“Hey, now, that ain’t no way to say hello, ’specially to your old friends.”

Behind Pete, Mickey’s nefarious nemesis, stood his sinister companion. She greeted Hades with a smirk.

The other figure greeted Hades with a sneer when he finally turned back to face them and said, “Oh, perfect. Now I gotta put up with you two,” Hades grumbled, turning back toward them.

“Funny, I don’t remember you doing me any memorable favors. So, you can keep your Heartless this time. I’m going back to my original plan. All right?”

Maleficent, the black-robed fairy, laughed.

“So…toodle-oo! Exit’s thataway. Hey, it was great seein’ ya! Happy trails!”

Hades shooed them away with his hands, but Maleficent had a question for him: “We are not here for you. I have my own business to attend to. All I need to know is if there is a distinctive black box somewhere in this world?”

“Black box, huh? Hmm… Black box, black box, black box… Wait. Don’t tell me… You’re after the one Zeus hid on Earth?” Hades replied, suggesting he had some knowledge of the item the evil fairy was trying to find.

“Possibly. If I were, where might it be?”

Maleficent’s eyes narrowed with deep interest.

Meanwhile…

The tempest had blown Sora and his friends some ways away.

“Whoa!”

“Waaak!”

“Yaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!”

In Thebes, the hero Hercules looked up as he heard the three screaming voices, and with a mighty leap, he caught the falling trio in his brawny arms.

“See? Found him,” Sora declared proudly from Hercules’s biceps.

“Yeah, guess this counts!” said Goofy, who was also dangling from Herc’s arms.

“Gwaaak!” Apparently, Donald had been caught by one of the nearby statues instead. “Get me down!”

“Just a second!” Hercules laughed as he ran to help.

Once Sora and gang were safely on the ground, Herc smiled, delighted to see his friends again.

“You guys are here! Sora, Donald, Goofy! You literally dropped in. Gotta say, I’m impressed.”

“Thanks!”

“Liked the catch.”

“Yeah, thanks, Herc.”

The trio each greeted him in turn. It was great to see their friend was still doing well after all this time—although judging by the smoke rising among the stone buildings of its streets, it appeared the same couldn’t be said for Thebes.

“But…what’s going on?” Sora asked.

“Take a guess,” Hercules said with a shrug. “Starts with an H.” Hades and his evil cohorts occasionally tried to wreck the city, and it was Herc who usually put a stop to it.

“Ah, I get the picture,” Sora replied. “Actually, we bumped into the H-ster on the way here.”

“He said somethin’ about conquerin’ the whole cosmos,” Donald added.

“All of it, huh? Nice of him to show a little self-restraint. Well, whatever he’s planning, I’ll send him running back across the Styx.”

“That’s our Herc!” Sora cheered at his friend’s confidence. Hercules really has the stuff heroes are made of.

“So, Sora, is there a reason you guys are visiting? I’m guessing it’s not just for the cheese and olives,” Herc asked, sensing something out of the ordinary.

“Oh yeah!” Sora exclaimed as he remembered his mission.

“It sounds like somebody forgot,” Donald teased.

“That’s Sora,” said Goofy.

“I just…took my time remembering,” Sora said back to his friends, then turned to look at Hercules. “Herc, I came here so I could ask you something.”

“Ask me?”

“Yeah. Do you remember the last time we were together? You were feeling down and out. How’d you get your strength back—when you jumped in and saved Meg?”

Sora gazed at his hands, now so much weaker than they used to be. Hercules had once been robbed of his might due to one of Hades’s schemes. If Herc had successfully come back from that, then surely he knew something that could help Sora with his own plight.

“Hmm… That’s tough.” Hercules paused in thought for a moment. “All I know is that she was in trouble. Suddenly, I wanted to save her with all my heart, but…it’s not like I could tell you how.”

He did his best to explain his actions back then, but even he wasn’t certain what the key to his recovery really was. Maybe Sora’s magic cure to regain his strength wasn’t going to be that easy to find after all.

“Oh man.” Sora sighed, dejected.

“What’s wrong?” Herc asked.

“All my strength is gone, too. That’s why I need you—because I was hoping you might have a solution, or something.”

“I’m sorry, Sora.”

Several fireballs shot down from the sky toward the four disheartened friends.

“Heartless!” shouted Donald.

They were shrouded in flames, coming to attack the city.

“Let’s talk later!”

“Right… Once we’ve dealt with these guys.”

The four of them got themselves ready for the battle. They had fought alongside Herc several times before and were well aware of his strength.

Just before Sora was about to charge into the pack of Heartless, Hercules yelled, “I’ll handle these guys!”

The hero hefted a big stone from among the rubble and hurled it at the Heartless. Donald cast spells, and Goofy sent foes scattering with his shield.

“Yowch!” Goofy yelped as his clothes caught fire, and Donald rushed over to put him out with ice magic.

I could take these guys out in a heartbeat if I were just…stronger, thought Sora as he swung his Keyblade desperately. Herc had said his power returned to him because of his sincere desire to help Meg, but what exactly did that mean?

“Sora, look out!”

Donald blasted away a Heartless that had been bearing down on Sora.

“Where’s your head?!”

“Sorry ’bout that.”

Sora tightened his grip on his Keyblade and turned his attention back to the business at hand.

“You okay there, Sora?” Herc shouted from where he was punching Heartless into the air.

“The real question is, are you?” Sora replied, as he swung his blade. He was putting up a front, just a little bit.

“Herc!” someone called from above just as they finally managed to finish off the swarm.

Megara and Phil flew down astride Pegasus and landed before them. Megara was Hercules’s girlfriend, and he usually just called her Meg, just like how she called him Herc. Phil was the trainer who had made Herc into a hero.

“You’re okay!”

“Meg!”

She walked over to Hercules.

“How’ve you been?” Donald asked Phil.

“I got two words for you—right as rain!”

Donald and Goofy shared a look, perplexed as always by the satyr’s apparent inability to count.

“Boy, that didn’t look fun.”

“No, not with the Heartless involved.”

Hercules crossed his arms and surveyed the city. Several stone buildings were damaged; even his own statue had toppled to the ground.

“We’re just lucky our friends showed up,” he said with a bright smile at the friends in question.

“Well, whaddaya know? Sora, Donald, Goofy, guess I owe you a big thank-you,” Meg said, blinking her long lashes.

“It was nothing,” Sora told her proudly.

“Meg, you need to stay someplace safe. We’ll search the city and make sure everyone manages to get clear of the fire.”

The danger wasn’t over yet. Meg nodded and clasped her hands with concern over her heart. “Be careful, Wonderboy.”

“I will,” the hero replied reassuringly, then turned to Sora, Goofy, and Donald. “So, you guys in?” He grinned.

“Of course we’re in!” Sora flexed his muscles in reply.

“We’re heroes!” Donald added.

“Mm-hmm!” Goofy chimed in.

Megara smiled gently and said, “Break a leg, then…heroes.”

“You betcha!” the trio exclaimed with a nod.

Hercules turned to the satyr. “Phil, you should go with Meg.” Megara climbed aboard Pegasus, with Phil following her. “You gotta keep her safe.” Herc patted his trusted companion on the snout, and then with a whinny, the winged horse took flight. As he rose high into the air, they heard a scream.

“Heeelp!”

Goofy raised one of his ears and then pointed at a big building off in the distance. “Hey! I hear a voice!”

Hercules strained his eyes as he searched for its owner. “Oh no! There’s a little girl caught in the fire!”

The girl was crying on top of the crumbling roof of a temple.

“Let’s go!” Sora called, about to set off at a sprint, but Herc stopped him.

“Wait. Running’s too slow!”

He was right—to reach her, they would have to go around the temple square, up the building’s stairs, and then scale the side to reach the roof.

“Then what’s the other choice?” Sora asked back in panic.

“Get on that.” Hercules pointed at the statue of himself that lay fallen in the plaza.

“What do you mean?”

Hercules set Sora, Donald, and Goofy atop the statue and then, in an incredible display of strength, lifted the entire thing over his head as if he meant to throw it.

“Hyaah…!”

“Oh no! Not agaaaaain!”

Herc’s roar of effort was nearly drowned out by the screaming trio as he sent the statue hurtling through the air.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Yeah, no prob,” Sora replied gently. The girl bobbed her head and ran off. Luckily, they had arrived in time to get her to safety. I gotta say, Herc never fails to impress. If only I could get my strength back, too…

“We’d better check and see if anyone else needs us.”

I’m sure there are more people in trouble, thought Sora. Just as he was about to hurry off, a familiar voice called from behind.

“Well, if it isn’t Sora and the king’s pawns.”

Them again—Maleficent and Pete.

Sora readied his Keyblade for a fight, and Donald and Goofy prepared themselves for action, too.

“Maleficent! Pete! Are you the reason the Heartless are here?”

“Certainly not,” the witch replied nonchalantly.

Beside her, Pete gave Sora a once-over and jabbed a finger at him. “Say, Maleficent, I dunno about his sidekicks, but Kid Keyblader here looks way punier than the last time we saw him. I say we finish him off while we still can.”

Hearing that from Pete of all people was just adding insult to injury…

Maleficent regarded Sora closely, then smiled softly. “Waste no time with the boy,” she said dismissively, leisurely turning to be on her way. “He’s inconsequential. We have a far more pressing matter to attend to.”

“Oh! We gots to find that black box.”

“Be silent, you fool!” she snapped, but Pete had already spilled the beans about their search. She sneered down at Sora and his companions with utter confidence. “As for you three: We shall meet again…when I have time for such trifles.”

“Yeah, and youse better get your act together before then. Later, twerps!” Pete stepped into the Corridor of Darkness opening before him, and Maleficent followed.

“Wait!” Sora was about to give chase—but his footsteps slowed.

“Sora?” Donald looked worriedly into his friend’s face.

“It’s fine. Happens all the time!” Sora chirped again, then let out a long sigh.

“Gawrsh, it sure don’t sound like it. Did Pete sayin’ mean things bother ya?” Goofy added quietly.

“It’s fine! This happens all the time!” Sora repeated, as if he was trying to convince himself it was true.

I’ve lost my strength more than once before, and everything worked out. There’s no reason to believe it won’t come back again…I hope.

“You’re gonna get stronger!” Donald said in encouragement.

“You’ll be just fine! This sure ain’t the first time it’s happened!” Goofy joined in, quoting Sora’s own words.

“Don’t say that!” Sora protested, a hint of a smile on his face. They’re right. I can handle it. “Let’s go look for people who haven’t made it out!” he called to Donald and Goofy. He was ready to go again.

Unfortunately, the fires all around the city made navigating the streets unusually difficult—at least, until Goofy got the bright idea to ride on his shield through the obstacles.

He came across a woman trapped on top of a column by fiery Heartless while he was on the move.

“Someone, heeelp! Where did all these monsters come from? Hercules, where are you?!”

“Help is on the way!” Sora ran over and whacked one of the creatures with his Keyblade. “We’ll put these hotheads out! Hang on up there!”

“Huh? Who are you three? Where is Hercules?” the woman asked.

“Hey, we’re heroes, too!” Donald declared with pride as he blasted them with magic. Sora cast a few water spells of his own, but he could feel the difference. He was weaker than before, and not by a small amount.

How am I supposed to get back to how I was…?

“Sora! Stay focused!” Donald shouted.

“Look out!” Goofy called.

“Ack, sorry…”

Sora tried to concentrate on what he was doing with his Keyblade instead.

After they’d dealt with the last of the Heartless, he hurried to the woman. Luckily, she didn’t appear to be injured.

“Thank you,” she said. “You’re so kind. Keep training and one day you’ll be great heroes like Hercules.” She ran away to someplace safe.

“‘Keep training’? Is it that obvious?”

“Just for you,” Donald quipped before Sora could fall into a slump again.

“Hey!”

Goofy tried a more positive approach. “I think we all have a ways to go. But we’ll get there together!”

Yeah, I know we will, but…

A sudden tremor interrupted his thoughts, and then he spotted a building in the distance that was about to collapse.

“Wak!”

“Let’s go!”

Sora and his friends hurried for the crumbling structure. When they arrived, they found someone holding up a portion of its stone ceiling to protect those who hadn’t made it outside in time.

“Herc!”

“Sora!”

More chunks of the roof came falling down around Hercules and the locals he was protecting. The whole place would’ve come down without him—and to make matters worse, more fiery Heartless had arrived.

“More Heartless!”

“You take them. We need to save these people!” shouted Hercules, but he couldn’t move. They were really in trouble now!

Sora summoned his Keyblade to his hand. “Herc, can you hold the building?” he called

“No problem!” Herc replied heartily.

“Donald. Goofy. We gotta do this quick!” Sora went after the Heartless with his Keyblade, not even waiting for his friends to respond.

We have to get rid of these guys so the people can escape. I may be weaker than before, but I can handle them at least and buy us some time.

Sora had to pull out all the stops, but he took down his foes one by one.

With Donald and Goofy fighting alongside him, they dispersed the pack a little at a time. Once the final Heartless was gone, they returned to Hercules. He was still pouring all his effort into keeping the building from collapsing.

“Get the people out!”

“Okay!” Sora ushered the huddled group of townsfolk toward the entrance. “Are you guys all right? You need to get to safety. Go! Quickly!”

“C’mon, we gotta hurry!” Goofy cried out.

The crowd of children and adults ran out of the building, while Sora took a small girl by the hand and hurried after them.

“Did everybody make it out?” Donald asked worriedly, just as the building finally gave up the ghost.

“Hercules!” everyone cried in unison.

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and the citizens he had saved all gazed at the rubble of the building with apprehension. It might have only been a few minutes—maybe even a few seconds—but for everyone there, it felt like an eternity.

But then…

Hercules slowly emerged from the clouds of dust and smoke.

“You scared us!” Sora cried with relief.

“It’s nothing. That’s what these are for.” Hercules flexed, striking his trademark macho pose.

Herc is so cool! I need to get strong again, too, and fast!

The wish burned in Sora’s heart. Elated that Herc was okay, Donald and Goofy struck their own heroic poses.

But then a Corridor of Darkness opened beyond the fading haze.

“Oh, wow! Very nice, full marks.” A man in a black coat stood clapping his hands in an exaggerated show of praise.

“Go away!” Donald shouted at the unexpected guest.

“No Organization!” Goofy added.

The man had a long ponytail streaked with white, a patch covering one eye, and a scar on his cheek—this was Xigbar, the former Number 2 of the Organization. “All this altruism is giving me the warm and fuzzies. So then, does having a heart of light come with an extremely good insurance policy?”

“Just say what you mean.” Sora called his Keyblade. He wasn’t a fan of the mocking tone.

