like this, which only made him want to blow something up with his magic, and right now Skoll was the best thing for such a thing, though that was followed by them rushing out to do battle with the large Heartless.

Skoll attacked them like a wolf would, by biting at them and swinging it's claws at them, while at the same time rushing all around the arena they were in to make sure it stayed safe, though this time around none of them bothered to slow down this time around, not with how dangerous looking this Heartless was. It even had a tail attack that allowed it to send out a bunch of smaller versions of itself, and it even spat out dark blasts at them, showing that it was fully embracing the power that was inside it, even though everyone dodged it while striking the creature in the process. While Skoll tried to harm them the group lashed out at it, damaging it's body while avoiding it's attacks like they were nothing, they were just faster than it's speed, demonstrating that their training had been worthwhile since it allowed everyone to overwhelm the Heartless. Even Vanitas was getting in on the action, learning from the others and doing his best to match their speed, allowing them to just dominate Skoll as it tried in vain to stop them, before it eventually let out a howl of pain and pushed them away from it.

That was when Skoll unleashed it's most devastating final attack, it surged into the air and transformed into a massive ball of darkness, a moon of dark gravitational energy that threatened to crush them, but Sombra just held a hand up into the air as her power flared, stalling the moon before shattering it, allowing the others to tear down Skoll so she could collect it's heart.

"It was strong, but not strong enough to beat us." Vanitas commented, watching as the darkness faded away and they found that Anna was back to normal with Elsa crying on her, only for the two to realize something as Elsa released her power and started to thaw everything that was around them, where he and the others found a boat below them, causing him to frown for a moment, "Why does it feel like we missed out on something important?"

"Because we did... that's the downside to time skipping: we miss out on things, but the people of this world will think that all of us were there for everything." Sombra replied, though there was nothing she could do right now, Young Xehanort was no longer on this world, Dark Larxene had vanished, and the bronze dragon lady was on Arendelle's castle, no doubt scanning the strained time line and doing her best to keep everything from breaking, before disappearing, "Come on, let's get going... I have a feeling things are only going to get worse before they start getting better."

Sora and the others nodded, as they trusted Sombra enough to know that she understood what was going on and would no doubt explain it later, though everyone made sure that Elsa and Anna were safe, the power of their love allowing Elsa to undo the damage she had caused previously, before departing from the world so they could continue to clash with Tenebris' darkness and hope that things didn't get much worse as time went on.

War: Back to the Caribbean

With their time in Arendelle complete, and the group was sure that Elsa and Anna didn't need them around anymore, the group returned to the space between worlds without wasting time and returned to flying around, taking down anything that might be disastrous for their Gummi Ship. It was basically the same as before as Vanitas watched his brother fly through the space between worlds, as all he did was fly around, blast stuff out of their way, collect more resources for either the ship or for Radiant to use in her accessory crafting, and destroy enemy Gummies so Sombra could collect their hearts. Sombra found that Vanitas went into the training chamber to hone his skills, like some of the others did while they waited for Sora to find the next world they needed to visit before the final showdown with Tenebris and his dark army. An interesting thing all of them discovered was that there seemed to be no guardian Heartless Gummi blocking the way to the next world, which was just weird since they knew that the Heartless had all sorts of ships at their disposal, but it just made things easier for the group.

As it turned out their destination was another familiar world, as when Sora brought them to a stop the group discovered that the world in front of them happened to be a skull with a ship, the Black Pearl, on top of it with a pirate cap near it, and it had tentacles, like an octopus, coming out of it.

"Looks like we're heading back to the Caribbean." Seras commented, as the pirate hat looked a lot like Jack Sparrow's, one she and the others knew well from their time in Port Royal, and the change to the world's icon meant that more had to be available to them this time around.

Sora nodded as everyone noticed that the indicator for the world forms was active, meaning they would have new forms this time around, to which everyone braced themselves as he warped them down into the world in question, where it looked like they appeared on a decent sized wooden raft that was like the one Sora made a lifetime ago. Sora found that his attire was a lot like Jack's, in fact he was now wearing a tricorne on his head that concealed his spiked hair, before he discovered that Vanitas' attire was more akin to Barbossa' own, who seemed to approve of it. Donald looked more like a crewman, wearing a white shirt with a flayed blue vest over it, and he had a blue bandanna on his head, and Goofy was also dressed in a similar manner, but with beige pants, leather boots, a pale green ascot and a matching bandanna. Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras were also dressed like members of the crew, with dirty white shirts with a vest of their personal color on it, such as an arctic blue for Radiant, pink for Fluttershy, and blood red for Seras, and each had beige pants with a bandanna colored to match their vests.

Sombra wore a faded grey shirt and matching pair of pants, though her gloves looked like a mix of leather and metal, likely a jab at her former life, with the skirt section of a gown open in front and reaching her knees, one that was also a faded grey with golden designs on it, as she found that it didn't get in the way of her movements.

"Wait... are we pirates?!" Vanitas inquired, as this was his first time in such a world, especially in a new set of attire that was different from his usual armor, though that moment was when he found that Sora was excited by this discovery and just so happened to be in the middle of humming a pirate tune, or what he guessed was one, "You're oddly happy about this."

"That's because this is one of the worlds Sora likes, far more than the others." Goofy replied, as he remembered the time the group visited Port Royal and how his friend had reacted when they encountered Jack and Barbossa, and it was fair to say that Sora loved this world because of how free it made him feel, in addition to the pirates that were around the world, but as he said that Seras tapped on his shoulder and he noticed that was in front of them.

Everyone else noticed it a few moments later, it was the literal edge of the world, a massive waterfall that seemed to head into the unknown, and Sombra discovered that there was some sort of magic in the air that was preventing them from using their powers, so their raft fell into the unknown. When they came to everyone found themselves in what appeared to be a flat white sandy place that seemed to stretch on forever in each direction, though Sombra knew exactly what this was the moment everyone was up, this was a place of punishment. This place seemed designed to drive people mad, or maybe there was no real purpose other than to make people hallucinate and drive themselves mad, it was hard to tell sometimes, but for the most part the group remained together and just glanced out at the area. This was due to the fact that they had no idea where they were and didn't want to run the risk of it separating them at the wrong moment, before Fluttershy paused as she found a white crab, which looked like a smooth oval rock when it was fully contained within it's shell, waving at her like it was trying to lead her somewhere.

It turned out that there was a reason that the crab wanted them to follow it, because it brought them to an area that had the Black Pearl in it, which happened to be on the move thanks to a massive amount of white crabs forcing it to move along the flat surface that was below them.

"Hail, Sora!" a familiar voice said, where they found that Jack Sparrow himself was running by them, running after his ship no less, to which the group followed after him without delay, as Sora and his friends knew that something was up and that this was their best chance to help get to the bottom of what was going on, "Help me catch the Pearl before she gets away!"

The group agreed and discovered that there were Heartless aboard the ship, which appeared to be bulky pirate Heartless with anchor for their right hand and a blade in their left hand, along with some Earth Cores that attacked everyone without warning, something they weren't even surprised by. Sombra found that she could use her power in this place and so did the rest of the group, to which Fluttershy used her barrier power to protect the group from the incoming fire from the ship, all while Radiant used her bow to take down the Nocturnes that were coming at them. Sora and the others retaliated with their Keyblades, hacking and slashing at the Heartless as Goofy used his shield to block attacks and Donald loosed a few spells at their various foes, while Jack, despite what was going on, joined them in dealing with these enemies. Once the last couple of Anchor Raiders, their newest enemies, were taken out, and Sombra claimed all of their hearts, the group found that the sea of crabs stopped and allowed them to climb aboard the Black Pearl, which they did so without delay.

Following that the crabs moved the ship through the wasteland and brought them to a hill that they coasted down, which just so happened to be where Will, Elizabeth, Barbossa, a magical woman who seemed more than what they were seeing at the moment, and a number of other people they didn't recognize at all, while the ship moved right into the water.

A bunch of stuff happened when they hit the water and approached the group, where Sora's group learned that they were in what was known as 'Davy Jones' Locker', which explained why Jack thought everyone was a hallucination before taking a few seconds to look at Elizabeth. This came after him revealing that 'four of them' had tried to kill him before and that 'one of them' had succeeded, causing Sombra to file that away for later since it seemed like there was a story there, plus they found that Jack and Barbossa, or 'Hector' as Jack called him, seemed friendlier than the last time they were on this world. They also found that Elizabeth was decked out in pirate attire as well, meaning a lot had happened since the last time they had come to the Caribbean, while Will informed them that Jack neglected to pay a debt to Davy Jones, so he sent the Kraken to eat Jack and the Pearl. This all but confirmed Sombra's suspicions that they had gone beyond the grave, this was a place to punish those who broke their deals with Davy Jones, and the pirate group was here to wrest Jack from his fate, as the Brethren Court had been called and Jack, one of the nine Pirate Lords, was required a council to happen, as Jack hadn't passed on his 'Piece of Eight' to his successor before he died.

"Something is afoot... I suspect a war." Sombra commented, because normally people like Barbossa, who had been brought back to life by the female soothsayer that was with the group, a figure called Tia Dalma they learned while Jack talked, would eliminate their rivals to expand their territory, but if the 'Brethren Court' had been called this meant that something major was happening, and that something was usually war.

"You aren't wrong. Cutler Beckett and the East India Trading Company want to exterminate piracy, and the Court has been called to discuss what to do about them." Barbossa stated, though what they discovered was that he had a special map that forced Jack to accept that they were here to help him, and what was interesting was that he was willing to overlook the fact that Sora and the others had brought him down the last time they saw him, "He also holds the heart of Davy Jones, thus he controls the Flying Dutchman, the deadliest ship in the vast seas."

"So we're facing impossible odds. What else is new?" Sora remarked, as this seemed to be the norm for them, they always had these strange odds to overcome and usually overcame them, so he wasn't even remotely surprised by this discovery, to which they climbed on the Black Pearl and helped everyone else climb aboard the vessel.

Jack, despite being the main captain and having someone to place at the helm of the ship, allowed Sora to do it, almost like he knew of the boy's dream and was willing to make it a reality, where Sora got them underway and followed Jack's lesson on how to move the ship as he sailed towards the pair of rocks that were pointed out to him. As it turned out there were more Heartless for them to worry about, ships that materialized out of the fog and seemed to get in their way, where Jack allowed Sora's group to move around the Pearl for a few moments, preparing the cannons and their magic for battle. Vanitas stood by for a moment and noticed something odd, the enemy pirate ships had exposed weaknesses, and when he pointed this out to Sora his brother nodded and had the others fire on those points, blasting the ships out of the water with ease, which was a mistake on the part of the Heartless. Of course Sombra captured the hearts of the Phantom Ships, they had them so it made sense to remove more potential allies for Tenebris' cause, though once that was done they continued to sail towards the peaks that Jack had mentioned.

Following that everyone settled in for a time as Jack used his compass to navigate the waters, and he looked at the map that Barbossa had brought with them, while Tia Dalma came by to talk with the group, since she was surprised that they were even friends with Jack. Sombra noticed that she instantly knew that they weren't from this world, especially when Sora tried to explain that they were from a 'different sea', in fact she was sure that Tia Dalma was a goddess in her own right, it was the only thing that made sense given that they knew nothing about her. She did give them a lot of information on Davy Jones, so they knew who they might be dealing with in the future, that Jones had raised the Pearl for Jack and made him Captain for thirteen years, with the payment being his very soul as a member of the crew that served aboard the Flying Dutchman for an undetermined amount of years. This was where the Kraken entered the picture, sent to devour Jack and bring the Pearl back to the depths, and Tia Dalma knew that if Jones learned that Jack was cheating his fate he was going to punish him, and all those who helped him, with something worse than the locker.

In order to escape his fate Jack needed the box that was now being used to control Jones, the box that contained the heart of Davy Jones, which was why the pirate was planning on going after the box once the Brethren Court was done with their little meeting, but for now they needed to escape the Locker.

Jack eventually came up with a plan, one that involved making a noise to attract attention to himself before he rushed over to one side of the ship, acting as if there was something off in the distance, and once people were near him Jack rushed over to the other side. Sombra and the others realized what was going on immediately, he was rocking the Pearl for some reason, and when she looked at the map she noticed that the center read 'up is down', where Barbossa fell into his role as Jack's second within seconds as he understood what was going on. Together they were able to force the ship to capsize, one side hitting the water and forcing everyone to hold their breath for a time, where Sombra made sure to provide air bubbles with her magic, though while one would deem Jack insane she had a feeling that this was the key to leaving this place. Not even a few moments later she felt a light happen above the water and they watched as they came rushing towards the surface of another body of water, where she realized they had passed into the land of the living and burst out of the water, returning to the Caribbean like it was nothing.

"And, to the surprise of no one, we've got more Heartless." Vanitas remarked, as he was starting to understand how Sora and his friends took to the various worlds, and how their enemies seemed to react to their presence, where he pointed out a large vulture-like Heartless that seemed to be made of wood and metal with a bone head, with a cannon coming out of a joint on each wing, and there were a bunch of small bug-like Heartless with vapor coming out of them.

"So the 'Vaporflies' and the 'Raging Vulture', I guess." Radiant stated, though at the same time she switched to her bow for a moment and gathered her magic in one of her special arrows, because it appeared that they were on a schedule now and getting into a fight with a powerful Heartless seemed like a bad idea, "Allow me to deal with them."

Sombra found that Radiant wasn't kidding, the arrow that rushed into the air separated into a volley of arrows that slammed into the various Vaporflies, releasing a series of hearts for her to capture, and the main arrow struck the Raging Vulture right in it's chest, the sheer power tearing through it's defenses and releasing it's heart, which she also captured.

"There's also a Nobody ship off in the distance... bet it's our enemies, likely 'Dark' Luxord." Seras commented, pointing at the odd blue ship she had noticed, which was definitely sailing away from them right now, as she was sure that she had guessed who their foe was, since he was the most familiar with the Caribbean, out of Tenebris' allies anyway.

As Sora opened his mouth, however, he and the others stumbled for a moment as time lurched forward again, this time all of them hit what appeared to be a small beach on an island of some kind, and from what he could tell Jack's group was just gone, causing him and the others to groan as they sat up.

"Okay, so we lost a few more minutes, maybe more... I'm actually getting sick of this." Sora remarked, as it ruined the flow of their time in the various worlds, just slipping through time like this and missing out on what was going on, before he sighed as he glanced at the rest of the island, which might have an underwater passage for them to explore, "I guess we'll have to explore the island and hope we find a ship."

Sombra nodded, even though she agreed with Sora, this slipping through time was getting old real fast, despite the fact that she was worried about what it might mean for the World as a whole, and knew that they would have to press onward to see what else the Caribbean had to offer them.

War: Battle on the High Seas

As the group started to explore the island that they had found themselves on they also discovered that Jack was around one of the rocky corners, who beckoned for them to follow and said that they needed to find a ship, though Sombra knew that he wasn't the real Jack, he had magic that the real one lacked. Sombra suspected that this was an ally sent by Tia Dalma, as she seemed more than she really was, to assist them in tracking down a ship and return to the high seas, but first they had to swim through some caverns below the island to find their ship. Fortunately most of them were good swimmers, thanks to everything they had been through in Ariel's world, and while Vanitas wasn't very familiar with this Sombra found that he was able to mimic Sora quite well, allowing him to keep pace with everyone. Sombra also made sure to give everyone the ability to breath while underwater, since there was no telling how long they would be moving through the caverns, which the rest of the group was happy with as they got moving.

This allowed them to come into contact with another new Heartless, a serpent made of water, a 'Sea Sprite' to be exact, but Sora and his friends weren't even surprised by this discovery as they tore through them, finding that they could definitely attack normally while in the water, and Sombra made sure to capture the freed hearts as they followed the passage. The far more interesting thing was that they could use their magic while underwater, without hurting themselves or the area that was around them, though it did made eliminating all of the Heartless that much easier. The group passed by some wrecked ships, likely having crashed into some coral reefs or something, and even located an area that had some spilled treasure, piles of gold, though Sombra assured the others that it wasn't the cursed gold they helped the others with the last time they visited this world. There were also a lot of jellyfish in the way, though fortunately Fluttershy was able to speak with them, even while underwater, and was able to convince them to move for a time so she and her friends could pass through, which was yet another reason why Sombra was glad to have her around.

Eventually they reached a cavern that had a large chest inside it, though it seemed to be a trap since there were two prongs waiting for something to take the bait, just like an anglerfish, and when they got close the large blue Heartless fish came out to attack them, and from what they could tell the Heartless seemed confused on who to attack first.

This confusion, and the constant swimming around that the group did, caused the Heartless anglerfish, the 'Lightning Angler' as they decided to call it, to thrash around the cavern and damage some of the stones that were around them, eventually opening a hole for them to flee through if they wanted. At the same time Sora and the others brought down the Heartless, crushing the Lightning Angler before their might and allowed Sombra to snatch it's heart when it was released, though once that was done they headed into the new passage that had opened, as the chest was a total fake. The passage brought the group to what appeared to be the inside of the island's core, where everyone was allowed to walk and found that there was a decent sized ship, about the size of the Pearl, resting in front of them, designed in a way that almost matched Sora, like it was made for him and him alone. Sombra grinned a little as she realized what was going on, Tia Dalma was using the crabs and her fake Jack to make sure they had the tools they needed to sail around the Caribbean and do whatever they wanted, to give them a taste of a pirate's life and the freedom it offered.

Such a thing was confirmed as they found Fake Jack on the deck of the ship, who seemed amused by the fact that it had taken them so long to get here, but he was willing to hand the ship to Sora after some time, which was when they climbed aboard the vessel and Sombra smiled.

"This ship, it's powered by magic. Isn't it?" Sombra inquired, speaking to Fake Jack for a moment as the others started to make the ship ready to depart, as part of the rock wall was coming down and revealed a way for them to leave, which was what Sora happened to be aiming for as he took control of the ship.

"Yes, it is. Why do you ask?" Fake Jack asked, something that was followed by Sombra smiling as she raised her hands, letting one hold the power of Light and the other holding the power of Darkness, before bringing her hands down onto the deck, to which she empowered the ship with her magic.

"I've made it stronger and more resistant to harm... figured we would need it, since we've got company." Sombra said, as not a few moments after they left the island another ship formed out of some mist, like it had warped into the space near them, and sure enough it bared the colors of the Nobodies and was larger than their new ship.

"Indeed you do. I do not wish to parlay or play games... only to talk." a voice said, where Dark Luxord jumped down onto the deck of their ship and his disappeared, his emotions and expression telling them that he didn't want to do anything like what the group might have been expecting from him, though at the same time they found more Heartless Pirate Ships forming on the waters ahead of them, "My ally, the one you would call 'Dark Vexen' is only observing Davy Jones and the contents of the chest that controls him... something about his Replicas and perfecting them. Tenebris, on the other hand, just wants to have a bit of fun with you before the end... personally, I'd rather this entire thing be over so I can get back to the greater games that I'm actually interested in. This war is... pointless."

"You were willing to side with Xehanort... but not Tenebris?" Vanitas asked, though at the same time the rest of the group did what they did best, they accessed the power of the cannons, now fully powered by magic, and blasted all of their foes with the ship's power, but this made him wonder if more of their foe's forces might be getting ready to break from him.

"Honestly, the boy's a monster, a losing hand if ever I saw one. Don't get me wrong, he's strong, but his appetite for power will be his undoing." Dark Luxord replied, where he leaned back against the railing of the ship for a moment as Sora was pointed in the direction of Port Royal, like someone was planning on keeping them out of the final act of this battle, "I'd love to head back to my timeline and just move on with my life, but Tenebris has made it clear that anyone he calls into this world is to fight by his side and anyone who falls early will just be ripped back into this timeline."

"Meaning you can only go home when the war starts, because my brother will just tear more holes in space and time to get all of his allies back for the main event." Sombra remarked, as that meant damaging the very fabric of the World more and more often, something that was well within her brother's actions since he thought everything was his, just toys to use and then discard when he thought the time was right, or he had grown tired of his current toy.

As she thought about that, however, Sombra spotted the female bronze dragon figure on one of the tall rock pillars that the ship was passing by, who in turn happened to be staring at a portion of the sky in concern, which was when Sombra noticed a faint purple crack in the sky, like glass was slowly breaking.

"I take it that's a bad sign?" Fake Jack asked, as both he and the real Jack would have noticed the strangeness that was going on in the air, the fact that the sky was now breaking before their very eyes, because cracks like this weren't common, which was why he glanced at Sombra for a moment, which the rest of the group copied.

"Yeah, my idiot brother's damage to the fabric of the World is starting to starting to show... but if reality is starting to crack like this..." Sombra said, stopping herself for a moment as she turned towards Sora and directed him to move the ship in an entirely different direction than what they were heading in, because this was serious, especially since she could tell that the bronze dragon was worried about this turn of events and seemed to be informing someone else about the discovery she had just made, "It means we're running out of time, and that we'll have to cut our visit to the Caribbean short... there's a good chance that those cracks..."

Sora and the others barely had time to brace themselves as the ship stalled, which was when the water below them cracked open, as in the water cracked as if it was made of glass, and they fell through a purple and blue time portal, only to find that it dropped them out of the sky. Below them rested what appeared to be an ongoing battle between the Pearl and a deadly ship that looked like it might be the Flying Dutchman, causing Sombra to realize that her statement was already correct, the situation was getting worse, faster than even she realized. As they fell she used her powers to catch the ship and gently set it, and all of them, down in the water outside the massive maelstrom the ships were fighting in, even though Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Vanitas ended up falling down into where the battle was taking place. Sombra didn't have the time to process the strangeness of what was going on as the darkness took form on the water near them, allowing them to see that there were a lot of pirates and other ships on the water, but their focus was on what was taking shape nearby.

This was Tenebris' gift to them, a ship that was twice the size of their ship and with double the weapons, though as Sombra and the others got the ship moving Fake Jack turned into white crabs and slipped over the edge while Dark Luxord simply vanished, though for right now Sombra had everyone focus on the enemy ship. Sombra took control of the ship as she had the other Equestrians fire on the galleon, while at the same time utilizing Fluttershy's barrier skills to keep them safe from harm, since the larger ship had more weapons and they couldn't afford to be gunned down. Radiant and Seras focused on the weapons of their vessel and the abilities they had access to, the former using her bow to loose arrows at the Heartless that were aboard the galleon while the latter summoned a few blood spears to damage their main enemy. The enemy's own weapons caused them to back off from the maelstrom, which seemed to be the purpose of the ship, though Sombra made sure to pull it away from everyone else, giving them room to fight in while keeping their distance, even though she knew they had missed out on more of what this world had to offer.

Fortunately it didn't seem like the galleon had the power to take them head on, like it was a distraction, but Sombra hung back from the maelstrom, allowing everyone else to watch for the Pearl as she found the bronze dragon figure appear next to her, and the huffing she was doing indicated that she had used a lot of her power recently.

"Sombra, the situation is worsening. Time is fracturing at an alarming rate." the bronze figure stated, the strain in her voice confirming what Sombra thought was going on right now, though at the same time it looked like the Pearl, with her friends, had emerged from the maelstrom and was getting ready to face down another ship, "I've done all I can on my own, but I'm calling in the Time Wardens to help keep the damage contained. You need to stop Tenebris, and soon."

"Before those rifts become worse and time is sundered?" Sombra remarked, though she was being serious, because if these rifts were starting to form it meant they had less time before the Keyblade War started, in fact she was almost sure that this was her brother's intention, Tenebris was growing bored of waiting for the time he set to arrive and was going to try and force his enemies to come to him when they weren't ready.

"Yes... and before he causes a Dimensional Cataclysm. We recovered from the last one without anything major happening, but to have a second one could damage the universe as a whole." the figure said, where she turned to leave before the rest of the group noticed her, while at the same time Sombra noticed that Will, for some reason, was in control of the Flying Dutchman and was ordering it's crew to fire on another ship that seemed to be Beckett's flagship, "Sombra, please hurry... we're doing all we can, but I'd rather not get Her involved in this matter, not when she's busy with other things right now."

Sombra had no idea who the figure was talking about and didn't get a chance to ask as the dragon figure left, though as they caught up with Sora the boy seemed to nod his head, indicating that while he'd love to explore the Caribbean he also knew it was better to stop Tenebris, all while Sombra worried about what the future would throw at them next.

War: Heroes of San Fransokyo

After talking with Jack and the others, understanding that Davy Jones was gone and Will had taken his place, even if such a thing meant he could only spend one day on land for every ten years at sea, Sora and the others found their way to a safe area and returned to the Gummi Ship. Following that they returned to the space between worlds, returning to their original forms, before taking off, where Sora sat in the captain's chair once more as he engaged the Heartless vessels that would get in their way, just like whenever they left the worlds in the past. It gave them time to relax and calm down, since the end of their time in the Caribbean had been rather crazy, though there was something they needed to talk about before they even reached the next world, thanks to what happened during the final battle. Sombra, however, remained silent on the matter for the time being, as she needed to get her thoughts in order before she worried anyone else, even though it was clear that all of them were worried about what they had seen back in Jack's world.

"Sombra... how bad are things getting?" Fluttershy asked, because she knew, in fact they all knew, that Sombra had a good idea as to what was going on with time, and while she was thankful that their friend was willing to shield them from harm, by keeping this information from them, she knew that they needed to know what was going on with time.

"The fabric of time is starting to reach the point that it is cracking, based on what we saw in the Caribbean." Sombra said, as that was how things were looking, and it seemed to be confirmed when she thought about what the bronze figure had said while the others were celebrating their victory over Beckett's forces, even if only one ship had fallen, before she glanced at Sora for a moment, "However, the World is still leading us to somewhere that isn't the Keyblade Graveyard, meaning it is of the opinion that we still have time to spare before we need to worry about Tenebris' damage... and this is likely the last of the worlds we'll be visiting during this adventure, before the Keyblade War starts."

Sora thought about that as he navigated around the portion of space they were in, blasting asteroids and Heartless ships out of the way, before finding that the path to the last world before their finale was actually not too far away from the Caribbean, which seemed to be one about a city of some kind.

"Well, if the World wants us to explore one more world, then that's what we'll do." Sora remarked, bringing the ship to a stop near the last world before making sure it was hidden like always, because he trusted both Sombra and the World itself, as it felt like the entity that represented the entire universe was definitely on their side.

Sure enough Sora and the others warped down to the world that was below them, where they found that it placed them on a long bridge that was connecting two places, like it was over a vast stretch of water, and there were a number of cars on it, all abandoned by the looks of it. After everything they had been through this was rather nice, a calm walk while everyone looked at the city in the distance, which seemed to be their destination, and thanks to all of the places they had been to all of them were calm, instead of running around like excited children. Sora pulled out the Gummiphone that was in his pocket and snapped a few pictures, mostly because he was sure that Riku would want to see something like this before the big war started, a reminder of what they were fighting for. With just this short period it sure seemed like they might not need to get involved with this new world, it seemed far too peaceful, though it wasn't long before they realized that things weren't as peaceful as everyone had hoped.

That was due to the massive Rock Troll Heartless that was far ahead of them, who seemed to be battling a group of people, teenagers based on what they were seeing, even if most of them seemed to be focused on the Pole Cannons that were all over the place, and a lady in a black and yellow suit was knocked back, who Fluttershy caught.

"Go Go! You okay?" a voice asked in concern, which was a young boy in black and dark purple gear while riding on what had to be a white robot with red armor that could fly, who happened to land near them as Fluttershy set the girl down, who let out a huff as she stared at the massive enemy that had hit her, before he looked at the robot, "Baymax!"

"I'm fine, Hiro. The suit protected me, just like you designed it to do." the woman, Go Go, replied, though she was still staring at the figure they were trying to bring down, which was when Sora and the others faced the Heartless and summoned their weapons, something that caused her to realize that they had company, "Who are they?"

"Don't worry, we've got this." Radiant stated, though in the following moment she and the others rushed into the area that the battle was happening in, where she, Fluttershy, and Seras quickly defeated the Pole Cannons that were keeping the rest of the team down, since it appeared that Hiro and Go Go were part of a hero team.

The other members included a girl in black and pink armor, who carried a modified purse, and a boy that was wearing black and green armor while his weapon seemed to be energy blades coming out of his wrist armor, plus there was a creature that looked like he was straight out of the monster world. Once they were freed the group found a new type of Heartless, an odd purple one that seemed to have tires for hands and their main body and the hands created blades, hence 'Tireblade', though that didn't stop the group at all, as they spread out and struck down the Heartless that were around them. Sombra snatched the hearts that filled the air as she leapt at the Rock Troll, or rather a 'Metal' Troll since it's body seemed to be more metallic, her dark Keyblade in her hand as she blocked the incoming attack. Such a thing opened the way for Sora and Vanitas to join her as the brothers cut it down with their weapons, showing her that they were working well as a team, and when it fell the rest of the Heartless did as well, allowing them to claim victory once more.

