Author's Note: Once again, I feel obliged to make this note here at the beginning of Part II in order to say hello again and give you some things to think about as well as welcome all of you who came back, back. I feel it will be necessary to start this story with a synopsis so as to better understand what is going on here and now. But first consider this:

As you read this story I would like for all of you to think about what it means to be a hero. What makes a man a hero? Is it being a man that makes a hero? Or is it the hero that makes the man? Are we all capable of doing such deeds so as to become a hero sometime in the future? Ultimately the questions will become this: what is a hero? And is Gentai a hero…or Sora…or Riku…even Kairi? We will explore this as Part II of the second story of The Existence Trilogy begins.

DISCLAIMER: No, I don't own Kingdom Hearts but for many things that follow I kind of do own.

Synopsis

For the Mighty who have Fallen

For the Fallen who would be Mighty

And for those of us who would be Heroes in our Hearts

If not in our Homes and Heads

This is for Them

In the unwritten portion of The Existence Trilogy, prior to its events Gentai Tanaka is a boy living in the world of Agradar, six years following the events of Kingdom Hearts II. One day, as he goes to apologize to an old man on behalf of his friend he receives the mysterious Keyblade to aid him in battle. After passing out from a fight against Heartless the old man, more properly known as Hikaru, takes him in and begins to train him. Soon after this, he and Hikaru leave for Twilight Town where Gentai gains new clothes, meets new friends in Hayner, Pence and Olette, explores the Old Mansion, and eventually seals the Keyhole for the world. Meanwhile, Sora, Riku, and Kairi have set out on the quest to take on what seems to be a leftover member from Organization XIII. During this time, Gentai and Hikaru have defended Kuzcotopia from the reign of Yzma who attempted to bring Gentai into Maleficent for use of his power. Shortly after this victory however, Gentai and Hikaru are flung to opposite worlds by the black robed man.

Gentai awakens to find himself in Agrabah where he quickly gets to know Aladdin. Very quickly he is entangled with the forty thieves and learns of Salouk's involvement with Maleficent. It is around the time of Agrabah's re-sealing, thanks to Maleficent's plan to re-open the Keyholes, that Sora is kidnapped for an unknown reason. Soon Gentai learns that the memories he receives from the Keyholes are visions of the Keyblade Masters who had been there and he also finds a way to use this to his advantage before teaming up with Hikaru and heading for the Land of Dragons. Upon a mission there the duo learn that Maleficent and the black robed man are in fact competing in interest over Gentai but neither are successful. Regardless, the two move on to Olympus Coliseum.

Here they meet Auron and Hercules and eventually help to ruin Hades plan to take over the cosmos. Zeus offers to make Gentai a hero but Gentai wishes that he would like to figure it out for himself. Zeus agrees and they leave for Disney Castle. Due to a mistake on Gentai's part at the castle some problems arise and with the absence of the king, who is searching for Sora, Gentai cleans up the mess. Following this they head for Destiny Islands where Gentai seals the Keyhole. En route to Radiant Garden they are attacked by a Gummi Ship and are forced to crash-land in the Marketplace. Gentai is arrested while Hikaru talks with Leon but he soon escapes, finding his own way to Villain's Vale where he faces off against the inept Pete. Eventually the others find him but instead of arresting him they allow him to seal the Keyhole until an army attacks. During the battle, the Organization member is revealed to be Zexion, whose body reformed itself when the Riku Replica was destroyed. Knowing this, the duo leaves.

Unfortunately, after this, they are both captured by Captain Hook who takes Gentai to the World That Never Was where Gentai refuses Maleficent's offer before returning to the Jolly Roger and helping Pan do a bit of work on Hook. The duo escape for another day and seal many more Keyholes in the Hawaiian Islands, Monstropolis, and Atlantis. Following these adventures they are attacked once more by Radiant Garden. Here, however, they meet up with Riku and Kairi who are looking for Sora. The two join them and here many facts are revealed: Hikaru reveals that Gentai's heart is the only male heart with no darkness, and Hikaru is son to Ansem the Wise and Kairi's brother. Armed with this knowledge the three head for Port Royal where things take a turn for the worse. Davy Jones, who was working with Maleficent came under control of Beckett who was working for Zexion. After everyone rescued Jack Sparrow from the locker they soon went into battle after a meeting with the Brethren Court. During the battle the four companions battle alongside Maleficent and ends Zexion's plans for this world.