“Oh, but I did, though,” Xigbar retorted. He wasn’t through making cynical remarks. “No good will ever come from putting other people first.”

“I was able to save Meg’s life because I was ready to risk my own,” Hercules retorted sternly, but Xigbar just shrugged.

“Because you’ve got friends in high places, you mean. Tricks like that don’t fly for your average joe.”

“What do you know?” said Sora. “You weren’t even there! If you were, you’d admire Herc’s courage.”

Xigbar snorted. “I don’t admire one guy leaping into danger if it means someone else might have to jump in to save him. You’re all just lining up to lose out. Dooming others to take the fall with ya. Oh, and you can spare me the usual party line. Yes, hearts are powerful when they’re connected. But if you put too much of that power in one place, some of those hearts might end up breaking.” During his speech, Xigbar strolled past Sora and his friends, then turned and pointed at Sora. “Still, Sora, that doesn’t mean you should change.” His golden eye gazed intently at him. “Accept the power you’re given. Find the hearts joined to yours.”

“Why would I ever take advice from you?” Sora couldn’t stop himself from shouting back.

Didn’t Xigbar do something similar the last time we fought Organization XIII? He told me to keep defeating Heartless. Yeah, he tried to trick me that way before, too. But everyone helped me back then, so I’m sure things won’t be any different this time.

“As if! You don’t have any choice but to follow this sweet little trail of bread crumbs. And at the end, you’ll finally realize what destiny has in store for you. In fact, your reward might be right around the corner. You’re so close!”

Xigbar’s lips twisted into a sneer. He summoned a Corridor of Darkness and melted away into it just as suddenly as he had arrived.

Sora stared at his hands. He was talking about… “Hearts breaking? Whose hearts?”

“Sora, don’t let him bother you,” Hercules reassured him, and Sora looked up. “He’s just trying to get under your skin ’cause he thinks he can. We’ll show him that our sacrifices haven’t been for nothing.”

Yeah, Herc has a point. “You’re right!” Sora looked over his comrades in arms, Donald and Goofy, with a smile.

“Mm-hmm! Besides, we’re already proof enough,” said Goofy, calm and composed.

Donald added, “We’re a team! When we’re together, we can do anything!”

“Yeah!” Sora replied confidently, and then they all set off to walking.

Yep, my friends are my power, after all. Maybe I’m not as good in a fight as before, but as long as I have them… Wait.

Sora turned back to where Xigbar had vanished.

What did he mean, “reward”…?

Sora was making his way forward, defeating Heartless with Hercules by his side, when Pegasus landed before them with Megara and Phil on his back.

“Nice job, Wonderboy. We checked the whole area. It looks like everyone’s safe.”

“That’s great. We did what we could.” Hercules smiled at Megara as she hopped off Pegasus.

“You heroes have been busy little bees,” she commented.

Sora beamed with pride at the praise—but only for an instant, until Meg’s eyes flicked over to something in the distance. “Oh… Look. More trouble!” She sounded worried. She was looking at the faraway mountain—at the dark clouds gathering around it.

Wait, isn’t that where we just came from…? And those black clouds—

“It’s Hades,” Hercules declared.

I bet he was up to no good again while we were busy fighting in the city. “Herc! Let’s go!”

“Right.”

It wasn’t time to rest just yet.

As they reached the base of the mountain, they could feel the shaking and hear the rumbling.

“Wak!”

Donald leaped into the air in alarm. Small stones came rolling down from the dark clouds around the summit.

“This sure does feel awfully familiar…,” Goofy commented as he surveyed what lay above.

Sora nodded and said, “Yeah, just like before.”

The last time the air had felt like this, Hades had flung them all the way to Herc.

“Guys, this is getting worse by the minute. I hope I’m wrong, but my family may need me.” Hercules looked at the summit of the mountain with stern eyes. “Sora, I’m gonna fly ahead. You’ve been a big help, but…leave the rest to me.” He whistled and called Pegasus down from the sky, then mounted and prepared to depart.

“Family?” Sora asked curiously.

“Yeah. Dad’s king of the gods,” Herc replied, just Pegasus soared off into the heavens.

King of the gods? After thinking about it for a moment, Sora let out a cry of surprise. “Whaaaat?!”

Donald and Goofy were just as stunned.

“His father is a god? But doesn’t that mean Herc is a god, too?”

“I think it does.” Goofy was still staring at the sky in amazement, even though Pegasus was gone.

“No wonder he’s so strong!” Donald was doing the same.

He and Goofy looked at each other and said, “Then he’ll be okay.”

“Won’t he?”

Sora was quick to shoot down the idea. “No. Organization XIII’s here. He’ll need our help.”

Herc might be a muscly, all-powerful god or whatever, but there’s no way I can just leave him hanging. Maybe I’m not as strong as him, but the three of us working together should be able to help him out.

“Good point. We gotta go!”

“’Cause heroes never quit.”

Yeah, they’re right. We can be heroes, too! Herc said he got his strength back because he wanted to save Meg with all his heart. So maybe if I want to save someone with all my heart…

Another tremor brought Sora out of his thoughts and made him stumble. Small rocks were tumbling down from above—along with huge boulders, too!

“Whoa!”

Sora leaped back to avoid one of the larger rocks and directed his eyes upward. At the top of the ledge, he spotted a giant made of pitch-black stone—the Rock Titan—bellowing down at them. But “rock” didn’t even begin to cover it; it was more of a mountain in its own right. The Rock Titan swung its fist at a nearby boulder and smashed it to pieces, which came raining down the cliff. They would have to dodge the stony hail on the way up.

“C’mon!” Sora shouted as he began to hurry up the precipice. One of the boulders managed to hit home and sent them tumbling headlong down the cliff, which was already starting to break, too. To make matters worse, the dark clouds surrounding the summit opened up with rain.

“Gwawak!”

“Look out, Sora!” Goofy brought up his shield to protect his two companions.

“Thanks, Goofy.”

“Don’t mention it.” Goofy puffed his chest out proudly, imitating Hercules after he had saved the townsfolk.

“Okay, first thing’s first: Let’s get rid of that blockhead!”

Sora finished climbing up to where the Rock Titan stood. I’ll start with the legs. They looked as hard as…well, rock, but Sora whacked them with his Keyblade all the same. The Titan nearly crushed Sora with a stomp, but he was able to dodge it.

“Sora, be careful!” Donald cast a healing spell.

“Over here, Sora!” Goofy called.

Sora picked up the pace and darted between the Rock Titan’s legs alongside his friend, hitting them until they finally brought the monster to its knees. Goofy held up his shield, and Sora ran up and vaulted off it high into the air.

As if he were climbing a mountain, Sora scrambled from the Rock Titan’s shoulder to its head and started hammering with the Keyblade.

The Rock Titan let out a roar and then fell still at last.

“Yes! That’s one down!”

Just a little bit farther to the summit.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy hurried up the trail and passed through a cave. When they reached the other side, they found a long set of stairs to a gate set between colossal Greek columns. Beyond them was an enormous, majestic temple wreathed in golden clouds.

“Is this…Olympus?”

Sora and his companions stood in a large open plaza among rows of columns decorated with gold.

“Gawrsh, it’s amazing!”

A sound like trumpets reached their ears as Goofy looked about in wonder. It sounded a lot like something they used to hear at the Coliseum—

“The fanfare?” Donald asked.

“Nope!” Sora replied, preparing for action with his Keyblade.

Just as he had suspected, they were met by a large pack of goatlike Heartless—Satyrs. They got into formation and made a beeline for Sora and his friends.

“Uh-oh!”

Sora couldn’t get in a single attack, and the phalanx sent him sprawling helplessly across the ground. Donald and Goofy met with similar results.

“Over here, Sora!” Goofy called Sora over to hide behind his shield with Donald, while the unit of Satyrs ran together through the plaza. If the trio attacked without a plan, they’d bounce right off again.

“What should we do?” Donald asked in a worried voice.

“Hmm… If only there was some way we could break through that group.”

After pondering the question for a moment behind the shield, Sora came up with an idea.

He would never be able to pull it off on his own, though.

Sora whispered his idea to Goofy and Donald.

“That sounds like it just might do the trick,” Goofy said with a nod, glancing over at the Satyrs.

“I’m sure it will!” Donald brandished his staff.

“Okay, it’s go time!”

At Sora’s signal, Goofy crouched down with his shield held over his head. Sora hopped onto the shield, while Donald climbed up on his shoulders.

“Wak!”

He sprang high into the air from his perch on Sora and fired off a spell into the center of the Heartless, sending them into disarray for a fraction of a second. Then it was Goofy’s turn to jump, and at the peak of his arc through the air, Sora dove right into the middle of the broken formation to break it apart from the inside out.

And just as they planned, the enemy unit crumbled.

“We did it!” Donald swung his staff about with glee.

Now all that was left to do was take down the Satyrs one at a time, and the trio wasted no time doing just that.

The Satyrs had proven to be a real handful all together, but individually they were a piece of cake.

And it’s the opposite, too—even when you can’t win fighting separately, joining together might give you a shot.

Sora and his friends gave one another high fives once the last of Heartless were beaten.

“My magic saves the day again!”

“No way; did you see that dive-bomb?”

“You both looked pretty cool to me.” Goofy praised his two boastful friends in his usual easygoing voice—and just then, the ground shuddered with another ominous tremor.

“We’ve got to hurry!”

They pushed farther on into Olympus.

The throne of Olympus sat high in the heavens of Mount Olympus’s peak, and under normal circumstances, its beauty and splendor would be unparalleled.

Now, however…

Hercules doing battle with the Heartless from astride Pegasus, while the one sitting in the seat of power was not his father, Zeus, but Hades. As for the throne itself, the Lord of the Dead had gone to the trouble of creating his own. The original had been buried in the red-hot flow from the Lava Titan’s mouth, along with Zeus himself, and trapped there as the Ice Titan’s frigid breath hardened the stone.

“I swear to you, Hades, when I get out of th—”

“No, I’m the one giving orders now, bolt boy.”

It wasn’t long before Zeus completely disappeared into the rocky prison, and Hades crossed his legs on his throne as if he were already the king of Olympus.

But then Hercules came flying down, spurring Pegasus on faster.

“Don’t get too comfortable, Hades!”

The ruler of the Underworld jumped up from his seat.

“We’re gonna stop you!” Sora added as he, Donald, and Goofy joined the fray.

Hercules shattered the chains that had bound the other gods and set them free.

Hades’s confident pose vanished as he rose to his feet with a snarl, his blue flames instantly flaring up into a bright red. “Get them!”

The Tornado Titan with its typhoon-like winds joined the Ice and Lava Titans, and together they set their sights on the newcomers.

“Sora, Donald, Goofy! It’s on!” Hercules shouted, leaping down from Pegasus.

“Yeah!” Sora responded by getting his Keyblade ready.

The Tornado Titan had whirled high into the air to watch the battle for now, so they would be dealing with the other two Titans first. The combined molten and frozen breaths had produced a huge stone mass capable of imprisoning the god Zeus himself, so Sora and his allies played it safe and kept their distance, dodging to the side when necessary.

It looked like the only way to shut the two behemoths down would be to attack their legs, just as they had with the Rock Titan on the way here.

“Ack!” Sora stumbled as a boulder whizzed by.

“You okay there, Sora?” Hercules called. “I think you’ll have better luck with their heads than their legs. And I know the fastest way up!”

“Huh?”

“Leave it to me, Sora!”

Hercules lifted Sora into the air, then took him by the legs and began whirling around faster and faster—until he finally tossed him right at the Ice Titan’s head.

“Whoa!!”

It was just like when Herc had launched the statue so they could save the girl. Sora managed to right himself in midair and crashed down onto the Ice Titan’s head with his Keyblade. Hercules and the other two were fighting to immobilize the Lava Titan down on the ground, so they were trusting Sora to take care of things here.

“Okay!”

Sora whacked at the Ice Titan’s head with his Keyblade until eventually the light faded from its eyes.

“Now this one, Sora!”

Herc, Goofy, and Donald had managed to stop the Lava Titan in its tracks, so Sora jumped off the Ice Titan and onto its head for a good hit with his Keyblade.

But that was when the Tornado Titan started creating a powerful gale farther above, pulling Sora up into the wind.

He was going to have to take care of this Titan on his own.

I may not be that strong right now, but it’s no biggie— I’ve still got my friends down on the ground.

Leaping between the pieces of rubble suspended in the air with him, Sora made his way over to the Tornado Titan. First, he hit it with some magic to stun it, then he got up close and personal with his Keyblade. He attacked desperately, but the powerful wind made it difficult to keep his eyes open. Still, he refused to falter. I can’t give up.

When the Tornado Titan’s winds faded away, Sora fell back to earth and into Hercules’s arms.

“Sora!”

“Thanks, Herc.”

Despite being temporarily immobilized, the three Titans still had them hemmed in—and then the Rock Titan climbed up from below to join them.

“Wawawak!”

“Uh-oh! Now it’s all four of them!”

Donald and Goofy shared a nervous glance.

“So what? There are four of us, too,” Sora said to rally his friends. It was a worrying development, though.

“Actually, I think I can make it five,” Herc reassured them with a grin. He climbed onto the mass of stone imprisoning Zeus on the throne and ripped it apart. With a blinding flash of light, the king of the gods was free.

Hades jumped up in terror from his makeshift throne.

Zeus took his son by the shoulders. “Thank you, my boy,” he said, then called bolts of lightning to his hands. “Hah! Now watch your old man work!”

When the bolts struck the Rock Titan in both of its heads, the other Titans turned tail and fled.

The Tornado Titan straggled behind the others, giving Hercules time to grab hold of its whirlwind body. He spun around and hurled it into the air, just like he had done to Sora, and the winds pulled its brethren along with it. When they reached the depths of space, they all exploded.

Zeus roared with laughter and high-fived his son.

“We did it!” Sora cried.

Meanwhile, Hades wallowed in despair as he watched his plan fall apart. “I can’t believe it! I put eighteen years into that plan and you blippin’ ruined it! I really don’t like you.”

“Just give it up already. You’ll never beat Herc, no matter how many times you try,” Sora retorted, a little exasperated.

“Yeah,” said Goofy, “stay in the Underworld where ya belong.”

“Go have the time of your afterlife,” Donald added.

“Enough already! I did not come this far to be ridiculed by Zeusy high and mighty, his little sunspot, and a trio of clowns!” Hades’s head flared so brightly red it seemed ready to burst. “You know what? I’ll just go ahead and destroy you!”

It looked like the Lord of the Dead was still ready to rumble, and so were Sora and his friends.

But then—

“Hades.”

The furious god whirled to face the voice.