With that done Hiro invited all of them to join his team in the garage that seemed to be their base of operations, where Hiro accessed a device that seemed to connect to the news, allowing them to see that someone had made an article about how his team had been defeated and how unprepared they were to defend the town. As it turned out each of them had their own opinions on the news, like Go Go didn't think it was cool, the pink armored girl though the people wanted to speculate and not the truth, the guy in green thought the tale was a made up lie, and the monster went with the reporter ignoring how cool they were. Sombra had to admit that they were a cast of characters, just like her and the rest of her group, and Hiro had to be the brains of the outfit, the inventor and designer, since he didn't seem to be equipped to be a fighter despite the fact that he rushed into battle with his friends, so he definitely had guts. She also noted that the one in green armor understood that they were the ones the group should be talking to, since they had been the ones to bring down the Heartless far faster than Hiro's team had done, and without taking any hits no less.

Hiro introduced the rest of his team after that point, the girl in pink armor was 'Honey Lemon', the guy in green was 'Wasabi', and the monster, which turned out to be a suit since it's head was pulled back and revealed another thinner guy inside it, who was called 'Fred', prompting the group to introduce themselves as well.

"So, do you guys have a hero team name? You know, like 'Big Hero 6'?" Hiro asked, only to find that none of them had even thought of such a thing, it had never been important and none of them were really interested in making one, since it would only be useful on this world, before he looked at the weapon he had Sora summon again, "Hm, it seems to be a mix of a key and a blade... and most of you have one... so I guess 'Keyblade Hero 8'?

"Sounds about right. As for what those creatures are, they're called the 'Heartless'." Sombra remarked, though to spare the group the long winded explanation she decided to just make it simple so they could understand it, even though her focus was on tracking down whoever had been sent to bother this world, "Basically, they're dark creatures that are drawn to the darkness that lies in people's hearts, and normally you'd need a Keyblade to deal with them, but we've seen other people use other weapons to take them down. Since it looks like the Heartless are bothering your city we could help you deal with them... and teach you how to fight them so this defeat doesn't happen again."

Fred seemed to agree with this idea, stating that when heroes were defeated they would train up and become stronger, a fact that many of them, from both teams, agreed with, and Hiro had a way to do that, as he quickly measured the heads of the majority of the group, save Donald and Goofy. This lead to the rapid creation of what he called the 'AR Headsets', which would allow Sora and the others to see a virtual course and training session he would program for them, along with virtual Heartless that were based on the ones they had seen so far. Sora was amazed by this and said that it was just like Sombra's illusions, as she was able to do the same thing without the headset, but she knew that this would allow Hiro to study their movements so he could help the rest of the team, including Baymax, who had special chips inserted when it was time for it to learn new things. It was actually interesting when Sombra looked at Hiro's computer and found that he had a log of each type of Heartless they had seen so far, with Shadows, Tireblades, the Metal Troll, and Pole Cannons, causing her to wonder how he would react to the other Heartless they had seen over their adventures.

Once they were ready to go Hiro had Baymax suit up, as he was a white blob shaped robot without his armor on, and flew into the massive city that would be their training ground, while everyone else was teleported over thanks to Sombra's magic, allowing them to turn on the overlay so they could see Hiro's various training courses.

The group found that the AR Headsets allowed Hiro to talk with them from the safety of his garage, where he directed each of them into position before activating the training courses he had designed for each of them, where their active headsets showed them the vibrant rings that Hiro had designed for all of this. Each of them was in different portion of the city and set off without delay, where Sora and the others rushed through the rings, finding that they could grind on some of the rails that were around the place and even use their skills to rush through the air to reach smaller points. This also gave them a good view of the city while they did so, as San Fransoyko seemed to be an interesting place, full of things that they had really only seen back in Twilight Town or even Radiant Garden, and Sombra knew it had to be exciting for Sora as her friend rushed through the challenges. Even when he ended up breaking a ball off of something, a rather large one that could be used like a weapon, Hiro went with it as he added in the AR Heartless, allowing them to show off a variety of skills as they slashed and blasted their way through them.

When it came time to wrap up, however, Sombra had to smile as they found that all of Hiro's team had new ideas to share with him, as they were excited by whatever everyone had done and wanted new upgrades to their suits and weapons, and she knew that each of them would be ready to fight the Heartless in the future, which only made her wonder what else the next day or two would throw at them next.

War: Dawn of Heroes

It took some time, but eventually Hiro was able to upgrade the armor and weapons of everyone in his team, as well as give Baymax an update as well, giving them all sorts of new abilities that they would be able to use against the Heartless, and any other foe that might bother them. As they finished up, in what was the morning of the following day, Hiro found that the local news had signs of more Heartless attacking the city, though this time around he and his friends had a smile on each of their faces as they gathered their armor and weapons. At the same time Sora and the rest of his group got ready as well, as this was what everyone had been waiting for, because this sudden arrival of Heartless could only be the work of a member of Tenebris' organization, meaning they could finish their task on this world in no time. Sombra had no idea who it could be this time around, not like how it was easy to tell that Dark Luxord would have been the one visiting the Caribbean, but that hardly mattered since they would beat them and their plans in due time.

Once everyone was good to go Hiro opened the garage and the group moved towards the city, where they descended on the Heartless that were causing chaos, and Sombra smiled as she found that the modified weapons of Hiro's friends were now able to deal with the shadowy enemies.

It was quite amazing in her eyes, that people went from being unable to fight the Heartless to being able to clash with them in no time, though she suspected Sora and the rest of the group were to blame in some way, like fighting alongside even a single Keyblade Wielder allowed one to fight the Heartless. She also found that there were Shadows, Soldiers, Tireblades, Pole Cannons, and what appeared to be a mechanical version of the Satyr type they had found on Hercules' world, so they were 'Metal Satyr' according to Fluttershy. Hiro's team spread out and tackled the groups of enemies that they could, while at the same time one of the Wielders went with them as Sombra attached a bit of magic to each one, allowing her to just stand on one of the highest points of the city and funnel all of the captured hearts into her collection. She looked out at the rest of the city, trying to see if she could track down their target and end this before it went too far, but for the most part it sure didn't look like there was anyone here that was even remotely linked to Tenebris.

As she thought about that, however, a large dino Heartless, roughly about half the size of the Earthshaker from the Pride Lands, marched down one of the larger streets, where Sombra turned her head as Fluttershy rushed at the Heartless and struck it multiple times with her Keyblade, eventually freeing it's heart before it could hurt anyone.

While that happened Go Go ran down one of the streets and used her new modification to jump onto the side of a building, surprising the Heartless that were following her, before she hurled a disc like a boomerang and took out all of her foes, as her weapon could take them out, the hearts flowing towards Sombra. At the same time Wasabi found that he couldn't hit his foes with his arm blasters, his aim needed work, though Honey Lemon used one of her form balls to gas the Heartless that her friend was fighting before utilizing a second to trap them in a block form. This allowed her friend to target his foes easier than before, his blasts freeing more hearts while the ones following him and Honey Lemon dealt with the rest of the foes in the area they were in, causing Sombra to turn her focus towards Fred for a moment. The guy in the monster suit seemed to think that freezing his foes and then using a fire breath would take them out, it only thawed them out, causing him to use both in a twister attack that knocked his Heartless down, freeing more hearts in the process.

Baymax then introduced them to the idea of the 'fist bump' and how Hiro used it, much to Sora's interest, before one of the Metal Trolls attacked the city, causing both teams to converge on it, though in the end the group emerged victorious and just went off to have ice cream, but Sombra stayed behind to keep an eye on the city... and her efforts were rewarded, as she spotted a dark mass moving through the city, made of dark cubes.

"Guys, we've got movement in the city: a mass of small cubes that can fit in the palm of one's hand, individually, but together make something far larger." Sombra remarked, though at the same time she noticed what she was expecting to find, there was a dark signature somewhere in the city, two of them based on everything she was feeling right now, and while one was familiar, Maleficent, the other was an unknown, "Also, our target has arrived: the 'villain' has shown up."

Sure enough Hiro had his team head into the city while he tried to scan the intruder from his garage, so the rest of the group just did what they did earlier, the Wielders followed the rest of the team like before, while at the same time Sombra tracked down the dark signatures, causing her to flash down into the city, onto a raised highway that Maleficent and Pete were on.

"So, what are you two doing now?" Sombra asked, where at the same time part of her focus was on the other darkness that was slithering through the city, which was tied to the dark mass that the others were fighting right now, though she wasn't even needed right now since her friends were more than enough to assist Hiro's team, "Do speak quickly, we're on a tight schedule these days."

"Indeed. The Keyblade War is upon us, isn't it?" Maleficent stated, while at the same time Pete didn't seem to care about the conversation, rather he seemed to be focusing on something else that was going on right now, in the city, showing them that he understood that this wasn't a conversation he should be involved in, "I've noticed that your brother has been building an army, one that can wipe out entire worlds on their own... yet here you are, focused on exploring worlds like the fate of the entire World wasn't hanging in the balance."

"Oh, we do have an army... besides, we're only here because the World pointed us here." Sombra replied, though as she said that several surges of dark cubes rushed through the air and gathered in a single spot in the city, which was due to the rest of the group dealing with them, and based on what she was seeing Sora was handing the core on his own, "Maleficent, Pete, when the time comes you should join us for the final battle. The fate of reality is at stake... I'm not sure if you've noticed the damage that's been spreading, but Tenebris has damaged time itself, to the point that we're starting to experience skips in time and even cracks that develop into full blown rifts in time. If this continues we'll suffer what is known as a 'Dimensional Cataclysm'."

"What, like the destruction of a city or something?" Pete inquired, reminding Sombra that he was a moron most of the time and had no idea what was going on, while at the same time Maleficent stood there with a shocked look on her face as she literally dropped her staff for a moment, as she understood what Sombra had said, "What?"

"It... It is far worse than that, you buffoon. Sombra is talking about the literal End of the World." Maleficent said, though it was easy to see that she was taken aback by this information, especially since the bits Sombra had told her allowed her to quickly understand just how bad the damage was, they were talking about the destruction of all of time and the entirety of the World, causing her to actually sweat for a moment, "You... You have proof that this is happening?"

"I wouldn't lie about something like this, and I have an ally whose been holding back the damage, but she's confirmed that Tenebris must be stopped soon." Sombra stated, where she found that Maleficent just stood there, understanding just how bad things were getting, while at the same time Pete picked up the staff and held it out for his boss to take, who took it after a few seconds, without lashing out at him, "We will be gathering on the Keyblade Graveyard in a few days... if you would like to fight for the fate of the World, and help stop my foolish brother, that's where we'll be."

Maleficent stood there for a moment, her mind lost in possibilities and ideas, before she tilted her head a little as she and Pete left the world by using a Dark Corridor, allowing Sombra to flash over to the others as the dark cube mass floated in the air, and there was a black coat, Riku from when he was being possessed.

"And there's where the Riku Replica went... been wondering about that. Guess Tenebris stole him." Sombra said, where she and the others found that Hiro's team were surprised that they knew the figure that was in front of them, even though this also informed them of the fact that they must have seen Dark Riku once or twice before this point.

"Yes, ripped out of my own time to be a soldier in the final war for the fate of the World... and I get to kill some time while I wait to be recalled." Dark Riku replied, where he actually sounded like he was displeased by the idea, like Xehanort had told him the original plan and he wasn't much of a fan of Tenebris' version, to which he pulled out a red chip, like the type that was used on Baymax, but he was stopped before he could do anything.

It wasn't due to the fact that Sombra had stopped him, or Sora had rushed him, rather it was due to the fact that time went sideways again, as the area shifted as everyone left the night filled area and appeared on another structure, only this time Dark Riku's weapon was in his hand, the chip had a dark aura, and the Darkubes were dead in a pile.

"Wh... What just happened?" Wasabi asked, where Sombra noticed that Hiro was with them this time around, since he hadn't been present when it was night out, since it was now sunny out, save for the mass of darkness that was above them, but this just raised more questions than answers.

It would seem that we have experienced some temporal disruption. Baymax stated, though in that moment Sora and the rest of the group looked at each other, as the damage was no longer focused on them and them alone, now others were experiencing the time slips, which was seriously bad news when Sombra thought about it.

"Basically, we just slipped through time... it's been a problem lately." Sora replied, confirming Baymax's statement without getting too involved in the details, though at the same time he and the others readied their weapons as they stared at Dark Riku, while the figure was staring at the dark chip in his hand, "This just means we have to wrap things up, before they go from bad to worse."

Sombra had to agree with him as two thing happened at the same time, the first being that the Darkubes gathered together and formed a dark metallic orb that turned out to be another Baymax, the original that Hiro had lost, only it was made to have dark armor as the dark chip gave it life. As this Dark Baymax was unleashed upon them Sombra also noticed that there was a surge of Heartless in the city, to which Radiant and the others rushed out to deal with them as a trio of dark ships just appeared in the sky, battleships with the Heartless symbol on their side. Dark Riku seemed to approve of this and vanished not a few seconds later, though as that happened Sombra burst into the air as she drew her dark Keyblade, letting the dark energy gather around it before she swung her weapon. The wave of crescent energy that was loosed from her weapon tore down the trio of Battleships before they could do anything, their hearts being added to the collection with the rest of the new hearts that were being released, before she turned towards the city and smiled.

Based on what she was seeing right now there wasn't much she had to worry about, the others were dealing with the last of the Heartless and Sora, with the aid of the current Baymax, dealt with Dark Baymax, dropping him to the ground before he entered what appeared to be his safe mode, allowing them to transport him to the garage so Hiro could fix him up.

"So... we slipped through time. That means someone is messing with time, right?" Fred asked, as he was the guy who read all sorts of comic books and other things, giving him more insight into things that he was only now realizing were actually true, like the battle between light and darkness, before he sighed as Hiro continued to work on the original Baymax, which was now devoid of his dark armor and dark chip, "What can we do to help?"

"Nothing. This is our battle, and with the powers that are going to be thrown around we can't ask you guys to risk your lives... our enemies are stronger than the Heartless you just faced." Sora replied, though at the same time he laid a hand on Fred's shoulder, the smile on his face telling them that he didn't want to see them come to harm and that he was hoping they would trust him and his friends to stop this madness, "Don't worry, we've got this. Time will be back to normal before you know it."

Sombra said nothing as Hiro fully repaired the original Baymax, giving him two of the robot, though her focus was on what the immedate future held for them, as once everyone was done saying their goodbyes it would be time for them to head to the Keyblade Graveyard and bring an end to her brother's plans, causing her to rest up a little before they departed for the uncharted portion of space as everyone wondered what might happen next.

War: The Calm Before the Storm

After dealing with the hazards that were bothering Hiro's world, and realizing that other worlds were now starting to feel the effects of time cracking, Sora and the others returned to the Gummi Ship without delay, only to find that there was a new set of coordinates in the flight system. That brought them to what appeared to be the insides of a massive metallic ship, one that was definitely on the Heartless' side of things based on the power that Sombra was feeling in the walls, and instead of wasting time flying around it, searching the endless corridors, Sora had a better idea. That idea, as it turned out, was to use the full systems of the Gummi Ship and just blast his way through the massive Heartless vessel with the full power of their ship, and since they had been gathering power for three years the vessel and it's Teeny Ships were far stronger than they had been at the start. Such a thing meant that Sombra and the others were able to sit back as Sora fired the ship's highest tier of weapons and tore through the enemy ship, the guns punching holes in the metal, the lasers cutting through areas, and the Teeny Ships just blasted Heartless Gummies out of the way.

Sombra leaned back in her chair as that happened, allowing her power to snatch the freed hearts and add them to her ever-growing collection, while ensuring none of them were used for Tenebris' gain, and even the boss style boss ship Sora found was wiped out in no time, allowing them to tear through the ship with ease.

"I know you were good, brother, but now I know why none of the others would challenge you in space... this ship is seriously in it's own class." Vanitas commented, though as they left the ruined ship behind Sora made sure to fire one more blast that just tore the main vessel apart, allowing Sombra to snatch a massive heart in the process, before he glanced at the area in front of them, a shattered world most of the group knew from tales, "And there it is: the Keyblade Graveyard... the last time I was here was when Xehanort and I fought Ventus' group, to forge the X-Blade... and now it will be the sight of another epic battle, the last focused on the fate of the World."

"Tenebris is down there, I can feel his darkness and his forces." Sombra said, where she tapped one of the consoles for just a moment and the communications system input the code that they had designed for this day, transmitting the coordinates for the Keyblade Graveyard to the rest of their forces, before she glanced at the fractured world, "Tomorrow is the big day, just as my brother intended... I suggest we rest, since tomorrow is going to be the longest fight of our lives, especially since we have no idea what our foes have planned or who they've called upon."

After saying that the Gummiphone went off and Sora pulled it out, where they found that it was Roxas calling, and behind him were Ventus, Aqua, and Terra, though it appeared that they were still in Twilight Town, which wasn't a surprise since that was the world Roxas loved, meaning Axel and Xion were somewhere as well.

"Sombra, we've got trouble: Xehanort's been sighted on this world." Roxas stated, where Sora set the phone down on one of the terminals and they found that the screen appeared on the main console, allowing them to see more of the area while their friends turned their phone for a moment, showing that Old Man Xehanort was, in fact, walking down the streets, like he was lost in thought, "We're not sure what he wants, but as far as we can tell it's only him... none of his allies are with him, he has no connection to your brother, and he doesn't seem hostile."

"Which means he's likely there to talk... and knowing him, he's ensuring that you call me so I'll show up." Sombra stated, as it seemed like something that the old man would do, especially since he was no longer in control of his side of the war, thanks to Tenebris having taken control of everything and anyone that the old man might have allied with, causing her to sigh for a moment, "Very well, we'll be back in a few minutes."

Fortunately discovering the location of the Keyblade Graveyard meant that they could warp back here at any moment, due to the Gummi Ship's warp system, and once the call was over Sora warped them back to Twilight Town, teleporting them all down to the town. Sombra confirmed that there was only a single dark signature in the town, other than her mixed magic, and that was Old Man Xehanort's, while at the same time there was nothing else for them to worry about, yet she found that a number of shadows turned to face her. It was all of their allies, such as Xemnas and Sairaine, who were sticking to staying in the darkness so they could observe this without Xehanort realizing that they were there, and if the old man tried anything he would be beaten and imprisoned before he did anything else. This demonstrated their knowledge of the fact that he was one of the smartest and most dangerous figures in the World, so there was no telling what he might do, which was why she went in with an open mind while having her magic at the ready so she could summon her weapons in an instant.

The area she stood in was in front of the bistro, since that was a neutral area and might convince the old man not to lash out while he was on this world, and it wasn't long before she spotted Xehanort, emerging from a crowd with his hands behind his back, the usual stance he took while walking, where Sombra stood still as the figure stopped in front of her.

"I know there is much you would like to say to me... about Ventus, Vanitas, and the others... and there are things I would like to discuss before the main event." Xehanort said, though as he said that he turned and approached one of the tables, where he put some Munny in the hands of the server that was on duty right now, showing Sombra that he was here to talk and not to do war with them, "Some of your finest tea, if you would. Two cups, one for me and one for my acquaintance."

"What brings you here, Xehanort?" Sombra asked, where she took the seat opposite of the one that the old man took, while at the same time noticing that the rest of the group seemed to sit on all of the roofs that overlooked this area, meaning she had allies waiting in the wings, and it wasn't long before the server arrived with their drinks before departing, no doubt due to Scrooge noticing who was among them and wanted the boy out of the area, "You don't seem like the type to break away from the plans that you spent a lifetime working towards."

"Plans... I have waited patiently for this day, to forge the X-Blade in the final clash between Darkness and Light... and yet that day will never come now." Xehanort replied, something that caused him to take a sip of the tea, allowing him to see why the likes of Merlin came here from time to time after it was established, especially when he considered the rumors that Sombra could make delicious food for this place, before he looked down at his cup, "Your brother has taken my plans, my allies, and I have lost my Keyblade... this isn't a small scale Keyblade War anymore, this is a full blown war between the forces of both the Light and the Darkness. I had planned on claiming the X-Blade after clashing with the Guardians of Light, to claim the power of Kingdom Hearts, the pure and pristine version, and purge this World and the people that pollute it with their endless darkness... to use the light of the pure Kingdom Hearts to give us a fresh start, with someone to dictate the destinies of the new people that would fill it, to prevent the New World from falling to Darkness."

"Xehanort, we're not talking just power or knowledge... we're talking the erasure of an entire universe, the deaths of each and every person that calls it home, and the creation of an empty one." Sombra said, though while she knew that the power of Kingdom Hearts was great, which was why she had devoted herself to stopping those from misusing it, but if it held this sort of power, the power to doom a universe and create a new one, that sort of power couldn't fall into Tenebris' hands, not if they wanted to save reality, "And I'm going to guess that you told Tenebris everything about Kingdom Hearts, so the very moment you make the X-Blade he's going to steal it and the greatest power in the World... meaning I'll either need to fight him first, or steal Kingdom Hearts first."

"I am a servant of the World... I know that does not excuse my actions, but I sought to save it from the endless darkness that seeks to devour it, and now endless darkness is threatening everything anyway." Xehanort stated, where it was hard to tell if the old man understood what was going on right now or if the fact that Tenebris was screwing everything up had caused his mind to break in some manner, "At first I thought that your brother was the key to ensuring that I had the thirteen Seekers I needed for the Keyblade War, and then I realized he was just summoning anyone and everyone who might be useful for the war... and now time is cracking and fracturing at an alarming rate, all because of his actions."

"Which is why we are gathering to stop him." a new voice said, where Sombra turned and found Eraqus standing nearby, a fact that surprised Xehanort, though the other old Keyblade Master just stood there while he looked at his friend with a look on his face that suggested that he wasn't angry with his old friend, "I stored my heart inside young Terra, and only came out due to the Replicas, where I have been helping the others train for this day... once this war is over I'll be departing from this World, leaving the World in their capable hands. Xehanort, you have done countless evils in your pursuit for this day, and I know many won't forgive you for your actions, but it isn't too late to change sides, to do some good before the end... maybe whatever judge awaits us in the end will look fondly on you helping to save the World, for real."

"You make it sound so easy." Xehanort remarked, even though it was that simple, as Tenebris had proved that he didn't even need the old man for his schemes to work, he could just rip out new soldiers and allies from the depths of time whenever he wanted, something that caused him to sip on his tea for a moment, before glancing up at Sombra, "Anyway, I came to warn you about your brother... he's been, well, talking to someone that's not actually there, like he's hearing whispers of a being that no one else can hear. I heard him call it the 'Great Evil' and the 'Dark Heart', but it's what caused me to leave the palace and clear my head before the war begins... if Tenebris has a master, which seems crazy to think about, you deserved to know about it."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but it definitely tells us that we have another reason to win this war... something tells me the issues with reality might be linked to this 'Great Evil'." Sombra said, which was the truth, this was the first time she had heard of her brother talking to someone that wasn't present, making her wonder if Tenebris' hunger for power had fractured his mind and he was actually talking between two different personalities, but that felt like an easy explanation, so her brother must have stumbled onto something major, "So I'll thank you for telling me ahead of time, Xehanort... and if you wish to join us, no matter how much you disgust me, because I know everything you did to poor Vanitas, you know where to find us."

Xehanort nodded his head as he finished off his tea and departed from the bistro, his hands behind his back like usual, and Eraqus seemed to follow, no doubt to have a private conversation while Terra's group ensured that he wasn't cut down by his friend again, all while Sombra drank her tea as she wondered what the future held for them once the Keyblade War started, and it made her nervous as she wondered what might happen next.

War: Drums of War

On the morning of the big day Sombra prepared a feast for champions, the greatest breakfast she could possibly make in the face of what was to come, and despite the danger they would be facing in the near future everyone ate as if the fate of the World wasn't on their shoulders. Everyone was chatting and having fun, trying to distract themselves from what was going to happen once she lead them down to the Kryblade Graveyard, while Fluttershy was making sure her animal friends were ready to go, as they would be waging war with them. The rest of their allies were gathering, because once she made contact with her brother things were going to go south, that much Sombra knew for sure, and they had to have their forces at the ready to begin the war at a moment's notice. Merlin had even mentioned that there were a few more allies coming, he was just tracking them down, and she knew that the figure wouldn't lie to her, which made her eager to see who the wizard would be bringing in once the war actually started, and if Yen Sid would be joining them as well.

Part of Sombra still honestly couldn't believe that she was leading people to war, against her own brother no less, but this was the hand she had been dealt and all she could do right now was stick with it while doing everything in her power to stop Tenebris from either breaking time itself or claiming Kingdom Hearts.

"So... is everyone ready for this?" Sora asked, as he knew that Sombra was thinking about the Keyblade War that they would be involved in, the massive event that would revolve around the fate of the World itself, and he had to admit there was a lot for them to worry about, given how Tenebris had been preparing for this for an entire year.

"As ready as we can be, honestly." Radiant replied, though that was around the time that everyone got up, as they were all done with their food and were as ready as they could be, nodding in agreement to Sora's statement, causing her and the rest of the group to turn towards Sombra, "Shall we get on with this?"

Sombra nodded and everyone walked up to the cockpit of the Gummi Ship, where Sora found that the ship had an area for them to teleport down into and activated the console without delay, allowing them to warp down to the Keyblade Graveyard, a literal wasteland, like something in a desert or something, with hundreds of Keyblades acting as gravestones. The last time there had been a true Keyblade War there had been so many Wielders that perished, hence the existence of this place, and the area they warped down to appeared to be a circular indent, like where one might expect to see a massive fight happen at some point. Fortunately there didn't appear to be anyone waiting for them, so Sombra jumped into the air and landed on top of the fractured plateau that was in front of where they landed, where she noticed a path cutting through it that lead to the other side, and in front of her rested the sea of old Keyblades. As she landed, however, she spotted a violent mass of pure dark energy across from where she had chosen to land, where Sombra watched as the entire plateau sunk beneath her hooves, the earth cracking and splitting before leaving a flat area for her and the others to stand on.

Sure enough the area on the other side rose for a few seconds, as Tenebris thought of himself as being above everyone and that meant he wanted to make sure she knew what he was doing, even though it was alarming that he was able to control so much on his own, meaning her full power would definitely be needed to beat her brother.

"Seems like someone is overcompensating for something." Seras commented, trying to inject a little humor into what was going on right now, though that was when the darkness in front of them unfurled and Tenebris, in all his dark glory, walked out before grinning as he tossed Xehanort, his own ally, at them.

"Hello, Sombra. Xehanort and I had a little talk, and I decided to give him to you... we had a disagreement, and he should be lucky that he's still alive." Tenebris said, though at the same time Sombra noticed that the darkness that was forming where her brother had been standing was expanding, where all of the dark soldiers, from at least some of the dark timelines, started to walk out of the palace that they had been training in, "I also have a Dark Xehanort to replace him, so losing him is no blow to me. Is this all you could muster, Sombra, in the year I gave you? Because if so, I should have annihilated you and your pitiful band of heroes instantly... would have saved me some time and effort, since I could have ripped the 'Guardians of the Light' out of their timelines as well."

"Nice to see you too, brother. I'll say this once: this is your last chance to stand down." Sombra stated, though it wasn't due to her not wanting to beat the stuffing out of Tenebris, she really wanted to beat him into the ground and stop his plans, but she was also willing to let him admit defeat before things got worse, just in case he got cold hooves, even though she had a feeling her brother wouldn't stand down.

"Oh, what's wrong little baby? Scared we'll beat you and your pitiful allies?" Tenebris remarked, showing Sombra that he was going to fight no matter what, which was a shame since she had been hoping he'd be smart and back off after hearing about all the damage he was doing to the World, but this was just like her brother, too obsessed with his hunger for power while not caring about the various consequences.

"No, just... hoping that you would understand the things you've done and the damage your actions have had on the rest of the World." Sombra said, though at the same time she snapped her fingers because if her brother wanted a war, which they were seeing with his words right now, she was willing to do everything in her power to bring him down and ensure that the World was saved from his madness, "But I have allies, dear brother, and you won't be able to do whatever you want anymore."

Tenebris just grinned as the area behind Sombra's group became active, where Sora and the others watched as an array of portals opened behind them, where Riku, Kairi, and the rest of the group that trained with them in the past walked out with their Keyblades at the ready, and that was only the tip of the iceberg. It wasn't long before Xemnas and Sairaine walked out of another portal, weapons at the ready, as the rest of their Organization joined them, containing every member despite all of the madness they had been put through in the past, and some were glaring at Tenebris. They weren't the only ones to come out, as there was Prexus, Luxu, and the Foretellers, who stood side by side as they stopped between Sombra and the rest of her friends, showing their enemies that they stood with those that were defending the World. In addition to that there was Merlin and the allies he had found, which turned out to be Leon, Cloud, a whole bunch of people they had never seen before this day, Yuna and her two friends in full human form and wielded weapons this time around.

In fact there was someone else from that world that joined them, as a vertical slash appeared in the ground that was right between Sombra and Tenebris, avoiding all of the Keyblades as Tenebris jumped backwards, where Sombra found that it was none other than Sephiroth who came to their aid.