Once they set out from Port Royal however they are attacked by a ship and land on the Vanishing Planet. Here they find and very quickly after free Sora before they are attacked by Zexion. Gentai is jettisoned far from the group and is forced to do battle with, and kill, his old best friend Tom, who is working for Zexion. He quickly returns to where the others are battling and learns at the last possible moment that Hikaru is in fact a Keyblade wielder himself. Soon after this he passes and Gentai flies into a rage against Zexion. Zexion is able to lightly fling him aside and proceed to exact his revenge on Riku but Sora gets in the way. Gentai once ore attacks Zexion and though he fails in beating him to death it appears that Gentai's strength of heart managed to somehow give Zexion a heart and thereby destroys him. Sora dies soon after that and Gentai blames himself for the death of the beloved Keyblade Master.

Following directly after this in Lineage of the Key, Terra, a knight wielding the Keyblade is planning an attack on all the worlds. Upon sensing Sora's death he proceeds to make his way to Radiant Garden. Little known to his crew aboard the AWRG Class Gummi Ship Unbirth, Terra has been having strange visions about his past life from right before he turned to the darkness. Meanwhile, Kairi, Riku, and Gentai have returned to Destiny Islands in order to give Sora a proper funeral. On the morning of the funeral, Gentai heads over to Sora's house and bumps into a delivery girl by the name of Demora Suwara. Gentai finds himself immediately attracted to her but after she departs he convinces himself of having no relationships. He heads into Sora's house and here finds that before this whole fiasco, Sora had been planning on marrying Kairi. He takes the engagement ring and decides to hold on to it. Following this, at Sora's funeral Gentai pays his respects to the Keyblade Master before getting a sense of danger on the horizon.

These feelings prove true enough when Terra launches a small attack on radiant Garden, destroying Villain's Vale without a trace. He then makes a demand to Leon and the others on the Restoration Committee to make no resistance of any sort while they wait for the wielders of the Keyblade arrive. And arrive they do, only to be captured aboard the Unbirth. Here, Riku, Kairi, and Gentai are led to Terra who is planning on razing the worlds with an army of Keyblade wielders…but he needs a general to do so. His reason: to purge the land of Xehanort's darkness that infested it long ago. The general he chooses is Sora who he reveals has a way of coming back. When a Keyblade Master is killed before their time their soul resides in their Keyblade in Sunset Horizons, ready to be released by a fellow Keyblade wielder. Thus, does Terra send Gentai on the mission to find Sunset Horizons where he could not. Soon after Gentai's departure, Terra throws both Riku and Kairi into the brig.

Gentai flies to Destiny Islands where Terra had stayed for so many years watching over Sora and Kairi before he had left 11 years prior to these events to steal the ship he occupies. There he meets up with Demora once again and she leads him to Mount Destiny where they obtain a valuable clue that leads them to Twilight Town. Meanwhile, aboard the Unbirth Terra has been following Gentai though he promised Gentai he would not. More of his past is revealed slightly which is causing his heart to slowly deteriorate due to the darkness. At the same time as this, Riku and Kairi both have disturbing, and possibly prophetic, dreams in the brig. Riku's consists of a castle decorated in blue with red eyes staring at him from the darkness and a voice that says "I didn't think you'd come, Riku." Riku is unable to identify whose voice it is before he sees Kairi's terrible dream fit and goes to her side. As it were, Kairi's vision consisted of a dead and lifeless Destiny Islands with thick mist swirling around the corpses and dead bodies and red-eyed creatures sucking in the mist that surrounds them. In order to comfort Kairi, Riku tells a story of his time with Ansem the Wise.