“The exit is that way,” Hercules informed him, and the sight of Zeus standing behind his son broke Hades’s spirit for good. His hair returned to normal, and the ruler of the Underworld trudged wearily but obediently toward the exit.

“Hold on. I almost forgot.”

Hades looked back just in time to receive a punch from Herc. So much for getting off with a warning.

“That one’s for trying to wreck Thebes.”

Hades scrambled backward on his hands and knees. Ever the sore loser, he shouted, “You’ll pay for this! I have a very, very long memory!” Black smoke began swirling around him as he made his escape. “I can still dunk your little Nut-Meg in a river of de—”

Zeus fired off a lightning bolt into the smoke to finally send the Lord of the Dead and his unwise parting words on their not-so-merry way.

Sora and his friends descended the steps from the realm of the gods with Hercules, who looked back reluctantly.

“Are you sure you want to leave all this behind?” Sora asked him with a hint of worry.

Goofy and Donald felt the same.

“Isn’t Olympus your home?”

“And your family?”

Hercules shook his head. “I can see my family any time I want. If I stayed, I’d have to be apart from the person I love most… And that life would be empty.” His eyes landed on Megara, who was waiting at the bottom of the steps. “I finally know where I belong.”

With that, Hercules ran down to Megara and took her in his arms.

“Hercules…,” she murmured in his embrace.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked down the steps toward them, and Hercules turned back around as if he’d suddenly remembered something. “Sora, we never got back to your question. How can I help you?”

“Mmm, it’s okay.” Sora shook his head. “I think I’m meant to figure it out for myself. I’ll find my strength the way you found yours. Something to fight for…with all my heart,” he said, then smiled.

He wanted to hold on to that feeling more than ever now—that drive to help his friends.

I want to help my friends who fight alongside me, who cheer me up when I’m down, who stay near and dear to my heart.

Maybe I don’t have my strength back yet, but I’ll be fine as long as I never let that feeling go.

“I guess you did have the answer!”

“Well, you’ve got heart, Sora. Just keep at it and I know you’ll be stronger than ever,” Hercules said with certainty.

“Yeah, I might even end up stronger than you are.”

“There he goes again.” Donald groaned as Sora copied Herc’s macho pose.

For a moment afterward, Olympus was filled with laughter.

Meanwhile, down in a Heartless-free Thebes…

“Are you sure this box with the Book of Prophecies is for reals? I think that dingbat in black was pulling your leg,” Pete grumbled wearily as he drove a shovel into the ground.

Maleficent crossed her arms and snapped, “Be quiet and dig, you imbecile. I must find that Book of Prophecies and make it my own. His was the only clue we have. We cannot afford to dismiss it without a thorough investigation.”

“I’m just sayin’, a shot in the dark ain’t gonna get us any closer to— Ooh?” Pete’s complaint trailed off as he struck something hard. “Wow!”

Maleficent craned her head in his direction. “What is it? Have you found something? Show me at once, fool.”

Pete was holding a purple box. “Yes, sireesy, this has gotta be that Pandora’s Box Hades mentioned.”

The witch’s eyes narrowed as she inspected the box. “Leave it,” she finally snapped.

“What? After all that diggin’?”

“That is not the box that I desire. We are finished with this world. Come.”

“Awwww…”

As they left, someone was watching them from atop a building.

Xigbar whispered to himself, “May your hea—”

Shortly before Sora’s visit to Hercules, Riku, Mickey, and Kairi had been listening to Yen Sid in the Mysterious Tower.

“The great battle with Xehanort is almost upon us. As you know, we must take action to keep the seven pure lights safe, and thus we must hasten to assemble the seven guardians of light. It is time to return to our world the three Keyblade wielders we lost over a decade ago. Ventus, Terra, and Aqua must be saved from their sad end, for they have more to achieve. Following their first battle with Xehanort, Ventus’s heart refused to awaken, and so Aqua found a safe location to conceal him. But when she set off in search of her missing other friend, Terra, she fell to a place from which there is no return without outside help,” the sorcerer explained, then closed his large eyes and fell into silent thought.

Mickey nodded. “I saw her. In the realm of darkness,” he said, beginning his tale.

Chapter 2

Dark World

SHE DIDN’T KNOW HOW FAR SHE’D WANDERED through the endless darkness. It didn’t matter where she was, whether in a forest or on a mountaintop.

There was no passage of time here in the Dark World; all she knew was she had been walking for so, so long. She had no idea how much time had passed back in the worlds of light. All she could do was keep trudging forward.

Aqua raised her head, surprised to see a castle she recognized among the gloomy, alien sights.

“Could it be?” She gasped. That was the castle where Cinderella had met Prince Charming.

Why would Cinderella’s world be in this dark realm…?

The large clock on one of the castle’s towers was stopped at midnight—the moment when Cinderella’s magic wore off.

As Aqua started walking toward it, monsters suddenly appeared, barring her way. The foes down here weren’t the Unversed she had once fought. Aqua summoned her Keyblade and swung it, casting a spell. Her strength hadn’t faded, exactly, but she was exhausted from her endless journey.

The creatures dispersed into nothingness.

If this castle isn’t an illusion, it could mean something’s wrong in the realm of light. As Aqua walked closer, the road in front of her became more and more fractured. She would have to make her way forward across barely traversable wreckage.

Even down here, the castle was still shining with light. It was like the darkness had swallowed it whole.

Her chest fluttered.

In all her time walking, Aqua had never encountered a single building to serve as a landmark, but now, that had changed.

Now, she had the castle.

Aqua continued down the broken path, and more monsters barred her way. Maybe they were excited at this new development, too.

Aqua looked back and saw a whole mess of buildings just as warped and twisted as the road.

The whole castle town must have been swallowed by this world—just as I was.

Everyone in this world thought they were safe. Not just the people…but the dog waiting for his owner…the cat curled up in her nook… So much life. Trees and flowers… There’s no deeper sadness than discovering all that you knew is gone. The grief in this place is too much to fathom.

Aqua clenched her fist.

I must press onward— Nothing will come of looking backward. As she tried to encourage herself, the ground beneath her crumbled again, until there was nothing left of the road to the castle, while the hands of the clocktower began to turn. Time was moving, but now she had no way forward.

A lone gear lay nearby.

There is no “time” in the Dark World, but maybe—

When Aqua tapped the gear with her Keyblade, it glowed and began rotating, both winding back the time of the castle’s clock and restoring the broken road.

How wonderful it would be to be able to reverse time like this. To spend one more night beneath the stars with my best friends.

Aqua raised her eyes toward the sky, a deep black expanse without the smallest glimmer of starlight.

She thought back to that night before their Mark of Mastery exam.

I wish the three of us could go stargazing again, and look for shooting stars.

Aqua resumed her course toward the castle, wondering why her mind kept drifting back to those bygone days. I mustn’t dwell on the past—I mustn’t give in to the darkness. I have to keep moving forward.

Aqua made her way toward the castle, defeating whatever monsters attacked her.

When she reached the plaza in front of the castle, she looked behind her and saw that this distorted world was still part of the realm of darkness. She hadn’t made it back home after all.

“Aqua.”

She knew that voice.

She spun around. Terra.

Sure enough, he was descending the steps of the castle.

“It can’t be. What are you doing here?” she asked as he approached. My chest feels tight— I thought I sent you back. “You should be in the realm of light. Oh no! Did you not make it out?”

Or did something happen there…?

Terra only stood in front of her, smiling gently.

“Why won’t you say anything to me?” Aqua reached out to Terra, but her hand passed through him. “So what are you, a memory among these shadows? Are you here to…try to tell me not to lose heart?” she murmured as her friend vanished into light.

This is all a vision. The world keeps our thoughts alive. But where did the people who lived here go once their world was taken away? At least they’re not here. So, they haven’t fallen to darkness. I’ll take what solace I can from that.

Aqua entered the castle, but instead of the great hall, she found a forest.

This world—it was Snow White’s. Has it been lost to darkness, too?

Out of the corner of her eye, Aqua spied a glass coffin, the very same one the young princess had slept in. When she hurried over to it, she saw someone inside.

“Ven?!”

She called his name, but Ven soon disappeared in a flash of light.

Another illusion.

“Ven. What did you come here to tell me?” Aqua gazed softly at the empty casket.

I know I promised to wake you up. I’m sorry. But I have to find a way home before I can help you. I just want you to know that it’s been you who keeps my heart strong. Keeps the dark away.

Aqua quickly turned around as she sensed a presence behind her. It was an enormous mirror—more memories.

That’s right. This is the mirror I saw in Snow White’s castle.

Aqua saw herself reflected in the glass—and then the young woman inside reached out for the real Aqua and yanked her through the surface.

The world within was the great hall of the castle, where the mirror used to be, but now there were so many mirrors that Aqua struggled to keep her bearings. She didn’t know which one she had come through anymore.

All she could see in any of them was herself.

I keep telling myself I can’t lose hope, I can’t fade away into the darkness—but that girl in the mirror is about to fall.

Is this what it means to face your demons?

Only your heart is hollow enough to be a demon’s.

Aqua heard a voice—her own voice—and gasped as her reflection casually stepped out of the mirror toward her with a laugh.

Aqua darted backward and summoned her Keyblade. “That’s not true! My heart is strong! I’ll prove it!”

No one can save you. And no one wants to.

The smirking doppelgänger attacked her body with her Keyblade, and her heart with her words.

Your bonds of friendship only tie you down.

That’s not true. It’s thanks to Terra and Ven that I’ve made it this far. They keep me from giving up hope.

You’ll never see the realm of light again.

I will. I know I will. After all, Terra and Ven are waiting for me. We’re held together by the bond between us.

Is there any point in continuing this fight?

Yes—it’s the only way forward. I have to, so I can see my friends again.

Are you really worthy of being a Keyblade Master?

My strength hasn’t failed me yet. I will continue to press onward, as a Keyblade Master.

Just let go of everything and fade into the darkness.

I won’t—I can’t. But my heart is in so much pain; she’s relentless. Which one of us is the real me? Maybe the things she’s saying are true. Maybe she’s the part of me already lost to the darkness. But… But still…

“I won’t give up on my friends!” Aqua shouted as she struck the phantom with her Keyblade.

The reflection vanished.

Terra and Ven didn’t have anything to say. But my shadow… She wanted to destroy me. I’ve talked to myself a lot since falling into these shadows. But with the phantom, it’s as though all my doubts have gained a voice of their own.

Aqua glanced at her reflection in the mirror again, but it was apparently through moving on its own.

She’s the weakness in my heart. I know I’m alone here. Have the uncountable hours in the shadows whittled away the courage I never really had?

I’m losing this fight. The darkness has found the cracks in my heart. Is this…the last apparition before it takes me over?

Aqua turned away from the mirror and began walking again. Before her was a forest of thorns, part of the world where a witch named Maleficent had cast Princess Aurora into slumber.

Had this world fallen prey to the darkness, too?

Aqua spotted people beyond the briars.

“Terra? Ven?”

Are they…phantoms…?

I don’t care if they are or if I fall into the darkness. I want to see them again!

The thorny vines grew to obstruct Aqua’s path and reached out to grab her, forcing her to hack them away.

She could see her two friends still some ways ahead.

Progression through the forest was a process of fending off brambles and defeating monsters.

Everything is trying so hard to keep me away from them, so why am I still seeing those visions?

I know they aren’t real…but I miss them.

She chased them through the forest to a giant creature unlike anything she had ever seen. A whole crowd of them, in fact.

Aqua mustered the last of her strength and charged.

I miss them.

She thought of Ven’s smiles, of Terra’s determination, of Master Eraqus’s warmth, of Mickey and the other friends she’d met on her journey.

I’m not alone— We’re all connected.

Shoulders heaving, she tried to catch her breath once the last of the monsters was gone. There waiting for her were Terra and Ven.

Terra slowly turned around.

“Aqua, you’re—”

He was speaking—she’d thought he was nothing more than a vision.

“Terra. You spoke?” she asked.

He opened his eyes. “Can you see me?”

“Of course!”

They weren’t… They aren’t illusions? “Terra!” Aqua rushed over to her friend. “I can see Ven, too.”

“Ven? He’s here?” Terra looked around uncertainly.

“Terra, what’s wrong? Don’t you see him?”

“Where are we?”

“A world the darkness has consumed. It’s Enchanted Dominion,” she told him, but he still seemed confused.

Terra shook his head quietly. “Consumed? The worlds fell?”

“What’s gotten into you? How do I know that you’re Terra?”

This is still hard to believe; I can’t understand how Terra could be here. I thought I was chasing illusions, that they were the weakness in my heart playing more tricks… No, there’s something strange about this Terra. And if I’m right—

“Ven! Can you speak?” she said, but the boy’s head remained lowered.

Maybe this Terra isn’t real after all…

“Aqua, listen. I promise this is me. But I’m not myself.”

“What do you mean?” She stepped in between Terra and the silent Ven, then turned to face him.

“You’re using the name ‘Terra,’” he said. “That means you’re seeing me the way you remember me. But your heart is just painting the picture that it so wants to see. The real me is lost in shadow.”

That came as a shock— Hadn’t she sent him back to the realm of light? How could he be lost in shadow? “Then you’re here, trapped in the realm of darkness.”

“No. My heart has ties to the dark. That must be why we can talk.” Terra started to walk slowly, his eyes fixed on some point in space. “But I can’t see anything, Aqua. If you say Ven is there, then he’s like me—an illusion created by your heart.”

“I understand. Then, you and Ven are safe in the outside world?”

“I think.”

“That’s good.” Aqua placed a hand on her chest in relief. She was so worried Terra had been trapped in this dark place, too. She had assumed all this time that she had sent him home to the realm of light along with her own Keyblade—at least her final wish had been granted. “But how did you find me?”

“I looked here,” Terra replied, pressing his hand to his chest, “and heard you in the darkness.”

Aqua had more questions: “Right, but why does your heart have ties to the darkness now? What did you mean ‘lost in shadow’?”

He lowered his eyes. “Forget about me. Aqua, Xehanort is trying to locate Ven,” he said, instead of providing answers. Why was he talking about their enemy now?

“He’ll never find him,” she replied, attempting to put his mind at ease. “I hid Ven well. I think the reason he’s not talking to me here is because he’s still there sleeping.”

A moment later, Terra’s face contorted in agony. “No, I can’t control—!” As he clutched his head, his hair turned white, and something changed in his expression.

“This place,” he said. “Is it the Chamber of Waking?”

A shudder ran through Terra’s body, blurring him until there were two of him: one looked like her friend, and the other had white hair.

“Who are you, really?” Aqua instantly moved to shield Ven.