"Normally I would be seeking a rematch, or tormenting Cloud... but we have bigger fish to deal with." Sephiroth stated, as he had spent some time training after he fought Sombra, preparing for another match, and now two years later he was back to fight, but first they had to deal with someone that was threatening the rest of the World, before he glanced back at the rest of the magical portals, "Is this all you could muster?"

"Not even close." Sombra replied, which was when they heard a pair of roars as more portals opened, these ones a mix of darkness and whiteness, where she found that the rest of their forces were emerging without delay and would even the odds against the vast army of darkness her brother had gathered for this day, while Xehanort just stood there with a look of shock on his face.

This time around it was Tiamut, who was decked out in gleaming silver armor that added to her draconic beauty, followed by a massive dark serpent that had to be Leviathan, the Ancient Heartless that watched over the seas of the Darkworld, and a smaller humanoid figure that was robed and had a twisted staff, Abdul the Lich, meaning the three greatest powers in the entirety of the Darkworld were present. It wasn't just them either, as Sombra found a massive number of the most powerful of Heartless marching out of the Darkworld portals, like Darksides and Behemoths, which showed everyone else that even the darkest beings in the World wanted to have a place to call home. From the white portals emerged the Nobodies, as in all those who hadn't developed their own personalities, from Dusks to the Samurai, to even Seras' many Vampires, and even Namine's Painter High Rank was among their number, as they were willing to do everything possibly to keep the World safe from danger. In addition to all of them Sombra even found Lei Shen, the serpent dragon Nobody, among their number, who was already preparing an attack so once the battle started, and all of the other Nobodies were equally prepared to do battle with the dark army that was in front of them.

As that happened the ground in the distance cracked as the Titans of Hercules' world tore their way into this world, which was an interesting thing to see, and it wasn't long before Sombra noticed Hades, Jack Skellington, Hercules, Hiro and his team, the pirates from the Caribbean, and literally everyone else, heroes and villains alike, stepping out of other portals, like the World itself was drawing everyone to this battlefield.

"I've done what I can. We are here to stop Tenebris, nothing more." a voice said, where Sombra found Maleficent and Pete were here as well, both glaring at the dark army that was now realizing that the number of forces they were opposing had grown to a staggering amount, putting the odds closer on Sombra's side, all while both of them found that Vanitas was able to call forth the Unversed as well, who were definitely listening to him now, "Is this everyone you could muster?"

"Yes... and yet there might be more to call to battle once more." Sombra replied, something that was followed by her simply merging both of her Keyblades into the Runeblade as she stepped forward, pointing the tip at her brother for a moment, like a declaration of war, before turning the tip of the weapon towards the ground as she gently touched the ground, almost like she was kneeling and praying to the World itself, "Wielders of the past, those who fought for the Light and those who fought for the Darkness, I would ask that you come forth and lend us your aid... let the World's vast Lights and vast Darknesses band together, to save the World from the one that seeks to destroy everything."

It was as if the World itself was listening to her, as Sombra and the others watched as the ancient Keyblades floated into the air and swirled around the area, before transparent warriors, those who had wielded these weapons during the last war, started to form all over her side of the battlefield, and a white haired warrior with a red scarf formed near her.

"Defenders of the World!" Sombra called out, where she could hear many beating their feet, paws, hooves, and whatever else they used to walk on the ground, in a way that made it sound like mighty drums were being played right now, while she stood up and pointed her weapon at her brother, who had fled to the back of his army, "Charge!"

Sure enough the army of the World charged at the Dark Army, where Sombra found that some of the warriors from her side wasted no time in getting serious, such as how Radiant tapped into her elemental energy and hurled a rotating sphere of wind that detonated once it made contact with her targets, blasting a hole into Tenebris' army. Fluttershy and her animals did something similar, they were enraged and just tore into the side of the mass of dark figures, those with elements simply blasting their dark enemies while those like Sabor just chomped down on them before moving forward. Seras and the rest of her Vampires went to town on the area that they were in, where Sombra could see them weaving blood arts into the air as all of them fought, while Sora wasted no time in switching to his new Keyblade, the Ultima, since he had been saving it for this very event. There were also breath attacks as Tiamat and Lei Shen unleashed their power on the Dark Army, tearing all of their foes down while the Heartless and Nobodies did the same, and they were also joined by the Unversed, like they were one united force and not three different beings.

Sombra, however, rushed through the air as she and Tenebris clashed in the middle of the air, her Runeblade meeting the edge of her brother's blade while the sky above them literally split apart, a result of their powers clashing, before they fell backwards and faced each other, as the war had begun and both were eager to see what the future held in store for them.

War: Light and Dark Collide

Radiant spun around as she found some of the Dark Soldiers coming at her, swinging her Keyblade and knocking each of them back before they had a chance to do harm to her, before she summoned her elemental power into her hand as she released wind blades that dealt with her targets. What she, and many of the others in their army, discovered was that when any of the Dark Soldiers that fell their energy rushed up into the air and seemed to be gathering in an area that rested far in Tenebris' army, a circular metallic device like a disc of some kind. Radiant had no idea what it was and assumed that it was some sort of dark artifact from the Umbrum Empire, something Tenebris stole without his father or siblings knowing he had done such a thing, but something told her she shouldn't attack it. Sombra was the one that would know what to do with such a device, that much she knew for a fact, before Radiant forced herself to focus once more as she blasted some enemies out of the air, while the other warriors continued to fight the dark army.

Fluttershy and Seras moved around each other, parrying incoming attacks and pushing the Dark Soldiers back before they could hurt them, though at the same time Fluttershy tapped into her chimera power as she morphed into her monster form, crushing some of their foes before they could get way from them.

"Looks like Dark Xehanort is already forming the X-Blade." Seras commented, though at the same time she waved her hand and spears of blood lashed out, striking down a number of Dark Soldiers before they could do anything to stop the attacks, before she sighed for a few seconds as she noticed where the figure was, "Sadly, he's in the far back of Tenebris' army, no doubt as our foe intended."

"Leave him for Sombra. She'll take care of them both." Fluttershy remarked, where she spun around and used her scaly tail to knock down some of their enemies, before she grabbed both of them by their legs, rotated herself like a twister, and then tossed both into the ranks of the Dark Army, only to loose a beam of energy from her mouth into her targets, blasting them into oblivion as well.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were doing what they did best, charging straight into danger by clashing with the Dark Army, but this time around none of them were playing around and were using their best skills to bring down their enemies, as Sora was channeling the power of the Ultima and it's unlimited Keyblade works power. Donald unleashed the third tier spells on his opponents by freezing them solid, or hurling fireballs, or shocking them with lightning, crushing some with water, and so on as he moved down the spells that were in his arsenal, while saving one in particular for later. Goofy continued to fight with his shield, though his strikes were far more on point and he didn't miss, something that caused the enemies to fall back as he approached them, and even then they had to watch out for when he used Donald's ice to his advantage. Together the three of them were a force to be reckoned with, even without the Ultima Keyblade, and yet they continued to push deeper into Tenebris' army, something that their allies used to their advantage since it meant they could divide his forces.

Riku, utilizing the power of his werewolf form thanks to the amulet he always wore, tore through the Dark Soldiers that came at him and used his new speed to move around the area, while at the same time Kairi fought near him, using her magic to do harm to her targets while ensuring that her allies were as healthy as they could be.

Roxas was like a ball of light as he rushed around the portion of the battlefield that he, Axel, and Xion were in, the trio simply breaking through their enemies as their High Ranks fought beside them, just like how the High Ranks of the others fought near them as well. It was why everyone from the Organization was fighting in different areas, spreading out their forces all while ensuring that there were no gaps in their formation, and even if there were gaps they were sealed by either the forces of the Heartless or even the other villains. Demyx, on the other hand, remained back with his Dancers, though there was a good reason for that as he and his High Ranks started to play like an actual band, utilizing his power to bestow power boosts to the entirety of the army, which was an amazing feat and he was proud to do his part. It had been something he and his High Ranks had worked on in secret, a surprise of sorts, and Demyx was happy to see that it was working like a charm as his allies tore thought their foes with his power boosts, while Xigbar stood nearby and sniped those that got close to him.

Luxu had followed Prexus' lead and allowed himself to be separated into Luxu and Xigbar, one fighting on the front lines as the other remained in the back as he sniped enemies that might be a problem for them, and based on what he was seeing at the moment it looked like things were going quite well.

One area of the battlefield was just a full on war zone on it's own, as that was where Sephiroth was fighting, swinging his long katana and slicing up the ground as he chased those that he deemed to be strong foes, each ultimately failing to stop or stall him, and that wasn't counting his own magical attacks. At the same time Cloud fought beside him, something that both of them had to focus on since they were drawn to clash with each other, but for right now their focus was on saving the rest of the World so they could fight again at some point in the future. Leon and the others, despite not having the skills that the rest of the army had since they had been busy before the war started, were still standing their ground and were taking out enemies as well, meaning even his group were worthy allies in this final battle. The Gullwings, now in full adult forms, had an interesting tactic to use against their enemies, using transformations to fight their foes, as they could be wild like beasts, or could wield magic like mages, used guns, and even had warrior armor, meaning they could change their gear to suit whoever their foes were.

Sombra, on the other hand, was moving through the air as she and Tenebris clashed, the collision of their weapons shaking the air and sending out shockwaves every now and then, though she wasn't surprised when her brother teleported out of the area and landed near Dark Xehanort, claiming a weapon that looked like two Kingdom Keys that formed an X with energy crystals forming the main blade.

"So, that's the X-Blade. Fantastic." Sombra remarked, though at the same time the sky cleared as they found the massive form of Kingdom Hearts floating above the chaotic battlefield, where most of the warriors ignored the new bright floating heart shaped object that had appeared in the sky, "Okay, time to get serious."

As she thought about that, however, Donald became the epicenter of magical activity as a large magical circle formed around him, one of fire and destruction, and Sombra could feel his power inside it, like the duck had been feeding his spare magical energy into his wand since they started traveling together. Whatever spell it was caught the eye of Mickey and Goofy, even Merlin and Yen Sid, but Donald understood that this was a serious matter and was more than willing to unleash the height of his power, if there was a chance that he could turn the tide of the main battle in their favor. In the following moment he just thrust his wand towards the distracted Tenebris, shouted 'Zettaflare', and fired a powerful beam of fiery energy that simply tore through the space between him and his target, zeroing in on Tenebris in no time. For a brief moment Sombra thought it might be over, the beam wiping out Tenebris before he could do anything, though while the beam did cut through the area her brother was standing in Sombra knew that their foe was unharmed.

In fact the next moment confirmed her thoughts as she found Tenebris standing there with a smirk on his face, though while Donald fell into Goofy's arms, confused as to how the attack did nothing, Sombra noticed the dark metallic disc floating in front of her brother, one that had a flaming aura that was disappearing, causing her to flash down and kick it out of the air as she clashed with her brother again.

"Really? Your hunger for power caused you to steal THAT cursed relic?" Sombra remarked, though as she tried to grab it with her magic she found that Tenebris caught it, but it only made her wonder how long her brother had been in possession of the artifact, one that not even the Kings and Queens of the Umbrum Empire dared to wield, out of fear that it would simply consume them as well.

"The Hungering Maw is a wonderful artifact, an endless void that consumes all magic and gives the power to it's wielder... sort of like your power." Tenebris remarked, where the look remained on his face as he and Sombra glanced at each other, while Sombra had to wonder if her brother had figured out that she had the power to capture hearts, something that caused her brother to chuckle for a moment as he thought about something else, "How weak-willed you are... you have the power to capture hearts and absorb them, adding their power to your own, and yet here you are, squandering that power. I knew you were too weak to be an Umbrum."

"That's the difference between you and me, brother: you let your hunger control you, while I conquered mine." Sombra said, though in the next moment she separated the Runeblade into her two Keybaldes and swung them, one aimed at Tenebris' upper body while the other was aimed right at his legs, something that formed him to weave out of the way as Sombra released a light and dark cross slash right into her brother's chest.

The reasoning for that was because she wasn't aiming at the dark artifact, rather she made it so he had to retreat as she used her magic to snatch the X-Blade, where she landed a good distance away and reformed the Runeblade, giving her two of the three Ancient Keyblades that Prexus had talked about. Instead of stopping at that Sombra gathered her power and let her full power form, the one she used way back when she was angry over what happened to Fluttershy, appear on her while she gathered her magic into her right hand. She was layering several techniques and powers into a single attack, the punch that induced earthquakes was covered by each of the elements she and the others had learned about since meeting Sora, with mixed Light and Darkness on top of that. The cherry on top was the Ultima, the spell, as she had learned it from Yen Sid and Merlin during the year of preparation, but hadn't really told anyone about it since she didn't want to ruin the surprise, especially not since Tenebris was likely spying on them to keep track of their progress.

This was her 'Ultima Impact', a spell that should be more than enough to deal with her brother, which was why once she was ready to go Sombra rushed straight for where her brother was standing and swung, where it sure felt like she hit Tenebris, only for the smoke to clear as she found that her attack hit the protective barrier of the cursed artifact.

"You really are pitiful. A full power attack, designed to end the fight, and you fail to hit your target." Tenebris commented, a fact that was followed by him kicking Sombra in the chest and knocking her backwards, as he must have added his power or magic to his attack to push her back, "But I must thank you, for with this power I can do this!"

Sombra rushed at Tenebris and found that he just dissolved into mist, reforming in front of what appeared to be a darkened hourglass, before noticing that her brother's right arm now had the same magical layout that she had used to form her new ultimate move, causing her to move instantly. Two figures stopped her, it was the Dark Xemnas and Dark Seeker Ansem that came from some of the timelines that her brother had been messing with, and their interference allowed Tenebris to fully unleash the power of Sombra's own attack, now fueled by his power and the power of the Hungering Maw relic. He was able to not only shatter the darkened hourglass, but also crack the very fabric of reality itself, where Sombra and the others just watched as the jagged cracks in space and time spread outwards, like a window was cracking before their eyes. This meant her brother had just screwed over time itself, though as the cracks started to spread a few magical bolts of bronze energy rushed through the air and collided with the cracks, seemingly freezing them before they could get much worse.

This caused Sombra to smile a little as she found that Sairozormi was present, not that she was surprised since this was her job, to keep track of time and deal with disruptions, and sure enough she discovered that the bronze humanoid dragon wasn't alone, there were others with her time based power standing behind the army that was opposing Tenebris' forces, all focusing on stopping reality from breaking.

"Like I said, the Time Wardens and I have this covered. Go deal with your brother, before the damage gets worse and we have to call in the big gun." the bronze dragon figure said, where Sombra was sure that they had exchanged names at some point and yet couldn't pinpoint when, exactly, such an event had happened, but now wasn't the time for such things as she nodded her head and faced her brother, who was rightly stunned by this new discovery, even though Sombra was sure that there was someone who looked like Twilight among her army now.

Sombra nodded as the bronze figure opened her wings and retreated, appearing near the back of the army that she and her friends had gathered for this day, no doubt to keep herself safe while she and the others worked, allowing Sombra to focus on Tenebris and nothing else. In the next instant she found that Sora stopped nearby and handed over the Ultima, almost like he knew that he didn't need it anymore, like he was merely holding onto it until it could be passed to someone else, a fact that gave her all three of the Ancient Keyblades. Tenebris, annoyed by was going on, slammed the dark relic into his own chest, consuming his body in pure dark energy, as the tips of his hair were stained with the pulsing void center of the relic, his hands became clawed and wicked, he let his hooves crack and morph into predatory paws, and there was a hungry look in his eyes, like he was now consumed by the void. Of course this meant that his power was beyond reasoning, especially since the relic was incredibly powerful, but Sombra knew that her brother had gone off the deep end by doing so, he had given himself over to his hunger completely, and the hunger of the dark relic.

In the next moment Kingdom Hearts pulsed above their heads and Sombra smiled, where she raised her hand for a moment as her power wrapped around the powerful force, because it was a heart and it was better placed in her collection, but this time she had other plans. The moment Kingdom Hearts was captured she tapped into the power of every heart that was in her possession, creating a torrent of energy around her while the Ancient Keyblades moved around her, their forms simply overlapping before merging into a single weapon, a straight sword, very unlike a Keyblade, whose blade was silver colored yet seemed far stronger than all other Keyblades. It's guard was like two wings, one a bright light and the other simply pure darkness, two forces in balance, and it wasn't long before Sombra emerged from the vortex of energy, but this time most of her dark armor was gone, replaced by a form fitting set of armor that looked what an angel would wear, only it, too, had light and dark aspects. Sombra found that it was like when she channeled both of her powers, Light on one side and Darkness on the other, both powers brought into balance, and she even found that she had a pair of feathery wings growing out of her back, one of golden light and the other of the dark void, like she was the balance between the two opposing forces.

With that done she and her brother focused on each other, as the battle that was about to start would be the final battle, both between them and between the Light and the Darkness, the fated final clash, and she would do everything in her power to save the World from what her brother was about to unleash on them, causing her to brace herself for whatever might happen next.

War: Fate of the World

"So, the inferior creature has improved itself as well? Too bad, I shall devour your power all the same." Tenebris stated, only this time there was a darker tone to his voice, reflecting his own hungry state and the dark power that had transformed him into a beast that seemed focused on devouring the World itself, something that caused Sombra to sigh for a few seconds as they stared at each other.

"Your hunger for power is all-consuming... you won't stop until everything is yours, meaning I must stand against you and stop you, here and now." Sombra commented, where she held her hand out and let the strange sword float off to the side, as she wanted to see how her body reacted when fighting someone like this, where she let out a breath before focusing on Tenebris with her full attention, "Come, brother. Let us end this."

In the next moment Tenebris rushed at Sombra and swung his clawed hands at her, where Sora and the others watched as Sombra simply moved out of the way, like her body was reacting on it's own somehow, while at the same time she used the sides of her arms to redirect incoming attacks. At the same time it was plainly obvious that Tenebris was more focused on being a very predictable fighter, his swings and kicks were easy for Sombra to see coming, were she translated that rapidly incoming information into action that her body did on it's own. The fascinating thing in Sombra's eyes was just how much power had been lingering in her heart collection, the vast power she had kept away from her brother, especially since he had the relic that was now part of his body, and she felt justified in her actions since he showed himself. So for the first couple of moments she really just spent her time getting used to the power that was now at her fingertips, finding how she was able to move her body, and just how easy it was for her to deflect her brother's attacks, even moving out of the way to avoid being punched in the face.

Of course she wasn't purely defensive, relying on the power that had awakened by her absorbing the power of the hearts in her collection and the power of Kingdom Hearts, rather she also lashed out with her newfound abilities once she was good on understanding her defensive powers.

Her first punch to her brother's chest knocked Tenebris back, causing him to stumble backwards for a moment as he looked down at himself in surprise, but he seemed to like what was going on, since this meant more power was in front of him than what he had been expecting. Such a thing caused Sombra to step forward for a few moments as she used her hands to just brush aside the incoming wild swings from her brother, pushing him backwards across the battlefield as the Dark Army just watched with disbelief on their faces. She, on the other hand, landed blow after blow on her foe as she struck him right in the sides of his chest, ensuring that each of her attacks landed where she intended for them to land while making sure not to touch the dark relic he had merged with. It was pretty obvious why Sombra was doing this, she didn't want to give her brother any additional power, even though there was no telling how things worked now that Tenebris was merged with the artifact, but that didn't stop her from ducking to the side as she punched her brother in the face.

The force of that blow sent him flying backwards and he thrust his hand out, causing Sombra to grab the dark thin rods that he had sent out, no doubt to catch her unaware so he could do some harm to her, before she broke them as Tenebris used his power to drop massive orbs of earth on the battlefield, her catching one and hurling it at her brother.

"Wow... how is she doing this?" Sora commented, as this was beyond what Sombra had shown in the past, she was moving like she was possessed by something else, and yet her movements seemed to be paving the way for her to do something very specific, like she was trying to remove the relic or sneakily destroy it.

"It's like Ultra Instinct, a power that allows one's body to move on it's own, be it defensive or offensive." a voice said, where Sora and the others found a newcomer standing among them, someone Fluttershy recognized, as it was an adult pony girl with a chest that was like Fluttershy's, only this one wore a dark set of clothing and carried a dark looking staff, though her eyes were on Sombra right now, "And yet it isn't... very interesting."

"Lady Twilight, what are you doing here?" Sairozormi asked, as she had been sure that this event could have been resolved with just her and the Time Wardens, without having to rely on the aid of the Prime Twilight, the one who ruled over each and every version of herself in the many timelines.

"You brought all of the Time Wardens, leaving none of them stationed in their domain. I figured it warranted my attention, even if it's just observation." Twilight replied, though at the same time she smiled and let Fluttershy hug her, as she was part of the reason she had come here, before they separated as they watched the fight that was going on right now, because it was getting heated as Sombra's brother made the next move.

The attack happened to be Tenebris rushing right at Sombra once more, this time calling on the darkness to create a small blade that had a curved edge, in fact it looked like a dagger, while at the same time Sombra held her hand out and called her new weapon over to her. When she caused it Sombra swung it at the ground and the area around her shattered, before she and Tenebris clashed once more, the air rippling as their powers collided with each other again and lightning even flashed a few times, but it was clear that the older sibling was losing ground. That was due to the fact that Sombra found a way to use her magic to make tendrils to wrap her brother up in and deliver a punishing blow to Tenebris' face, sending him into one of the rock walls that was around the area and collapsed it on top of her foe. This, obviously, didn't sit well with Tenebris as he flashed into the air and rained fireballs down on the area that Sombra was in, ones that were almost small meteors based on their size, yet Sombra just remained in the air and used the edge of his weapon to redirect the attacks down into the Dark Army, blasting them while she fought her brother.

Sombra then rushed through the air and appeared behind Tenebris, where she spun around and kicked him in the back, an attack that sent him flying down over to where his dark palace was resting, but as she got ready to follow Tenebris howled for a moment as the palace was torn out of the ground, the entire dark area floating in the air with some of the ground right below it.

"I don't understand it. How did you get so strong?" Tenebris shouted, appearing nearby as he glanced at Sombra, though at the same time Sombra noticed that the dark void that was inside the relic was pulsing with life, though her focus was on her brother, since beating him was her focus right now.

"Kingdom Hearts, the hearts I've collected... does it honestly matter?" Sombra remarked, as Tenebris had seen the change in her body like everyone else, but she knew he was too focused on his hunger for power to pay attention to what was going on right now, which was why she shifted her stance and readied her new weapon, "I think it's time that we brought this to an end, brother... your power might be great, but it looks like my power up might have turned the tide."

"NO. I refuse to acknowledge that you've overcame me!" Tenebris stated, where this time Sombra found that his hands were shrouded in the dark void energy, almost like he was going to use a desperation play to make sure he won, before Tenebris rushed down to the surface of the Keyblade Graveyard and touched the earth, the dark void starting to stretch out.

Sombra called out for everyone to get to high ground and her forces did so without delay, though it allowed them to watch as the void stretched out from where her brother had stopped, and those unfortunate enough to be caught in the attack were pulled into the darkness, their power being turned into fuel for the relic.

"You've gone mad." Sombra commented, noticing that her forces and the Time Wardens were far above the ground, in fact the newcomer that Fluttershy was talking to, someone who made him nervous since she had been responsible for her loss at the battle for the Crystal Empire, had raised the earth into the air to make sure her forces weren't caught in the attack.

"What's wrong, coward?! Scared of newfound power?" Tenebris remarked, where Sombra found her brother's body bulking up, his limbs were larger and more muscular, in fact he was easily three times her size now, while his left hand was now a large pincer, his body was starting to be replaced with a chitin exoskeleton, a thick chitin tail replaced his, and it looked like dark void energy wings had grown out of his back, like he was a monster now, "Yes, with this power I will consume the very stars themselves! Nothing is beyond my grasp! This universe, and all it's timelines, are mine to devour!"

"Your hunger has really consumed you... brother. Now I just see a monster to take out." Sombra said, though this wasn't even remotely what she wanted, she had been hoping that there was a chance to pull her brother out of his madness, even if it was an unreasonable thing for her to think about, given the threat Tenebris had posed, before she sighed as she let go of the sword and let it float nearby.

In the next moment Sombra summoned the chest she had created and let the thirteen sealing stones float out of it, each of them chained with both Light and Darkness, before glancing down at her brother as she realized she had once shot to wipe out two threats at the same time. She sharpened the First through the Twelfth crystals before sending them flying down at her brother, where chains of interchanging light and dark energy wrapped around Tenebris' arms, legs, chest, tail, and even his wings before he had a chance to stop what was coming. While that happened Sombra made sure that he was chained to the center of his dark palace, she needed somewhere for the chains to latch onto and she felt that it was best to use his own residence against him, especially since he went through the effort to raise it into the air for whatever reason, even though she suspected it was to flex on her. In the next moment Sombra snatched the fallen curved dagger her brother had created, and then discarded, before rushing down to where Tenebris was standing, using the edge of the weapon against the edge of the relic that was in her brother's chest, forcefully prying it out of his chest as the Thirteenth crystal was shoved in it's place, all in the span of a few seconds.

She then landed near Tenebris with the dark relic floating in front of her, the void's hunger a siren's call she realized, while at the same time her brother huffed as the last of the crystals ensured that he was chained in place, the corruption remaining on his body.

"And just what do you think you're doing?!" Tenebris growled, where Sombra just looked at him for a moment and verified that her brother was mostly gone, his insatiable hunger for power had devoured him, to the point that he was willing to go to any lengths for power, and after everything she had seen Sombra knew it was time to end this.

"Ending this. Goodbye... brother." Sombra replied, where she tapped into the relic's power for a moment and it started to expand as an orb of void energy started to spread out from where the item was floating, while Sombra moved out of the palace's reach and just watched from afar.

As she intended the orb continued to expand, in fact the crystal prisons were pulled in and broken up, the pieces devoured by the relic's power, and Sombra watched as Tenebris howled in pain as his arms and legs were broken up as the orb quickly consumed him, leaving nothing of him behind as the void ate him. Despite herself Sombra felt some tears run down the side of her face, as Tenebris had been her brother and even despite their differences, and his dislike towards her, offing her own brother had been like a knife to the heart, even if this was all because of her brother being unable to control himself. After she ensured that her brother was fully inside the orb, and that he hadn't escaped, she let the void orb grow some more as it started to eat away at the dark palace, pieces of it cracking and falling into the depths of the vast hungry void. Once she was sure that it was large enough Sombra sighed as she held a hand out and let the void orb collapse on itself as it detonated, blasting away the rocky ground that had been torn out of the ground while devouring the rest of the dark palace in the blast, leaving nothing of it behind.

Sombra wasn't too surprised to see that the relic was the only thing that survived the detonation, but she let it float there for a moment as she let out a breath and held her hands out, as it was time for her to do something else, something that would no doubt surprise everyone when they witnessed it.

"World, it is time. Release the hearts I have gathered, and return them to their proper owners." Sombra said, because now she understood why the World had given her this particular power, to capture the hearts of people and even Kingdom Hearts itself to prevent them from falling into the wrong hands, and now that her task was done it was time to let them go, to let all of that power go.

In the next moment Sombra let out a burst of light as she found dozens upon dozens of pink hearts leaving her, even ones she had absorbed at the start of her adventure with Fluttershy, Radiant, and the others, but she smiled as it happened, as it was time for them to return to their bodies and continue their lives. Some she knew would be reunited with their bodies, the Nobodies that had been slain, and would return to being a living person again, while others would no doubt linger until their other was taken out, and a few would no doubt pass onto the next life. She also knew it would drastically lower her power, back to what she started with, but but that's important to her anymore, as she had done her task, saving the World from all who threatened it, and she was happy to let go of the power she had gained. While she did that, however, Sombra found a phantom image of herself, a bipedal version of herself in her old male form, who seemed to smile as well as he embraced her, as if agreeing with her actions, before the phantom faded away, leaving her to her business.

Once the deed was done, and there were no more hearts to free, Sombra found that none of the power had left her, every drop of power she had gained from the hearts, and even Kingdom Hearts, was now etched into her body, like it was hers and nothing could change that, and Twilight floated nearby, the dark relic in her hand.

"It would seem that the World has acknowledged you, Sombra, and is letting you keep your newfound power." Twilight said, where she ran a finger over the edge of the dark relic, causing Sombra to notice that she wasn't at all bothered by the dark whispers that were coming from inside it, before the clearly powerful woman beckoned to the ground with her head, where Sombra noticed everyone cheering for their victory, and hers, "Go to them, celebrate your victory. You've earned it... and don't worry about the time damage, Sairozormi and the Time Wardens are repairing it as we speak."

Sombra nodded as she found that she could now revert to her 'base' form, what she had before she absorbed the power of Kingdom Hearts, and that she could transform into her 'ascended' form with a thought, causing her to smile as she warped down to the others, as it was time to celebrate their victory before they worried about what the future held in store for them, their allies, and the rest of the World.

