A chill rolled up Riku's spine causing him to stiffen up. Although the darkened cloak he wore seemed to cover his entire body, it did little in helping shield him from the cold wind.

The Black Coat was similar one he'd once worn when working with DiZ, but the three fairies had emblazoned a large silver crown to the center of its back and two smaller ones towards each of the wrists. He was wearing a black headband around his forehead, above his eyes, that draped down his shoulder past his short hair.

'Strange' Riku thought to himself as he shivered slightly. 'You'd think an empty and broken world like this one would be void of any sort of motion at all.'

It'd been nearly a year since he'd last been to The World That Never Was. The last he'd seen it, the world was collapsing as Xemnas turned the Organization's castle into a mechanical monstrosity. Now, all that remained was the remnants of old buildings that had been split apart and thrown about (some by Riku himself) and an enormous, all-encompassing pool of swirling black and purple darkness.

The world felt barren, yet it still clung onto reality somehow. Riku was quite surprised to have even located the dark path that had led him there. According to Mickey, he and Sora had once taken the route.

Riku had been there for over an hour and still felt great unease. Despite the world lasting as long as it had, the world felt as though it could collapse any minute leaving Riku trapped in a void between worlds. However, he knew this may be their best chance.

A familiar noise of a dark corridor opening came from behind Riku and he slowly turned to see a mouse about a quarter his size step out. The mouse wore a Black Coat same as Riku. His coat was formed around his large ears that protruded from the top of his head, only allowing his eyes, nose and mouth to be visible.

Riku walked up to the mouse and kneeled, extending his hand out.

"Mickey, it's good to see that you made it safe."

Mickey shook Riku's hand and smiled.

"Thanks Riku! I was just about to say the same thing. Have you found the spot you mentioned?"

Riku turned and gazed out into the swirling abyss before them.

"To be honest, Xemnas was the one who dragged Sora and I to the void last time. I would be lying if I gave you a definite answer."

"But you found a clue to it, yes?" Mickey insisted.

"I did."

"Huh Ha. Well then, let's at least go take a look."

Riku smiled and nodded.

...

The two weaved in and out of the debris of black and white shattered buildings before them, slowly working their way towards what looked like a break in the rubble. They came upon a large expanse where everything had been pushed apart to form a large, nearly empty circle. In the middle lay an enormous heap of silver metal.

"Wow. So that's what Sora meant by a 'Huge Silver Dragon' huh."

"Yeah. It made quite a blast when it landed here by the looks of it."

The two of them strode up to the pile of broken parts. Riku bent over and picked up what looked to be a bunch of silver metal plates that were chained together to form a piece of shoulder armor. The top plates created a golden spiked crown and below it was a large, round sphere that was completely white. Riku turned and handed it to Mickey. "Guess he simply tossed it aside after using it."

Mickey looked the object over and turned to Riku. "But how did you find his armor so quickly? . . . You weren't here for too much longer than me, right?"

Riku lifted his hand tapped the side of his nose with his finger. "It wreaks of his scent. "

Mickey looked down and brought his hand to his chin. He pondered for a moment before looking up.

"If this smells of Xemnas, does that mean that Xehanort himself produces the same dark odor?"

"I am almost certain of it. This scent of darkness also matches the one given off by Xehanort's Heartless as well, from what I remember."

Mickey closed his eyes and tried sniffing the metal. After a few tries, he gave up and turned back to Riku. He shook his head and handed the armor back to Riku.

Riku grinned. "I guess your nose isn't so sensitive to that stuff anymore huh. Lucky."

Mickey smiled then looked back to the piece of armor Riku was holding. "We should take it with us. I've seen these on Aqua, Terra and Ven. They're durable and I'd prefer to keep it out of Xehanort's possession."

"I don't think it would matter much, but I agree. Rather us have it than others." Riku said as he unzipped his coat. He lifted one arm out of it's sleeve and began to attempt to fashion it to his shoulder.

"Here, let me help." Mickey said as he leapt onto Riku's other shoulder. The two struggled with it for a bit before the last straps of the armor clicked together. The armor shimmered for a few seconds and shifted into place around Riku's shoulder-blade on its own.

"Woah!" Riku was surprised how comfortable it felt. "I thought the Organization would have recrafted this to fit on Xemnas, but it isn't loose on me at all."