“You don’t know? My name—” The white-haired Terra was interrupted as the other seized him from behind and cut him off.

“Aqua! Get back!”

“Terra!”

“I messed up. Xehanort is part of me. Now he’s using me so you’ll tell him where you hid Ven!”

The two Terras grappled with each other.

“Silence!”

Darkness was creeping in, tearing apart the forest.

“I won’t give in! Aqua! You have to—”

“Still you struggle!” The white-haired Terra seized hold of the real one.

Aqua had to do something. She ran toward them, but in the next instant, the shadow of another dark giant appeared in the air and snatched up Ven in one hand, then Aqua in the other.

“Aqua!” Terra shouted.

“Now you can be one with the darkness!” shouted the one with white hair, and the dark creature squeezed Aqua tight.

“Ven…” Aqua looked over at her friend, still asleep despite the danger.

“That is enough!” Terra roared.

Chains burst out around his body—Master Eraqus’s spells.

But the whole area was still sinking into darkness, until she could no longer see Ven, or Terra.

I’m sinking into the darkness.

Now I can be…one with it…

Aqua’s Wayfinder slipped from her palm…

Somebody, help me. Please.

…and into the hand of someone else.

“Aqua, are you okay?”

The mysterious person returned the Wayfinder to her and folded her hand over it as she sank, then gently drew her close.

“Mickey, how did—”

That kind grasp belonged to Mickey Mouse, leading her by the hand until they were on solid ground again.

“Terra! Ven!” she yelled as she came back to her senses. Unfortunately, darkness closed in again as more of those creatures she had been fighting moved in to surround them.

“No time to talk.” Mickey got his Keyblade ready.

“Dwellers of darkness…” Aqua followed his lead.

“They’re called Heartless!” said the king, and the two of them stood ready for battle.

Countless numbers of them piled together into a gigantic wave that rushed toward Aqua and Mickey—but she wasn’t alone in the fight this time.

I’ve been alone so long that I forgot how reassuring it felt to have someone else at my side. I’ll be fine, though.

“It ends now!”

Aqua cast spells, while Mickey whirled his Keyblade beside her. When she managed to bind them with a spell, she followed up with blows from her Keyblade until the swarm split apart and the creatures began to flee.

“Better not push our luck,” said Mickey as he put away his Keyblade.

Aqua nodded and let the battle end there.

“Gosh. I never thought I’d find ya in the realm of darkness, that’s for sure. So, um, what happened?”

Aqua looked down. “Have you seen Terra or Ven?” she asked.

“No, just you,” he answered.

Aqua squeezed the Wayfinder at her chest. “I’m sorry. The darkness in this place, it’s getting to me.”

“Oh. But, you’ll be okay.”

“Right,” she replied, her eyes still downcast.

“Say, we’ve been looking for ya a long time. How come you’re in this place?”

Before she answered, though, Aqua had questions of her own.

“First tell me: How long’s it been in the realm of light?”

How much time has passed since I began wandering in this dark world?

“About…ten years,” Mickey told her hesitantly.

Aqua raised her face to the sky. “Interesting.” I had a feeling it had been a while, but…ten whole years.

Aqua looked intently at her Wayfinder. “After we last spoke, I took Ven somewhere safe, and then I went after Terra. But Terra was about to fall to darkness, so I had one choice. I stayed here in hopes of giving him a chance.”

“I…didn’t know.”

Now it was Mickey’s turn to lower his gaze, and Aqua knelt down so she could look him in the eyes. “What about you?” she asked. “What could’ve brought you here? Has something happened in the realm of light?”

“It’s the Heartless. They’ve been attacking worlds and taking their hearts. And worlds with no hearts vanish into darkness.” Mickey finally met her eyes again.

So that was why other worlds were appearing here?

“But if we can lock the door between the two realms—light and dark—from both sides, we can protect the other worlds. So ya see, I came here to find the key on this side. Turns out, it’s not so easy getting into the realm of darkness. The points you can cross have become unstable. It’s only when a world gets consumed that an entrance appears in the realm between. So I waited for my chance to sneak in,” he explained, then placed his hand softly on the Wayfinder Aqua held. “But hey, when I got here, I felt a warm, familiar light. I followed it to find my way…to you.” Mickey smiled.

“The charm. So they were helping. Terra and Ven brought you and I back together again.” The king nodded, and Aqua turned her eyes to the Wayfinder. “But, the worlds are still in danger. Terra—did he make it back to the realm of light?”

Mickey shook his head. “We still haven’t found him.”

“I see. Well, wherever he is, he’s fighting. He’ll beat his darkness. And I know he wants me to fight, too.” She gripped the Wayfinder tightly.

“I think you’re right. He’ll be just fine.”

“Yes. But what about Ven? He won’t wake up unless I’m there with him. I have to go. I have to find a way back to the realm of light.”

I have to awaken Ven, then find Terra— Aqua stood up.

“Good. Then let’s locate that key and go home together!” Mickey smiled reassuringly.

“Does that mean you know an exit?” Aqua asked.

Mickey scratched his head and replied, “Well, uh, I was so busy finding a way in, that I didn’t give a lot of thought to where there’d be a way out. But, together we’re sure to find one!”

Aqua burst out laughing. Now that she thought about it, Mickey had been surprisingly prone to leaping before he looked. She still remembered how he went bouncing all over the universe with that Star Shard.

“You haven’t changed at all,” she commented, fondly remembering their time together.

Mickey started laughing, too.

Ahh, when was the last time I laughed like this?

“May our hearts be our guiding key,” the king murmured, looking out ahead into the darkness.

“There’s a phrase no one has used in ages.” She knew that saying; it was one from long, long ago.

“Keyblade wielders used to say those words to each other. And now, it’s something I like to try to remember.” Aqua nodded to show she understood, and Mickey held out his hand. “So. Ready?”

She gripped it tight with renewed determination. “Ready!”

We’ll be fine as long as we’re together. We’ll get out of here and finally go home.

Aqua and Mickey set off on another dark road—a mountain trail through an unfamiliar forest. The way was full of those monsters called Heartless. But she wasn’t alone.

At long last, they arrived at a beautiful beach beneath a wide blue sky.

She knew this place.

But if it was here now, then this beach had met the same fate as the other worlds she’d encountered.

“So many worlds have been lost. And now they’re trapped here in the dark. Wait—you know this place, Aqua?” Mickey asked her.

Apparently, he wasn’t familiar with it himself.

Aqua thought of the two little boys she had met on these gorgeous sands.

“Hey, you two mind telling me your names?”

“Yes. I visited once, and I met two boys I considered passing the Keyblade on to. But because Terra had already given one of them the power, I didn’t.”

“Aqua. What were the boys’ names?”

“They were…Sora and Riku.”

Yes, she still remembered their names, and Mickey seemed to recognize them somehow, too.

“I see. We’re getting warm,” he said while taking in their surroundings. “Well, it’s Sora and Riku who’ve been helpin’ me. We’re tryin’ to get that door shut for good.”

Aqua couldn’t hide her surprise. “The same boys?”

“Aqua, if this is where my friends first got the Keyblade, it also must be where we’ll find its counterpart. The Keyblade of darkness has gotta be here on the dark side of their world.” He sounded very sure.

No sooner had he spoken than a tremor ran through the earth, signaling the return of the swarm of Heartless they had beaten earlier.

“We’ll have to hurry. C’mon!” Mickey urged, then charged forward with his Keyblade. Aqua followed his lead, and the two of them fought their way across the island against the Heartless.

So the Keyblade of darkness is on this island…?

Shadows swallowed the beach, the sea tossed violently, and dark clouds filled the sky in a storm, but Aqua and Mickey still pushed forward.

Mickey pointed at a thicket. “Let’s keep goin’,” he called, and Aqua realized there was a cave hidden behind it.

“What is this place…?” she murmured.

There were drawings on the wall of the cave, and a door in the back wall.

“I bet it’s in here.” Mickey opened the door. Darkness lay beyond it. “There!”

A gleaming golden Keyblade was floating within the murky interior.

“Is this what you’re after?” she asked as he stepped forward.

“Yep, it’s just the key I was looking for. A Keyblade from the dark realm!” The Keyblade’s glow vanished when Mickey took it in his hand. “‘The Door to Darkness…tied by two keys. The Door to Darkness…to seal the light,’” he intoned, almost like a spell. “Welp, we’ve got the keys. Now we find the ones to close the door.”

“Sorry?” Aqua asked, puzzled.

“The door between the two realms—it won’t let a heart with light pass through. So only darkness keeps spilling out. We can lock the door by using the two Keyblades, but we need help on both sides to get the door shut.”

“Well, then, since you’ll be doing the locking, let me be the one to close the door.”

Aqua was willing to accept that role; of the two of them, Mickey was the one who belonged on the other side.

Mickey shook his head. “Sorry, but the job’s taken…by somebody else.”

“Huh?”

Just then, another quake shook everything around them. Light washed over them for a moment, and then the darkness returned.

She had spotted a boy in that light—a boy with silver hair.

Riku.

When they opened their eyes after the blinding flash, the world had returned to its gloomy state, except for one difference—the large white door.

“Is that the one?”

“Yep, the door to Kingdom Hearts.” Mickey looked over at it, then turned back to Aqua. “Well, it’s not the Kingdom Hearts you know. Not exactly. But even though it’s smaller, it’s still the heart of many worlds. And even if it’s not a complete Kingdom Hearts, we definitely can’t leave it open like this, or darkness will escape and destroy the remaining worlds.”

Another Kingdom Hearts—the heart of many worlds. Why would such a thing be here now?

“It’s time,” Mickey continued. “With this key and Sora’s in the realm of light, we’re gonna close this door.” He returned his gaze to the portal in question. “Now, all we need is Riku.”

Riku and Sora… I never would have imagined those two boys I met back then were tied up in all this.

“There!” Mickey shouted, and she saw Riku running through the darkness. “That’s everybody. Come on, Aqua—”

Before Mickey could finish, the mass of Heartless appeared yet again, this time making a beeline for Riku.

“Oh no!”

As Mickey sprinted after the boy, Aqua sprang into the air, held her Keyblade out toward the swarm, and unleashed chains of light. She had to stop it. “Back off!”

“Aqua!” Mickey came to a halt.

“Go without me!”

“No, I—! Aqua!”

The wave of Heartless overtook Aqua, carrying her out of the cave and back onto the white sands of the Destiny Islands. Aqua swung her Keyblade with all her might.

The battle for the realm of light…is not won. Thanks to Terra and Mickey, I know what’s at stake.

I’m not afraid. I will face the long darkness.

The next time someone wanders into the realm of darkness, I’ll be here.

A light to cut through all the shadows. I will be their Wayfinder.

Aqua threw herself at the Heartless.

And one day, I’ll return to Terra and Ven.

“I am Master Aqua. And that’s a promise,” she declared, perhaps more for her own sake than anyone else’s.

She slammed her Keyblade home.

“Aqua…”

Now alone, Mickey gripped his dark Keyblade tightly, then held it up to the door.

“Now, Sora! Let’s close this door for good!” he called to his friend on the other side.

And as light engulfed the king…

Aqua lay on the sands of the Destiny Islands, alone.

“It’s beautiful.”

Dusk slowly stole across the sky, turning it to night.

“Terra, Ven…”

She remembered how they used to watch the starry sky together.

I wish the three of us could go stargazing again, and look for shooting stars.

Just me again.

But I saw Mickey, and I know that this world is connected to its counterpart.

Light began to rain upon the world, proof that the Destiny Islands were going home to the realm of light.

They did it. The worlds are being restored. Mickey closed the door.

And as this world met its end, the darkness pulled Aqua down once again.

May our hearts be our guiding key. You’ll know…where I am.

A well-built man passed behind him for a moment.

“Aeleus, whatever’s between you and Roxas, it’s in the past,” Ienzo called over his shoulder, laughing. “Sora, the reason we’re here is because you and your friends defeated our Nobodies, thereby ‘recompleting’ us. We cast off our hearts by choice, make no mistake, but we didn’t know that Xemnas—or rather, Xehanort—was deceiving us,” Ienzo explained softly.

“Huh? Xemnas?”

As Sora tried to figure out what Xemnas would have to do with this, Goofy shouted, “Aw, he’s with them!”

Ienzo’s name while he was a Nobody in Organization XIII was Zexion. His Nobody was destroyed in Castle Oblivion, which enabled him to later revive as a human. Ansem the Wise had also cared for him as a child.

“Not anymore. Xemnas and Xehanort have no hold over us now. We’re students of the heart, exactly the same as we were before all of this began,” Ienzo told them in a calm voice, trying to dispel everyone’s fears.

Donald’s trust wasn’t so easily won. “Yeah, right.”

“But ya know, now that I think about it, Axel’s on our side now,” Goofy reminded him.

Donald mulled over that. True, Axel had become their ally.

“We have friends we want to bring back to this world, just the same as you,” said Ienzo. “To do that, we have to work together.”

Thinking about it more, it did seem worth giving Ienzo the benefit of the doubt. But what had happened to the other members of Organization XIII?

“In that spirit, Sora…,” Ienzo continued, “we found some intriguing data in the bit of code we deciphered.”

“Is it about me?”

“Yes. In order to piece your memories back together, our teacher, Ansem the Wise, took a close look at your heart. And what he found…is that your heart doesn’t belong just to you.”

Everyone was shocked by this revelation—everyone except Sora, rather.

“Gawrsh, you don’t seem surprised.”

“Yeah.” Sora nodded at Goofy, then softly placed a hand on his own chest. “Honestly, I suspected as much. There’s another heart inside mine. I think it’s Roxas’s. Just like Naminé’s is still inside Kairi’s.”

“Interesting… Well, no one knows your heart better than you,” Ienzo acknowledged, then continued: “To be honest, we still have a plethora of questions on our side, but…the idea has merit. It’s incredible enough that you and your Nobody are able to coexist. If you share a heart…no wonder someone as remarkable as you caught Ansem the Wise’s eye. We’ll keep investigating based on your hypothesis. I’ll be in touch.”

The screen switched back from Ienzo to Chip and Dale.

“Okeydokey, we’ll give you fellas a ring if there’s anything else. Remember, me and Chip, the guys at Radiant Garden, and King Mickey and everybody are never far away,” Dale said, and then the screen of the Gummiphone went blank.

“I have to find Roxas and save him,” Sora whispered to himself, staring at his phone. He raised his head to face whatever was coming next. “The others are following Aqua’s heart, so I’ll follow Roxas’s heart!”

Donald and the others nodded enthusiastically at the idea.

“Trust the guidance that your heart gives ya, Sora. That’s what Master Yen Sid said,” Goofy agreed with a smile.

“Where to?” asked Donald.