Gentai has now arrived at twilight Town where he meets with Hayner, Pence and Olette who go with him to the computer room in the Old Mansion in order to find a way to get to Sunset Horizons. During his stay there he finds a book and learns about the history of the Keyblade Masters as well as the Keychains that are on their Keyblades. Shortly after this, he and Demora are attacked by Nobodies. They manage to hold them off long enough to transport to Sunset Horizons. After a small bit of trudging through the desert there they find the crossroads of Keyblades and fallen warriors. As Gentai is about to release Sora, however, Terra appears and reveals that Demora has betrayed him on threat of her parents' lives, who are now dead anyway. Upon this threat Gentai works with Kairi to bring Sora back to life. Sora refuses Terra's proposition and Terra traps the three in a web of light before resurrecting his army and taking Riku and Demora as collateral hostages. Gentai slumps down, angry that everything is his fault.

At this time, Terra appears back in Radiant Garden and launches his war against their forces. They manage to bring forth a small task army to defend the world, along with Maleficent's Hellfire Club and Heartless (or whatever is left of them). They manage to succeed fairly well though Riku has immeasurably less luck as he faces off Terra and loses, only surviving thanks to the timely intervention of King Mickey and the Disney Castle Space Brigade. Terra finally emerges onto the battlefield as do Sora, Kairi, and Gentai who can now construct paths of light with their Keyblades to travel from world to world. They all join in the battle while Mickey duels and defeats Terra. This victory does not last long however as Terra draws upon his own darkness and the powers of the Princesses of Heart to bring them all to Kingdom Hearts. He is still defeated again and upon remembering his friends before all of this he ends his life by destroying a large amount of darkness within Kingdom Hearts. With battle concluded, Kairi refuses to become queen despite her heritage and departs with Riku, Sora, Gentai, and Demora back to the islands. Here, Gentai leaves Demora to travel with Riku and defeat Maleficent in the promise that he would return one day. Sora then proposes to Kairi in the hopes of spending the rest of his days with her.

One year later in Twisted Souls Part I: Adventure Gentai and Riku are hot on the trail of a mysterious figure who turns out to be the Huntsman of Fabled Countryside. Ironically, this is exactly where he leads them and after a skirmish with Heartless they find a new place to track him to. But aside from Riku and Gentai, it is the day of Hayner and Olette's wedding which both Sora and Kairi attend before the next day having nuptials of their own. Of course, their nuptials are cancelled as Heartless attack at the wedding and they must send all the guests home. Sora, Kairi and Demora then make the collective decision to set out for Disney Castle. Here they meet with the Disney Castle Court which consists of the king himself, Donald Duck, Goofy, Clarabelle Cow, Horace Horsecollar, Professor Ludwig von Drake, Scrooge McDuck, Queen Minnie Mouse, Daisy Duck and Chip and Dale. At this court they discuss the threat of Maleficent, how to possibly eliminate the Heartless for good and all and the damage that Riku and Gentai have been through over the year. They also then decide to split up and secure the Princesses of Heart so as to secure them. Little do they know that Maleficent has reformed her previously broken Hellfire Gang its members now consisting of Maleficent herself, Pete, the Huntsman, Morgana of Atlantica, Madam Mim of Medieval England, Royal Pain of Maxville, and the Horned King of Prydain (Hades has quit).

Sora, Donald, and Goofy make a quick trip to Agrabah where everything seems to be all right with Jasmine before they go to Beast's Castle and there learn that both Belle and Prince Adam are having a major trouble with Gaston. Gaston, unfortunately, gets control of the Heartless and leads an assault on the castle but they manage to defeat him in battle, his heart being devoured by Heartless. At the same time as this is occurring Mickey, Kairi and Demora have traveled to Radiant Garden to check on the Restoration. There, Leon forces Kairi to meet with her people and after making the acquaintances of Floyd and Emily of the Elderly Faction of the Restoration Committee things go quite smoothly. However, before long all three of the travelers and Merlin head to Medieval England where Mim is stirring up trouble. Here they meet Arthur and Kairi finally learns the art of Black Magic. The next day Mickey and Merlin leave from Camelot and defeat Mim in battle by piercing her through the heart. While that is happening not only do Kairi and Demora instruct Arthur in romance but also hold off an attack on Camelot, earning the respect of Lancelot. Shortly after this, the trio sets off for Enchanted Dominion.