Mickey hopped off Riku landing with a small puff of black dust. Mickey bent over and brushed the dust off the bottom of his coat.

"Well Riku, you are older now you know. Maybe you haven't paid much attention to it, but you've grown greatly since you left the islands."

This made Riku shift uncomfortably. He stared blankly at the ground in front of him, thinking back to a time when Sora, Kairi and he once lived blissfully at Destiny Islands. Visions of the days they spent running up and down the beachside, climbing the trees of the island, and dreaming of a world beyond their own flashed in his mind. He let out a sigh.

Mickey noticed his friends dazed look and shuffled in front of him. He tilted his head down towards the ground where Riku was looking. Mickey's ears shifting back and forth as slid into Riku's line of sight. "You okay Riku?"

Riku snapped back to reality. "Sorry, just a little distracted that's all. You ready to start trying to find the path we took to the Dark Margin?"

"Yup!" Mickey stated. He returned to an upright position as Riku tucked his arm back into the sleeve of his coat. "If we are going to find a corridor anywhere, it's around this spot. After all, this is near the location of you confronted Xemnas."

Riku nodded. "At that time, there was a direct link that brought us to dark shores. It stands to reason an entrance to the darkness may still be around. Even if we locked the keyhole to this world on our way out."

"Locked a keyhole to a world that shouldn't exist?"

"Ya, something like that . . ."

...

'So what happens next Sora?'

'Please, don't call me that.'

'Stop fighting who you are and who you will be.'

'I'm not fighting what I am. I just don't want you referring to something I'm not.'

'Hmmm, have they finished preparations?'

'They extracted the rest of the inhabitants this morning, save the two of us.'

'Three*'

'Ya. You're right.'

'What do you think she wants with this place?'

'I don't know, but soon it won't matter what I think.'

'. . . Are . . . are you sure you're okay with this?'

'This is for those who need his help. I can't leave them continue to suffer.'

'But there could be another way! It doesn't have to be like this.'

'. . . It's not something I can explain. It's what I've experienced. There's no other way.'

'. . . I'll miss these shores.'

'They can always make a new one for you.'

'. . . But not one with you in it . . ."

...

Mickey's ears twitched as he perked up listening to the howl of the wind. Riku stood close by, leaning against the nearby building debris with his arms crossed and eyes closed. They had been searching around the edge of the expanse for what felt like hours, but had found no traces of a corridor that could bring them to the Realm of Darkness.

Mickey strode up to Riku and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'm not sure."

"I feel like if what we were looking for was near here, we would have found it by now." Riku sighed.

"I agree Riku, but I am going to stick to something Master Yensid once told me."

Raising an eyebrow, Riku looked at Mickey suspiciously. "And . . . what might that be?"

Mickey chuckled and said, "Patience is a virtue."

"Well, good thing we are on this mission then and not Sora, huh." Riku retorted causing the both of them to begin laughing.

Suddenly, a portion of the large pile of leftover Dragon parts shifted and collapsed inward revealing a large dark portal nearly twenty feet tall. This caused a loud clatter of metal scraping together.

Mickey and Riku both reacted to the noise spinning around and summoning their keyblades. Mickey, seeing no immediate threat, dismissed his weapon. Excited, he turned to Riku. "Wow! That was quick. Huh ha. Let's go!" He turned and began jogging towards the dark portal.

"Wait!" Riku felt that something was wrong. 'This corridor's entrance is nearly four times larger than usual. Nobody I've ever known would expend the energy to open a portal so large. So why would something like that appear so suddenly?' Keeping his weapon drawn, Riku ran after Mickey on his guard.

The wind picked up as the two neared the center of the open expanse where the enormous pile of mechanical dragon pieces lay. Riku smelt a dark, pungent odor emanating from the portal before them. As they closed in, the entrance stirred and a large dark figure shrouded in darkness erupted from the portal. The giant figure came out sprinting on all fours and charged Mickey and Riku.

Mickey reeled back in shock, but Riku reacted quickly and dove into Mickey, knocking the both of them aside of the charging beast. The two landed with a thud as the dark figure whipped past them, creating a vortex of wind behind it. The two had to grip the ground below them tightly as to not be sucked back.