In answer, Sora summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the Ocean Between. “Oh, that’s easy.”

After the call was over, Ienzo drew a deep breath and smiled. Sora was always good at that.

He was in the laboratory of Radiant Garden where he had awoken alongside Lea, Aeleus, Even, and Dilan—or, as they had been known during their time in Organization XIII, Axel, Lexaeus, Vexen, and Xaldin.

When a stolen heart returned, the person to whom it belonged would revive where they had first lost it. Five people had awakened here—but more than five had been lost in this lab. Isa—Saïx—was unaccounted for.

Lea had headed out straightaway, and Even, who had taken longer to awaken, had also vanished at some point.

Ienzo wasn’t sure what either of them intended to do; all he knew was that he wanted to carry on the mission of his teacher, Ansem the Wise. Aeleus and Dilan were still here, but they weren’t apprentices. Even was, and as a researcher, he was a man worthy of great respect.

To Ienzo, he was also like a father, as much as Ansem the Wise had been.

He let out a sigh and walked out of the lab.

The old mansion lay beyond an underground conduit found on the outskirts of town—and there were Heartless everywhere. Sora and his friends fought their way through, then stepped out into the woods.

“Things are a bit different than last time.”

“Really?”

Sora had awoken in this town, but even setting out on his journey afterward, he’d been filled with nostalgia. A while later, he had come back to find the other Twilight Town with the help of Hayner, Pence, and Olette.

Everything about the place reminded Sora of Roxas.

It’s all so familiar—and I don’t think it’s just because Roxas was in the other Twilight Town. I think he was in this version, too. Maybe.

“Huh?”

Goofy stopped in front of a bunch of fruit scattered on the ground and picked up one of the pieces.

“What’s that?” Sora grabbed one, too.

“Ack!”

“Heartless!”

Goofy brought his shield into position, but the creatures scurried back to the trees. They were chasing someone else.

“What do you think they’re up to?”

A closer look revealed that the Heartless had trapped a small gray rat.

“Oh no!”

“Let’s help!”

“Yeah!”

The trio went after the Heartless, weapons at the ready. These little guys were extremely agile in the trees, which made them a real headache—but they were still no match for the heroes.

Once the Heartless were gone, the rat came scampering down from his perch and bowed.

“Well, take care,” Sora said, and he had just begun to walk away when his body started acting of its own accord.

“Wh-what is—”

“Are you okay?” Donald watched him curiously.

Goofy noticed the rat from earlier was on top of Sora, pulling his hair. “Lookie! That little feller’s parked on your head.”

“Huuuh?”

The rodent yanked Sora’s hair again to make him scoop up a piece of fruit.

“Ya know, he probably wants you to pick up the fruit for him,” said Goofy, and the rat nodded from his perch on Sora’s head.

“Okay, that’s fine,” Sora grumbled. “But I can do it by myself.” The rat finally scurried off him.

There were oranges, apples, and plenty of other tasty-smelling fruit there. Once Sora, Donald, and Goofy had gathered it all, the rat bobbed his head happily.

“So, what’re you gonna do with all this anyway?” Sora asked.

The rat started pantomiming something with his paws, but Sora couldn’t make heads or tails of what it meant. Donald and Goofy shared a puzzled look, too.

The little guy seemed disappointed that they didn’t understand.

“Well, okay. You be careful going home,” Sora said, then went on his way. Now they could finally head for the old mansion.

“Bye-bye!”

“See ya ’round!”

The rat watched them go, then turned back to his mound of fruit.

Meanwhile, Sora, Donald, and Goofy had finally arrived at the mansion. The gate wasn’t locked.

As he looked up, Sora thought he saw one of the curtains move.

Who is it? Who’s up there in that room? I can’t remember.

“Whaddaya think, guys? This place is even creepier than I remember,” he commented.

Goofy agreed. “Well, they do say that this mansion is haunted.”

Just then, a hand clapped down on Sora’s shoulder.

“Hey there!”

“Ahh!”

“Wak!”

“Yaaa-hoo-hoo-hooey!”

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all screamed in unison.

The hand belonged to Hayner, as it turned out.

“Thanks for the heart attack!” Sora shouted.

“Oh, what? Did I scare you?” Hayner teased.

Donald bristled at the very idea. “Not a chance!”

Once Olette had smoothed things over a bit, Sora and his friends asked how Hayner’s investigation had gone. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been able to find anyone who knew Roxas. The old mansion was the only lead they had left, so here they were.

“You guys ready?” Olette asked.

“Another Twilight Town awaits!” Pence declared.

Sora looked up at the mansion and nodded.

Inside, the place was as dusty as ever. They went up the steps and to the right to the room at the end of the hall. Sure enough, the steps to the underground computer room were still there.

Pence dashed over to the computer and sat down in front of it. As usual, nothing on the monitor made any sense whatsoever to Sora, but he could at least tell the thing worked. Pence had been in charge of all the techy stuff last time anyway.

“The password was…uh, ‘sea-salt ice cream,’ right?” Pence muttered to himself as he entered the code. “Okay, I’m in. Let’s get the transporter working…”

Fortune wasn’t on their side, however, as the text on the monitor flashed red and an error alert sounded. Pence tried several times with no luck.

“Oh man. The transporter’s been protected.”

“Protected from what?” Sora looked at Pence’s hands.

“I guess from us? We can’t use it to get to the other Twilight Town?”

“Why not? It worked before! We sent Sora there!” Hayner pressed.

“And there’s no other way?” Olette asked dejectedly.

What if we never find a way to get to Roxas? Sora looked up sadly at the indecipherable text displayed on the monitor.

Suddenly, the Gummiphone in his pocket started ringing with an incoming call. He punched the green button again, and there was Ienzo.

“Hello, Sora,” said Ienzo. “You wouldn’t happen to be in front of a computer?”

“Huh? Well…yeah. But, how’d you know that?” he asked.

“I was tinkering with Ansem’s computer—you know, to decrypt the code that was left in it? And I noticed that someone had logged in from another terminal. I figured it might be you.”

“Oh! Yeah, the log terminal.” Sora figured it was better to just say yes to whatever Ienzo was saying.

“You don’t know what he said,” Donald cut in.

Sora leaned in close to him. “Oh, and what, you do?” he shot back.

“I know I haven’t got a clue,” Goofy joked amiably from off to one side.

Ienzo realized this was going nowhere and chuckled. “Then, uhhh…who was it that logged in?” he asked.

“Oh, hi there. This is Pence,” Pence called as Sora turned the Gummiphone toward him. “I’m the one who logged into the computer.”

“Good. As long as it’s a user that we know we can trust.”

Ienzo sounded relieved to finally have a grasp on the situation, especially since Sora and his usual crew weren’t exactly up to the task.

“Yup. But, I’m kind of stuck here. One of the programs is protected, so…I can’t run it.”

“Which program?”

Hayner jumped into the conversation. “The transporter to the other Twilight Town! It’s the only way to find Roxas. You gotta help us.”

“Another Twilight Town? And a ‘transporter’? Okay… A virtual town inside the computer, made of data.”

Jiminy hurriedly poked his head over Sora’s shoulder. “A datascape!” he exclaimed. “Fellas…”

“Mm-hmm, we’ve seen one. That’s what we used once to investigate Jiminy’s journal,” Goofy replied with a nod.

While Sora hadn’t actually gone into the datascape, he had been told about the other version of himself and his adventure with Donald and Goofy.

“Maybe I can do something. Pence, let’s get a network set up. My address here is…”

Pence started typing as Ienzo gave instructions through the Gummiphone. Sora’s eyes glazed over as he watched him do…whatever it was he was doing.

“Okay, sharing is enabled.”

The words snapped him to attention just as boredom was seriously setting in.

“Huh? Were you able to fix it?”

“Now that our two computers have been successfully networked together, I can take control of the terminal there and change the privileges…”

But Sora only had one thing at the forefront of his mind. “And Roxas?”

“Yes. For the virtual world to be completely realized, Ansem the Wise would’ve included Roxas’s full data in the reconstruction. Meaning, somewhere on your machine there’s a log of that data that—” Ienzo stopped and shrugged. “Uhh… Basically we can decipher Ansem’s Code more quickly, and we can analyze the virtual Twilight Town while we’re at it.”

“Okay. Great! I can’t computer, so…do that!”

Ienzo smiled at Sora’s enthusiasm. “Glad you’re following along. Don’t worry, we’ll handle it. Chip and Dale will be helping me out here on this end. I’ll call you back as soon as we know anything more,” he said, ending the conversation.

“Thanks.”

Ienzo was just about to hang up when he remembered one last thing. “Oh, before I forget—a bit of troubling news. It’s about one of the Organization’s former members. You knew him as Vexen—but to us he was Ansem’s apprentice Even.”

Vexen… Doesn’t ring a bell. Maybe he was one of the Organization members I never met?

“He was recompleted like the rest of us, but hadn’t regained consciousness yet. Then, sometime after Lea left, Even vanished. Aeleus and Dilan—the two you knew as Lexaeus and Xaldin—they went out looking for him, but…he’s just gone. And I’m starting to worry.”

“You think he’s on their side?” Sora asked. Now he was getting a bad feeling about this.

“I think it’s a real possibility. He’s a devious researcher. You should be careful.”

“All right. Thanks,” Sora replied, ending the call.

“Oh no! We got work! I totally forgot,” Hayner exclaimed in a sudden panic, whirling around to leave.

“Really? But what about all this?” asked Pence, flustered.

“Hey, both are important. We’re gonna need some cash to go to the beach. Also, don’t forget the pretzels. Gotta buy four now.”

Pence tilted his head for a moment when Hayner said “four,” but he soon figured it out. “Ohh. I get it.”

The fourth pretzel had to be for Roxas.

“He’s thinking ahead.” Olette smiled at Pence.

“Okay, and since I’m manning the computer here, you guys’re in charge of earning my share.”

“No pretzel for Pence.”

“Hey!”

Sora and the others burst out laughing at the easy banter among the other trio.

“So can we leave you in charge of things here?” Sora asked.

“Sure, no problem!” Pence replied energetically, and then Sora, Donald, and Goofy left the computer room, too.

“Computers really are something,” Sora muttered.

“Yeah, we don’t know the first thing about ’em,” Goofy agreed.

“Good thing we have Pence here to help out!”

“Yeah,” said Donald as the three of them walked outside.

It’s so bright. How did it feel the last time we left this place?

Sora, Donald, and Goofy approached the gates.

“So, you think you can bring Roxas back?” a voice called to them from behind.

And the voice belonged to none other than—

“Ansem!”

Ansem was leaning against one of the gate posts, watching them. A Corridor of Darkness opened next to him, and someone else stepped out.

“Xemnas!”

“Roxas should never have existed in the first place. What you seek is impossible.” Xemnas was being cryptic, but there was no denying his malicious intent.

“Roxas does exist,” Sora protested. “His heart’s inside my heart.” Roxas will never disappear. Not as long as he’s a part of me.

“And in the unlikely event you did manage to separate the two,” Xemnas replied, “where is it you think you can put his heart?”

“Well… Roxas used to live in the other Twilight Town, right? So, I’m just gonna put him back there.”

“Do you even realize what you are saying? The other Twilight Town is just data,” Ansem interjected.

“A heart can live anywhere. Even inside data. There are hearts all around us,” Sora declared with an angry look at them

“Ansem and Xemnas used to be part of the same person, right?” Goofy mused. “But look. Now they exist separately just fine. If they can do it, I don’t see any reason why you and Roxas can’t find a way.”

“Oh…yeah!” Sora struck a triumphant pose.

Donald couldn’t resist cheering, either. “Yeah! You tell ’em, Captain Goofy!”

Sora and Donald went back to glaring at Xemnas and Ansem.

“In that case, by all means,” said Ansem.

“Nothing would please us more than Roxas’s return, of course,” Xemnas continued.

“You wish. He’ll never answer to you again.”

They could think whatever they wanted. Roxas was no longer a pawn in their little games, Sora was sure—not while Roxas had friends now. Not while he had bonds.

Unfazed, Xemnas pointed at Sora. “Still so blind. A Nobody is what’s left behind when one gives his heart to darkness. There is only way to bring Roxas back, which is for you to give your heart up as well. Sora, have you finally decided to call upon the darkness?” he asked.

“What?” Sora bit his lip, unable to find a reply.

Is he right? Can I not bring Roxas back without giving my heart to the darkness? It’s just— There has to be some other way.

“Go on, then. The shadows are never out of reach,” Ansem sneered, just as Heartless arrived on all sides of Sora. Meanwhile, Xemnas summoned Nobodies with a slight wave of his arm.

“Now, set your heart free,” the two villains said in unison, taking their leave through a Corridor of Darkness.

“Wait!” Sora started to go after them, but Goofy shouted his name.

“Sora!”

His two friends were surrounded by Heartless and Nobodies. Sora stopped and got his Keyblade ready for action.

“It’s not darkness. Not if it helps him!”

Sora charged into yet another battle, but his thoughts were racing as he swung his Keyblade. I don’t need the power of darkness to fight, and I know I can restore Roxas without it, too. Him and Naminé. I don’t need to worry about a vessel for their hearts.

The most important thing is—

Sora took a heavy breath, dismissing the Keyblade now that the fight was over.

“Herc said… He said, ‘With all my heart,’” Sora said softly. Hercules had mentioned a desire to help someone. “Okay. Then all my heart it is. I’m getting Roxas out.” He turned to his friends. “Are you with me, Donald? Goofy?”

“You betcha!” the two said with a grin.

“I don’t know what Ansem and Xemnas want, but I think we’d better tell the others to watch out.”

The mansion was an important place now, and there was no telling what kind of trouble it could invite on the town. The three friends headed back toward the more populated area just to be safe.

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy returned to the tram common, they were greeted by a familiar voice.

“Well, bless my bagpipes! It was you laddies who rescued my chef.”

“Wak! It’s Uncle Scrooge!” Donald quacked as he realized who the speaker was. It was indeed Scrooge McDuck, wearing his usual top hat and carrying his usual cane, along with a white box.

“Wait… Didn’t he sell ice cream in Hollow Bastion?” asked a puzzled Sora.

“That’s right,” Goofy replied. “But Uncle Scrooge here’s what you might call a world traveler.”

“How are ya, Uncle Scrooge?” Sora said as he ran over to the old duck.

“Oh! Hello, Sora! You’re lookin’ hale and hearty. I heard ye were on another grand adventure with these two. I hope Donald isn’t making a menace of himself.”

“Why did you have to say that?”

Scrooge was about to embarrass him further by pressing the issue, but fortunately, Goofy intervened. “So, Uncle Scrooge, what’s that you were sayin’ about a chef?”