Interlude: Heading Home

It took a while for the celebration to die down, but when it did Sombra, Sora, and the others found that the soldiers of their combined army returned to their worlds with their heads held high, as they had saved their homes from destruction and had saved the World as a whole. Sombra also made sure to tell Sephiroth that she'd fight him again in the future, since he really wanted to clash with her again, and with that information given he returned to his world as well, much to Cloud's sorrow since he really didn't like the one winged figure. Maleficent, for the most part, seemed content with the fact that Tenebris was no longer walking the World, meaning time was no longer in jeopardy, but at the same time she knew not to clash with Sombra's group again, it would be her end for real. With that in mind the dark witch and Pete retreated into the darkness they had emerged from, no doubt traveling to another world so they could conquer it so she could have a castle of her own to live in, or do whatever it was she wanted to do next.

Once everyone was accounted for Sombra found that it was her group and the Umbrum who remained, which made sense due to the fact that this was literally everyone who came from Equus, plus Sora's group, something that caused Twilight to nod her head as she opened a portal with her magic.

"So, what are we going to do on the other side of the portal?" Sombra asked, because she was interested in what the figure had in mind, Twilight hadn't said too much since Tenebris had been bested, save for mentioning that there was a demonic empire out there, one they might be going to war with, and that Discord was missing right now.

"You'll get a chance to see your home, see the others that have been brought back, the allies they've found, and simply do whatever you want before we go to war." Twilight replied, though at the same time she nodded to the few Umbrum that were standing nearby, as she knew that they wanted to see their home as well and she wasn't about to let them down in that regard, especially since she understood Umbra more than anyone expected, while the dark relic floated around her, "I would like to talk about this at some point, so I can better understand it... though I could ask Spitfire and her Void followers, since they're an authority on this particular subject."

"And why's that?" Umbra asked, because she and the rest of the Umbrum knew that Twilight was one of the smartest in their home world, so learning that she considered someone else to be the authority on something held an interest for her, which was when Twilight smiled and beckoned for them to follow her.

Sombra really wasn't sure what to expect when they stepped through the portal, though on the other side she and the rest of the group discovered what appeared to be just an ordinary town, Ponyville, but it wasn't long before they discovered that it was different from what Sombra, Fluttershy, Radiant, and Seras remembered. It wasn't that the town had changed, rather they discovered that it was the residents of Ponyville, because there were ponies of all races, griffins, races that Sombra had only read about, dragons, and even diamond dogs, the last one a massive surprise. In addition to that there were humans, what appeared to be dwarves, even shorter beings called gnomes, there were worgen, all types of elves, the vulpera, and a whole group of dragon people that were like Sairozormi, each being a different assortment of colors, horns, crests, talons, and decorations. And that wasn't the only ones that were there, as there were red individuals who seemed to have some sort of demonic power, even though they had blue and purple skinned cousins that were good, plus seductive demons, tall brutish looking figures, and all sorts of demons.

What caught Sombra's attention was a group of four, two males and two females, where one male looked like he embodied fire itself by being a tall imp or fire devil, the other male was essentially a dark lord made of stone, the first female looked a lot like the dragon people, only her wings were growing out of her arms, like a wyvern, and she seemed like a different type of dragon, and the second lady was very familiar.

"Hold on, that one looks like my world form from Halloween Town." Radiant commented, as she recalled the frozen dragon-like form she had taken in the scary world that caused them to discover that Seras existed in the first place, while noticing that Twilight was interested in what she was saying, "Some of the worlds we visited required us to blend in, and to do that we had to take on 'world forms', something that matched the inhabitants of that world... Halloween Town made us closer to Halloween themed monsters. Fluttershy and Seras were vampires, Donald was a mummy, Riku was a werewolf, and so on, but mine was a lot like the icy lady's body."

"I see. Well, those are the Primal Incarnates of Azeroth: Fyrakk the Blazing, Iridikron the Stonescaled, Raszageth the Storm-Eater, and Vyranoth the Frozenheart." Twilight said, where she smiled as she observed them, as it looked like most of them were happy to be here, even though she knew Fryakk craved destruction, something he had been promised once it was time to declare war on the demonic empire, "Now, they used to hate the Titans with every fiber of their beings, but Spitfire and Rainbow were able to convince them to talk with those that ordered Azeroth... it took some time for them to get through such a discussion, especially with Raszageth's temper, but they succeeded in getting them to stand down and join those that want to protect Azeroth. And since Azeroth is sided with us, the Incarnates have joined us as well, joining forces with each of the mortal races that call the planet home."

"And we have more, our grand and glorious leader." a feminine voice said, which was when the group found that a lady with an elven body, due to the ears, and she wore what seemed to be a mix of a mage robe mixed with some sort of cultist attire, with golden wings for shoulder guards, with two Void orbs floating above her shoulders, who seemed to be floating as if she didn't want to touch the ground and bowed her head towards Twilight, "Spitfire and Rainbow are continuing to help the various residents of Khaz Algar, and soon we should have more recruits to add to the armada."

"That is good, Xal'atath. I look forward to their return." Twilight replied, though while Sombra sensed that the Void being no doubt had her own plans once the demonic empire was dealt with, likely to remove a threat to her own plans, it was clear that she was also worried about both Spitfire and Rainbow, before Twilight had the artifact float into her hand, "Oh, that reminds me: do you think you can show me how to use this?"

"The Dark Heart?!" the Void entity, Xal'atath, replied, where everyone watched as she pulled out her own version of the dark relic, though while Sombra could see that they were identical in form she could also see that there were some differences between the two, causing her to raise an eyebrow for a moment, "Not quite, but still the same... where did this come from?"

"This world, actually. My now dead brother, Tenebris, stole it from the area that the Umbrum were sealed in." Sombra said, all while she looked at the two artifacts, they really were mirror images of each other, the Dark Heart was golden with what appeared to be dragon designs with purple runes between the 'claw' sections, while the Hungering Maw was smooth dark silver intertwined with purple runes, "It's hunger was his downfall."

"I see. You are interesting... maybe we can converse for a time, teach Twilight about our unique artifacts?" Xal'atath inquired, as she was taking this seriously, since she had been sure that hers was the only Void relic of it's kind, even though how it had been created was different from what people might expect, but she was eager to learn more about the Umbrum and their own dark relic.

Sombra nodded, because if Twilight was going to be using and learning about the Hungering Maw she needed to be there to aid her, as she wanted to make sure nothing bad happened to the figure who had stopped time from breaking on them, or at least she assumed such a thing since Twilight hadn't fought anyone during the war.

"Who are the little rat guys hanging out near the... dwarves, I guess?" Sora asked, because there were a lot of races and he knew that many of his friends were interested in all of the people that were gathered nearby, especially since it looked like there were armed soldiers heading towards a training area, where a tall buff figure with a beard and some odd red tattoo, carrying an interesting pair of blades and a unique axe, was ordering trainees around, "The guys with candles on their heads, I mean."

"They're a breed of kobold from Azeroth... I've found others in my travels, and they don't look like that. We also have a few murlocs, gnolls, and other races as well." Twilight replied, where she glanced at the group for a moment, seeing that the one figure that had captured Sora's attention for a few moments, before focusing on Sombra's group as they walked deeper into Ponyville, seeing more dragons that were different from Sairozormi's people, "Honestly, the Azerothian kobolds are dumb as rocks, especially since they wear candles on their heads... however, I've come to learn that they can be quite smart, given the ones from Khaz Algar. Those ones are definitely smarter than their cousins, so I'm interested in them coming through and seeing what our worlds have to offer, so we can see what they can actually do when given the attention they deserve."

"I'll admit, I originally dismissed them as well and only took an interest because Spitfire did... she saw something in them that many overlooked." Xal'atath remarked, where she glanced at the creature for a moment with a look of interest, like she was a god trying to see what a mortal had seen in the candle wearing kobold, even though it was clear that part of her was still confused by Spitfire's interest, but for now she focused on the group, "So, what will you do first?"

"I... honestly, I do not know." Sombra stated, which was the truth, she had been so focused on traversing the World, hunting down those that were threatening it's safety while preparing for the war with her brother, that she hadn't considered what would happen after the Last Keyblade War, before she smiled as she looked at Ponyville for a time, "For now I think I'll just hang around Ponyville, take in the sights and chat with the newcomers... I'm sure they have some interesting stories to tell, and everyone could use a break before we worry about anything else."

Twilight smiled and nodded her head, it was a wise thing to do after everything Sombra and the others had been through, to which she told them that she would be in her castle when they were ready to head to another part of Equus, causing the group to spread out to explore Ponyville, eager to meet the newcomers as they wondered what the coming hours had in store for them and this world.

Interlude: Ponyville

As the group walked around Ponyville for a time Sombra found that most of it looked the same as before, when she was just a specter that latched onto Fluttershy's body for a short ride, as the buildings were identical and nothing seemed out of place to her. The difference came from the various races and beings that happened to be in the town, like the dwarves that were leaving a workshop they had set up, a group of diamond dogs discussing metals and gems, the vulpera chatting with the snake headed people called the sethrak, and many more. Not everyone was from Azeroth, since there were the dragons from another world who walked on two legs and came in many shapes and sizes, the elf-like people who seemed ready for war, and the strange short orange furred creatures that were a cross between an otter and a weasel, the ottsels as Twilight told them. They then found a few more ottsels, as there was a red one, a blue one, a green one, a yellow one, and a dark furred one that was following an orange one, and yet all six of them spoke in Twilight's voice, despite each having a slight difference to set them apart.

When they approached Twilight's castle, however, Sombra spotted what appeared to be a dwarf sized owl creature that she was sure was from another version or point of reality, which seemed to be silver colored with golden tips on what had to be it's eyebrows, who seemed to be coming out of a workshop area of the castle.

"How do you do-hoo?" the owl asked, speaking in a feminine voice that was very clearly Twilight's, something that caused the group to just pause for a moment, which was when Sombra noticed how the own had the same eye color as Twilight and how the tips of her eyebrows matched Twillight's coat color.

"Just fine, actually." Fluttershy replied, with a smile on her face, something that caused the owl Twilight to smile for a couple of seconds before heading off into Ponyville, though following that she and the others turned to look at their guide, who had a smile on her face as she noticed their reactions towards this discovery, "Twilight, what was that?"

"Me, obviously. Well, to be more exact, it's one of my Alternates, one who was focused on tinkering and ended up figuring out a device that sent her into Bastion, in the Shadowlands." Twilight said, as if that was a perfectly normal thing to say, and for Twilight Sombra had a feeling that this was literally a Tuesday for her and her Alternates, especially when she thought about what Sairozormi had done so far, and it wasn't long before they were brought to the ballroom, which had been turned into an area chalked full of information on the other worlds, "The Shadowlands is, essentially, the final resting place of each and every soul in the multiverse... and no, I'm not joking, as I've noticed one version of a particular orc is in Maldraxxus while a still living version of her is with our growing army. It is ruled by the 'Pantheon of Death': the Arbiter, who rules Orbos and judges each soul that comes to her; the Archon, who rules over Bastion; the Primus, ruler of Maldraxxus; the Winter Queen, who rules over a nature afterlife that you'd like, Fluttershy, known as Ardenweald; the Sire, the lord of Revendreth; and the Jailer, who stands guard over the most vile souls in the Maw."

"So you have Orbos, the core of it all, with a realm of duty and service, another being constant battle, the third being tied to the eternal cycle of nature's life, death, and rebirth, and a realm to deal with sin?" Sombra replied, though she had to admit that this was very interesting, even though she suspected that Revendreth suited her, given her many years of evil before the change of heart she had, "What's the difference between Revendreth and the Maw?"

"You go to Revendreth first, and the Sire's people try to absolve you of your sins... if you let them do their work, and face the sins of your life, you'll be sent back to the Arbiter for secondary sentencing." Twilight answered, where she wasn't surprised that Sombra was the one asking this, since she had come the closest to death out of all of the people in her group, and it was like she was glimpsing into the knowledge of the afterlife to prepare herself for what awaited her, "If you fail to be redeemed you would be tossed into the Maw... from what I understand the Arbiter prefers to send the flawed souls to Revendreth first, even if they're planet ending and life corrupting individuals. The only way you would go to the Maw first is if someone tried to take justice into their own hands... that reminds me, Spitfire was able to convince the Jailer to rejoin his brethren, and he, in turn, returned a number of souls that skipped the line. Allow me to explain: Bastion has the Kyrian, and they're supposed to ferry the souls of the slain to the Arbiter, but every now and then you have a mortal soul in Bastion that breaks the rules and forces themselves to become a winged individual so they can punish their murderers."

"It just... it just doesn't seem real. That after everything we've learned, there's an even greater truth." Prexus said, because he had come with the group since he wanted to learn more about Twilight and their forces, and here he was learning that there was a final afterlife that everyone eventually reached, no matter who they were or where they lived, "So that means that both Tenebris and the thirteen Darknesses would have ended up in Revendreth?"

"Yes, it does." Twilight replied, where she could see that Prexus seemed relieved to know that the foes he had spent most of his life fighting were gone, for real, while Sombra was thinking about her foolish brother, it was easy for her to tell what was going on with the former tyrant of the Crystal Empire, "Now, my little owl Alternate is dead, the device she used killed her, but she was sent to Bastion because her gadgets were used to protect life and the people of other worlds, and she used her talents to become the right hand of an intelligent steward called Mikanikos, the Forgelite Prime. Thanks to all of Spitfire and Rainbow's work, dealing with the troubles of the Shadowlands, the Arbiter and the Eternal Ones have decided to ally with us, to stop the demonic empire and bring some balance to our troubled universe... plus more souls means more Anima for the Shadowlands, so everyone wins."

Sombra remained silent as Twilight continued to talk about the ins and outs of the Shadowlands, since they were walking down that track and she figured she might as well make an afternoon out of it, while at the same time Radiant promised her that they would share information with her tomorrow. From what they gathered Bastion was where souls that focused on the service of others would go to Bastion, to be cleansed of their burdens and become Kyrian, training to become Ascended, which was the winged version of Kyrian who were more important, to ferry souls to the Arbiter. Following that there was the land of Maldraxxus, home of the Necrolords and the Five Houses, which was where the military might of the realms came from and was where relentless unyielding souls were sent, often warriors and war-like figures. Ardenweald, like Twilight told them previously, was where wild gods went when they perished so they could be recharged and then released back into the mortal planes, and it happened to be where people connected to nature went to.

Revendreth and the Maw needed no further explanation, though Twilight did inform them that redeemed souls could come to call the former home, joining the very beings that tended to a soul's sins, but once she was done Twilight left them to their own devices, as she wasn't going to force them to do anything.

"So... what are we going to do now?" Seras asked, because it sounded like they had to get ready for a second war, one that was on the same level as the one they had just finished no less since it seemed to involve all of reality, or the vast majority of it anyway, even though she knew the others were hoping it would be like their adventures, with a break before the invasion started.

"Isn't it obvious? We get some rest, relax for a bit, and then get training with the other recruits as we learn about everything we know about the demonic empire." Sora said, as he knew that Twilight knew more than she was letting on, in fact he was sure that she had intentionally withheld information to avoid scaring them off, just in case the sheer scale of the war might scare them off, or maybe she just didn't want to overload them with information in a single day.

Sombra, on the other hand, headed outside for a moment and watched as Twilight did what Celestia and Luna did, as in she used her magic to move the sun and moon since she knew when it was time to do so, and yet it felt more natural since she did so at a slower rate, letting the world know that night was coming, and soon she was staring at the night sky.

"You seem distracted. Is the information about the Shadowlands bothering you?" Twilight asked, as there was a chance that she might have overloaded some of them with spending such a great deal of time talking about the Realms of Death, where people and ponies would go when they finally perished, but she had seen how interested they had been in Azeroth's vast residents and had figured they'd be okay with the talk.

"No, just... do you think you, or someone from Spitfire's group, could arrange for someone to stay in Revendreth for a time?" Sombra asked, something that caused Twilight to turn and raise an eyebrow for a moment, because she was no doubt eager to hear her reasoning for asking such a thing, even though to Sombra the reason was pretty obvious, "Part of it is due to me wanting to make sure Tenebris is fully processed, as he fully deserves his fate... the other part is my desire to get to work on my sins, as I committed many before I possessed Fluttershy and sent us to Traverse Town. I know, I did a number of good deeds while traveling with Sora... but I also know that my days as a tyrant will send me to Revendreth no matter what, so I'm interested in getting a head start on redeeming myself for the big fight."

"There is some time difference between the realms, a day here could be weeks in the Shadowlands... but mortals don't age in the Realms of Death, so it could work." Twilight replied, which was interesting when she thought about it, that Sombra had changed so much in only three years, in fact when she looked at her she didn't see the dreaded tyrant, rather she saw the fierce warrior who would go above and beyond to secure their victory, "Very well, I'll speak with Spitfire and see if the Eternal Ones would be willing to let a mortal get a jump start on their afterlife, or at least cleansing themselves to be properly judged when the time comes. But don't forget that you have to tell me about the World at some point, and share what you know about the Hungering Maw... though I can wait for you to do what you need to do, for a time."

Sombra nodded as she headed out into Ponyville, deciding to enjoy her time in the unfamiliar town and see what the races had to say, to just relax and enjoy not having to worry about the Heartless, Nobodies, or the other dangers of the World, and it made her look forward to whatever the future had in store for her, her friends, and the rest of the universe.

Epilogue: Towards a Bright Future

Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras found that the next two days were definitely interesting, in the sense that they had more opportunities to speak with the various species that were now connected to Equus, like how Spike was now one of the greatest magic users of the world he had been sent to. Ember had been sent with him and they came back with a whole list of species that were united in their preparations and were willing to stand together, as a single front, against the darkness that lingered in their universe. This included the other dragons that weren't dracthyr, because there were painters, sculptors, musicians, a barista, warriors of different degrees, wizards who listened to Spike, dragons that tended to beasts, mechanics, and even ones connected to dreams. In fact there was a rabbit that was as tall as Spike was, two cheetahs standing by her, a being that looked like a cross between a faun and a dragon, and many more, and that wasn't counting all of the others that they talked to since returning to Equus.

It became quite clear that Twilight had far more than a group of Time Wardens and her Alternates available to her, in fact it was clear to Sombra that she was the leader of an entire armada, a fleet of space ships ready to warp in at a moment's notice, just waiting for when it was time to declare war on the demonic empire.

Sombra found that there were two methods to the empire's assaults, as Twilight had been spending her time peering into the past, observing all of the previous worlds that had been conquered by the demons, and using that information to make her preparations accordingly. Those methods, as it turned out, were to either launch a sneak attack and wipe out the vast majority of the defenders in a single day, and Twilight confirmed it multiple times by observing multiple planets, or they simply declared war on a world, gave them a few days to gather their defenders, and then crushed them. Twilight reported that it purely depended on the demon in charge of the empire, some were more focused on conquest and preferred the ambush, while others preferred to be more honorable and give their enemies a chance to defend themselves. Based on the information she had obtained so far it looked like they were dealing with the latter, a ruler that wanted his enemies to bring all of their warriors to bare against them, and that wasn't even a guess, not when she peered into the present to see which type of ruler was in control of the empire.

This meant they had time and she wanted to make sure everyone was ready, they just had a few more displaced to find and recover before the demons arrived, so it was a matter of being patient, even though Sombra knew Twilight had her own plan in mind for when it was time to wage war.

She also discovered that the others were widely accepted into the forces without delay, the army that was training on one of the other worlds, of which there happened to be many in their armada, was always happy to meet new people, get to know them, and then help them catch up with their training. They also found out that the Crystal Empire was leaderless as well, as both Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor were gone, apparently they were displaced as well, as they and one of their guards went looking for their lost daughter, the natural born alicorn called Flurry Heart. Such a thing prompted them to find out that Flurry had already returned and she was like a goddess in her own manner, in fact she was standing next to the big buff warrior with red markings, who seemed happy whenever she was nearby, and that told Sombra all she needed to know at the moment. That wasn't counting the other figures that were near her at one point, all gods and goddesses in their own right, which explained the sheer power that was coming from her, but Sombra found that it was a good thing since it meant she would be ready for when the war finally arrived.

The only ones that Sombra was interested in meeting were Spitfire and Rainbow Dash, both of them being attractive figures, much like her and Fluttershy she realized, where the latter was infused with demonic energy, the Fel energy from the Legion that the pair had fought, she had a pair of leathery bat wings, and she had horns, one like an alicorn's and two that made her look like a demon.

"I usually look more demonic than this. Twilight helped me figure out how to seal my Fel power, giving me a base form and my 'Fel Incarnate' form." Rainbow said, speaking to Fluttershy since they were old friends and she was interested in catching up with her friend, especially since both of them had been on interesting adventures and part of her was very eager to clash with Fluttershy at some point since she was strong and wasn't a coward anymore, "Still haven't been able to overcome the power that Spitfire has, since she's connected to all six Cosmic Forces."

"Still, it was worth the power to wield the powers of the Arcane, Light, Life, Death, Fel, and the Void in a single body." Spitfire remarked, and yet Sombra found that she was calm, despite the warring powers that were housed in her body, as if she was in full control of the six powers, which Twilight had confirmed after learning about these powers and what each of them were capable of, "That reminds me: Sombra, Radiant Hope, the Pantheon of Death have, with some bickering, decided to grant your requests. They're expecting you in the morning, our time anyway."

"Radiant, you don't have to do this." Sombra stated, as this was her task and hers alone, she needed to make sure Tenebris was punished accordingly and she needed to focus on resolving some of her sins, something that Radiant would likely be very bored with if she followed her into Revendreth, while the rest of their friends were partly surprised by this.

"Sombra, I followed you into darkness, through time, across space, and fought by your side as we faced the literal end of the World... the Realms of Death don't scare me." Radiant replied, where she leaned against Sombra for a moment, because while it had been a wild and unexpected adventure, one she could have never dreamed of before she met Sombra, and yet she would do it all again, if it meant she'd be with Sombra, especially since it looked like Riku's crush on her friend had gone away over the years, "Besides, you'll need someone to support you when you start your sessions, and I'll be there to make sure you have all the positive support you could possibly need, since the Harvesters in Revendreth are supposed to be very tough on the souls that are sent to them."

"And don't worry about the lessons revolving around the Hungering Maw, I'll come to you for them." Twilight commented, as most of the displaced were present right now, those that had come home anyway, though once again she had a smile on her face as she let the dark relic float around her, "Oh, by the way, I realized that you guys make contact with both Solarion and Nightfell, the mythical weapons of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, even though for us they rushed off planet about two weeks ago. So, with that in mind, I opened a space-time portal and linked our point in time to when you saw them, and then when you sent them flying I returned them to the present with the directions you gave them... I'm using them to locate both of the Princesses, but it should be some time before they reach their intended destinations."

Sombra remained silent as she heard that, as her focus was more on what sort of powers the Solar and Lunar Princesses might unlock during their own grand adventures, especially since they were already incredible in their own rights, so part of her was worried that they would be monsters upon their return. It also made her think about the rest of the missing, such as the rulers of the Crystal Empire and their guard, the pink one known as Pinkie Pie, someone called 'Vinyl Scratch', and also Discord, since no one had seen him since their return to Equus. The shocking thing was that not even Twilight knew what was up with the Spirit of Disharmony, there was no record of him actually being displaced like everyone else, but at the same time he's been missing for quite some time, leaving Sombra to assume he might be on Equus somewhere, just mopping over Fluttershy's absence. Of course that would only make sense if he had returned after their arrival, and yet it had been a few days and none of them had any new information on Discord, so she found that it was hard to actually confirm or deny what was going on with him.

Other than that there wasn't anything for her to worry about, other than Radiant refusing to step down on this matter, so once morning arrived both she and her companion stood in the outskirts of Ponyville, their friends behind them while they stared at the dark misty portal that Spitfire had opened for them.

"Here you two go, a portal leading straight to Orbos. Sire Denathrius will be waiting for you in Revendreth, to take you two to one of the Harvesters." Spitfire stated, where she glanced back at the pair for a moment and found that neither were going to step down, Sombra intended on reforming herself more than she had done in the three years she had been traveling with Sora's group, while Radiant was willing to follow her childhood friend, possibly even the love of her life, into the Realms of Death to support Sombra in her endeavor, "They have agreed to allow you some time off, if you want it, so you don't have to spend all of your time in the afterlife."

"Sombra... there's no talking you or Radiant out of this, is there?" Sora asked, because while part of him worried about the pair, since the Shadowlands seemed like a harsh place for a mortal to roam and explore, he suspected that they would be just fine, but he figured he'd ask the question before they disappeared for some time.

"No. Like I've said before, I need to do this." Sombra replied, though at the same time she held a hand out and let it rest on Sora's shoulder for a moment, with a smile on her face, because if this had been back during their first adventure she would have worried about him and the others, but now, after three long adventures and a war for the fate of the World, she knew she didn't have to worry about Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, or the others, "Don't worry, we won't be gone long, especially with the time difference between realms... we'll be back in time to deal with the demonic empire. For now, you guys should focus on training with everyone else and keeping an eye on the rest of the World, since there's no telling what Maleficent or her cronies might do next."

Sora nodded as he and the others wished the pair well, causing Sombra and Radiant to turn towards the death portal and step through it, as it was time for them to wrap up a part of her life so she could focus on their training and preparations for the demonic empire, causing her to look forward to whatever the future had in store for them and their home world.

Prelude: Piercing the Veil

Sombra's day had been a mixed bag of events, as he had been fighting to get back inside the Crystal Empire for a time, despite the magical barrier that was keeping his shadowy form outside, and the princess who was powering it had been in the process of getting weaker, as she wasn't as powerful as Celestia and Luna. He discovered that this particular alicorn, Cadance, was supposedly the Princess of Love and his quick glances of her made him realize just how much she reminded him of the last ruler of the Crystal Empire, based on her appearance anyway. Her husband, a unicorn called Shining Armor, had done his best to stall him, helping his wife power the barrier while they sought a way to be rid of him, and occasionally coming out to do break down some of the dark crystals that Sombra called forth to distract him. His plan had been to just distract and wear down the unicorn, cutting down on Cadance's ability to protect the city, though as he did that Sombra found that a train had arrived near the border and six mares, plus a baby dragon, had shown up to aid the city.

Out of all of them only one peaked his interest, the unicorn mare called Twilight Sparkle, as her intelligence was above and beyond everyone else that was there, though her arrival allowed him to cripple Shining's magic by implanting black crystals in his horn, thanks to his own dark magic striking his horn.

The benefit to that was that his own horn was cut off and landed on the other side of the barrier, allowing him to do more damage to it in the grand scheme of things, though it was still a long process since that piece of him was cut off from most of the main body, which was fine since his distractions meant they wouldn't see this coming. Sombra found that the mares who came from the train, which likely came from whatever kingdom Celestia and Luna ruled over, used the library to discover a festival that the crystal ponies used to do before he took over, but they were missing the Crystal Heart. It was an important artifact for the empire that he had hidden, at least so it couldn't be used against him and until he found a way to corrupt it to suit his needs, but that didn't stop them from making a stone replica before realizing that it was a real artifact, as someone had to tell them about what Sombra had done to it. He had laughed as he watched them run around like maniacs, trying to figure out where in the world he had hidden the artifact, while showing great interest in Twilight as she figured out that the artifact was hidden inside the castle, locked away behind a number of locks and traps that would detain anyone looking for it.

What he wasn't expecting was for her to eventually figure out how to get to the heart of his containment area, despite the fact that it might be due to her dragon pet helping her out at times, and even as she triggered the final trap her dragon was able to carry off the heart. At the same time Sombra finally broke through the barrier and surrounded the city in his darkness as he rushed towards the center of the city, only stopping as he found his prize falling through the air, which was around the time that his physical form was allowed to reform in all it's dark glory. It was an amazing turn of events for him, as it installed so much fear into the crystal ponies that realized he was back, before his joy turned to sorrow as Shining did the unthinkable, he lifted his wife with his bare hooves and hurled Cadance into the air, where she sailed towards the now falling Crystal Heart. Sombra had attempted to claim the artifact before it fell, to complete his goals, only for the alicorn to catch the artifact and insert it into the center of the area below the palace, something that caused the ponies of the city to cheer and bow their heads towards it, empowering an ancient magic that had been sleeping for some time.

Sombra had been unable to flee or do anything as the power of love, that which powered the empire, poured out of the Crystal Heart, driving back his darkness and shattering his physical form until the only thing that remained of him was his curved red horn, which flew off into the distance of the Frozen North.

From there time lost all meaning to him, as it was impossible to do so in his dark spirit state, especially with his soul on the fringes of death, causing Sombra to spend what he assumed were his days slowly drawing together enough of his power to stitch himself back together, which was a painful process that took some time to accomplish. Fortunately in this state he didn't have to worry about being attacked, though at the same time he also had to be careful, as he knew that both Celestia and Luna knew a bit about how to use dark magic, which he was an expect in, hence his title as the 'King of Darkness'. While he did all that Sombra also felt what seemed to be a number of magical influxes coming from somewhere down to the south, though the number of them allowed him to pinpoint where they were coming from, so when he finished putting himself together he could leave without having to worry about anything. Another thing he had discovered was that no one from the empire bothered to come looking for any signs of him, which made sense when he considered that they didn't want to big up the past again, though Sombra also knew that it would come back to bite them when he regained his full power.