"Woah! What is that!?"

"I don't know!" Riku had to shout over the wind whipping past them. "Whatever it is, I don't think it's friendly!"

The figure spun around to a stop before hitting any of the debris at the borders of the expanse. It saw the two keyblade masters on the ground unharmed and roared with distaste. Both tried to cover their ears to block out the deafening noise. Mickey, however, couldn't properly cover his ears. His eyes grew tired and he began to sway slightly before closing his eyes and passing out.

'Ut oh!' Riku thought as he noticed his friend's condition. "Mickey! You have to wake up!"

The figure clawed at the ground several times before charging again. Riku rose to his feet and grabbed Mickey. Just as the figure closed in, Riku leapt high into the air.

"Wind!" As Riku casted the spell, the figure flew past below him. However, on its way by, it raised its head and what looked like a horn smashed into the back of Riku's leg. The blow was enough to send Riku into a spiral, causing him to let go of Mickey. His momentum slowed quickly though and Riku regained his balance in the air just as he landed. He stumbled back from the blow to his leg but quickly casted Curaga to try to heal the wound.

The wind spell hit its mark, engulfing the figure in a blast of air. Strong as the blast was, it did not slow the figure. However, it did knock the unknown beast off course causing it to miss the pile of parts in the center of the expanse. The spell stripped the figure of the dark shroud surrounding it, revealing its true stature.

Across the expanse stood a large, bull-like creature about twenty feet tall at the ridge of its back. Its skin was black except for the two red lines that started from the bull's ears and followed along the bull's back to the tip of its tail. Its eyes we completely yellow and on its chest was a red symbol.

...

'A heartless. I knew it.' Riku thought. 'Ugh. Even after a curaga spell, my leg has not fully healed.'

The bull once again roared and clawed at the ground with its hooves, its eyes fixed on Riku. It reared back and charged once more.

'Tgh. If I try to jump, it will certainly clip me again. Magic hardly worked on it before. What to do?'

The bull picked up speed. Its head thrashed about in a mad fury.

Riku turned to see where Mickey had landed and saw he was nearly sixty feet behind him, still unconscious.

'I can't use reflect. The spell is curved and will cause this thing to just crash off the top or sides and probably trample Mickey."

Darkness began to swell in the expanse as the bull drew near.

'No time. I am just going to need to stop this the old fashion way. Slowing its momentum to a halt.'

"Force!" Riku yelled, casting the spell Graviga in an attempt to lower the bull's head to his level. It worked, bringing the bull's head closer to the ground, but not diminishing its speed. Riku turned the Road to Dawn vertically, gripping the hilt and placing his palm at the opposite end of the flattened blade. The bull continued to roar.

"Yaahhhhh!" Riku shouted as bull's forehead collided with the middle of his keyblade with a loud crash. Riku's feet dragged across the ground as he was being carried by the bull's momentum. With all his strength, Riku dug his feet into the ground below him, slowing the bull bit by bit.

The two continued towards the unconscious Mickey. Riku struggled, trying to slow the heartless in time.

'This should be enough.' Riku thought. "Stop!"

The spell of time's faded clock appeared in front of Riku over the bull's forehead causing the entire beast to freeze in place instantly. Riku's momentum continued to carry him back, upper body first. To compensate, he flipped backwards and landed on his two feet, wincing at the pain.

'Now's my chance!' Riku's blade darkened and began to leak a dark fluid. "It's over!"

Riku's jumped forward at blinding speed and cut through the heartless in one strike. Darkness poured from the side of the bull as the time spell's effect wore off. It collapsed giving one last grunt before disappearing into nothing but a dark mist that dissipated quickly and a large pink heart that disappeared into the dark sky above.

...

The dark aura falling from Riku's blade slowly disappeared, but Riku did not dismiss his blade. He stood, staring at the black corridor intensely. His adrenaline eventually slowed and the pain of his leg injury returned, causing him to wince and fall to one knee.

'That was close.' Riku thought to himself. He turned to see Mickey, still lying still. "Mickey."

Riku ran up beside the mouse and casted Curaga. The green aura briefly surrounded Mickey, healing the physical damage to his inner ears. Mickey's nose twitched and his eyes opened slightly. Riku relaxed and dismissed his keyblade, slumping to the ground next to Mickey.