“Och! Right, right. The chef of me bistro here wanted to show ye his appreciation, so he baked this for ye.” Scrooge held out the white box in his hands, and Sora opened it.

“Wow, cake!” Inside was a some sort of pastry smothered in fruit. “The whole cake? It’s for us?” Sora asked, but Scrooge was looking up.

“Aye, settle down… The chef wants ye to know it’s not a cake, but a tarte aux fruits.” Scrooge removed his hat to reveal the small rat from earlier sitting on his head. “Why keep it under my hat? May I introduce…Little Chef.”

The rat hopped down onto the top of the hat.

“Uncle Scrooge, you opened a bistro in Twilight Town?” Donald asked.

“Aye. It all started a little while ago, when I was enjoying one of the best meals of my life. And when I asked to meet the chef, I met this wee genius,” Scrooge explained. The rat in question—Remy—puffed his chest out proudly. “As it turns out, he wanted to expand his culinary horizons. So, I thought: That’s an opportunity. And I financed the whole operation.”

Who would’ve thought a tiny rodent could cook? The fruit tart looked delicious; maybe they could eat it when they needed a little extra energy.

“Hey! Guys!”

“Hayner! Olette!”

Their two friends from Twilight Town came running up to join them.

“Hey, boss. Done with the posters,” Hayner reported to Scrooge. Apparently, their part-time job was putting up ads around town.

Olette showed Sora, Donald, and Goofy one of the posters. “Mr. McDuck’s hosting an open-air film festival in the courtyard. Cool, huh?”

Sora had no idea they did things like that here in town. Leave it to Scrooge to find a business opportunity anywhere.

“Provide a bit of entertainment, and then give folks a nice, cozy place to relax. Like me bistro here. They’ll all be happy, an’ hungry, an’ ready to spend their money,” Scrooge said with an avaricious grin.

“Gawrsh, he sure is canny. I always wondered how he keeps customers comin’ into his businesses over and over.”

“Oh yeah, I’m no business guy, but I sure wouldn’t wanna be one of Uncle Scrooge’s competitors.”

They all shared a chuckle at Goofy’s and Sora’s open admiration, but then Sora turned serious again. “Oh! Right. I need to warn you guys.”

“Why?” Hayner asked meekly.

“Well, those creepy-crawly things might come back for more, so stay on your toes.”

“Sure, but don’t we have you guys to take care of ’em for us?”

Hayner was laughing, but Olette seemed worried.

“You have to leave again?”

“Yeah,” Sora said with a nod. We have to go—but we’ll be back. “Sorry. Just do me a favor…”

“Well, what is it? Don’t make it too tough,” Hayner warned him with a shrug.

“I know how Roxas feels. To be lost. But Donald and Goofy…Kairi…brought me back by wishing with all their hearts. So…I was hoping the three of you would do the same and wish for Roxas.”

“What? That’s it? That’s no favor. We’ll all wish. I’m wishin’.”

Hayner grinned, and Olette bobbed her head.

“Yeah! Me and Pence, too.”

“Thanks,” Sora said with a soft smile.

That’s right. If you want to wish someone back, one person isn’t enough. You need everyone to want it with everything they have.

I’m sure we can bring Roxas back.

Positive.

Meanwhile—two shadowy figures were coldly observing Sora and his friends with hardened stares from the roof of a building overlooking the bistro: Ansem and Xemnas. Shortly after, Xigbar emerged from a Corridor of Darkness behind them.

“Aren’t you making it a little too obvious?” he said.

“We were instructed to guide him,” Xemnas replied.

“Yes… Just look at them,” Ansem agreed, still watching the scene. “They wouldn’t get far if we did not spell it out.”

“Fair enough. But let’s not forget how many times Sora still managed to rain on our parade.”

Xigbar still had his doubts; they couldn’t be too careful.

Ansem’s mouth twisted into a smirk. “If he wavers from the path we lay, we destroy him.”

“But in that case…we’ll have to find ourselves another vessel.” Xigbar barked a laugh. Another vessel…, he says, as if it’s nothing. Just one piece of their grand, far-reaching plan.

“That is why we never have just one iron in the fire,” Xemnas replied matter-of-factly.

The three of them returned to watching the smiling group down below.

Buzz nodded, but Rex just looked over at Hamm. “Wait. Hold on!” he sputtered. “I don’t think I’m emotionally prepared!!”

“Would you calm down? Don’t worry, I got ya covered,” said the cowboy, glancing up at the green army men on standby on the shelves. He turned toward the desk and made sure the three-eyed little green men next to the globe were okay, too.

“It’s go time,” said Buzz to Woody, who nodded. But then—

“Wait!”

“What are you doing?!”

“Who are those guys?”

Buzz and Woody looked on as strange toys they had never seen before emerged from beneath the bed.

“What in the world? Where are we?” Sora took in the strange sights around him, wide-eyed, with Donald and Goofy. Then he noticed his hands. “Oh my gosh!” he yelped. “Have we been shrunk? And… And look at us!”

He looked just like a toy, all the way down to his body, hair, clothes, and size. Donald and Goofy were no different.

“You know what the magic is for. We have to protect the world order,” Donald reminded him. This certainly wasn’t the first time they’d transformed to fit in on a new world.

“Gawrsh… Who’s gonna protect the order from them?” Goofy drawled as he pointed out the enemies.

“Heartless!”

Sora called his Keyblade to his hand and rushed in. Even the Heartless resembled toys here. After the battle was over and the three heroes were taking a breather, Hamm came over and called out to them. “Are you new?”

For toys, the arrival of newcomers to the room was a major event. After all, their owner, Andy, had been known to favor his newer toys. Rex didn’t seem to mind, though, running up to Sora excitedly.

“Wait! Ah— Ah— You look familiar! I know this. You’re, uh, you’re, uhhh…”

The dinosaur’s excitement helped Hamm make the connection. “Yozora!” he cried.

“Huh? My name’s Sora.” Sora seemed a bit nonplussed. The name was similar, sure, but it definitely wasn’t his.

“Stay back!” Buzz called. He was keeping his distance, and his laser was pointed squarely at them. “For all we know, the intruders sent them.”

“We can trust them! They’re the number-one-selling heroes in the country!” Rex gushed as he pulled Sora into a hug.

Hamm seemed happy, too. “Yeah, Andy’s mom must’ve bought ’em for him.”

“Hamm’s right. Did you see how easily they took care of the intruders? I bet they’re here to figure out why all our friends have gone missing, and why Buzz’s laser started actually laser-ing…and all the weird stuff that’s been going on. I mean that’s what heroes do, right?”

While Rex chattered away, Woody and Buzz gave some thought to the situation.

Sora was getting the impression that not everything was as it should be in this world.

“So, you’re Andy’s new toys?” Woody asked.

“Toys?”

That briefly threw Sora and his friends for a loop, but the cowboy was right. They did look like toys at the moment—like action figures, to be precise.

Woody was still talking. “You sure did a number on those intruders,” he said.

“Those are Heartless,” Goofy explained about the intruders—their foes that dwelled in the darkness.

“We’ve been fighting against those ‘intruders’ for a while,” Sora said on behalf of his team.

“I knew it!” Rex called, elated.

“Okay. In that case, you’re all right by me. My name’s Woody. Put ’er there.”

“Hey.”

Woody and Sora shook hands.

“I’m Sora—”

“Yozora!” Rex interjected before Sora could finish giving his name.

“Actually, my name’s Sora…”

“And I’m Donald.”

“I’m Goofy.”

Once the newcomers had introduced themselves, it was the toys’ turn to share their names.

“I’m Rex! I’m your biggest fan. In fact, I’ve been playing your game for months now. And I’ve already gotten you all the way up to level forty-seven. But that Bahamut boss is really tough. Slinky and I can’t figure out how to beat him. Oh, I wish Slinky and the others were here. They’d be so happy to meet you!” Rex rambled on and on, delighted.

Next, the green army men came down from the shelves and saluted Sora and his companions. “All troops at attention, sir!”

Then, a trio of identical aliens came rolling up on a skateboard and gave what must have been their form of a greeting.

“Strangers.”

“From the outside.”

“Welcome.”

“They’re all toys? So that’s why we look the way we do.” Sora was finally beginning to understand, but one person was still having trouble accepting the situation—Buzz.

“Excuse me,” he said. “You said that you’ve battled those intruders before. Tell us where and why.”

“Oh… Well, uh… We are—”

Donald cut Sora’s answer short. “Order!”

Oh yeah, we aren’t supposed to tell anyone. How am I supposed to explain, then?

“Well? You must have come from somewhere.” Buzz eyed the three outsiders with suspicion, and the army men started doing the same. Before the situation could get worse, Woody stepped in.

“Take it easy, Buzz. What matters is that they got those intruders out of our way for at least a little while. No need to interrogate ’em.”

Rex and Hamm were inclined to agree, but the space ranger still wasn’t convinced.

“Hey… Have those ‘intruders’—the Heartless—been a problem around here?” Sora asked Woody.

“No, they just showed up a little while ago.”

“In fact, those ‘Heartless’ materialized right after all our friends up and vanished,” Buzz added.

Sora and his friends shared a look.

“It wasn’t always this lonely. One day we woke up, and we were the only toys left here. Nobody’s heard from Mom, or Molly, or Andy… We keep waiting for Andy to come home,” Woody said sadly as he looked at the name written on the bottom of his boot.

This Andy must be close with all the toys here, Sora thought. “You really care about him.”

Woody nodded. “Yeah… He’s the best friend that toys like us could ever hope to have.”

“All right. We’d better start looking!”

“Huh?”

“Have you got any clues we can go on—any other strange things that happened?” Sora asked.

Now it was the toys’ turn to share a glance.

“Well… Hmm,” Woody said. “There’s one thing.”

“After everyone went MIA, the intruders didn’t come alone,” Buzz explained. “They arrived with a guy wearing a hood, dressed in black, just like you. As a matter of fact, he’s the only other new toy we’ve seen outside of you three.”

A black hood? But that means…

“The Organization?” Goofy and Donald cried in unison.

“You know who it is?”

“Yeah. They’re bad news,” Sora told Woody gravely. Whatever was happening on this world, the Heartless and the Organization were part of it. “We may have a hunch what’s causing all the weirdness. Would you mind if we handle this?”

“I’m sorry. But we’re not gonna leave this to you. If that guy has something to do with our friends vanishing, then he’s our problem, too. We’ve got to work together.”

Woody’s answer was firm. He wasn’t about to leave his world’s problems to someone else. Sora and his friends could appreciate that.

“The latest reports place the target in town, sir. At Galaxy Toys!” the green army men stated, as if they had been waiting to do so for some time.

“Then Galaxy Toys is where we’re going. Sora, follow me.”

Buzz stopped Woody before he could leave. “Not so fast, cowboy. You seem pretty gung ho about going, but shouldn’t we stay here and wait for Andy?”

“Well… You’ve got a point, but…we’ve tried waiting. Look, if we go with Sora, we might find a clue. Are you with me, Buzz?” he asked, turning back to his friend.

“Of course.” Buzz sighed and deflated a little.

Sora smiled. He could tell they shared a strong bond of trust.

In order to reach Galaxy Toys, the new toy store in town, they needed to go outside through the window.

They had quite a large crew with them. Woody, Buzz, Hamm, Rex, the army men, and the little green men. Hopefully no one gets lost.

“Okay, let’s move out!” Sora leaped down from the window to the roof, where more Heartless lay in wait.

Woody drew the gun at his hip, while Buzz shot lasers from his arm. Not only were they good in a fight, but they were careful to keep their fellow toys out of harm’s way.

The whole crew descended from the roof to the street and hurried ahead. At the end of the road, there was a big building that looked like a shopping mall.

“Let’s go!”

They went inside and found an enormous hall jam-packed with toys of all kinds, including an eye-catching display of toy robots.

Rex and Hamm ran over to it. The Gigas robots were from the same video game as Yozora, the one they’d been playing.

Something felt strange about all this to Sora. “Hey, why doesn’t that toy move?” he asked Buzz.

“I guess it hasn’t figured it out,” the space ranger replied, looking up at the Gigas.

“Hasn’t figured it out”? What does that mean? Sora wondered.

Just then, someone spoke from on top of the big capsule machine in the center of the hall. “I can make it move for you.”

A man in a black coat stepped out from the Corridor of Darkness and removed his hood to reveal his long silver hair and gold eyes.

“You’re from the dream—the first of the Xehanorts!” Sora shouted.

“I’m so honored you remember me.”

The younger Xehanort snapped his fingers, summoning Heartless that jumped onboard the Gigas.

“Oh no! He can move!” Buzz exclaimed in surprise just as a robot tried to bring one of its massive arms down on Hamm. Sora, Donald, and Goofy managed to stop the blow in just the nick of time.

Young Xehanort didn’t seem particularly concerned as he offered his analysis of the situation. “Our heart’s shadows fill the emptiness of another. See how they bring him to life? Like Heartless and Nobodies, they fit together.”

“Enough. Why are you doing this?!”

“There’s a darkness we are missing and must reclaim. The way hearts connect in this world can provide us with a clue. So we made a copy of the world and then pulled those hearts apart. I wonder how you’ll handle the strain.” Instead of giving a real answer, young Xehanort quietly opened another Corridor of Darkness.

“Wait! What does that mean?” Sora called for him to stop, but young Xehanort only paused for a moment.

“Don’t let me down.” With those chilling parting words, he melted into the shadows.

Sora, Goofy, and Donald were too busy keeping Gigas’s fists at bay to chase him. Before long, the robot’s strength won out and sent them all tumbling away.

“Look out!”

Woody caught Sora, while Buzz opened his wings and managed to rescue Donald and Goofy.

“Woody! What is going on? Is this toy a friend…or foe?” Buzz yelled.

The Gigas robot chose that moment to fire one of its powerful cannons.

“I think we’ve got your answer!” the toy cowboy shouted back as he shielded Sora and his friends. They barely managed to get behind the cover of the other toys on display—the battle against the giant robot was starting to seem hopeless. Unless they tried something new.

“Sora! You’re up!” Donald smiled up at Sora.

“Yeah! If the Heartless know how to do it, there’s no reason you can’t,” Goofy agreed.

Sora cocked his head to one side, unsure of what they were getting at. “Do what?”

Donald pointed. “Over there!”

Another Gigas without a Heartless at the helm stood tall and powerful, just waiting for him.

“Brilliant! I’m on it!” Now that he knew what they meant, Sora dashed over to the Gigas’s feet and jumped inside the cockpit in its head.

I’ve never operated a mech before, but I bet it’ll be fun. Plus, I’ve flown the Gummi Ship, right? Sora punched a random button.