What surprised him was that one pony did come out into the wilderness multiple times, actively forcing him to move so he could remain undetected, and he found that it was none other than Radiant Hope, he recognized her anywhere, even in the icy region of the Frozen North. Before his 'fall to darkness', as some no doubt called it, he and Radiant had been close, a friend despite how his early life had gone, even though he couldn't recall exactly when it was that he had seen her last, but Sombra had to assume that, for her to be here, a thousand years after his banishment, she must have found her way into the empire when it was sealed. It was either that or the realm of the Umbrum, the species that Sombra came from, though in the end he determined that it didn't matter, rather he remained in hiding as he mended his soul, because she knew him better than most and might turn the tables on him if she had her way. To that end he kept an eye out for her or her scarf she wore, which might be more like a cloak when he focused on it, and whenever he spotted any signs of Radiant he got out of the area before finding a new place to resume his healing.

When the time came for him to move, and his soul was fully intact, Sombra departed from the Frozen North and made his way to the south, tracking down whatever he had felt previously, and found that it eventually brought him to an odd town that was right outside the Everfree Forest, a place that didn't follow the rules all of the other provinces followed.

The signature he had been feeling happened to be coming from the odd crystal castle that looked like it was part of a tree, a structure that reminded him of his time in the Crystal Empire, as odd as it sounded, which made him wonder where it might have come from, as he didn't recall one existing this far south during his reign. As he thought about that he found that one of the ponies of the town happened to be heading to the same structure he was heading towards, a yellow pegasus with a pink mane and tail, whose Cutie Mark was three butterflies, who he recognized as one of the mares who had joined Twilight on her journey to his domain. While he could just pass through the wall and see what was inside the structure for himself, all without drawing suspicion, he suspected that he could gain more information if he posed as the shyest pony around, who might go unnoticed until she spoke up, causing him to make his move. In the next few moments he lined his soul up with her body and sunk himself into her very being, effectively covering her bright soul with the dark mass that was his own, where she was able to gasp for just a second before her body was fully under his control.

The moment he was done possessing Fluttershy's body, as that was the mare's name, Sombra let out a sigh as he took a deep breath, taking in the fact that he could feel everything again, especially since there was a gentle breeze in the area that he hadn't known about in his soul form. He found that it was nice to take in the night air for a time, where he quickly realized that he had missed this during the unknown length of time he had been trapped in his soul form, despite the fact that he was currently using another's body to feel the breeze as he calmed his host's heart down. Fluttershy had been terrified for a few seconds, that much he could tell thanks to the sensations he was feeling, but soon her body returned to normal, almost as if nothing had happened in the last couple of moments, and her soul was too terrified to speak out against his, effectively allowing him to settle in with too much of a fight. Sombra honestly couldn't remember the last time he had possessed the body of a mare, especially since there was a key difference between them and a stallion, but right how he wasn't picky and knew that Fluttershy's body would help him out in his personal quest.

For the next couple of moments Sombra made sure he remembered how to move a body that was made of flesh and blood, instead of a spectral form that could touch nothing and pass through walls, which involved raising and lowering his hooves to make sure he could walk, and potentially run, with ease.

Once he was satisfied with how the body moved, while ignoring the wings since he'd have to learn something he had no idea how to use, Sombra quickly approached the front door and pushed it open, quickly finding a couple of corridors and passages to head down as he entered the structure. What he discovered was that the castle was bare, as if it had been freshly made and the owner had spent no time in personalizing it, though the shocking thing about what he was seeing right now was the lack of something that was a must for all castles, namely he found that there were no guards in the castle. It was as if whoever owned this structure, most likely Twilight Sparkle since her power had been above everyone else's during his last defeat, was asking for someone to rob them of everything they had, though with the lack of anything he suspected that if a thief dared to come here they'd be walking away with a frown and a sack full of nothing. With this discovery made he closed the door he had entered through and started to explore, rooms that had nothing in them, and an odd table with a number of seats around it, likely signifying Fluttershy's group since her mark was on one of the chairs, before he stopped in the hallway that was outside that room.

The reason he stopped was because there was a window in front of him and he could see Radiant rushing towards the very castle that he was currently exploring, in fact it looked like she glanced right up at him, or Fluttershy, as she neared the structure, meaning she had tracked him to this place. Sombra wasn't sure how she had tracked him down, other than through sheer determination, but this meant that his exploration had to be cut short, causing him to head down the rest of the hallway as he sought out whatever it was that had drawn him to this place. He passed by the ballroom for a moment and paused as he found a slumbering chimera creature that was inside it, who looked like he was sleeping on a bed made from a pink cloud, though in the next moment he resumed moving, deciding that there would be time to question why Discord was in the castle later. He figured that getting away from Radiant was more important than dealing with the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, even though it was impressive that the slumbering creature had remained undisturbed, as he figured that the sound of his hooves would have caused him to stir, but he was fine with this since it meant he wouldn't have to deal with the creature at all.

After a few more minutes of searching the castle, during which he knew Radiant had entered the structure as well, Sombra finally found the section he had been looking for, the library, and he entered it without delay, closing the door behind him in the hopes that Radiant wouldn't search this room. Once the door was shut he quickly glanced around for a few moments and found what appeared to be a board with a list of names on it, and descriptions of places he didn't recognize, though in the next instant he smiled as he found what had to be the source of some of the energy signatures. The source appeared to be a tall mirror like object that had what appeared to be a magical amplifier attached to it, likely to boost the power that the artifact contained, which only made him more interested in what he was seeing, before an idea sprung to mind as he quickly glanced back at the board. He realized that he had missed something in his haste, as there was also a diagram of worlds on it, ones he didn't recognize, causing Sombra to grin as he stared at the mirror for a moment, because he had found the key to obtaining even greater and terrible power.

"Sombra." a voice said, where he turned his host's head for a moment and found that Radiant had followed him all the way to this room, in fact she was huffing quite a lot, as if she had realized that she would lose him if she didn't pick up the pace, and now here they were, staring at each other as he understood that she must have seen him possess his host before entering the castle.

"I'm leaving, Radiant. You cannot stop me!" Sombra stated, finding that he spoke in Fluttershy's voice, which made sense since she was his host, though at the same time he turned and approached the mirror that seemed to be a portal to all sorts of worlds, as he could only wonder what sort of world he'd be sent to and what sort of powers he'd gain.

Radiant rushed towards Sombra and his host without delay, though as she did so she tripped on herself and tumbled forward like she was rolling, the sound of which caused Sombra to stop and turn towards her, just in time for Radiant to hit him and his host, sending all three of them into the portal as the magic latched onto them and sent them to whatever world was resting on the other side.

Sombra found that the other side of the portal, for that was what the magical tunnel had to be based on his observations, dropped him into what appeared to be the middle of a sea or ocean, based on all of the water that was around him, but in the next moment he discovered that it was actually all around him. He was underwater, why he had no idea and he wasn't about to start questioning things, especially when he found that something was fulling him backwards, down into the dark depths, only for him to discover that he was no longer possessing Fluttershy, as he was a soul once more, plus he found that neither her or Radiant were with him. He barely had time to think about that as he discovered that he had no power to fight whatever had latched onto him, so all Sombra could do right now was relax and let the current take him, only to be caught off guard as he burst through the water's surface and landed on a beach. It appeared that he was on a small island, with what he guessed were coconut trees since a few of them had several fruits resting around their bases, though he found that he was alone, as there was no one on the beach he had appeared on, meaning he was left to his thoughts once more.

As he started to think about things, however, he noticed what appeared to be a shooting star streak through the air, then a second and soon a third, causing him to glance back towards the sky as he noticed that it was a shower of shooting stars, a scene he had never seen back on the planet he called home, before noticing a dark spec falling towards the water.

The World acknowledges your existence. a voice said, something that caused Sombra to turn his head, as he realized that it wasn't like an actual speaker, like one would assume upon hearing it, but he wasn't sure what the source really was, it was stranger than anything he had felt or heard before this point in time.

As Sombra thought about what was going on he discovered that he suddenly fell backwards, as if something had pulled him back while he wasn't looking, and that he was suddenly up in the air, meaning he was actually the dark spec he had spotted, though at the same time he found that a surge of strange energy, made up of equal parts light and darkness, wrapped around his soul for a time.

The World realizes that you don't have a body, and apologizes. the unknown entity added, where Sombra realized that part of it's power had to be the energy that was all around him, meaning the portal must have brought him to the domain of a powerful being, who had clearly taken an interest in the odd newcomer that had entered it's realm, and he was surprised to learn that he didn't have a physical form still, The World would like to offer you your own physical form. Do you accept it's offer?

Yes. Sombra replied, figuring that since he didn't have a mouth he would need to speak with his mind, since that had to be how the Entity, for lack of a better term, was communicating with him right now, so this would allow him to speak like a normal being again and let him focus on his own goals.

In the following moments a surge of energy pulsed through his soul, unlike anything he had felt in the past, and he felt like he was slipping into unconsciousness, though he did close his eyes for a time as the Entity's magic washed over him, since it was too late to turn back now. Sombra could feel something happening to him as new appendages became known to him, because he could feel four limbs, similar to his front and hind legs before his physical body had been shattered, and it wasn't long before he felt his tail start to grow out, along with his mane. What he found to be weird was that his new form was stretched to match a bipedal stance, instead of the quadrupedal form he, like all ponies, was used to, meaning that this had to be the common form of the residents of wherever he had been teleported to, something he would have to get used to. Other than that there were a few other things that caught him off guard, such as the fact that he felt his chest swell in two spots, his frame felt smaller than what he was expecting, and his mane felt longer than what he was used to, all things he would have to check out when he opened his eyes.

In the next moment his new form smashed into the ocean he had seen from the beach and it was like a surge of life pulsed through his body, because it felt like his bodily functions just sprung to life all of a sudden, before he noticed that he wasn't wet from hitting the water, rather it felt like he was sinking into the darkness again.

Eventually he found himself turning around and his hooves touched down on a flat surface, which was followed by a surge of doves as the dark floor transformed into a large flock of the birds as they flew off into the great darkness that was around him, confirming that, while he had hit the ocean earlier, it was more like a portal to a new area. As the flock disappeared he noticed that he was now standing on a large flat circular surface that seemed like the top of a tower of some kind, though it looked like everything was made out of stained glass, depicting who he assumed was a princess of some kingdom that was unknown to him. In the next moment he found a floating mirror nearby, allowing him to see his new form, which appeared to be like a small minotaur, as he stood on two legs, which ended in his hooves, while what had been his front legs were now arms and ended in what he assumed were hands, both having five fingers, plus he had his curved horn and both his hair and his tail had black hairs. As he looked at his reflection he quickly noticed that something was off about him, the first being the large mounds on his chest and the slim frame he had, plus the long hair that came to a stop just below his shoulders, before discovering that he was wearing a red shirt and shorts, though he was stunned by his young reflection being of the opposite gender for some reason.

He really wasn't sure what was going on right now, or what this meant for him, but he had the feeling that part of his wish to gain more power had been granted, he just had to figure out where he was, what was going on, and if there was a way to fix his current form before he actually started his grand quest.

Heartless: New Acquaintances

Sombra found that the pair brought her, Radiant, and Sora, who remained unconscious for a time, to one of the rooms that the hotel had available, which just so happened to have a door leading to one of the others, where the girl carefully put Sora down on the bed while the man leaned his back on one of the walls. The first thing they learned from the pair was that the man was called 'Squall', or at least that was what the girl called him before he told all of them to call him 'Leon', while also discovering that the girl was called Yuffie and that she was definitely a ninja, the 'great ninja' according to her. Radiant and Sombra gave the pair their own names, as it was only fair, all while noticing that both Leon and Yuffie were glancing at their bodies, no doubt taking in their unique appearances, all while Sombra suspected that one of them was considering the dark power she had access to. There was also the fact that she was interested in the Kingdom Key and Radiant seemed to have no interest in it, or if she did she really wasn't showing it right now, though Sombra kept the weapon to her right, leaned up against the wall that both she and the other Equestrian were leaning on.

At the same time Sombra found herself wondering where Fluttershy might have landed, as the Speaker indicated that she had been transported to Traverse Town as well, yet she had seen no sign of the other Equestrian during her exploration with Sora, making her wonder what she might have missed during their exploration, all while noting that Radiant's chest wasn't the same size as hers.

"You said you were interested in the Keyblade's Chosen One. Explain." Leon stated, figuring that they could kill some time as they waited for Sora to regain consciousness, while drawing Sombra out of her thoughts, though at the same time he could hear that their other companion had found a few more individuals and was entering the conjoined room that was on the other side of the door he was standing near, no doubt servants of the King.

"Like I said before, I was looking for the Kingdom Key and it's Chosen Wielder... I'm not sure if you know this or not, but this is only one of an unknown number of Keyblades." Sombra replied, where she could see that both Leon and Yuffie were surprised by this piece of information, meaning they likely had no idea that there were other weapons like this, somewhere in the vastness of the universe, which was fascinating to see, all while Radiant remained silent while she talked, "Look, all I was told was that I had to find the one who carried the Kingdom Key, and I was even shown an image of what it looked like, though in all honestly I was not expecting to discover it so quickly... I was also told that, once I found it and it's wielder, I could do whatever I wanted."

"And what is it that you want to do?" Yuffie asked, because she had witnessed Sombra fight a few times before Leon had caught up with her and Sora and had to admit that, while she seemed like he was getting used to her body, an odd thing to think about really, her skills in combat were top notch, like she was a master that had been reborn in a younger body or a body that was different from her old one.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I had only just arrived in Traverse Town when I found Sora... I really haven't had too much time to think about what to do next." Sombra admitted, which was partly true, as she had a plan and didn't want to tell them it since she barely knew them, but she wanted them to think that she was an unfortunate traveler, like Sora she guessed, all to keep her true plan from being discovered.

"And what about you?" Yuffie asked, turning her head for a moment so she could focus on Radiant, who had been silent for the most part, meaning she must have been deep in thought since their arrival in the room, about what she had no idea and she wasn't about to start prying.

"All I wanted was to find Sombra... now that I have, well, I'm not leaving her side." Radiant replied, which interested Sombra, as she had expected Radiant to go out and live her life without being connected to her and her plans, though it did quickly confirm one thing, that no matter what she did Radiant would follow her to the ends of the universe.

"Might I suggest traveling with the kid? He's a novice when it comes to fighting and could use someone like you to at least get him in fighting shape." Leon remarked, because based on what he had seen of Sombra's skills he had determined that she was a decent fighter, someone he would have trusted the Keyblade to instead of a novice kid, but, thanks to the dark power both he and Yuffie had seen her use at the end of the fight, he had no desire to see it in her hands, "And while I haven't seen you in action, Radiant, I'm sure you can help Sora and Sombra in their respective quests."

Sombra had no time to make a reply to that comment, as Sora came to, which made sense due to the fact that Leon didn't deliver a blow that would knock him out for more than a few minutes at most, though Yuffie walked over to him to make sure he was fine, meaning she suspected Leon might have done some serious harm to the boy. Sure enough they found that Sora thought Yuffie was actually Kairi, which had to be due to the fact that he was still waking up and his focus was shaken from being knocked around like that, a fact they cleared up as he fully woke up and found that he had called someone the wrong name. It also allowed her and Radiant to discover that Yuffie really liked calling Leon 'Squall', meaning she either didn't care about him changing his name or she honestly preferred the old one more, while the man himself did seem a little annoyed that she kept doing it, but, since he made no move to convince her otherwise, she had to assume that Leon had given up on doing that a long time ago. They also gave Sora a bit of time to fully regain himself, since there was a lot of information he had to learn due to him being the wielder of the Kingdom Key and none of them wanted to waste more time by repeating information, since there was no telling when more Heartless would appear.

"So, we had to get the Keyblade away from you... sorry, Kingdom Key... to shake off the Heartless." Yuffie said, showing that it would take some time for her and Leon to get used to the fact that the weapon they had been searching for had a different name than what they had been told, but Sombra was sure they would get it down in no time, "As it turns out, that's how they've been tracking you: they're drawn to the light's radiance."

"Honestly, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are it's chosen wielder... though I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Leon remarked, where he held a hand out and Sombra handed the weapon over, though as soon as Leon took hold of the handle the Kingdom Key turned into light before reappearing in Sora's right hand, an interesting thing to see as it confirmed that it only let it's chosen wielder carry it and use it.

"What in the world are you guys talking about?" Sora stated, showing that he was utterly confused as to what was going on right now, which was understandable since he had been uprooted from everything he knew, was given a weapon that was incredibly important to the safety of the World, and had been thrust into a secret war he had known nothing about before this point in time, "Why don't you start by making sense!"

Yuffie and Leon, upon finding that Sora was clueless on just about everything they had said so far, especially when talking about the Heartless, started to explain some things to the boy as Sombra and Radiant listened to them, just to see if there were a few things they had missed, as it seemed like both of them got the basic explanation earlier. One of the things the pair explained was the fact that there were far more worlds out there, places that aren't supposed to know about the existence of the others, but that very secrecy was breaking since the worlds were now connected to each other in ways that no one had seen before. Sora was confused as to who the Heartless were and got the same explanation that Sombra and Radiant had gotten during their time in their respective training areas, but none of them knew who 'Ansem' was, as Yuffie asked about him and Leon said he had been studying hearts, the Heartless, and the connections between worlds. It was easy to assume that Ansem the Wise, as that was his full title, was the cause of what was going on with the various worlds, or at least the key that made it all possible, which only made Sombra more interested in the figure and his secret reports, articles that were scattered to the wind, before they returned to the topic of the Kingdom Key.

The Heartless feared the Keyblades, as Leon and Yuffie had to believe Sombra's word that there were more out there, and that they wanted nothing more than to strike down their wielders, hence why Sora had been assaulted by them after he started exploring with Sombra, before learning that these weapons could unlock nearly anything, as Leon had Sora open a chest they had prepared for the one carrying what they had assumed was the only Keyblade in existence.

After getting the elixir, which Sora stared at for a moment before slipping it into a pouch that Yuffie showed him, Leon said it was time to meet up with the other individuals who had been found by their other friend, Aerith, though as he said that a Heartless, one of the Soldiers, popped into the room they were in. Yuffie ran into the other room to get Aerith, likely due to the fact that the mysterious lady didn't seem to be a fighter, while Leon quickly kicked the Soldier out the window and beckoned for Sora, Sombra, and Radiant to follow him as he jumped down into a back alley that Sombra knew they hadn't been in previously. As all of them dropped down onto the ground, and Sombra slashed through one of the Soldiers that happened to be in the way, Leon told both of them to track down the leader of the Heartless that were attacking this world, as each group had a very strong one that directed their actions. He also told both of them to ignore the small fry, which was a stupid move when Sombra thought about it, because if the Heartless ran amok, unchecked, there was no telling how many more hearts they would consume, though when she glanced at her companions she found that they agreed with her, taking down all of the Heartless was the best move right now.

This did allow her to confirm what she had discovered earlier and what she had been told in her training area, the Shadows returned to the darkness when they were defeated while the Soldiers offered up their hearts when they were taken out, a fact that was followed by her dark power snatching the freed hearts before they could escape.

As they dealt with the Soldiers and Shadows, however, Sombra felt a powerful force of darkness gathering in part of the town, which was thanks to her own connection to the darkness she guessed, so she started to follow the pull she was feeling and the other two followed after her, tearing through the Heartless that were in their way. This was a good thing for Sombra, because this meant she could capture more hearts as they quickly made their way deeper into the town, though she did absorb one of the hearts from the Soldiers and found that she got a bit of a power boost from them, making her slightly stronger than before. With that in mind she made her way towards the third district, where she found that Sora didn't seem to mind following her directions, in fact he didn't question why she was able to detect what Leon had told them about, and Radiant trusted her with every fiber of her being, though she did offer a valid excuse to explain herself, referring to the large arena like area they had seen earlier. Sora thought about it for a time and decided that it was more reasonable than Sombra having some connection to the darkness, something that neither she nor Radiant commented on as they focused on making their way to the district that Sombra was leading them to.

This also gave Sombra a good opportunity to observe Radiant in battle, as she stayed back while she and Sora charged into melee range and loosed arrows that slammed into her targets, often weakening them so either warrior could take care of them, or even take them out herself, allowing Sombra to snatch the freed hearts as they kept moving.

Eventually they reached the open area of the third district Sombra heard something explode and stopped for just a second, where she found that Sora was knocked to the ground by the duck and tall dog she had seen earlier, the former carrying a magical wand and the latter carrying a decent sized shield. As she turned around for a moment she, too, was knocked to the ground by something else, her back hitting the floor in the process, though that was when Sombra found that the person who landed on her was none other than Fluttershy, the missing individual she had been wondering about since her arrival in Traverse Town. The yellow mare was just like her now, possessing a body that stood on two legs and was more like her new form, in fact it looked like their chests were the same size, which just confirmed what she had been told previously, that her form had been based off of Fluttershy's transformed body. As the duck and tall dog realized that they had found the weapon they were looking for, as they mentioned the 'key' again, Sombra found that Fluttershy carried a staff on her back, a long blue rod with a golden circle at the top with what appeared to be a sun rays coming off of it, which only made her wonder what sort of power the World had given her, all while noting that Radiant was the only one still standing.

As Sombra opened her mouth, to tell Fluttershy to get off of her, the ground rumbled for a moment before several of the tiles rose up, forming pillars that trapped the five of them in this place, causing him to get up as Sora and the others did the same, leaving Fluttershy to pale as she found Sombra standing in front of her. Fortunately there was no time to talk as she found that a large number of Soldiers, twenty by her count, appeared on top of the pillars, causing her and the other three to turn their weapons on the enemies, as she was interested in how the other two would fight the Heartless. From what she could tell the tall dog's plan was to whack his foes with the shield, both knocking them back and using the edge to hurt his opponents, which seemed to be an interesting idea since it did a decent job on the Soldiers, while the duck started to launch fireballs from his wand's tip, confirming that he was a wizard. Fluttershy, as Sombra expected, ducked when she was attacked and cowered as she faced the Heartless, showing that whatever power or skill she had been given was basically worthless since she refused to fight, all while Radiant continued to move around the area as she loosed arrows at her targets.

In the following moments she found a trio of Soldiers rushing at Fluttershy, who was leaving herself exposed, though before she or the others could react all three of them were slashed down by something, which was when Sombra discovered that the shy one wasn't as useless as she previously thought. Her change in opinion was due to the fact that Fluttershy had a new weapon in her right hand, a weapon that was as long as the Kingdom Key, with a guard that was different from the one that Sora's had, in fact it looked like a cyan root in the shape of a horseshoe, while the blade resembled a purple pillar with what looked like a rosebud where the crown rested. It was a Keyblade, an entirely different one from the one Sora carried, yet it seemed to have the same powers that the young boy's had, as when she struck down the Soldiers their hearts were freed in an instant, allowing Sombra to capture them before they escaped. This made her realize something important, the World had deemed Fluttershy, and possibly Radiant, worthy of wielding the key shaped weapons, even though the latter used her bow to deal with her targets, meaning it was something she would have to investigate later.

In that moment Sombra considered the staff that Fluttershy carried, as she seemed more like a support type and less like a melee warrior, in fact her Keyblade might be to help keep herself safe from harm, and found it amusing that out of the six of them there were two melee warriors, two support fighters, and two ranged combatants, before slashing through a couple of Heartless that came at her.

As the last Soldier fell Sora relaxed, figuring that the battle was over, before Sombra glanced up at the air and found what appeared to be a large suit of armor falling towards them, only to find that the arms and legs could move on their own as they reattached, in a sense, to the main piece, as there was some separation between them. A moment later the helmet came down and locked into it's temporary place before the entire suit started to move, coming at the group as Sombra quickly found that they had to deal with six foes in a sense, the arms, the legs, the chest, and the head. They found that the armor moved like it was all one entity, and Sombra could tell that it was since she only felt one heart inside it, but the way it moved sure looked like there were more Heartless than just the one, as while the feet stomped around in one area both the chest and arms moved to another. Fluttershy dived out of the way as they found that the chest and arms could spin around, using the sharpened bits of the hands to attack whatever was around it, where Sombra spared her a glance and found that she did, in fact, still have her feathered wings, like how she and Radiant had their horns, but refocused on the Armor as she slashed at the chest.

She found that the Armor was definitely tougher than she was expecting, since this was the first 'boss' Heartless she had encountered, though interestingly enough that same toughness didn't seem to apply to it's arms or feet, as they seemed to take a decent amount of damage before falling apart. By that Sombra meant that when enough damage was dealt to one of the Armor's legs that very leg simply ceased to exist, likely temporarily knocked out or teleported to a private area so it could be mended and brought back into battle, but that just caused her to shout at the others, to press the assault. Sora realized that she had a plan, that they had to carefully dismantle the Heartless that was in front of them, and did the same as both he and the tall dog smashed one of the arms apart, while finding that the duck launched more fireballs at the other foot while Radiant hit it with a few arrows. With that in mind they turned their attention to the other arm as Fluttershy raised her staff for a moment and set up a barrier between them and the attacking limb, stunning it so Sombra, Sora, and their allies could deliver a number of blows to it so it disappeared as well, leaving just them and the Armor's core.

With only the chest piece left, and the helmet doing nothing, the group was able to focus their full power on it without delay, delivering blow after blow to it in the span of a few moments, and when enough was enough the Armor shook for a few seconds before the helmet struck the ground, the Heartless went still, and a large heart emerged from it's core, causing Sombra to capture it as the Armor just dissolved, leaving nothing behind.

"Okay, note to self: boss level Heartless are definitely tougher than their various minions." Sombra remarked, though as she said that she absorbed the heart of the Armor, finding that it gave her a drastic boost to her defensive capabilities, about a ten point increase as she looked at her screen while Sora walked over to the two animals that had fought beside them, causing her to wonder what the other boss level Heartless might give her when she absorbed their hearts.

"Y... You are Sombra, a... aren't you?" Fluttershy asked, showing that she really hadn't changed, not that Sombra knew her all that well since she had seen the mare for a few seconds before the Crystal Heart blasted her apart, while not counting the short period of time she spent in control of her body, though as she said that Sombra dismissed her scythe.

"That's right. Glad to see that you recognize me, despite my current form." Sombra replied, where she took another look at Fluttershy's body and found that they were nearly mirror images of each other, as in their age and body frames were the same, plus their chest size was identical, leaving the only differences being the coloration of their bodies and the color of their hair and tails, before she noticed the look of confusion on the other Equestrian's face, "Apparently possessing your body, and then being knocked into that portal, was a bad idea, since your form was used to make my new one... I've already told the Speaker and the World that they made me the wrong body."

"Is that so? Well, I honestly don't mind the change... you're still Sombra to me, no matter what form you take." Radiant said, as while she was sure that it would take some time for her and Fluttershy to get used to the new body that Sombra had been given, as she believed her statement about the beings that had talked to them in the training areas, she was just fine with her friend's changes.

Sombra paused as she heard that, because she wasn't expecting anyone to say something like that, especially someone from her home world no less, and decided that it might be best if she didn't say anything at all, especially since the one who spoke was Radiant, causing her to turn towards Sora, the two animals, and two newcomers, Leon and Yuffie.

"Sora, I would suggest that you go with them... especially if you want to track down your missing friends." Leon said, as he felt better having some of King Mickey's elite soldiers, his personal friends if what he heard was any indication, guarding the Kingdom Key, before he glanced over to Sombra, Radiant, and Fluttershy for a few seconds, as while he loathed the idea of even letting someone as dark as the former near the weapon he knew it had to be done, "Also, why don't you take those three with you as well? From what I've seen all of them are skilled in their own way and they should be able to help you on your quest."

"No! Only the Keyblade Wielder! No one else!" the duck stated, sounding outraged by the idea of having more people on the team, even though all six of them had worked rather well together despite being total strangers, though Sombra felt it was wrong for the duck to even say such a thing, calling Sora by his 'title' and not his name, all while ignoring the fact that there was a second Keyblade present.

"Come on Donald, you heard Leon and saw them in action. We could use the help." the tall dog said, showing that he was more willing to take them along for the ride, in fact Sombra suspected that there might be more to him than what the dog was showing, like he was smarter than others thought when they first saw him, "Besides, there's two Keyblades now, not just the one we were told to find."

The duck, Donald, frowned for a moment before admitting defeat, though as he turned on the four individuals that they were taking on, as apparently he and the dog, Goofy he said, had a ship capable of traversing the space between worlds, so they could leave Traverse Town and go somewhere else in their search, though he did have one requirement. What he wanted from them was that they turn their frowns upside down, as in he wanted them to smile, because according to him their ship 'ran on happy faces', only to be surprised by the fact that Fluttershy gave them a wonderful happy face without wasting a second. Such a thing stunned the pair, though it quickly turned to laughter as they found that Sora gave them his smile, a forced one that made it look like he was really trying to impress the pair, and when it started to disappear Donald slapped him on the back, accepting him into the group without delay. When it came to be Sombra's turn she just stood there for a few seconds and crossed her arms, showing the pair that she wasn't having any of their nonsense, all while Radiant offered one without delay, earning her passage as well, only for Sombra to be surprised as the pair from her world turned on her with a pair of pouts.