"Wha . . . what happened?" Mickey asked.

"First, take this. Then we can talk." Riku handed Mickey a potion which Mickey drank quickly, reviving his senses of the world around him. Riku also drank a potion helping to subside most of the pain, but he still ached slightly.

Riku unzipped the bottom of his coat to better access his leg, which he began smoothly massaging. Mickey's eyes fluttered from Riku to the dark corridor ahead and back.

"Are you okay Riku?"

"No worries, it just nicked my leg that's all."

Mickey frowned, knowing Riku was probably lying to him, but decided to trust in his friend's words. "So, what was that thing?"

"A heartless, and a big one at that."

"It came out of that portal, didn't it?"

"That is correct." Riku got up and re-zipped his coat. "And I don't think that big heartless came here by accident."

Mickey tilted his head. "Why do you think that?"

Turning back to the Mickey, Riku motioned to the corridor. Confused, Mickey pointed to his nose but Riku shook his head.

"Much simpler than that. Look at the size of the portal. Who would exhaust the energy to open such a large path. It must have come through of its own accord."

"So why does that matter? Is it a problem that a larger heartless would come here?"

Riku looked at Micke, the teen's light blue eyes fixated on Mickey's dark pupils.

"Mickey . . . we locked the keyhole to this world. . ."

...

'Their fate is inevitable . . . The battle draws near despite the efforts of the light . . . The worlds will drown in darkness and the final lights will be snuffed out . . . The efforts to extend the age of separation has failed . . . You will return soon, my Master . . . And the one who hosts you will set you free.'

...

"I don't get it though. What's so unorthodox about that?" Mickey asked.

"Why would a larger heartless expend so much effort to come here if the world's heart was sealed away. It feels like strange behavior."

"So, what are you implying?"

Riku closed his eyes for a moment and then shrugged. "I know it's the worst-case scenario, but maybe the keyhole was somehow unlocked and is drawing Heartless back to this world."

Mickey began to rub his chin. "I've never considered that. I just always thought that once the keyhole was locked, it was shut away for good."

"There was nothing about this in Xehanort's research we found at Hollow Bastion either." Riku knelt and extended his arm out, grabbing Mickey's shoulder. "Look, I know this just an idea, but something here is definitely wrong."

Mickey's face turned to one of worry. "So, what do you think we should do? If this were to be true and could happen in the other worlds, everyone would be in danger again!"

"Concerned about the safety of our friends back home?"

Mickey sighed. "I know Minnie and the others can handle themselves, but knowing that they still could be in danger is always unnerving. Especially now that they won't be expecting it."

Riku close his eyes took a deep breath, inhaling the cold air around him. A breeze blew portions of his hair across his face, partially covering his eyes. He stood up and turned from Mickey.

"You should go back and warn Master Yensid and the others. The worlds need to be ready if there's a new threat besides Xehanort."

"And what about you then, Riku?"

"Aqua is still trapped in the Realm of Darkness and this corridor likely leads there. A path was set before me, and I will continue on it." Turning back, Riku grinned and gave his chest a small bump with the side of his fist.

Mickey shifted uncomfortably. "I don't know Riku. The Realm of Darkness is a difficult place to navigate. Perhaps it would be better for me to go."

Riku shook his head but smiled. He knew he could always rely on his faithful friend Mickey. "Just trust me, it would be safer for me to confront the darkness. You now walk the path of light Mickey. Allow a wanderer along the road to dawn to handle this."

Doubt crept into the back of Mickey's mind. Images of Riku in Xehanort's Heartless' form flashed in his mind. His ears sunk as he gazed at the ground. But then, he looked up and smiled.

"Okay. I know you'll do great, pal."

"Thanks Mickey. This is goodbye for now. Until we see each other again, 'may your heart be your guiding key'."

Mickey bowed and repeated the statement as he watched Riku walk up to the dark corridor, stopping at the entrance. The dark portal swelled before him, emanating a malicious black odor that spiked Riku's senses into high alert. He turned back to Mickey who was still staring at Riku. Riku gave him a thumbs-up and turned to the door that lay before him. Then, alone, Riku stepped through the portal into the Realm of Darkness.