“Wawak!” Donald scrambled out of the way of the cannon fire.

“Sorry!”

Uh, maybe not. Sora targeted the hostile Gigas bearing down on him. Okay, now we have a fighting chance.

Donald, Goofy, Woody, and Buzz cheered him on from below.

Sora’s clever piloting beat back the enemy Gigas, and each one fell still after the Heartless vanished from its cockpit. After an intense battle, the last of the robots stood motionless, and Sora hopped down from the pilot seat.

Seeing the immobile robots, Buzz fell into thought.

“Buzz?” Sora asked with concern.

“It’s nothing,” Buzz replied dismissively. “I’m confused. That guy in the black coat—did he say he made a copy of the real world? What’s that mean?”

“It…probably means they split this world in two—your friends in one world, us in the other. Only one of the worlds is real, and the other is just really convincing.”

“You can’t be serious. Oh! That’s right, you’re from a video game.” Buzz snorted at Sora’s theory. “Well, maybe in your game that’s how things work, but here in reality you can’t ‘split worlds.’”

Well, Buzz’s reaction was understandable. Sora probably wouldn’t believe it either if someone tried to tell him his world was not only one of many, but one of two parallel versions of itself.

“This is ridiculous. Woody, let’s go.” Buzz turned away and walked off.

“I admit, it does sound just a little far-fetched. But say we have been taken to some kind of alternate world. That would explain why your laser’s real,” Woody admonished him gently. “And is it really that crazy? Worse than ‘evil emperors’ and ‘protecting the galaxy’? Any of that ring a bell?” he added.

Buzz coughed nervously.

Sora guessed that was part of Buzz’s original story.

“Point taken. But that just means these strangers are part of the delusion. And I say it’s time we parted ways and went home.”

Buzz’s insistence on doubting them was beginning wear down Sora, Goofy, and Donald.

“Look, I get that it seems weird,” said Sora, “but we know something’s wrong with this place. We should stick together.”

“Sora’s right,” Woody agreed, trying to persuade his stubborn friend. “They helped with the intruders, so they might help find our friends. They have been there for us so far. You can’t deny that. Come on. Every toy deserves a fair shake.”

Buzz pointed at one of the lifeless Gigas. “Tell it to that toy over there,” he snapped.

He was right; none of them wanted to fight their fellow toys. But still, what were they supposed to do about any of that?

They had apparently reached an impasse—but that was when a sergeant of the green army men came hurrying over and said, “Sheriff, sir. Rex has just been dino-napped!”

“What’s that?!” Woody asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“And Hamm and the aliens are MIA.”

They must’ve run away during the battle—or maybe they got taken, too.

“Come on. We have got to find them!” Woody said, ready to take off right then.

“Please, let us help!” Sora implored, running beside him.

Realizing Buzz hadn’t come with him, the cowboy stopped and went back to talk him out of his doubts.

“Well, Buzz? Do you really think we can save our friends on our own? We didn’t get very far before. We gotta take all the help we can get.”

“Don’t worry,” Goofy said. “Sora can be reckless, and Donald grumbles a lot…”

It was unclear where Goofy was going with this, exactly, but Sora nodded along anyway. “Yeah!”

Then Goofy reached his point. “But you can trust ’em!”

It took a moment, but Donald soon picked up on what was wrong with this picture.

“Hey! He suspects you, too!” he quacked sharply. Why would Buzz believe anything Goofy had to say?

“It’s true,” agreed Sora, again nodding along.

“Huh? He does?” Goofy seemed confused.

Woody laughed. “See, they don’t seem bad. Am I right, Buzz?”

At this point, the space ranger didn’t have much choice but to accept defeat and admit they were all right. “Okay, fine. We do need the extra help.” He still had his eyes on them, though.

“Thanks for the help, Sora, Donald, Goofy,” Woody said with a shrug.

“My troops will return to the field, sir!” announced the sergeant of the green army men, and the little soldiers scattered.

“Guess we’ll have to check each department one by one,” Sora said, and then the search for the missing toys was underway.

Galaxy Toys was divided into several sections, each dedicated to a different category of toys.

I wonder if Woody and the others waited here to make some child’s dream come true, too?

“They’ve got all kinds of toys here, huh,” Sora remarked with interest, still making sure to keep his eyes peeled for anything strange around them.

“Including us!” drawled Goofy, who was raising an ear to check for sounds from time to time.

One of the army men came running up. “We’ve found them! They’re in the dolls section!”

“Got it! Let’s go!”

Everyone nodded along with Woody and set off running.

On the way there, they fought their way through quite a few toys that had come to life as Heartless—toys that had presumably once been just like Woody.

“Watch out!” Buzz blasted a Heartless that almost got to Sora.

“I owe ya one, Buzz! Are you okay with this, though?”

“If it wanted to play nice, then it should’ve stayed away from my friends,” Buzz replied with determination, perhaps to convince himself as much as anyone else.

We have to find a way to free these toys from the control of the Heartless.

Sora fought on with his Keyblade, even though he didn’t necessarily want to.

So far, Sora and his comrades had managed to save Rex and, once they reached the doll section, one of the army men, too. They were still searching among the dolls.

“I don’t see him anywhere…,” said a confused Woody as his eyes swept over the area. The team crept forward cautiously, aware that any of these toys could be under Heartless control.

“Wak!”

Donald hid behind Sora when a big dollhouse in the very back of the section suddenly rattled.

“Something isn’t right here,” said Buzz, heading straight for the fishy play set. It looked like someone was stuck inside.

Sora and his friends pooled all their strength to pull open the doors of the dollhouse.

“Talk about cabin fever. Thanks for the save,” said Hamm as he ambled out from inside.

“You okay, Hamm?”

“Yeah, aside from being locked in, the accommodations were fine,” the piggy bank replied easily, allaying the cowboy’s concerns.

Donald took a curious peek into the house, which was full of tiny furniture in a pleasant enough living space—except…

“Gwawak!” he cried. A female doll with pretty blue hair in a black dress was staring right at him through a window on the other side of the house.

“She’s back! That’s the doll who pigpenned me!” Hamm yelped as the Angelic Amber doll that had been transformed into a Heartless loomed over them.

Hamm and Rex ran to hide beside some other toys.

“One stay in the dread-and-breakfast was enough for me!”

“I’ve had enough of this!”

Buzz made sure they got away, then trained his laser on Angelic Amber. “Not another possessed toy…,” he muttered softly as fired a beam. The doll’s hair stood on end, and her eyes flashed.

“Y-yikes!” Sora squeaked as he joined the fray with his Keyblade in hand.

Angelic Amber shuffled across the floor and flung herself at them.

“Don’t take another step!”

Buzz fired his laser, and Donald followed up with a barrage of magic while she was stunned. Meanwhile, Sora sprang off Goofy’s shield and slammed his Keyblade down onto the doll’s head.

There was a short pause, and then Angelic Amber fell still.

“…Did we get her?” Donald said as he edged warily up to the doll.

Goofy was right behind him. “Looks like it, a-hyuck!”

But suddenly, Angelic Amber sprang into motion again.

“This has gone far enough!” Buzz shouted. He extended the wings on his backpack and flew into the air, firing off a volley of laser beams. Finally, Angelic Amber crumpled to the floor. He walked somberly over to the doll; she had to be down for the count now. “What if we end up just like her? Forgetting ourselves and…attacking each other?”

Sora placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “No way, Buzz. That won’t happen.”

“You can’t be sure! What if I get taken over, then attack you?”

“Buzz, you’re overthinking it.” Woody tried to console his friend, but Buzz only shook his head.

“Yeah,” Sora agreed. “The Heartless—the darkness—can only creep in when our hearts falter. Trust me. You’ll be fine if you don’t lose heart.”

If he knows how the Heartless work, then a guy like Buzz has nothing to worry about, thought Sora.

Woody knew Buzz better than anyone, and he felt the same way. “Well, that’s good. Because I know you, Buzz. You’ll never lose heart when it comes to your friends.”

Woody’s reassurance finally sank in, and Buzz’s expression softened somewhat.

“True enough, cowboy. Sorry to have worried you all.”

“Now, let’s go find the others.”

“It’s going to be dangerous, so you guys head back to the main hall,” Buzz said gently to Hamm. Rex was probably already there.

With that, Sora and crew headed for the babies and toddlers section, where they saved the little green men from getting abducted by a UFO.

“Fear not.”

“We still have our new home.”

“The Chamber of Andy.”

With that, the aliens headed to the exit.

“They’re right. This isn’t where we belong. We’ve been in this toy store long enough. It’s time for us to go home to Andy’s room,” Buzz agreed. It was a reasonable conclusion to make, in Sora’s opinion, considering everything this toy store had put them through. But it wasn’t enough.

“But…Xehanort told us that isn’t even his real room,” Sora reminded Buzz.

The space ranger turned his back and started trudging away. “Can you prove that any of that nonsense is true? And even if that Andy’s room is fake, it doesn’t mean he’s not somewhere in this world with us. I’m going home to wait for him. No more debate.” Woody shook his head slowly, and Buzz turned to him. If anyone could see where he was coming from, it was his friend. “You with me, Woody?”

“Hmm…” The cowboy thought for a moment longer while Buzz headed back to the entrance.

“You’re right, Buzz.” He smiled at Sora. “Now that we’re all accounted for, we should meet up at the entrance and go home.”

Sora was disappointed at first, but he soon smiled back. “Okay. We could have used friends like you in the final showdown…”

“But Organization XIII is our problem to solve,” Goofy added, tacitly letting them know he understood.

Donald did the same with a characteristic boast. “Yeah, I can take ’em!”

And of course, Sora had to add his own two cents. “I’m not so sure about that…”

“I’ll show ya!” Donald shouted as he took the bait and chased after Sora. Even Woody and Buzz were getting used to the routine by this point.

Once they were back at the entrance, they did a roll call to make sure everyone was accounted for. Hamm, the aliens, and the army men were all there, but…

Woody paused to think. “Wait. Where’s Rex?”

The dinosaur should have come back here earlier, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Aw, he took off,” Hamm explained unhappily. “Said he wanted to prove to you he could trust Sora. He’s up there by the video games.”

Buzz couldn’t believe it. “Well, here we go again.”

“He’s not safe,” said Sora. “The Heartless are out there.”

Rex had mistaken Sora and his friends as heroes from a video game, but he had still put himself in danger just to prove they were trustworthy to Woody and Buzz. The cowboy and space ranger looked at each other.

“You’re right. Sora, Donald, Goofy… Any chance you could help us one last time?” Woody asked.

“Sure!” Sora chirped.

Woody’s face lit up. “Thanks, guys…”

He was just as happy as Sora had been to have friends he could count on. Buzz likely felt the same way.

“Let’s go!”

Woody turned to Buzz, who responded with a nod and a wave.

In the video game section on the third floor, they found Rex rummaging around for something, completely oblivious to the worry he had caused.

“Look! Look! I found it!” He dropped down from a shelf in the Verum Rex display and shoved a copy in Sora’s face. “See, Sora?” The cover art portrayed a young man with silver hair.

Sora noticed a giant Verum Rex standee on the sales floor, too.

“Well, I never look this good. The clothes kinda match,” Sora commented as he inspected the hero on the box. They both had checkers, and maybe they slightly resembled each other—but if anything, this guy looked like…

“See? I told ya, Buzz… They’re toys, just like the rest of us,” said Woody as he looked up at one of the displays. The space ranger crossed his arms and nodded.

Meanwhile, Sora and Donald were whispering to each other. “Donald, I thought your magic decided how I look. Explain.”

“Simple. That’s not you.”

“Say, doesn’t he remind you of Riku?”

Donald and Goofy said exactly what Sora had been thinking—the character on the box reminded him a little of Riku. Not just his hair color, but his whole vibe.

“Must be him!” Donald cackled.

Sora couldn’t let the taunt go unanswered. “No! I’ve got the black clothes and, uh…”

“So what?”

“All right, everyone. Now that we’re back together, it’s time to return to Andy’s room,” Buzz said wearily as he watched Sora and Donald arguing again out of the corner of his eye.

“Now? But can’t I at least check the strategy guides? I want to know how to beat Bahamut!”

Rex was engrossed in the magazines.

“Next time. Right now, we need to go home.” Buzz patted the dinosaur on the snout before walking off.

Disappointed, Rex returned the magazine to the shelf.

But then a familiar voice brought everyone to a halt. “Oh, but you needn’t rush off.” It was young Xehanort. “I have more to observe. I can’t let you leave yet.” He chuckled.

“If it’s us you really want, leave the others out of this.”

Sora had his Keyblade out for a fight, but young Xehanort was still laughing. “You would say that, champion of light. Very well, let’s skip to the final stage.”

A second later, a Heartless snuck up on Buzz from behind—a Heartless shaped like a marionette—and wrapped him in shadows. The strength drained from Buzz and left him lifeless and limp, just like a puppet. As his eyes reopened, he raised his right arm and aimed his laser right at Woody’s forehead.

“C’mon, Buzz. Quit fooling around.”

Buzz fired.

“Look out!” Goofy shouted, just barely intercepting the blast with his shield.

“I can’t believe it! Buzz has been taken over?”

The cowboy stepped weakly toward his friend, but Buzz only fired again. Goofy deflected that blast, too.

“What did you do to him?!” Sora yelled as he rushed at young Xehanort, his Keyblade ready to strike.

“I thought I made it clear. I am testing the strength of their bonds.” He avoided Sora’s swift downward slash with a quick step back. “In this world, toys have hearts. And those hearts come from a powerful bond. So what happens when those bonds are stretched to their limit? When they are worlds apart, can cloth and plastic hold on to their hearts?”

Sora couldn’t land a hit; as soon as he swung, the silver-haired boy would blink away and reappear somewhere else.

Meanwhile, the young Xehanort continued his monologue. “All I needed was a wedge to widen the divide—someone like you to fill them with distrust and doubt. And that chasm you created can be filled with a vast darkness. Witness it for yourself.”

Sora held his Keyblade ready for anything, glaring furiously.

“Sora!”

Donald and Rex were trying their hardest to stop Buzz, while Goofy protected Woody from the laser blasts behind his shield.

“On my way!”

Sora was about to hurry over when young Xehanort seized him by the arm and lifted him into the air.

“Not this time!” he snarled. He slammed a glowing red orb into Sora’s chest and sent him flying.

Sora was launched all the way into a world like nothing he’d ever seen before. He was on something that resembled the roof of a factory, surrounded by a metal fence, and there were more buildings nearby.

“Haven’t you heard? In this world, you come from a video game. So now, you can watch my experiment from inside that screen. That is…if you manage to find a moment’s rest.” With that, young Xehanort vanished.