Sombra stared at the pair for a few seconds, wondering what they were trying to achieve, before she sighed as she just decided to get it over with, causing her to turn towards the animal pair as she flashed them a grin, like she was happy that she had won a great battle or something.

"Eh, good enough... I guess." Donald remarked, as he wasn't sure what he should make of the grin, as it wasn't forced and funny like Sora's, nor was it an actual happy smile like what Fluttershy and Radiant had just given them, but since there were more people in favor of Sombra coming with them he figured he'd bow out now and go with the flow.

Fluttershy and Radiant cheered a little as they heard that, as it meant all three of them could join Sora and the others in exploring other planets and seeing what each one had to offer them, where Sombra simply nodded her head for a couple of seconds as she wondered what the future help for them.

While the group was chatting with each other, no doubt discussing their plans for the immediate future, another group was observing them from a faraway place, using magic to spy on them and even watched as they took down the armored Heartless that had been sent to find Traverse Town's precious Keyhole.

"That little squirt actually took down that Heartless! Who would have thought he'd be capable of such a thing?" a voice said, coming from a black robe wearing individual who had blue-gray colored skin and blue flaming hair, though as those words left his mouth he raised a hand to his chin as he observed the observation table that he and his comrades were in the middle of looking at, "Of course he couldn't do it on his own... those girls certainly helped him out."

"Such is the power of a Keyblade, especially THAT one... the child's strength is not his own." another male spoke up, which came from a black and red robed individual who carried a golden scepter, one that had a serpent's head at the top that he used with some of his spells, though his eyes were on another individual, the girl who used a Keyblade that wasn't the one they had been informed about, "The other wielder is lacking... she will be easy to break. Her light is insufferable."

"Why don't we turn both wielders into a pair of Heartless? That would settle things quickly." a third voice added, one that came from the sea witch that was among their number, a creature that had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of an octopus, though she saw no need to worry about the other four that were with the two wielders, because none of them had Keyblades, meaning they weren't worthy of their attention, "Their companions as well, even though the four of them seem rather useless."

"Useless?! Two of them happen to be the King's lackeys, the best in their personal fields." a fourth speaker stated, though his statement was more in outrage, as he couldn't believe that one of his comrades would dismiss the duck and dog that were with the wielders, all while he wore a red captain's outfit and had a hook in place of where his left hand used to be, before he looked at the group again, "I don't know who the other two are, but their skills are far more decent than the two wielders... most of them are just bilge rats, you can tell by looking at them."

"Yeah, they're no prize contestants... but then again, neither are you!" another male voice stated, one who enjoyed messing with his comrades every now and then, though he was a large figure who had an untold number of bugs inside him, while his body was that of a burlap sack that had a rotund body shape with stumpy legs, and sure enough he found that his hook wielding comrade pointed the hook at him in anger.

"Silence." their sixth and final member stated, which came from the strongest member of the group, the one that they took orders from, which annoyed some of them to no end, where the figure in question was a tall woman with a slender body, wearing a black robe with purple edges, plus she carried a staff with an orb at the top of it and she even had dark horns on top of her head, even though the others were unsure if those were real or part of her headdress.

The others glanced at each other for a moment as they went silent, as each of them knew that Maleficent was stronger than all of them, because her control over the Darkness and the Heartless far exceeded their own, especially since she was known as the 'incarnation of pure evil' on the world she came from, so speaking out against her was a bad idea, if what she did to her large henchman every now and then was anything to go by.

"As you can see, both the miserable brat and the shy one have been chosen to wield a Keyblade, meaning they will have to fight the Darkness... will they conquer it, or will they fall to it?" Maleficent continued, gesturing to the image for a moment as it revealed more of the fight to them, how Sora was a complete novice and needed others to aid him, while the one known as Fluttershy was far too cowardly to do anything on her own, before she waved her hand again as it shifted to the one that interested her far more than anyone else, "This one, however, shows great promise... you can practically sense the dark power she is hiding from the others, yet like all those who foolishly wield the power of Darkness she, too, will fall when the time comes."

"Still, one must wonder where she gained such a power, especially given her age." the golden scepter wielder commented, as it was interesting to see one so young have such a terrifying power, even though none of them had seen her do anything with her dark power, almost confirming Maleficent's comment about her potentially falling in the near future, "Let us hope the Heartless devour her heart soon... one can only imagine how strong her Heartless will be, when it finally takes form. Our conquest of the worlds would go a lot smoother with her Heartless on our side."

"Indeed, she would make a fine slave when she finally turns. For now, you have your orders: find the Princesses of Heart and bring them here." Maleficent remarked, because she knew that if she didn't remind the others of their missions they would just go and do whatever they wanted with the dark powers they had gained, in fact only Jafar and Hook seemed to have any real interest in gathering the keys that would grant them ultimate victory, "Once we have all seven of them we can open the final Keyhole and claim our true prize... all of your wishes will be granted, rest assured of that fact."

The other villains quickly glanced at each other again, remembering the promises that had been made to them when they joined Maleficent's council, or whatever she was calling their group, before nodding their heads as they opened portals to return to their various worlds, all while Maleficent grinned as she stared at the image of Sombra, as she was eager to see her fall to Darkness and had to wonder what the future held for her.

Heartless: Trouble in Neverland

Sombra found that the usual routine fell into place as they flew away from Halloween Town and continued into the vast unknown of the World, where Sora focused on piloting their ship, Radiant and Fluttershy moved to their private world to do some work, Donald and Goofy helped Sora, and she trained with Riku. From what she could tell Riku really wanted to learn how to harness the power of Darkness and not be worried about being consumed by it, hence why he wanted her to teach him exactly what she knew, though they had to start at the basics since this wasn't something easily taught. Still, she had to admit that Riku had the potential to be able to control some of the powers that she had grown to master before her attack on the Crystal Empire, so she was fine with taking her time and making sure he understood the points she was trying to make. At the very least Sombra continued to build up Riku's defenses so he didn't lose himself when she finally allowed him to face off against a sliver of Darkness, the tiniest fragment possible to test his new skills, but that would be something they did later, once she was sure he was ready.

In addition to that Sombra practiced using the Gravira spell on the training dummies, where she found that it was exactly like the other second tier spells, it was stronger than the first tier and covered a wider area than before, meaning instead of having to cast it multiple times on a group she should be able to do half the casts to achieve the same results.

When she wasn't training Sombra found that the work around the private world never seemed to end, as Fluttershy and her group tended to the growing fields and harvested a good number of items that would go to the ship's food stores, while a portion of it would go to the animals helping her. Radiant and her kobolds, on the other hand, continued to collect all sorts of resources from the rest of the world, as while there was a mine for a good number of items the adventurous kobolds had found all sorts of other items and components scattered all over the place. Sombra did have to watch them for a time, just seeing one run in the direction of a mountain and return about twenty minutes later with a sack full of gems, minerals, and other items that Radiant used to make the items the group used, such as elixirs and potions, which was mostly just battle items. Every now and then Sombra found that Radiant produced some interesting bits of jewelry, something that made her think about Riku's odd comment about missing being a werewolf, where she decided to shelve the idea that popped into her mind for the time being as she focused on her own tasks.

Sombra had to chuckle a little as she returned to the kitchen for one of the meals, as at the beginning of this adventure she would have never guessed that this would have been her task in the ship, and yet she found some joy in doing it, almost like she had discovered a lost talent of hers or something.

While they flew, however, Sombra noticed that Sora and Riku were somewhat distracted and understood what was going through their minds right now, as they had been to a number of worlds and had yet to find a trace of Kairi, which made the rest of the group wonder if they were going to find her at all. Sombra had the feeling they would, as it wouldn't make sense for them not to find her in some manner, they just had to be patient and sooner or later someone would tell them that they had found another person who happened to be looking for them. She wasn't the only one who noticed this, as in everyone else noticed how the pair seemed to be thinking about their inability to find their other friend, though since it was clear that they wanted to be left alone, to consider their options without someone butting in, she and the others just said nothing and waited for them to speak up about the topic. She really had no idea where Kairi could have ended up, as the World was vast and there was no telling which world the missing girl could have been sent to, even through she should have landed in Traverse Town, like Sora, Fluttershy, and Radiant had, exactly like she had, so this just made her wonder about the situation as they fled through space.

Eventually, however, they reached what appeared to be the next world, where the icon appeared to be a tall clock tower with a large pirate ship that seemed to be either sailing near it or in the air that was near it, and Sombra could see that a dark power was resting over the world.

"Looks like one of Maleficent's allies might be bothering this world... and, judging by the controls, it seems that we might be warped right into our enemy's domain this time." Sombra said, looking at the console that was in front of them, which Sora was watching as he thought about what this might mean, though as she thought about this situation it sure seemed like the boy was considering something else right now, "Sora, what do you think?"

"I really don't like these readings, but with seven of us we should be able to overcome whatever is waiting for us and find a good spot to regroup in." Sora replied, because part of him wanted to warp down to the clock tower that was part of the world that was in front of them, it seemed like the safest place for them to touch down in before worrying about the rest of the area they would have to cover, but the readings suggested such a thing wasn't possible.

"Jumping right into the lion's den this time... I like it, since we can take out Maleficent's ally quicker." Riku commented, as it sounded like a good plan in his mind, especially since they would be able to track down the world's Keyhole much quicker than before, meaning their time on this world would be far shorter and they could continue to the next without delay.

Sora nodded for a moment as he brought the ship to a stop and then warped all of them down to the world, allowing the group to touch down on a large wooden ship that seemed to be a pirate's ship, and it wasn't long before they found their target, a tall figure who was dressed as the captain of the ship, complete with a hook in place of his right hand.

"What's this? The troublesome Keyblade wielder and his annoying friends." the Captain said, showing them that they were already in hot water since the villain of this world had already discovered them, before they even had a chance to see the rest of the ship, though this was what they intended since they decided to warp down to this location first, before a grin of sorts appeared on his face, "Well, it seems that Maleficent's dog has finally returned, just as she said you would. Tell me... Riku, was it... did you find what you wanted? I would hope so, since you spurned the one who saved you."

"Yes, I did. I found my friends... most of them, anyway." Riku replied, though at the same time he called forth his weapon as he pointed it at the Captain, who raised an eyebrow for a moment as he realized that the boy standing on the level that was below him was no longer the same one that he and the other villains might have seen in the past, "After our world was swallowed by the Heartless, I found myself on the outskirts of a dark castle on Hollow Bastion and Maleficent brought me inside... told me plenty of things about how one of my only friends wasn't interested in saving the other, how he was far more interested in his Keyblade, and a number of other things. Turns out that she was utterly wrong! Sora cares just as much as I do, perhaps even more than I do, as he has done everything in his power to find our other friend, unlike that witch who tried to poison my mind against my friends."

"Is that so? If you care so much, why don't I cast her through a portal and send her to Maleficent?" the Captain replied, as if he had all the cards right now, though as the group paused for a moment he nodded to a shorter person, who emerged from the room he entered and revealed a young girl, about Sora and Riku's age, who seemed comatose, as she made no moves on her own and didn't seem to acknowledge anyone, as her eyes were lifeless, "You see boy, we finally found her for you, just as Maleficent said she would... and you would still call her a liar?"

"Kairi!" Sora and Riku called out, figuring that their voices could reach her, though Sombra noticed that when Sora moved his hand towards her for a moment there was a bit of movement, a tiny fragment, from the comatose girl, meaning there was some sort of bond between him and Kairi, and as they did that the Heartless started to seep out onto the deck, which confirmed the captain's allegiance to Maleficent.

Sombra glanced at the others and found that they understood what was going on, the Captain was going to open the way to Hollow Bastion and toss Kairi through it, delivering her into Maleficent's hands in a matter of seconds, causing her to turn towards the pirate looking Heartless as she swung her scythe, cutting through them with ease. As she did that the rest of the group got moving without delay, Sora and Riku swinging at the other Pirates that dared to come at them, while at the same time Donald loosed spells into the air, targeting the ship shaped Heartless who could fire small cannonballs at them, while Radiant used her bow on them. Goofy and Fluttershy dealt with the enemies that were around them as well, as it looked like the Captain had called forth as many Heartless as he could muster, or at least those who would heed the call of his inner darkness, where Sombra called for Sora and Riku to flock to her side. While she did that Sombra reached out with her power and used her time power to slow the Captain down, to the best of her ability, though as the pair came to a stop near her she swung her scythe, allowing them to stand on the flat edge of it before she swung it in a way that let her launch them at the Captain.

Such a thing allowed Sora and Riku to land on the level that the Captain and his second were on, though as they rushed to Kairi's aid a group of Pirates slammed into Sora and knocked him backwards, which caused him to call for Riku to ignore him and get to Kairi, who nodded as he disappeared into the cabin with the Captain.

When Sora reached the door, after beating back the Heartless and releasing hearts that Sombra absorbed, he found that the door was locked, causing him to jump down to where the others were fighting as he found what appeared to be a hatch leading down into the cargo area. With that in mind Radiant and Fluttershy slashed into the locks and broken them with ease, allowing them to open the way once all of the enemies were dealt with, causing Sombra to extend some of her power so they could float down into the cargo hold with ease. What they discovered was that there was a cell holding a young boy inside it, even though the cell looked more like it was part of the cargo hold due to the wooden walls and door, and Sombra could see that he wore what appeared to be armor made out of leaves, pretty big ones at that. He seemed like a troublemaker, the Aladdin to this world's Jafar in a sense, though before he noticed them the group made sure that the area was clear of enemies, all while Fluttershy found that her treasure seeking rabbit, Squeak, had found a magical page and Sombra added it to her tome, finding that it was the second tier Aero spell, Aerora.

"Ahem. The answer to your prayers is right over here." the boy said, where the group raised an eyebrow for a moment as they looked at him, where he sighed for a few seconds before realizing that he wasn't going to trick them into listening to his scheme that he was the only one that could save them or aid them in this manner, and it wasn't long before a small glowing figure, a fairy or something, flew around him, "The name's Peter Pan, this here is Tinker Bell, and I'm looking for my friend Wendy... who, according to Tinker Bell, is being held by Captain Hook, who recently captured another girl who has done nothing since her arrival."

"Well, we're looking for another way into Hook's quarters... maybe you'd like to aid us?" Sombra inquired, not that she and the others really needed help right now, since they could deal with the Heartless, though since they usually had allies on their journeys through the various worlds she figured that it might be best to ally with their ally of this one, even if she already disliked him.

Peter seemed to think of them as more like sidekicks, or maybe minions, something that caused Sombra to let out a low growl that only Radiant bothered to acknowledge, she was the closest of the others, despite somewhat agreeing to work with them, though not before Donald said something about Tinker Bell being jealous of Peter wanting to save Wendy, a fact that earned him a kick to the face from the little fairy. The other thing that made her not like Peter that much was how he reacted to Sora raising his hand for them to shake, he pulled his back like he was pulling a prank or something, he had no love for them and really didn't seem to like any of them, rather he was using them to get Wendy back. Other than that the only interesting thing about Peter was that he was able to float without magic, something that caused Sombra to look at the size of the cargo hold and switch to her magic, the scythe was too much for this area, especially with the size of their group. With that in mind she focused on crushing her chosen foes into the floor with Gravira as the others dealt with the other Heartless that were in the area, something that allowed Radiant to swing her Keyblade at those she struck with her gravity spell, and she claimed all of the newly freed hearts as well.

Flight alongside Peter revealed something else, that his power of flight was due to Tinker Bell's fairy dust and the power of belief, something that caused Sora to believe that he could fly and he floated off the floor with ease, to which Tinker Bell did the same for everyone but Fluttershy, as she had her own wings, and soon enough all of them were floating. The other thing that they noticed was that there was an area that Peter could talk to Wendy in, as it appeared that they were below the actual holding area as well, though Sombra had given up trying to figure out Hook's ship, it just seemed to be thrown together with no rhyme or reason to it. The oddest thing was that there didn't seem to be a way back to the top deck or Hook's chambers, which just made one wonder how the crew managed to get around, though there was one thing that caused them to stop in their tracks, a ladder that seemed out of place. What made it even more important was that Peter was able to figure out that it went to Hook's chamber, which was what they were looking for, though interesting enough there was no one there, in fact Sombra couldn't feel Riku's presence at all, before Sora smashed through the door and went back out onto the deck.

Sure enough that was where they found Hook standing around like he had all the time in the world, though he wasn't too pleased to see Sora and the others, like he assumed all of them would have been ripped apart by the Heartless, while he was even less pleased to see Peter Pan.

"You. What did you do to Riku and Kairi?" Sombra stated, because they weren't on this world anymore, that much she and the others could tell by just exploring the rest of the odd ship, and the only one who knew where they were was Hook, so before they beat him up she figured one of them could get some answers out of him.

"I opened the way to Hollow Bastion and sent the girl through... Riku, with no concern for his own well being, rushed into it to save her. He's probably talking to Maleficent right now." Hook replied, showing them that he didn't seem to care that much about what Riku was doing, though at the same time this told them that they would need to be prepared for what the future held for them, given that their next destination might be Maleficent's base of operations, "Though none of you will be going there."

In that moment he drew his own sword as more Heartless showed up to attack the group, though that was followed by all of them taking to the air, much to Hook's surprise and confusion, allowing some of them to focus on the Pirates while the others tore through all of the Ships that were around them. While they did that Sombra found that Squeak, ever the busy rabbit, beckoned for her to come over and she understood why without delay, the critter had found a second magic page for her to add to the tome, the second tier healing spell, Cura, causing her to rub Squeak's head before rejoining the fight as she crushed some Heartless with her gravity magic. The one thing that she had to admit was that Hook was skilled in fighting with his sword, a rapier based on what she could see, though the ability to fly rendered his skill irrelevant, which meant they were able to just rain down pain on the pirate captain while his second in command ran off. Such a thing let Sombra and the others knock Hook off of his own ship, though after hitting the water he actually burst out of the water and ran off as a green crocodile chased after him, something that Hook feared above everything else.

With that done Tinker Bell told Peter about the clock tower, causing the boy to take off and forced the others to follow, as this had to be the Keyhole, though while everyone did that Sombra could tell that Sora was thinking about Kairi and what he'd tell her once this adventure was over, along with Riku, as it wouldn't be the same without his friend.

Somehow it took them only a few minutes to fly from the ship and reach the tall clock tower, plus the city that was around it, where Radiant found Wendy sitting on the upper reaches of the structure, on what seemed to be a walkway that people used from time to time. While Peter talked with her and Tinker Bell, as it seemed important, Sora, Sombra, and the rest of the group checked out the four sides of the clock tower as they looked for the Keyhole, only for them to discover that one of the faces was totally off, since the other three were locked on the same position. Sombra glanced at the unaligned one for a moment and beckoned for Sora to hit it, which the boy did so without delay and they found that one of the hands moved as he hit it, moving an hour each time it was hit, and when the hands were aligned on the twelve o'clock position a brilliant light emerged from the formerly wrong face. Such a thing revealed that the Keyhole was on the clock face that was in front of them, though as Sora sealed the Keyhole, and Fluttershy picked up a navigational gummi piece Sombra just floated there for a moment, sensing an incredibly powerful Heartless that was unlike anything she had felt before, and yet the creature, itself, didn't seem ready to fight them.

As the others returned to Peter Pan, however, Sombra smiled as she realized that she would be coming back here in the near future, once she was better prepared, as she had a feeling that this Heartless would be one epic fight and it made her look forward to clashing with it at some point in time.

Chain/Days: New Encounter

Seras found that the mission Saix assigned her, Roxas, and Xion was a more simple one than she originally expected, it was just to head into Twilight Town and deal with a number of Dire Plants, the emblem Heartless that happened to be rooted in the ground and were unable to move, save for warping out with their powers. They weren't incredibly dangerous, rather they were some of the more weaker Heartless she had encountered, though it did give her a chance to see both Roxas and Xion in action and the first group she left to them so she could observe the pair. Roxas, while still figuring out how to fight some of their enemies, showed that he was definitely skilled in the aspect of reading the battle while dealing with their foes, even using a small bit of fire magic to burn and weaken some of his targets, before using his Keyblade on them. Xion, on the other hand, seemed to have less confidence in using her Keyblade, in fact she seemed hesitant to even summon it since she fought with magic to help Roxas weaken their foes, causing Seras to wonder if she even had one, despite Xemnas saying that she had one.

In that moment she had a thought, that maybe Xion was like Roxas, though her zombie nature was more linked to her own weapon and not everything else, since Roxas had been without direction until Axel got him moving, and when the group of Heartless were dealt with, and their hearts were seized by a familiar dark energy, she approached the pair.

"You two fight well, though I see that both of you can improve. Xion, can you summon your Keyblade, or do we need to work on that?" Seras asked, because the black haired girl never drew her weapon while they were fighting the Heartless, which allowed her to understand why Saix had assigned her to work with both her and Roxas, it was because Xion was lacking her weapon and working with them might be the key to summoning it.

"I... I don't know. I was told that I should be able to use one, but I have been unable to summon it." Xion replied, where Seras could see that the girl was saddened by that fact, like she had been expecting or even excited for such a thing after seeing the other two in action, before she glanced at her hands for a moment, no doubt looking for something that may or may not be there.

Seras smiled for a few seconds as she summoned her Keyblade, turned it around, and held it out so Xion could grasp the handle, because the best way to fix this was for the other Nobody to remember what it was like to hold such a weapon in the first place and then go from there. Xion stared at it for a few seconds, as if wanting to make sure that this was fine with her, before lightly grasping the handle, something that caused Seras to let go for a few seconds as Xion stumbled back in surprise, but it had the desired effect as they found her standing there, holding the weapon with ease. Such a thing came as a surprise to Xion, since this wasn't expecting this to happen in the first place, before she shifted her stance and swung it a few times, getting used to the feeling, and once she was done she handed it back to Seras with a look of determination on her face. She focused for a few seconds as she held her own hand out, where Seras and Roxas watched as a bit of light gathered around her hand, in the form of a Keyblade, though while it seemed to start taking the shape of the Kingdom Key, just like Roxas and Sora, the shape shifted before their eyes.

She wasn't sure what Xion was trying to do, but it seemed like whatever it was had failed as the Keyblade materialized as a near identical replica of the Kingdom Key that Roxas was holding, though that didn't seem to faze Xion as she smiled, likely happy to have her weapon at long last.

"See? You only needed a little bit of encouragement." Seras said, though while she was curious as to why Xion's blade was the Kingdom Key, since that made three wielders of the same Keyblade, but why Roxas had it she knew, he was Sora's Nobody, but that didn't explain Xion's, only for her train of thought to be interrupted as they found a few more Heartless, Dire Plants, lining a path for them to take, "Well, let's get to work."

Roxas and Xion nodded as they turned their Keyblades on the Heartless, each one rushing at the Dire Plants and took out their targets without wasting too much time, allowing Seras to see that Xion was definitely skilled in fighting, in a style that resembled both Roxas and Sora. Such a thing made her think about things for a moment, as she resembled Kairi as well, a fact she shared with Namine, almost like Xion was Kairi's Nobody and not Namine, or maybe both were in a way, as Seras really didn't know what to think at this point. The important thing was that her work had given Xion her weapon at last, a fact that allowed her to take down the Heartless that were in her way while also loosing bits of magic every now and then at the others that were further along their path, weakening them to one of the three could take them out. Of course she found that the freed hearts were seized by the dark energy, which she was used to seeing at this point, though the more interesting aspect was that the Dire Plants seemed to be leading them out of Twilight Town for some reason.

The reason became clear rather quickly as they found the main target of their mission, a massive Dire Plant that Saix had called the 'Poison Plant', and that wasn't the only thing there, as the beach they were brought to happened to have a large Heartless there as well, a Darkside.

All three of them stood there for a moment, as they weren't expecting to see such a Heartless here, much less one of the pure ones that didn't release hearts, but Seras rushed at the large Poison Plant and slashed into it's chest before it had a chance to do anything to them. While she did that Roxas and Xion zeroed in on the Darkside, realizing that this was their foe since she definitely didn't need help, where they were fortunate that no one was on the beach as the massive dark creature punched the ground, something both warriors avoided. Following that Roxas attacked the feet while avoiding being stepped on, while Xion rushed up the outstretched arm, jumped into the air to avoid the Darkside's other fist, and struck the side of the Heartless' head with her Keyblade, knocking it back a little as she loosed a fireball into it's face as well, just to do more damage. As Roxas continued his own assault, and Seras finished off her foe, the massive Heartless swung at Xion and missed her, something that allowed her to strike the figure as well before both she and Roxas brought it down, reducing it to nothing more than bits of dark energy that scattered in the wind.

"You two fought well, and I'm sure you'll be able to tackle whatever Saix gives you in the future." Seras said, which was the truth, both Nobodies were skilled in the art of battle, especially Xion after summoning her Keyblade, though that caused her to beckon for them to follow her as all three of them dismissed their weapons, even though Xion did recall hers just to verify she had a weapon now, "Before we report our success, let's have a treat."

Roxas smiled as he understood what she meant, they were going to have some of the ice cream that was popular in this town, something that made Seras wonder what Larxene and Marluxia were doing, while hoping Radiant and the others were still safe, wherever they were.

Radiant found that their long journey finally came to an end in an unexpected way, because she, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had been walking for quite a long time, occasionally stopping every now and then to rest and eat something, as they found packs of fresh food by the dirt road every now and then. She had confirmed that they were safe to eat, because someone likely had plans for them and that meant keeping them all alive, so poison was out of the question, though she had no idea who would do such a thing for them in the first place. Sombra wasn't an option, she had disappeared and that meant that someone wanted her out of the picture, which told Radiant that she was likely in the Darkworld, something that had been confirmed based on the attacks she seemed to be loosing into that realm. Fluttershy's Nobody was also someone she had considered for the role, but had dismissed it since she was sure that was out of the question as well, to avoid her siding with them no doubt, so that meant that a shadowy group had to be behind this, which Sora confirmed after seeing a figure in a black coat some time ago.

Of course she hesitated to trust the very group that had fractured Fluttershy, in fact Sora didn't trust them either, but so far they had no evidence to go on that this one was the same one that attacked their friends, in fact Radiant put forth the theory that there might be multiple figures, an organization or group of sorts. This time around Donald and Goofy knew not to question what they were talking about, as they had seen the figures in question and agreed with them, someone was behind this and that meant there might be more than the couple they knew about. They had talked about who might have appeared before Sora and beckoned him to follow, though there was no way for anyone to know if they were friend or foe until they found the area that the figure wanted them to come to, hence their decision to follow it, since there was no other options available to them. Other than that there really wasn't much else for them to do but focus on the path in front of them, which was incredibly boring for them, but Radiant kept her guard up since there was no telling if the way was safe or not, only to find that nothing bothered them for a long time.

Eventually they came to a stop in a dark place, with a large odd castle resting in front of them, which seemed to be where the figure wanted them to come to, mostly due to the fact that Sora seemed drawn to it while the others just stared at it for a time, wondering if this was the domain of their enemies.

"You know, it almost feels like someone is watching us." Sora commented, though he couldn't tell if the feeling was from a friend or from a foe, he just had a feeling that such a thing was happening and that caused him to glance at the others for a moment, only to find that Radiant agreed with him, since Donald and Goofy didn't feel what he had felt, "So, um, do we knock or just barge in?"

"Knocking would be preferred." a voice answered, where the group turned around for a moment and found a black coat wearing figure standing right behind them, who must have appeared out of thin air, before he, as it was male based on the voice that came from it, raised his hands and pulled the hood back, revealing a guy with shoulder length pink hair who smiled at them, "However I, Marluxia, Lord of Castle Oblivion, am here to greet you and welcome you to my domain. Here my comrades and I seek to unravel the secrets of memory, though for what purpose I am still unsure on."

Radiant raised an eyebrow at that, as she was sure that the figure wasn't supposed to give away that information, and he even seemed to realized it as well a few seconds later, that he let something important slip, but he smiled anyway, as if he still wanted them to trust him.

"And why should we trust you? Someone dressed like you attacked two of our friends some time ago." Radiant asked, as while Marluxia seemed friendly she knew from years of experience, which she was going to have to thank Sombra for in the future, not to trust people who clearly had ulterior motives, and right now it sure seemed like the figure in front of her had plans for them.

"Yes, I have heard of the attack on Fluttershy, and while one of my comrades did attack her, allow me to apologize on their behalf." Marluxia replied, where he bowed his head slightly, because this was what he was good at, manipulating things to his advantage, though at the same time he had to wonder about his sudden change of plans, since he had something different in mind before Sora's group arrived, "I do not know who attacked her, as all of us were busy that day, but Seras, her Nobody, is safe and has been working hard since we found her... I know that doesn't mean much, to earn your trust after it was broken by one of my comrades, but maybe it can be a start."