Meanwhile, Sora and the others are en route to Wonderland, after reuniting with Jiminy Cricket, when a massive Heartless fleet cripples their ship and sends them crashing down to the Land of Dragons. Here they meet with Mulan, Shang and the Emperor where they learn of a spy garbed in white who has been hiding in the mountains, known only as "The Flaming Edge". With the help of Mulan they travel to the Tung-Shao pass but are blocked by a blizzard. Sora nevertheless meets this spy but comes to the decision that he's not a bad guy shortly after he disappears. They return to the capital and the next day witness Mulan and Shang's wedding before they are attacked there as well. Thankfully, they manage to be saved by a mysterious figure. During this time however, Captain Hook attacks the H.R.M.S. Pearl and kidnaps Kairi while fatally wounding her.

In The New World, Riku and Gentai have been hunting the Huntsman there but due to his connections with Ratcliffe they are unable to touch him. After a recurring dream of Xehanort's possession and a talk with Gentai concerning the young boy's insomnia and his desire to be a hero, the two attempt to start a battle between Kocoum and John Smith. Regardless of their intervention, Riku fights the Huntsman, who leaves, and Gentai is captured. They are still able to save the world and follow the Huntsman back to the World That Never Was. At this point, Sora and the gang have reached Wonderland. After dealing with Alice crying in the Bizarre Room, the Mad Hatter and March Hare, and an obnoxious Caterpillar they meet the Cheshire Cat who tricks them and brings a Heartless for them to deal with. They succeed in defeating it and go back to the Gummi Ship, having secured Alice as a princess. Here they learn of Kairi's capture and make their way to Neverland.

With the help of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys they are able to free Kairi and make the decision to drop Hades with a visit in Olympus Coliseum to find out who Maleficent's Hellfire Club members are. In Olympus Coliseum he meets with Auron and Zack Fair who help him to confront Hades who reveals the names due to his feud with Maleficent. Auron then joins the quartet on their side trip to take care of Morgana in Atlantica. At this time, Mickey and Demora have arrived in Enchanted Dominion where Maleficent returns the day after they arrive. With the help of Phillip they battle her (though they lose their steeds) and nearly fail until Riku and Gentai appear. The two of them explain what they've been doing in the past year after the battle and begin travel with the two to the Castle of Dreams.

While they travel there, Sora and the others go to Atlantica where they search for Ariel's daughter Melody until a stroke of misfortune hits and they face off against an obscenely powerful Morgana who is defeated in battle and frozen. Melody causes the wall between her castle and the sea to disappear and the four return to the Gummi Ship. Sora and Kairi have a very terse conversation regarding the delicate subject of children on their journey before they reunite with Mickey, Demora, Gentai, and Riku at the Castle of Dreams. Soon after this reunion Pete attacks the castle and reveals that Maleficent is attacking the world of Agradar. They head there quickly but are too late to stop her as she uses her powers of darkness and a strange and altered duplicate of Xehanort's machine to turn the world into a charred heap of nothing, leaving the Keyblade Wielders and their companions battered and confused.

Will Gentai seek revenge on the loss of his home? Will Sora and Kairi ever get married and what will their decision on children be? What will become of Riku with his dreams of Xehanort's possession? Who is "The Flaming Edge" and what is his role in the worlds? Will Maleficent be any more successful? And who is the worst enemy of the worlds: Maleficent or themselves?

Author's Note: Yes, while it is not really new material it is vital and important and points out some things that I would like you to consider as you read this. Updates for this will come slower than before and as a note, this is NOT, I repeat NOT the finale of The Existence Trilogy but rather a second part to the story Twisted Souls. Think of it as like the second disc of a game or movie…mainly because we've hit one of many turning points. Regardless, if you've read my previous stories, click on to read Chapter 26: What Now? If you haven't…read my other stories please. If you're too lazy, then go on. You don't need to review this…but if you'd like, please do. Dare to Be SILLY.