Sora was inside the game Verum Rex, and several Gigas mechs were coming his way.

“Uh-oh!” I have to get out of here quick and help Buzz and Woody!

Sora charged over to one of Gigas and hit it with his Keyblade until it stopped attacking. He climbed aboard, then used it to take down the others. He was starting to panic a little.

C’mon— Can’t this go any faster?!

Woody and Buzz trust each other. They have such a strong bond, just like me with all my friends. The Organization doesn’t get to do whatever they want to them, or any of the other toys here. I won’t let them.

Just when Sora was losing track of how long he had been here and how many Gigas he had defeated, the last mech went down, and the game spit him out.

“Sora!”

Woody, Donald, and Goofy were there to greet him.

“Wait… Where’s Buzz?” Sora asked.

“He disappeared into a dark corridor.”

…And of course, that dark corridor was already long gone. Sora didn’t have the ability to open his own, either.

What do we do now?

That was when a small green sergeant spoke up. “Well, it might be a long shot, but we saw a shadowy portal in the Kid Korral.”

“Sarge, you’re a lifesaver!” Woody exclaimed.

In light of the danger, they decided to send all the toys to the entrance except for Woody, who would accompany Sora and his team to the Kid Korral.

Sure enough, they found an open dark portal inside of a vent.

“Here goes.”

At Sora’s signal, the four of them stepped through.

Buzz was floating in the center of a murky black haze, and young Xehanort was standing directly in their way.

“What do you want with my friend?” Woody asked.

“Look… Such tremendous darkness. All because he was ripped away from the boy who cares about him most.” The young Xehanort looked back at the darkness rising up behind Buzz.

“Does that mean…we’ll all be like Buzz…if we don’t…find Andy?”

But before Woody could doubt any further, Sora stepped in. “Wrong! Distance doesn’t matter. Andy’s part of their hearts, just like my friends are part of mine.”

“Yeah!” Donald and Goofy agreed fiercely.

“You can’t rip that apart!” Sora got his Keyblade ready for action.

Woody looked at the name on the bottom of his shoe, remembering what it meant. Sora was right.

“What? Your friends are your power? Ah… How very true. But if the light of friendship is a form of power…the darkness of being alone is a power…even greater.” The darkness wove in on itself, layer upon layer like fabric, and at its center, young Xehanort stood. His eyes shone with conviction as he gazed up into the shadowy column. “Darkness is the heart’s true nature.”

Sora faltered momentarily, but he soon felt an encouraging hand on his shoulder as Woody stepped forward, coolly confronting the darkness and its lies.

“Whatever you’re talking about, I don’t care. Put Buzz back the way he was, then get lost!”

“Or else what, toy?”

“Yeah, I am a toy. And a friend. My guess is no one’s ever loved you before. Because you know nothing about hearts and love.”

With each step Woody took toward young Xehanort, light spread from his feet.

Sora came to stand beside him. “There are hearts all around us, trying to connect. Your loneliness only made Woody and Buzz’s connection stronger. That’s the heart’s true nature—to never ever let go. Wherever they are, Andy and the other toys haven’t let go, either.”

“Yeah! You can’t keep us from Andy.”

The darkness around them was rolling away.

“We’re going home no matter what. And taking Buzz!” Woody continued.

“Xehanort, you’re so caught up in finding the shadows, that you forgot about the light that cast them.”

The words, their willpower, became a ring of pure light dispelling the darkness young Xehanort had summoned. Xehanort recoiled as the light took shape and flew to Buzz.

“No!”

Sora, Goofy, and Donald took advantage of the distraction to attack. Xehanort managed to block their blows, but he was now trapped in place.

“Woody, now!” Sora shouted.

Woody jumped into the air and threw the pull string attached to his back like a lasso at a piece of wood hovering behind Buzz. The ring hooked firmly on to the block, and Woody swung over to his friend. Once he had hold of Buzz, the two of them dropped to the ground together.

A voice came from Woody’s back as the impromptu lasso wound itself back. “Giddy-up, partner! We gotta get this wagon train a-movin’!” It was one of his features as a toy.

The voice brought Buzz back to his senses.

“Woody… Wait, how did I get here?”

“Oh, I don’t know! Maybe somebody switched you into ‘dark and stormy’ mode.”

“But I don’t have a—” Buzz was about to rise to Woody’s little jab—then stopped and coughed instead. Woody offered a hand, and Buzz took it. “Thank you, Woody.”

“Good to have you back, Buzz.”

The two friends shared a smile.

Meanwhile…

“Hey, hurry up!”

“We can’t hold him much longer!”

“Don’t give up, guys!”

Donald, Goofy, and Sora were struggling to hold back young Xehanort, and they were already getting tired. It wasn’t long before the silver-haired boy managed to fling them back away from him.

“So, even empty puppets can be given strong hearts. I am going to have to remember that.” Young Xehanort turned to face Woody and Buzz.

The two toys were unfazed by his condescending tone. “Remember this—our hearts will always be connected to Andy’s. No matter what you do!”

“And that’s something you’ll never understand, because you’re hollower than a toy.”

Young Xehanort laughed. “But now I know a heart can be placed in the vessel of our choosing. For that, let me give you a parting gift to play with.” With that, he melted away into the darkness.

“Wait!”

Sora chased him down and lashed out with his Keyblade, but young Xehanort was already no more than a vision. The momentum of Sora’s blow carried him right through his translucent foe.

Just before he vanished entirely, Xehanort whispered something into Sora’s ear:

Find the hearts joined to yours.

“Huh?” Sora said instinctively. The darkness was rising up into the ceiling, revealing a miniature version of the town where Woody and the toys lived, except that there was a disc-shaped Heartless—King of Toys—smack-dab in the middle of it. We’re still in another dimension! Everyone got ready for a fight.

“Here it comes!”

Fierce winds caught the buildings and carried them upward into a great clear sky. Sora and his friends tried to fight it from the ground, but the great Heartless flew through the air beyond the reach of their attacks, and to make matters worse, the winds it created as it whirled around the battlefield made everything rise off the ground.

“Sora! This way!” Woody called, and Sora jumped up onto some airborne blocks after him.

“We’ll cover you from below!” Buzz shouted as he fired a succession of laser blasts to hamper the King of Toys, while Donald and Goofy held on to him so he didn’t blow away. Sora jumped higher and higher up the toy blocks until he finally arrived on the disc-shaped body of his opponent.

You won’t get away now.

Sora hammered the core of the Heartless with his Keyblade. With a thunderous crash, King of Toys fell still, then vanished in a burst of light.

Once the battle was over, they found themselves back in the hall of Galaxy Toys.

“Xehanort got away again.”

“Yeah, he’s a big chicken.”

Goofy and Donald were upset, but Sora appeared more dejected than anything.

“I’m sorry! I wanted to get you back to the real world,” he said apologetically to Woody and the other toys, hanging his head. Donald and Goofy watched him in surprise.

“It does seem that we’re trapped here,” said Buzz.

“We’ll never get home,” added Rex.

“Yeah, stuck like pigs,” Hamm quipped.

“Our position appears fixed,” said the sarge.

“Oh nooo,” the aliens cried.

Still, there was a certain cheerfulness in their voices.

Buzz walked up to the downcast boy. “A shame we’ll have to stay a little longer…with our new best friends.”

“Huh?”

Sora looked up and realized they were all smiling.

“After all the adventures we’ve had, we’re not quite ready to say so long.” Woody rested an elbow on Sora’s shoulder and tipped up the brim of his cowboy hat.

“I’m sorry that I was being so stubborn. Please forgive me.” Buzz held out his hand to Sora.

“Hey, you were just looking out for your friends,” Sora said, shaking his head and grasping Buzz’s hand. “No biggie.”

“Yeah, somebody’s gotta be the sensible one, especially since Woody’s always gettin’ in trouble,” Hamm agreed, helping out his friend with a bit of humor.

“Gawrsh, that sounds a little like Sora, don’t it?”

Sora and Woody glanced at each other as Donald immediately declared, “Yeah, and I’m the dependable one!”

“Like Buzz! …Kinda,” Rex said uncertainly, which made everyone smile even more.

“Besides, if we go back to the real world, we’ll never see you again, right?” Woody asked.

“But…what about Andy?” Sora asked, starting to worry again. “You care about him so much.”

It was Andy’s love that had given all the toys hearts, so of course they wanted to get back to the real world, where he was, as soon as they could.

“And he’s still right here with us,” Buzz said with conviction.

“If we follow our hearts, we’ll find him again,” Woody added.

Sora could agree with that.

Oh— It doesn’t matter who you are or where, as long as you’re connected.

“So, Sora, are you goin’ after that guy in the black coat?”

Organization XIII had caused so much trouble for Woody and the toys; their plans had to be stopped before they did something awful to more worlds and more people like his friends.

“Something tells me we can’t join you on that mission,” said Buzz in an understanding tone. Woody stopped and turned back, pointing at Sora’s chest. “That’s okay…because you’ve become part of our hearts.”

Buzz, Rex, Hamm, the army men, and the aliens all stopped and turned around, too, reluctant to say good-bye to Sora, Goofy, and Donald. Woody said what they were all thinking: “So let us become a part of yours.”

“Thank you!” Sora replied, beaming.

“Now, off you go. To infinity and beyond!” Buzz declared, lifting his face to the sky. Right now, the open hall of the toy store felt like infinite space, holding them all together.

Back in the Ocean Between, onboard the Gummi Ship, Sora was thinking something over.

“Sora, what about the power of waking?” Donald asked.

“You had to remind me,” he answered with a groan.

“Well, gawrsh, we just wanna help keep ya motivated,” Goofy pointed out. Of course they were worried.

Sora sighed and told them what had been on his mind: “I was thinking about Roxas. He’s trapped here in my heart. But…he needs a body to be himself again.”

We learned that toys can have a heart, but what can we do for someone who’s just a heart?

“Aw, don’t worry. Ienzo’s workin’ on a way to get him free. I’ll betcha he’s got the perfect body all lined up,” said Goofy as Jiminy jumped out of Sora’s hood.

“You’ve got the Gummiphone, Sora. Why don’t ya try givin’ him a call?”

Sora followed Jiminy’s suggestion and pulled the Gummiphone out of his pocket. “Uhh, I guess so? Yeah, why not?”

After Jiminy showed him what buttons to press, someone appeared on the screen. But it wasn’t Ienzo.

“Oh! Hiya, Sora!”

It was the king, Mickey. As soon as they heard his voice, Donald and Goofy pushed their way into view.

“Your Majesty!”

“Hey! Wha…? Wrong number?” Sora asked, confused.

The camera moved to include Riku crouching beside him. “No, Riku and I are visiting Radiant Garden. Actually, we were just about to call you guys, but it looks like you beat us to the punch.”

“Sora, is something wrong?” Riku asked in concern.

Sora felt a little better seeing his friend’s face again, and he decided to run the question by him. “I wanted to pick your brain. In order for us to recomplete Roxas, he needs a body, right?”

“Yeah, to put his heart in…” Riku paused in thought for a bit, then said, “Replicas…”

“Huh?” Sora had never heard the word before. Or had he? He wasn’t sure.

“Well, Replicas are basically human.”

“Uh, what?” Sora asked again.

“Oh yeah… You wouldn’t remember. The previous Organization XIII developed realistic vessels to place hearts in, called Replicas. They’re so real, in fact, that you’d actually mistake them for people. And with hearts, the Replicas will become people.” The look in Riku’s eyes grew distant for a second, but Sora couldn’t guess what he was thinking.

“Cool, but if we get our hands on a Replica, will Roxas look like himself when he’s recompleted?”

“Yup. The Replica takes the form of the heart inside it.”

“That’s perfect!” Riku’s answer filled Sora with joy. All they had to do now was recover Roxas’s heart, and everything would work out.

Mickey was willing to pitch in, too. “I’ll talk to Ienzo. He was in the Organization back then, so he might know more.”

“Great. Thanks.”

Sora had found hope. Now, if I can just get back the power of waking!

Just then, all this talk of containers reminded him of something. “Wait… Do you guys think they’re after Replicas, too?” he asked Donald and Goofy.

“No, they definitely said ‘a black box,’” Goofy replied straightaway.

Now it was Riku’s turn to ask. “Who’s that?”

“The Organization and Maleficent,” Sora replied, then immediately gasped as he remembered too late that they had decided to keep this information a secret.

His two friends hurriedly pushed him out of the way.

“I guess we forgot to mention it.”

“Aw, it’s okay. But there’s something you should know about one of their members.”

Mickey began to tell them of the newly made Organization XIII—the true Organization XIII.

Xehanort was gathering thirteen seekers of darkness to counter the seven guardians of light, but some of the lights were missing. Even if they did find Aqua and Ventus, they still had no leads on Terra—except that his body was in Xehanort’s clutches as one of his vessels.

“So, let the rest of us worry about Roxas and Naminé for now,” Mickey finished. “You journey on, and keep an eye out for Terra.”

Once he was done, Donald and Goofy pushed Sora out of the way again.

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

“Stop that!” Sora snapped, shoving back and accidentally ending the call with a little blip.

“A vessel, huh…”

“Welp, at least it sounds like we’ll be able to do somethin’ for Roxas,” Goofy said quietly, his arms crossed.

Sora still felt hopeful, though. “We gotta help out Terra, too!”

“And don’t forget the power of waking!” his friends reminded him.

“Enough already, I get it!” Sora groaned with resignation.

I was so sure that just caring about other people and holding on to my friendships would be enough to get the power of waking back…but will it really?

The place, known as the Keyblade Graveyard, was filled with countless Keyblades jutting up from the ground like headstones. Among them were thirteen stone pillars. Saïx stood on top of one of them, while a man in a black coat stood on another.

“Humanity is a precious gift. And yet you wish to return to the Organization?” Saïx asked the man to his side.

“Oh yes…of course,” replied the other man. His voice was higher than Saïx’s. “One eradication at Axel’s hands was enough to learn where not to place my trust.”

“He gave you a second lease on life,” Saïx quietly disagreed.

The man gestured dramatically as he spoke. “He ripped me away from the one thing I care about. I don’t require humanity. Give me my research. I must see it to fruition, no matter the cost.”

“The Replicas,” Saïx practically whispered. The other man nodded and burst out into uncontrolled laughter.

“Yes. Soon they will replace, not just replicate. Given a heart, they can become just as real as any human.”

“What excellent tidings. I would hate to think we invited you back into our ranks only for you to fail to deliver our final vessel…Vexen.”

The other man removed his hood, revealing that he was indeed Vexen—the man who had once been known as Even, the faithful student.