"Maybe. Do you know what happened to Sombra?" Sora inquired, though while he said that both he and the others were surprised by the mention of Seras, which seemed to confirm what Sombra had told everyone after Fluttershy had been turned into a Heartless.

"I only know that she's in the Darkworld, fighting for her life." Marluxia answered, which was the truth, Sombra seemed to be in the middle of fighting something dangerous and deadly in the Realm of Darkness, and he reflected on the last bout of power they had felt not that long ago, indicating that she was still fighting, before he tapped on the door and it opened before their eyes, "Come, let us get you some food and then we can talk."

Marluxia still had no idea why he had changed his plan of attack, but he determined that this might be the best course of action, and while Radiant still didn't trust him both she and the others knew that something was up, something important, causing them to follow him inside so they could figure out what was going on this time around.

Nobody: Return to Hollow Bastion

After visiting with Yen Sid, and making sure he knew what was going on while Sombra told him to stop thinking of the many Nobodies as beings who didn't deserve their existence, it didn't take them long to figure out that Hollow Bastion was fairly close to where the sorcerer had placed his tower. When Sora reached an appropriate space outside the world in question he brought the ship to a stop and got ready to teleport all of them down to the surface, where Seras chuckled as she told the others that she was interested in seeing how their friends reacted to her existence. Her comment made sense, of course, as Leon and the others had no idea that the Nobodies even existed, much less that Fluttershy had created one when she was turned into a Heartless, so their reactions would be interesting to see. Once everyone was ready to go Sora found a suitable area to teleport the ground team to and engaged the teleportation system, allowing them to teleport down to the world's surface so they could visit their friends, tell them what's going on, and figure things out.

What they discovered, however, was that the area they were warped to happened to be the edge of a market area, where off in the distance they could see the dark castle that used to be Maleficent's domain, along with another one that was nearby that seemed to be more clean, despite being in the middle of being worked on.

"Interesting, the world has changed since we were last here... or rather, the darkness that Maleficent had enforced upon this world is receding, revealing this world's true form." Sombra remarked, especially since there were streets and houses as well, meaning the darkness that had infested this world was being undone and in a year or two more she was sure that it would be back to it's former glory, which would be interesting to see as well.

"It seems... rather peaceful, actually." Fluttershy said, as this was far better than the last time they had visited this world, though her main focus right now was on the fact that the people were happy and were going about their days like everything was back to normal, making her wonder if they knew what had happened to them or not.

"Uh-oh, we've got Heartless." Goofy added, pointing to one of the roofs they could see, where a pair of Soldiers were doing a few of their motions before they disappeared into thin air, causing the group to nod to each other, as this meant that they might have to fight some enemies while they were here.

Sora simply shrugged to that, because he knew they would have to fight something at some point while they were visiting this world, that just seemed to be the norm during their adventures, before he walked down into the market and found that all sorts of people were out and about, bringing new life to this world. It was such an interesting thing to see, even though most of the citizens would likely think of what happened to them as a strange nightmare, but this was for the best, simply writing everything off as a bad dream as they went about their lives like nothing had happened. The other nice thing was that they were being treated as visitors, confirming that they likely had no idea who had saved them and their world, but that didn't stop Fluttershy from smiling and waving at some of the people as they walked by. In fact they spotted Huey, Dewey, and Louie in one of the shops, who were still selling accessories to everyone else, causing Donald to check in with them for a few moments before they continued along the path that was in front of them and passed by another duck that Donald recognized as Uncle Scrooge.

Goofy explained that Scrooge was a business typhoon that also doubled as a world traveler, much like themselves, and at the moment he seemed to be in the middle of recreating some ice cream from his past, causing them to wish him well as they headed down into one of the neighborhood streets, where they found some Shadows and Soldiers waiting to attack all of them.

"You know, I almost feel sorry for you guys... this is almost like bullying." Sora remarked, where he summoned his Keyblade for a moment as the Heartless attacked them, causing him to utilize Aqua's training as he accurately struck his foes without showing any wasted movements, showing Sombra that the year of training had been good for him.

Sombra understood what Sora was talking about as she slashed through a Soldier and absorbed the heart that was freed from it, these Heartless were far weaker than the enemies they had encountered near the end of their first adventure, and they were weaker than the ones that showed up during their dealings with the Organization. It was like Pete had warped to this world after they dealt with him outside Yen Sid's tower, since Maleficent's castle was off in the distance, and was trying to call forth more Heartless to serve as the bases for his mistress' army, only he was summoning weaklings. Donald struck down his foes with bursts of fire, Goofy hit his with his shield, Radiant switched between using arrows and her Keyblade, all while Fluttershy and Seras teamed up to deal with the Heartless that came at them. Sombra, for the most part, didn't have to fight with her weapon, rather she used her gravity magic to seal the movements of her opponents so the others could take them out, while utilizing her own power to collect the hearts that were eventually freed.

While they did that, however, Sombra noticed that spherical items formed in the ground around them, likely some sort of defensive measure since one rushed out to hit a Shadow, sending it flying into the distance, which was when Yuffie, in all her glory, appeared on a nearby wall with a smile on her face.

"Long time no see guys." Yuffie said, where Sombra found that she had changed up her attire, as it was more black and was more casual looking than her previous attire, no doubt a change she underwent to show that she and her friends were now beyond the downfall of their home world, "Where have you guys been?"

"Oh, you know, taking the fight to our enemies, finding new allies." Sora replied, which was the truth, they had found a new enemy organization right after tearing apart Maleficent's group of allies, though as he said that he could tell that Yuffie was looking at Seras, especially since she was so similar to Fluttershy, causing Sora to gesture to where they had seen the small spherical object, "So, what were those things?"

"That's the town's defense mechanism." Yuffie answered, though in that moment they found a few Dusks appearing around them as well, but before she could do anything she watched as the group dealt with them without wasting time, almost like another group of weaklings had been sent at them, causing her to chuckle for a moment, "Well, you guys haven't lost any of your skills... Leon's going to love this."

They found that everyone had gathered in Merlin's house, which was similar to the other houses around them and yet was different from a magical standpoint, where they found that one half was Merlin's place and the other half was more modern, thanks to the console that was resting against the wall, which Cid was working at. As they joined their friends, who were happy to see them, Squeak, Fluttershy's most trusted animal companion, disappeared into the town to track down items to collect, which was fine since they knew he would be back when it was time to leave for another world. Apparently Leon and the others had formed a 'Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee', aimed to undo the damage that Maleficent and her dark allies had done to the world, and based on what Sombra could tell they no longer saw Ansem the Wise as the leader of the world, given what happened before his disappearance. Such a thing caused her to tell them that the one they thought was Ansem the Wise was actually a fake, someone who stole his name and research, though it would take some time before they and the rest of the world would be able to welcome him back with open arms.

Leon also produced a card for them, showing that they were honorary members of the committee despite not working on all of the work that was currently going on right now, rather it was more of a 'thank you' for all of their hard work in dealing with Maleficent, and saving the World from her dark plans.

"So, who are you going after this time?" Leon asked, though at the same time Merlin checked them out and found that all of them, or those who had learned magic during their previous adventure, had retained their lessons and were even stronger than last time he had seen them, especially Sombra, whose magic was beyond everyone else's.

"It's complicated, and I'm not sure we have the time to explain everything to you guys right now, but here's what we can say for right now: our true enemy is Master Xehanort." Sombra replied, because she knew that this wasn't a lot to go on and already knew that Leon's group would have questions, but given that they needed to deal with Xemnas' plans first there was no time for them to just stop and tell the group everything they had discovered, "For the time being we'll be dealing with the leader of a group called Organization XIII, whose collecting hearts to make his own Kingdom Hearts, and once we're done with him we'll tackle whatever plans our true foe has in store for the rest of the World."

"That's good to hear, because we're going to need your help as well." Leon said, where he beckoned for them to follow him as he headed outside and made his way to the wall that seemed to be protecting the town from the potential darkness that was outside their borders.

Sure enough he brought them to a portion of the wall that allowed them to look out at the rest of the world, where off in the distance they found that there was a massive army of Heartless resting in the sunken crater around Maleficent's castle, of all types from what Sombra could see since there was a Behemoth and a Darkside among them, and there were some Dusks on their way to the army. Seras knew what they were doing, they were counting the Heartless to see what Pete's forces were like, no doubt to use them against the town and force them to fight the horde in a desperate bid to try and get hearts while Sombra was busy fighting the horde. As they thought about that more Nobodies, in the form of Dusks and Assassins, which they knew thanks to Seras' information, rushed at them in an attempt to get into the town, though that was a failure on their part as Sora and his friends lashed out at them, knocking the Nobodies back and vanquishing them in no time. This just confirmed that either Xemnas was underestimating them or he was sending out the weaker Nobodies first, saving all of the stronger ones for later in the adventure, where Sombra simply shrugged and blew up her foes with small bits of magic as the rest of the group dealt with all of their other enemies.

With their power the Nobodies stood no chance against them, allowing the group to clear out the area around the gate, and as the last one fell Sombra headed out into an area that had a raised wall that seemed perfect for their enemies to stand on, plus an area behind them that seemed to be useful for the same thing.

"You seem to be doing well... this calls for a celebration." a voice said, which was when Xemnas and the remaining members of Organization XIII, all having their hoods up for some odd reason, appeared on the wall that Sombra had stared at, while at the same time the rest of the group walked out with her, causing the robed figures to pause, "Seras... is that you?"

"Yep, it's me, Xemnas. Sorry for making you guys worry, but I've chosen to side with my sister." Seras replied, where she rested an arm around Fluttershy's neck with a smile on her face, all while Fluttershy smiled as well, showing the others that she was perfectly fine with thinking of Seras as her sister.

"That's annoying... now we have no Keyblades in our possession." another member, Xigbar, remarked, though he was totally shocked by the fact that Sora had improved so much in such a short period of time, to the point where it seemed like he had spent a year training with the wielders that had been rescued so far, "Still, we can rectify this easily... our combined powers should be more than enough to deal with the seven of you."

"Seven? Seems like someone can't count." Sombra commented, where the ledge that was behind her group flashed as the Organization found more people coming into the area, though she knew that Roxas, Xion, Aqua, Ventus, Larxene, Marluxia, Riku, Kairi, and an illusion of Axel, which looked totally real, had appeared, each wearing their gray coats, mimicking what Xemnas and his followers were doing right now, "What do you have to say about these odds?"

Xemnas paused for a moment as the scene unfolded, because he had to assume that each of the gray coats had to have the power to wield the Keyblade, and when he combined that number with the wielders in front of him, in Sombra's group, he realized that there were fourteen wielders, thirteen if Sombra wasn't counted, and now their enemies outnumbered them, to which he and the Organization departed from Hollow Bastion.

"That's what I thought." Sombra remarked, to which she nodded and the people who came to help intimidate Xemnas' group returned to the Gummi Ship, and their own quests, though before she could say anything else Sora found that the card he had been given started to glow for some reason.

What they discovered was that this was the World's way of letting them know that it was time to leave a world, for the time being, especially since Sora had to fire a beam of light into the air to unlock a new path, though as they started to leave Sombra told Leon to keep an eye on the Heartless and to have Merlin contact them if things worsened, all while making her eager to see what sort of worlds they would explore during this adventure.

Nobody: Facing Shan-Yu

Sombra found that even with her group helping inside the bamboo forest, and Sora's dealing with the enemies that were in the area around the camp that the army had set up, the Commander seemed to take far too much time in preparing his forces to move against Shan-Yu and the Huns. She understood that it wasn't easy to deal with someone like this, who might have access to the Darkness given that some of the Heartless did seem to be working with the figure they were hunting, but even then it seemed like Mulan's commanding officer was just dragging things out. Part of her had to wonder if he was just spending time training his troops or if he was just being foolish in wasting time, or if there was another party, no doubt the Organization, prolonging things in order to build another Heartless army to try and get more hearts for the Kingdom Hearts they were building. She really wasn't sure at this point, even though she assumed someone from the Organization had a hand in the events of this world, otherwise there was no point for the World to even form a pathway to this world, but she knew that when things got heated her group would be ready to act.

While they waited Fluttershy even pointed out that someone seemed to be studying the camp as well, there was a falcon in the air that seemed to be flying around the place, observing the army and then flying off into the mountain, which meant that Shan-Yu wanted to know what his main opposition was up to.

"Finally... I was wondering if the Captain was ever going to move." Sombra remarked, because after a long period of time just doing nothing it appeared that his company was getting ready to move, through at the same time Sora's group was the first to move out as well, while her change in addressing the man in charge of the army was due to her using her shadowy powers to sneak into the camp and allowed her to overhear what title he went by.

"Yes, and it seems like he's sending Sora's group ahead to clear the path." Seras said, as the mountain path in question was where a fair number of the Heartless were gathering right now, which meant it was where they had to be as well, since that meant there was a good chance they might catch the one behind Shan-Yu's dark army before they got away, to which she got up and grinned, "Shall we get underway as well?"

Sombra nodded as her group emerged from the bamboo forest, jumping down into the area that Sora's group happened to be passing through, which was where they got a good view of the new Heartless that were in this world, as she used her own Keyblade to force the spearhead of the Assault Rider she was facing into the ground. While she cut her foe down Radiant used a few arrows to eliminate a couple of Nightwalkers that were off on their right, allowing Sora to help Mulan deal with a few Soldiers and Shadows that happened to be part of the group. Such a thing allowed her to see that the lady they were helping had definitely improved quite a bit over a short period of time, thanks to being sent out on a few missions and doing a bit of training in the camp between tasks, but there was still much for her to learn and Sombra stopped by her to show her a few movements that would help her out. She could afford to be like this because the Heartless of this world were weaker than those they had fought at the end of their first adventure, meaning there was no reason for her to get serious right now, plus with Sora and the others working together as a team Sombra could sit back and gather the hearts with ease if she had any desire to do so.

Since that would be boring Sombra focused on taking part in the battle by helping Mulan master her movements and not wasting energy with how she attacked, allowing the lady to improve her stance and her attacks as they moved up the rough path that the Captain wanted Sora's group to clear out for the army.

"Where did you learn how to fight? Your skills are quite impressive." Mulan asked, as this was the first time she was seeing Sombra and the other girls clash with the Heartless, which was strange to her despite what she was doing, but even then she knew that they were far stronger than anyone in the army, meaning they could beat Shan-Yu with ease.

"We've been in a few battles before this, so we've had some time to learn some things." Sombra replied, because she knew that Donald would likely scream his head off if she said anything about the other worlds, even though she wasn't likely to say a word about the other worlds unless the one they were speaking to knew about them ahead of time, and this was the best way to explain things to Mulan, since she would have assumed they were from another part of the world.

Mulan nodded as they continued to push up the path that was in front of them, where she continued to observe them and did her part in weakening the Heartless that dared to oppose them, dodging out of the way of an attack that came from one of the Assault Riders, since she didn't want to be hurt by it's weapon. She also got a chance to see Donald and Goofy strike their enemies down with ease, one using their magic and another using his shield to both defend himself while attacking a few seconds later, showing her that there were more ways to fight than she knew. When it came to Sombra and the others in her group, however, Mulan found that they were faster than she was expecting them to be and each one really delivered powerful punishing blows to the 'Heartless' that happened to be their enemies. It amazed her that they were so strong, and that some were capable of fighting by barely looking at the foes that were in the area, to the point where she just watched as Sombra seemed to flash around the area, moving faster than everyone else, before taking down an Assault Rider with just a single attack.

Such a thing made her realize that they would be able to defeat Shan-Yu with the assistance of Sombra's group, along with the fact that such a thing was likely going to be impossible since the Captain would discharge her if he figured out the truth and none of these girls would be allowed to participate in the upcoming fight either.

As it turned out Sombra was planning for such a thing as she and the other girls moved into another portion of the forest that was nearby, where Mulan found that they were weaving their way through the bamboo and striking down more of the enemies they had fought on the way up here. While Sombra did that she made sure to observe the village that happened to be at the end of the mountain path, where it was easy to see how the Captain was pushing Mulan to do better while stating that 'he' wasn't worthy to be a soldier. As they set up their position inside the village, or at least paused to rest up before the next leg of their journey, both Sombra and Sora noticed a black coat entering a nearby cave, joined by someone else, but at the same time they knew it was definitely a trap. With that in mind Sombra made sure that they took out the rest of the few Heartless that were in the forest before she and the others descended on the village, wearing the gray coats this time since the Captain would go crazy if he knew who they were.

The plan was simple, she and Fluttershy would be defending the village, where her companion would be utilizing her own magic to protect everyone while she focused on the Heartless that would be trapped outside, and while they did that Seras and Radiant would be following the black coat into the cave, with a bit of her magic with them to capture the hearts of the Heartless they would be fighting.

"Grand Barrier." Fluttershy said, stabbing the ground with the base of her staff, where Sombra watched as a pink barrier appeared around the village and surprised all of the soldiers, while at the same time she could tell that the silent observer was shocked by this particular discovery.

"Good job! Now, Sora, Ping, Donald, Goofy, join me in defeating the Heartless that are coming." Sombra stated, because she knew the sensation better than anyone else at this point, a large group of Assault Riders and Nightwalkers, joined by a fair number of Shadows, Soldiers, and small yellow flyer Heartless, Rapid Thrusters due to their quick movements, descended on the village.

The Captain was dumbfounded as he watched the scene that unfolded in front of him, Ping's group and their unknown allies wiped out the creatures, the 'Heartless', that were coming at the village, while at the same time he noticed a black figure off in the distance that was stumbling back in utter shock. The problem was that all of the new individuals were ladies, he could hear it in their voices, and what really stunned him was when he heard it in Ping's voice, causing him to realize that they had been fooled by some of the most skilled warriors he had encountered. At the same time the little red dragon he had seen in the past, it was hard to miss him since he liked to talk, spotted Shan-Yu off in the distance and Ping rushed after him with Sora's group following close behind, leaving the gray coats to protect the village. In that moment he also found that the one with the dark weapon also seemed to have two rings of energy around her hands, one a dark purple and one blue, that she used to punch her foes right into the ground, like they were nothing compared to her might.

In that moment he found that it was a shame that they weren't men, because he could have used them in the army, plus now he had to discharge Sora's group since he knew that all three of them were in on keeping Ping's true identity from him, a terrible blow for sure when he thought about it.

Sombra, on the other hand, didn't care about what was going through the Captain's mind right now as she found that the snow covered peak of the mountain collapsed with the sound of something small exploding, causing her to nod to Fluttershy instantly, who brought the barrier down. From there they rushed towards the peak, joined by Seras and Radiant while her power captured the rest of the freed hearts, though her focus was on what was ahead of them, a wall of snow heading down a different path, so they didn't have to worry about the village. With that in mind she flashed up to a hill that overlooked the area in question as she figured out that Mulan must have used one of the fireworks from this world to cause an avalanche in the area, burying Shan-Yu in snow, something that wouldn't kill him since she was sure there were more caves in the area, so they would have to deal with him later. Of course Sora and the others were fine, they had figured out how to get out of the way without being taken by the wave of snow, and she could hear Mushu ruining everything by calling Mulan by her true name, just in time for the Captain to arrive on scene.

It was almost hilarious how quickly he dismissed Mulan and the others from the army, even though in his eyes they should have been the ones to defeat Shan-Yu, though Sombra was fine with this and made sure the army departed swiftly, allowing Mulan to change into her true attire, a light brown uniform with a green sash.

"So, what now?" Radiant asked, as this seemed like a dead end for both them and Mulan, as they needed to find an item of some kind to activate the World's link to one of the other worlds, likely to signify that they had done something important in the world they landed on, and right now it seemed like helping Mulan had backfired.

"We finish off Shan-Yu." Sombra replied, where Mulan's head whipped back to the snow as they found that the leader of the invading army had, in fact, survived the snowfall, to which she summoned her Keyblade as everyone else readied their own weapons, causing her to glance at Mulan for a moment, "When we beat him, sever his head and take both it and his sword to your Emperor... that should be all the proof they and their people will need to bring honor to your family."

Radiant was a little worried about Sombra saying that, since it sounded like a part of the old Sombra was leaking out of her new persona, but quickly realized that her statement was due to the fact that killing Shan-Yu was the only way for Mulan to get what she wanted, even if it was a little bloody in the end. Mulan, on the other hand, nodded her head as she readied her weapon like the rest of the group had done, which was when the figure emerging from the snow charged at them with his twisted sword, no doubt something made by his people for his eventual conquest. As the battle started Fluttershy leapt into the air and caught the falcon as Shan-Yu directed it to attack, where Sombra chuckled for a moment as the bird chirped after a very brief conversation with her, proving that her animal skill was really one of the stronger ones she had, and it wasn't long before the bird flew over to Squeak's position. Of course that only enraged Shan-Yu as he struck at them with his odd sword, but it was clear that the odds weren't in his favor as he clashed with each of them, one blocking his attacks while one of the others struck him, meaning there was no real way for him to bring them down without sacrificing himself to try and take even one of them out.

In the end Mulan severed Shan-Yu's hand, picked up his sword, and then used both of them to behead the figure, which was the moment that Sombra produced a sack for her to put the head in, allowing her to depart for the Emperor's palace with her head held high for once.

"Are you sure that was the right move?" Seras inquired, because this seemed a little more direct than what they had done in the past, though at the same time Mulan paused as Shan-Yu's sword started to glow, allowing Sora to channel the power of his Keyblade into unlocking the next gate, while returning the weapon to normal.

"Well, we could have allowed Shan-Yu to amass an army of Heartless and attack the Emperor's palace, putting him and all of his people in danger... this was much easier for all of us." Sombra answered, something that caused Radiant to smile, as the safety of the citizens was something she knew her friend had never thought about until this point in time and this meant she had really changed as a person, which made Radiant look forward to seeing how she would deal with the future.

Sombra found that the others, while taken aback by how Shan-Yu was slain, decided to not say much as they started to head back to the Gummi Ship, Fluttershy accompanied by Squeak and the new falcon, even though she was looking forward to what the rest of the adventure had in store for all of them and the worlds they would be visiting.

Nobody: Old Friend, New Attitude

Following their departure from Mulan's world Sombra found that things were normal, as in Fluttershy showed the newest animal to where it would be living, Radiant joined her to continue harvesting materials from the area to build many of their accessories, Sora's group returned to the cockpit, and Sombra and Seras trained for a time. It was just like the end of when they visited the worlds during their first adventure, they would relax and unwind, along with training any new skills they had picked up along the way, before worrying about whatever the next world had to throw at them. Unlike the start of their first adventure it didn't seem like the start of this one had any spells to be added to their spell tomes, and after all of the spells that they obtained over the course of their first one Sombra had to doubt that there were more for them to obtain. Plus all of them were able to share a few good meals as well, which was thanks to her skills in that regard, thus allowing everyone else to focus on whatever they preferred to focus on before they reached the next world.

Of course a few days later they found the way to the space path leading to the next world, causing Sora to pilot them into the section of space that held all sorts of enemies for him to fire at, and obstacles to navigate around, only for him and the rest of the group to find that this one was sending them through an asteroid field.

"So, they want to give me a challenge, eh? Let's play!" Sora remarked, where he navigated the ship into the asteroid field without delay, allowing everyone else to take a seat as they watched the show, since there were a number of enemy Gummi Ships flying around the area, just like before they made their way to Mulan's world.

Sombra smiled as they moved through the space, as this was where Sora shined as he tore through the enemies that were in front of them, making sure not to miss a single enemy Gummi Ship as their ship's systems claimed all of the material so she could use it to expand their home. At the same time she was pleased to see the couple of Heartless Gummi Ships that were in the area, since it allowed her to snatch their hearts as well, further depriving the Organization of the hearts Xemnas was in need of to complete his version of Kingdom Hearts. Of course she still found it amusing that the Nobody ships didn't seem annoyed by the Heartless ones, as both targeted their ship at the same time, as if to confirm that Xemnas was in control of both forces, especially after Maleficent had been wiped out, someone they might have to deal with later. The other thing that was interesting was that they were able to empower their ship enough to bring about the creation of 'Teeny Ships', smaller vessels that seemed to provide additional firepower, allowing Sora to add two such ships to their formation while quickly increasing their destructive capabilities.

In addition to that Sombra discovered that a new portion of the devices in the lower portion of the ship would allow them to portion out the new gummi materials and use them to strengthen the Teeny Ships as well, meaning once they were done expanding the main ship they could empower the newest additions.

"You've gotten better at this, Sora." Donald remarked, as that was the truth, because when they started out he had been far too worried that a young boy wouldn't have the skills to pilot their Gummi Ship and that it would end in them crashing into a world, something that ended up being his fault as he reflected on it, but now they had nothing to worry about, Sora was the king of flying through space.

"Thanks. It took some time, but I've got the hang of the ship's systems." Sora said, where he smiled for a few seconds as he brought the ship out of the space, opening another gate in the process, before they glanced at the world that was in front of them, which appeared to be a castle that wasn't like the ones they had seen so far, "Another new world? Well, this will make things much more interesting. Prepare for departure."

Sombra and the others gathered around the area that they teleported out of and found that this world didn't require any of the special disguises, like when they went to Halloween Town, though when they warped down to the castle's exterior they found that it was definitely different from the others, it was dark but not evil like Maleficient's Hollow Bastion. The main door was, interestingly enough, unlocked and there were no servants in the entry area, like the castle was a ghost town, though there was the unmistakable aura of the Heartless in the structure, meaning there were definitely foes to fight. There were a number of stone statues that looked like they might come alive at any moment, which could be possible since they had no idea what sorts of Heartless were in this world, or even Nobodies since there could be some lurking in the shadows. As she thought about that, and everyone else glanced around the area, the halls echoed with a very familiar roar, something that told them they were in the domain of a former ally, potentially even a friend, though since they were uninvited Sombra knew this could easily get ugly.

"That sounds like the Beast... this must be his home." Goofy remarked, as he recalled them hearing that Beast's world had been devoured by the Heartless, so with Seeker Ansem defeated, and his Door to Darkness sealed, it made sense that one of the worlds that would have been restored would have been his and Belle's.

"Roxas and Xion told me about this world, as they scouted it out a few times in the past." Seras commented, where Sombra nodded her head in agreement, she recalled reading about this world in Roxas' reports, now that she had connected all of the dots, even though both of them were glancing around the area, "Never thought I'd come here myself... but Xaldin was supposed to be spending some of his time on this world."

As the others opened their mouths, however, a Shadow scurried across the floor and entered one of the rooms that was in the nearby area, where they found that it was a living area since it had a fireplace, plus a few other things that included a very important looking glowing rose in a glass case. A moment later an army of Shadows started to emerge from the small patches of shadows that were around the room, though that meant nothing to the group as they summoned their various weapons and engaged them, crushing each and every Shadow that rushed at them. Sombra was expecting more types of Heartless to show up, since these ones were far too weak to do anything to her and the others, though it was just Shadows for a couple of moments, nothing else, which was actually disappointing since she had been hoping to discover the newest types of Heartless in no time. In fact none of them had to use any of their stronger moves or techniques, as their strength was more than enough to overturn the sheer numbers that their enemies possessed, eventually allowing them to clear out the room of enemies.

Following that they discovered that Beast, looking the same as the last time they had seen him, pushed open the doors to this room and walked in, though instead of being happy to see some old friends he seemed completely angry, like they were here to rob him or something like that, and when Donald approached him they found that Beast just shoved him into the ground as he walked by.

"Hey, that's not very nice!" Fluttershy stated, stepping in front of the figure for a moment, where Beast just stared at her for a few seconds before he raised his hand once more, though this time around she was more than ready for it as she called her magic and snapped a barrier into existence in front of her, stopping the attack in it's tracks.

"Well what do you know, he's got a dark miasma around him. Allow me." Sombra said, where she appeared in front of the figure as darkness surrounded her hand, which she placed on Beast's head for a few seconds, who simply stood there as the rest of the group watched as a strange darkness appeared around him for a moment and dissolved as it came into contact with Sombra's greater darkness, causing her to pull her hand back as the Beast stumbled backward, "Beast, how are you feeling?"

"Ugh... like a dark burden has been lifted from my shoulders." Beast replied, something that allowed them to see that he was surprised by the fact that they were here, in his castle no less, even though it did seem like he had been half here, like the darkness had shrouded his vision and prevented him from truly understanding what was going on.

Beast was curious as to why they were here in the first place, where Sora told him that they were hunting Heartless and the path had brought him to this place, which was mostly the truth, though they did assist him in moving his rose back to his bedroom, the chamber that it should have been resting in. Sombra made sure to enchant the case with a spell that would protect it from unwanted individuals, like Xaldin if he was still on this world, though before heading to Beast's room there was a stop he wanted to make in the other wing of his castle, he wanted to check on Belle. Such a thing allowed them to find what Sombra had been expecting earlier, there were a few new Heartless in the form of bats with a hook on their tail, so she called them 'Hook Bats', though they were weak and didn't offer much when Sombra tasted one of their hearts. On the way to Belle's room they also found a few more new Heartless, the animated gargoyle states they had seen, some looking like warriors and others looking like knights, so 'Gargoyle Warriors' and 'Gargoyle Knights', but they were apparently Purebloods, so there were no hearts to gain from them.

That was a shame in Sombra's mind, because she was sure that the two types of gargoyle Heartless in this castle could have had the potential to give her a new skill, a weak one capable of growing into something greater, but since they didn't have hearts she simply turned her focus towards the other enemies as they reached their destination.

Belle, wearing more commoner looking clothing, was both understanding of Beast's position and annoyed by what he had done to his own people, as they were apparently locked in the dungeon, causing the large figure to hang his head in shame as he realized what he had done. Sombra figured the pair could spend a few moments alone if they wanted, though Beast walked out after a few minutes with his eyes full of determination, leading them into the other wing of his castle, where they would drop off the rose before delving into the dungeon to save the servants. Sure enough they discovered that more of the two types of gargoyle Heartless lined the walls of the hallways they were traveling down, plus a few Hook Bats, Shadows, and Large Bodies, before they eventually found a wardrobe that had eyes and seemed to be blocking a door. In that moment it became easy for Sombra to understand everything as the piece of furniture talked to Beast, this entire place was cursed, all of the people were cursed, and Belle was the key to Beast breaking the curse that had been placed on everything, no doubt due to his past actions.

After talking to the wardrobe they were allowed into the dungeons, which seemed to be a small area with a locked door that was possessed by a Heartless that animated two stone icons on it to be it's protectors, twisting them into dark creatures who held onto the lock and attacked at the same time, causing Sombra to let out a sigh.

"It's a Pureblood... how unfortunate." Sombra commented, because that meant she would get nothing from it, though that didn't stop her and the others from drawing their weapons and attacking the two dark figures, since they had to get inside the room that they were protecting.

As it turned out the 'Thresholder' was weak, they beat the stuffing out of them and stunned them, opening the way for Sora to release a burst of light that freed the 'Possessor', which was a dark orb that served as the heart of the entire door and just floated around the room after it was released. When the Possessor was out and about a few Gargoyle Knights and Warriors showed up to fight them, though when the Thresholder was being powered they simply dodged the incoming attacks and struck it repeatedly, until forcing out the core again. With their combined power the Pureblood Heartless stood no chance and was banished accordingly, allowing them to enter the room that they had been guarding, where the group found that the servants were a talking candle, a talking clock, and a talking teapot with a smaller teacup. This all but confirmed Sombra's thoughts, they were definitely the servants since they addressed Beast as 'Master', meaning that their goal was the hope that he was able to break the curse before the rose's last petal fell, no doubt by being loved by someone who saw who he really was.

While everyone was chatting, Beast trying to figure out what he had done under the dark haze, Sombra felt a sudden shift in the wind and turned her head for a moment, since there wasn't supposed to be any down here, before glancing at Seras for a moment, who nodded.

"It would seem that Xaldin let one more Heartless into the castle." Seras stated, where Beast growled, confirming that he must have had contact with the Organization member that had been assigned to this world, something that caused them to rush out of the dungeon and head back to the main chamber of the castle.

There they found that Belle was entering the ballroom and followed her inside, where they discovered that she was actually fleeing from a large Darkball that had chains and horns, where Sombra called it 'Shadow Stalker' as they readied themselves for another battle. What she discovered was that it was like the Possessor, but instead of being bound to the massive room, as that was what the Pureblood decided to bond with since everything darkened when it struck the ground, this one was able to float about and attack them however it wanted. By that she meant it changed the pillars into spikes that were more flexible than she was expecting and it twisted the chandelier into a weapon, but the only thing it couldn't do was increase the number of allies as it had, as it was just it verses the rest of the group. When they dealt enough damage to it the Shadow Stalker shrouded itself in darkness before transforming into a larger beast type of Pureblood, with deep red hair and sharp claws, though while it was impressive in this form it's power really wasn't much greater than it's previous form.

The 'Dark Thorn' really didn't stand much of a chance against them, especially when they cleared out so Sora could drop the chandelier on top of the Heartless and spin it around before tossing it into a wall for everyone to attack it, and with their combined power they were able wipe out the Heartless, restoring the chamber to normal in no time.

"Thank you, friends. I owe you greatly for helping me save Belle." Beast replied, as he was far more grateful that they had been able to save the girl that had caused him to see that there was more to the world that he originally thought, while at the same time devaluing himself since he really didn't deserve to be on Belle's level.

Sora said that it was no big deal and found that there was a light coming from the ceiling, allowing him to fire another beam of light to unlock another pathway in space, causing them to wish Beast and Belle well as they departed from the castle, as normal people, before teleporting back to the ship as they looked forward to what the next world had to offer them.

Nobody: More Games

Upon returning to the ship Sombra learned that things on Beast's end had been wonderful, in fact Fluttershy said that the curse had been broken and that she was sad when they learned that Sombra had missed the event, despite the fact none of them had been invited to the castle for the event. Seras and the others were happy to hear that Sombra had stopped Xaldin from interrupting the big night, and were even happier when she told them that she had awakened his heart, meaning he was now able to be his own person like the other saved Nobodies. It also meant there were fewer Nobodies to help, since many of them had found a way to gain a heart after encountering Sombra, not to mention Sora and the others, and Sombra suspected that they might encounter one or two more before finding their way to the World That Never Was, the home of the Organization. It was where their false Kingdom Hearts was resting, that much Roxas and the others had confirmed in their reports, and Sombra was sure that they would be able to find it once they were done dealing with the remaining plans that Xemnas might have started among all of the other worlds.

While they traveled Sombra noticed something weird, the new path they were taking seemed to be diverging from what they had done before the Heartless War, because instead of heading towards the Coliseum next, and visiting Hercules to make a fool of Hades in the arena, it seemed like they were heading to Port Royal.

With that in mind the group focused on what they normally did, training while traveling through space, Sombra making sure everyone had food, and just following the flow that had been established when they first started traveling the vastness of the World, as if nothing had changed since the start of their adventure. Sombra also helped Lei Shen master his powers, since what she had seen in Beast's world had been enough to tell her that now was the time for her to train him, though doing so was a little harder since he was a serpent dragon and not like Fluttershy or the others. It had been an interesting moment when Sombra had the dragon fire off his Lightning Breath, because the rest of their group stared at Lei Shen for a couple of seconds with shock on their faces, but what came after truly caused Sombra to realize just how powerful the Nobody was and how powerful his Heartless could have been if it had escaped them. Lei Shen's power wasn't just lightning, nor was it just thunder, and neither was it just wind, but all three of them in whatever manner he wanted, to which Sombra realized how naming his Heartless the 'Storm Rider' was accurate, even if 'Storm Ruler' was even more on the nose, and it caused her to call everyone together for a short meeting.

"As most of you know, all Nobodies have epithets to describe themselves... Roxas was the 'Key of Destiny', Xemnas' was the 'Superior of the In-Between'." Sombra said, as most of them knew that information, and those that didn't knew it now, even though she knew that Seras and Xion might be the only ones who went without getting an epithet, causing her to turn her eyes to the serpent dragon for a few moments, "You, Lei Shen, are worthy of receiving one as well... you are the 'Thunder King', whose Aspect is 'Storm'."

Lei Shen swirled around them happily for a few moments, showing them that he enjoyed having a title, before stopping to the right of Sombra as he gathered his power, taking aim at the mountain off in the distance as the wind kicked up a little bit, thunder sounded in the distance, and lightning flashed, before blasting the mountain with a beam attack, leaving a crater that was as large as the area they had waited in before the Heartless War.

"Okay... we're going to need some more training." Radiant remarked, because while the dragon's control was good she knew that it could be far better, she knew Sombra enough to understand that fact, and suspected that Lei Shen would be joining all of them in the real training sessions so he could do that, something that seemed to put a smile on the dragon's face as some of the others praised his control.

Other than that there wasn't much else for them to do as they traveled to Port Royal, even though it seemed odd for them to be heading there next, but it did allow everyone to full rest and prepare themselves for whatever might be thrown at them when they finally reached their next destination. When they got close to the world in question Sombra told Lei Shen that this time around he had to stay on the ship, because there were no dragons in Port Royal and it would be hard to explain what he was to people who had no idea what they were looking at. She knew that they had the whole undead pirate event, but felt that such a thing wasn't really enough to help them adapt to the oddities of the other worlds, even though Jack and the rest of the people had ignored how Sombra and the others looked, like the pony girls had been totally normal. Lei Shen floated around the area before nodding his head, showing that he definitely understood what Sombra was talking about, and flew back to where he and the other animals rested, no doubt to rest and then train some more while they were busy.

Once that was done Sombra and the others warped down to the world's surface, finding that they were back by the bell they had appeared near the first time around, before discovering that there was a fight going on nearby, which happened to be Jack fighting more undead pirates.

"Why are these guys still around? Didn't we beat Barbossa?" Sora asked, though at the same time he and the others lashed out at the undead pirates as their weakness was revealed to them, allowing them and Jack to deal a lot of damage to them in a few seconds before finally doing away with them.

"Some scallywag got greedy, obviously." Jack stated, where he noticed that some of the group, namely Donald, looked at him for a moment with a look that told him that they were judging him, causing him to hold up a hand as he started to defend himself, even though Sombra knew he didn't like cursed treasure, "Wasn't me, of course."

"No, it wasn't." a voice replied, causing the group to turn their heads for a moment as an Organization member stepped out of a Dark Corridor, where he raised his hands and pulled his hood back, revealing that it was Luxord, the gambler who liked to play games, though everyone kept their guards up, "A skeletal Heartless has found the cursed treasure and has made off with it... restoring the undead pirates, and their curse, and I do believe that it has taken on the power of the curse as well."

"Another curse... should I save us some time and just eliminate the curse?" Sombra asked, because she was getting tired of all the things that were cursed during this adventure, be they people or objects, and part of her was tempted to just wipe the curse out before they even worried about the new type of Heartless, before thinking about it for a moment, "Might be a good way to go about it... could summon the Heartless while I'm at it. I am surprised that Xigbar didn't task you with taking the gold and using it to spread Heartless around the world, however that's supposed to work, and commanding the brand new Heartless to fight us."

"Oh, he did give such an order... I, along with the majority of the others, are ignoring his orders." Luxord replied, though at the same time Elizabeth came out and talked with Jack about looking for Will, something that caused them to board the ship they had used to follow after the Black Pearl previously, causing Sombra to summon a table for the pair to use while the rest of the group got the ship underway, where Luxord produced some playing cards and dealt a few hands, "Xigbar is supposed to be our Second, as he's Xemnas' right hand, but... lately something in him has changed, like the path he was walking had been altered and he can't figure out what's going on."

"Well, to be fair, we did shatter the Organization's plans multiple times." Sombra said, where she looked at her cards and just tossed one into the center of the table before replacing it from one that came from the top of the deck, before glancing at the Nobody that was in front of her, who seemed to be lost in thought right now, "But something tells me that you're thinking of something else... like he knew something that he shouldn't have known and is now freaking out because the path he was walking no longer exists."

"Yes... I will admit that there are times where Xigbar acts like there is more going on than he lets on." Luxord states, though he frowns for a moment before discarding three cards and replacing them, where his poker face returns, as he doesn't want Sombra to know what's in his hand right now, before he considered something, "There was the incident that Demyx might have told you about: he was reading from a new musical book he had acquired recently, at the time anyway, and Xigbar just walked over and snatched it out of his hands, like he thought it was something else."

Sombra raised an eyebrow as she heard that, though as Sora and the others clashed with their enemies, which turned out to be Soldiers and the other Heartless they found the last time they came to this world, her mind was already piecing together all of the pieces that were in front of her. As she moved her cards around, keeping Luxord guessing while he wondered what she might say next, Sombra realized something important about that little story, and that something was due to the fact that she knew Demyx's secret, which no one else knew. Since Demyx was Prexus, the Master of Masters, that meant Xigbar either knew him before they became Nobodies, like he was an apprentice of sorts that had no idea his master was close at hand, or they were enemies and both were seeking to use the Organization for their own goals, like a 'Master of Masters' and a 'Master of Evil'. In the end Sombra came to a decision and assumed that Xigbar could be an apprentice of Prexus', which told her that he might not be aware of what his master was even doing right now, and that meant that Prexus was actually doing a good job at being hidden while also trolling his own student.

Such a thing caused her to chuckle as she played her hand, surprising Luxord since he seemed sure that he would win this game, while Sombra mentally imagined a chessboard that was moving more and more in her favor, especially since Xigbar was playing a losing game that he had no hope of winning.

"It would seem that things are getting quite interesting, wouldn't you say so?" Sombra asked, though at the same time she barely moved as Luxord found her summoning and swinging her Light Keyblade, cutting in half the large Heartless that had taken the chest full of medallions, an undead looking one based on what she was seeing, and as she captured it's heart she also magically seized the stone chest and dropped it on the ship, "So, Luxord, what are you..."

"Can I join you guys? Maybe we can play some games while we travel between the worlds?" Luxord inquired, speaking about the worlds while Jack and the others from this world were focused on making sure all of the medallions were inside the large stone chest, all while he collected the cards with a smile on his face, like he actually just enjoyed playing games and was only putting up with the Organization thanks to Xemnas' presence.

As Jack, Will, and Elizabeth locked up the chest, casting it into the depths of the sea where no one could find it, Sombra and Sora said that it would be nice having another friend on the ship, though Sombra could only imagine the look on Xigbar's face as he realized that his plans were collapsing, all while looking forward to what the coming days had in store for them.

War: Visiting an Old Friend

After telling everyone that it was almost time to go to war with Tenebris' forces, which meant people were getting ready as they spent their last days in peace, Sombra and her friends departed from Traverse Town by returning to the Gummi Ship and flew off into the vastness of space once more. This time it was just the seven of them, as in her, Radiant, Fluttershy, Seras, Sora, Goofy, and Donald, a familiar scene since this would be like old times, but this time around they discovered an interesting change to the space that they flew through to travel from world to world. There was no path, rather space was fully open for Sora to explore, as there were golden spheres to fly around and open to gain more materials, crystalline shards to break and gain components, and groups of enemies to engage in battle, usually just the Heartless Gummi Ships they had faced in the past. Of course these Dark Gummi Ships were from the timelines that Tenebris was yanking his allies from, showing them that he was constantly damaging the World by messing with time as if it was just a toy for him to play with, and while Sora moved them through space Sombra focused her mind on the energy she was feeling.

She knew that if Tenebris was messing with time, and they had constant confirmation on that fact, it was only a matter of time until his forces started attacking the various worlds to do whatever they wanted before the Keyblade War began, and it wasn't long before she tracked down several dark signatures.

"I was right: Tenebris or his followers are attacking the other worlds, and the first is Hercules' home." Sombra stated, as she had felt two more that seemed to be on worlds they hadn't been to before, meaning they might be able to visit new worlds during their time before the Keyblade War started, and she could see that the others were interested in catching up with some of their old friends, "Not sure about the other worlds that are near us, but we'll worry about those when it comes time for us to visit them."

"Okay, Olympus Coliseum it is." Sora said, where he tapped on the controls and directed the ship towards the location that the world was in, because this was the third time they were going to visit the world and it made him interested in seeing what sort of chaos was happening this time around, "Wanna bet that Hades is up to something again?"

"Suckers bet." Radiant remarked, because that was most likely what was going on, Hades was going after Hercules or one of his other foes and the Heartless were taking advantage of the chaos to acquire as many hearts as they could, it seemed like par for the course based on what they had seen during their previous visits.

The others nodded their heads in agreement as Sora directed the ship towards their destination, where they discovered that there were a few new metallic contraptions they hadn't seen before in the space between worlds, and it wasn't long before he brought them to Hercule's world... but when everyone warped down, however, the system brought them to an area that was on the edge of a mountain.

"Okay, this is new." Sora stated, because every other time they came to this world the systems brought them somewhere near the Coliseum, where they would meet Phil, chat and train with him for a time, and then catch with with Hercules before worrying about whatever plan Hades had in mind, so it was odd for them to start somewhere new this time around, "Well, if the rules that the World were using previously are still in effect, this is where we need to start to learn something important, before likely meeting up with Hercules."

"Wouldn't be surprised. You've gotten good at guessing things, Sora." Sombra remarked, which she suspected was due to all of the adventures they had been on, and listening to her guessing at things after meeting up with the people of the world they were visiting, to which she focused on the path that was in front of them, that seemed to have a path heading higher up the mountain, "Come on, let's get moving and see what Hades has in mind for us this time around."

The area ahead of them happened to be where they encountered a large number of Heartless, as in several Large Bodies, at least ten Shadows and fifteen Soldiers, and even seven Air Soldiers, something that caused them to stand there for a couple of seconds before summoning their weapons. Sombra knew this was a sign that things were getting bad, because there were far more Heartless than what they were used to dealing with, because usually the first groups of enemies during the start of an adventure were more like three to five, seven to ten at the most, but this was far more than before. Over thirty Heartless in a single group was just insane by her reckoning, for the start of an adventure, though that didn't stop them from rushing at their enemies as they split up, each of them assaulting their chosen targets as Sombra decided to wield her light and dark Keyblades, as the Runeblade wasn't needed right now. At the same time Radiant wielded one of the newest spells they had figured out during their training, that of the Water element, allowing her to summon twin bolts of water that slammed into her targets and knocked them backwards, all while dealing damage to the Soldiers that were her targets.

It was pure chaos as they clashed with the Heartless, especially when Sombra noticed that these ones were already stronger than all of the others that were at the start of their previous adventures, meaning Tenebris was taking this seriously and had stronger enemies for them to fight, and even though they won everyone huffed for a moment.

"So... it seems like we'll have to take things much more series this time around." Seras commented, because while that had been the plan from the start, since there was no telling what Tenebris had in mind for the other worlds of the World, this was just confirmation that they had to keep their guards up to avoid being taken down by all of their enemies, all while Sombra captured the cluster of hearts that were freed from the Emblem Heartless they wiped out.

Sombra nodded as they continued to press forward, though this time they had another skill to use, that of 'free running', the art of running up certain flat surfaces and heading up or across them, as it allowed them to move higher in the area while keeping an eye out for something, anything, that would help the group find Hercules. They had learned and mastered a good number of new skills to help them navigate the worlds that would be placed in danger by Sombra's brother, and Sora was pleased to see that they were coming in handy already, especially since none of them knew what the future held for them this time around. Radiant and the others were also happy to see that they had been able to master their new powers in time for this adventure, since it meant that they didn't have to worry about falling behind or doing something stupid at the wrong time, and it wasn't long before they reached the upper area of the part of the mountain they were in. Such a thing allowed them to walk out to a ledge and notice that there was a large city off in the distance that seemed to be under fire, which had to mean that Hades was attacking it to keep Hercules busy, or the Heartless were just having fun on their own.

As Sora mentioned that Hercules was likely in that area the wind whipped around them for a moment before a bust of dark energy moved down to where they were standing, crashing into the ground before Hades formed before their eyes, though while that happened Sombra noticed that the mountain was far larger than any of them expected.

"All right, I know I dotted my I's, crossed my T's, and zeroed the hero... so who is uttering that jerks name?" Hades remarked, though in the next moment he noticed them standing there and seemed to be torn between frowning in disinterest or just growling in annoyance, especially when he laid eyes on Sombra again, since he knew she was a problem for his plans, "Oh, it's just you guys... oy vey."

"So, stand down and you won't be beaten again." Sombra stated, because she really hoped Hades would do the right thing and just back off now that he knew they were visiting his world once more, though at the same time she suspected that he would just attack them and be brought down in some manner, just like before, while the others readied their weapons.

"Whoa, what is this, Sparta? Besides, I don't have time to toss around the old fire and brimstone with you." Hades said, as if he had more important things to do right now, which made sense since he seemed to be behind the attack on the city that was off in the distance, though this did seem to bring a smile to his face as he turned towards the massive mountain they had been climbing for the last few minutes, "The whole cosmos is basically waiting for me to, you know, conquer it... and this time around I have the full power of the Titans at my disposal, not the fragmented power you faced in the past. Care for a brief demonstration of my great power?"

It wasn't much of a question as Hades called on the power of the Titans, where Sombra confirmed that four of them were up along the path to what had to be Olympus, since that seemed to be Hades' end goal, where she spotted the Earth and Ice Titans, along with one that looked like a tornado and one made of magma. What they discovered was that one caused the earth to shake, one caused the wind to kick up, one made it chilly, and the last caused magma or lava to move down part of the mountain, but in the face of Radiant's elemental power they just stood there as she cancelled the magic out. In the end Sombra had her cancel out the spell while she protected them, allowing them to be sent flying off into the distance, since she was sure that focusing all of the full power of the Titans into a single area would break the mountain and cause destruction that wasn't necessary. Plus she knew that this would allow them to figure out where Hercules was resting, which meant they could tell him what was going on and then accurately plan out how to deal with the dangers that were ahead of them, and a single glance at the others told them that she had a plan, and their return glances told her that they trusted her.

Sure enough they were thrown straight towards the city that was under attack, where they found Hercules doing something that was likely helping the people of the city, and when he noticed the magical sphere coming his way he jumped into the air and caught it, allowing him to bring them down to the ground, thus allowing Sombra to dismiss the barrier so they could touch the ground once more.

"It's nice to see you guys again... and dropping in this time. I'm impressed." Hercules said, though at the same time he turned his gaze towards the city, which was partly on fire and was being attacked by Heartless, beings that he was used to fighting thanks to Hades' various arena battles, even though there were new ones he hadn't faced before, "Bet you can guess what's going on right now."

"Hades is trying to conquer the cosmos, or so he told us." Sombra remarked, though at the same time she glanced at the Heartless that were spreading out to cause chaos among the city, to keep Hercules distracted so Hades could conquer the realm of the gods, since that seemed to be the plan right now, causing her to draw her Keyblades again, "Shall we get started on tearing through his forces, saving the people, and then stopping him in his tracks?"

Hercules nodded his head as he fell in with the group, because he knew that working with them was the best thing right now since their weapons were the key to destroying all of the Heartless, all while Sora and the others braced themselves for the rest of the dangers that this world, and Hades for that matter, had to throw at them this time around.

Interlude: War's Aftermath

After Sombra beat Tenebris, and released all of her stored hearts back into the World, the next logical thing after winning the Keyblade War was to celebrate their victory over the darkness that had threatened to devour everything, as Twilight and all of the Time Wardens discovered.

"You know, I never knew you were such a talented cook." Twilight commented, because once the war was over she found that several of the people immediately brought out some cooking items and Sombra went to work instantly, and it wasn't long before burgers and other easy to make items were produced, plus there were multiple areas that people were cooking in, like this had been their intention, "Tastes great, actually."

"Oh yeah, we were surprised to learn that as well. Said she had to train herself, since she didn't like what was served to her in the past." Sora remarked, which he had to remind himself was when Sombra had been the evil king of the Crystal Empire, so it was entirely possible the subjects had been trying to kill that version of her with poison, before Sombra learned how to cook for herself, a wise decision in Sora's mind, "And if you think this is good, just wait until you taste her desserts... back during our first adventure Sombra used the loss of desserts as punishment for Donald."

"Please, don't remind me... a whole year, no desserts. A living nightmare." Donald said, but even he had to admit that it had whipped him into shape almost instantly, having to watch as the others enjoyed the cakes and other desserts Sombra made, while he just sat there with a frown all the time, and he had learned his lesson.

"I appreciate the compliment." Sombra replied, though after cooking the first batch of food she moved away from the grill and let someone else tend to it, allowing her to relax with her friends, even though there were other ponies in front of them now, at least two versions of Twilight from what she could tell, "I must thank you for the timely aid in repairing the damage my brother had done to the fabric of reality... Sairozormi told me we were getting close to a 'Dimensional Cataclysm'."

"Yes, the literally breaking of the barrier between dimensions, or timelines if you prefer, and it can get... messy. Remind me to tell you about Rivet's tale, it's quite a doozy." Twilight replied, where she noted that her time dragon variant was hanging out with the rest of the Time Wardens right now, which was fine because her marshaling of her forces had alerted her to what was going on, but she would be having words with her later on, "Anyway, my other reason for coming here was to find the three, now four, of you. Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, Seras, you four are part of the Displaced, ponies that were sent to new worlds, often in another portion of our universe... or our World, if you prefer... and I'm afraid that I bare bad news for all of you and your friends."

"Let me guess: there's a threat out there and we were gathering allies to face it?" Radiant remarked, as she had spent more than enough time with Sombra over the years, both before being displaced by their own actions and after she chased her friend all the way to Ponyville and caused this whole series of events to happen in the first place, so she was smarter than some people gave her credit for.

Twilight, despite herself, chuckled a little as Radiant said that, because it was nice to see people who understood what might be going on and could guess what one's information might be, where she finished off her bacon cheeseburger and wiped her mouth, before palming the dark relic she had taken.

"That's right, actually. There is a demonic empire out there and, according to the slumbering soul inside our home planet, we are going to be one of their next targets." Twilight replied, though it had been some time since they discovered that piece of information and had to wonder what was keeping their enemies from attacking, as part of her wanted to end this war now, but she knew that being patient would be rewarding, just like how she had taken this relic, "Each Displaced was sent out to learn new skills, gain allies, and even solve problems in the planets they were sent to... no, I'm not joking either... and once we reach a certain point Discord tracks down the missing and brings them home."

"But... where is he?" Fluttershy asked, because based on what Twilight just said Discord should have arrived by now and she had been interested in having him meet Seras, since her having a twin was no going to freak him out to some degree, which was when she noticed that Twilight was thinking about something, "Twilight... where is Discord?"

"Gone. He went looking for you, found a number of the other Displaced, and was starting to become desperate after finding some of the others... but not you." Twilight said, as that was the truth, because after locating the last Displaced, which was her own niece, Discord just vanished entirely and she suspected that he was now one of the missing that went to one of the other worlds, but which one she had no idea, "Sairozormi and my other selves have been looking for him, but we haven't seen even a trace of him or his unique power... I'm sure we'll find him at some point, but now I've focused some of my time on doing his job, of tracking the Displaced and bringing them home."

"So, what happens now?" Seras asked, because she was curious what was going to happen now that they were done with the Keyblade War, even though their Xehanort had exiled himself from the party and was watching from one of the cliffs, no doubt rethinking about his life and actions.

"Once we're done I'll warp us back to Equus, let you see the state of things, get to know some of our allies and our people, maybe clear up a few things," Twilight said, where Sombra noted that she was even more eager to learn about the Umbrum now, because there were more of them here than what she was expecting to discover and that made her interested in them, their culture, and anything else they might have to share with her, "Sombra, maybe you'll help me learn about this relic? It's Void in nature, something unheard of for the ponies and species of our planet... just thinking about it is making me realize that I'm going to need to observe the ancient past of Equus now, just to see what else I might have missed."

Sombra stared at her for a moment, as the Hungering Maw was a dark and foul artifact, possessing a hunger that was unlike anything that the Umbrum had seen over their many years, and right now she was sure that it had been the cause of her brother's hunger for power. Of course that meant that Tenebris might have stolen it years before their father might have noticed that it was missing, and could possibly explain why he was so confident in controlling it's power, but in the end such a thing had been the downfall of her fallen brother. She also knew that destroying the relic was out of the question, she had tried that with the detonation and had discovered that it just survived as it nothing had happened, so she couldn't get rid of it nor could she return it to the vaults that it was stored in, not until her father secured the vault. In the end it seemed like the best course of action was for the relic to be handed to someone who might be able to watch over it and contain it's dark power without falling victim to the Void energy that was trapped inside it.

At the same time she really didn't like the idea of Twilight, of all ponies, having possession over the Hungering Maw, but for the time being it looked like she was ignoring the dark whispers that were coming from it, something that was very faint for Sombra and was likely the same to the rest of her people.

"Might as well. Keep you from falling victim to the Void... like we need that sort of mess right now." Sombra remarked, as she was serious, the woman that was in front of them was incredibly strong, she could tell that at a glance, and if she fell to the whispers of the Void, and let it consume her, they'd have a real monster on their hands, something that caused Twilight to chuckle for a moment, "What's so funny?"

"It's funny that you would make such a comment, as I've located a timeline where two others and I are servants of the Void, and we've done some interesting things." Twilight stated, where Sombra wasn't sure if she was pulling her leg or if she was telling the truth, though given everything she had seen since the figure had shown up, and that included the fixing of the damage done to the fabric of reality, she assumed she was being truthful, before the figure got up, "Tell you what, you can think it over and get back to me later. I won't force anything upon anyone... just like that I'm not forcing you guys to come home, as you're free to return to this portion of the universe, if you prefer it as your home. I just ask that you come home for a few hours, take in the sights and information that's available, before you make your decision."

Sombra, Radiant, Fluttershy, and Seras nodded as Twilight got up and walked away, the relic floating around her while she did so, allowing them to relax and really enjoy their victory celebration, though at the same time Sombra had to wonder what the future might throw at them next.