Donald and Goofy arrived in Traverse Town, but everything was getting worse by the minute. The town seem deserted; no shops were open, not a person in sight. Both of them looked up the gloomy sky. "Look! A star's going out!" Goofy exclaimed.
"Come on, let's hurry and go find that key," Donald pulled his pal by the sleeve to stop him from stargazing. Pluto, King Mickey's faithful hound, was accompanying them as well, and was sniffing out for any clues.
Goofy stopped suddenly and spoke his thoughts, "Hey, ya know, maybe we ought to go find Leon." He saw Pluto heading in a different direction than they were walking to and wondered what he was tracking.
"Aw, what do you know, you big palooka?" Donald said sarcastically to his pal.
The two moved onwards on their mission, leaving Pluto to his dog ways. Little did the knight and mage know, was that he was on the right track. Pluto spotted a person knocked out in an alley. Curious, he started to lick the person's face, wondering if he was okay.
Sora was coming too and was still hazy from his trip, "Man, what a dream…" Pluto tries to hop onto Sora to get him fully awake, "Whoa! This isn't a dream! Where am I? Do you know where we are boy?" he asked Pluto.
Being the dog he is, Pluto hopped around Sora and ran off motioning for him to follow his trail. Sora looked around while being guided, and the boy went over to a shop that seemed to be vacant. However, someone was running it still, "Hey there, how can I – Aw, it's only a kid."
"I'm not a kid! And the name's Sora!"
"Okay, okay, simmer down. So why the long face, Sora? You lost or somethin'?"
"No! Well, maybe. Where are we? I came from Destiny Islands from this big, black swirling hole."
"You're in Traverse Town. Why do you look so skeptical?"
"So, gramps, is this really another world?" Sora questioned.
"Don't call me gramps! The name's Cid! Anyway... Not sure what you're talkin' about, but this sure ain't your island."
"Hmm... Guess I'd better start looking for Riku and Kairi."
"Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing. If you ever run into trouble, you come to me. I'll look out for you," Cid smiled and shook Sora's hand.
Sora decided to follow Pluto some more, and while walking around he saw a sign that read, 'Second District.' At least now, he what street he was on. He turned a corner and saw a man lying down, absolutely still. Sora wondered if he was dead or not. In answer to his question, a heart floated above the man and vanished instantly. One of the creatures with yellow eyes appeared in its place.
"Its those creatures from the island!" Sora's keyblade appeared into his hands as a group of shadows came upon him. Gripping it tight, he swung the weapon and hit the shadows. Every time he'd attack one, they disappear in a black mist. He must have defeated at least ten of them, before they were fully gone.
A male voice came from behind him, "They'll come at you out of nowhere." The man was tall and had long, dark brown hair, with spikes at the bangs. He also was carrying a huge sword with a gun connected to it at the handle. Sora had never seen one of those before, let alone a keyblade.
"Who are you?"
The man continued his thoughts, "And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade. But why? Why would it choose a kid like you?"
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Never mind. Now, let me see that Keyblade."
Sora looked at the keyblade, and held it even tighter, "What? There's no way you're getting this!"
"All right, then have it your way."
The man lunges at Sora with his own weapon, and hits the keyblade. Not a scratch was left on it. Sora did a dodge roll to avoid flurry of strikes aimed at his head. The keyblade did the job of defense, that's for sure, but it had no way of striking the oncoming perpetrator. Running out of stamina, Sora fell down onto his knees, as his vision got blurry. He collapsed on the street.
"Gawrsh, there's nobody here. Sure is spooky!" Goofy exclaimed while looking around the ghost town.
"Aw, phooey. I'm not scared," Donald huffed. A woman in a pink dress with brown hair taps her finger on his shoulder. Reacting out of fear, Donald grabbed onto Goofy hoping he would save him. Slowly turning around they spot the young lady.
"Excuse me. Did the king send you?" she asked.
They both nod and become more relaxed, seeing as the woman knows where they are from. Tagging alongside her, they head to a European styled hotel. Unsure of what waits for them, they kept their guard up.
Meanwhile, Sora was still dazed. Barely opening up his eyes, he saw Kairi asking if he was okay.
"I guess I am…"
"Those creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want, because you wield the Keyblade," she explained to Sora.
"I'm so glad you're okay, Kairi."
"Kairi? Who are you talking about? I'm the great ninja Yuffie," the girl's voice seemed to change. Sora woke up with a start and was staring at a girl probably about his age, who was indeed, a ninja by the looks of it. She laughed, "I think you might've overdone it, Squall."
The man that attacked Sora before grumbled, not wanting to be addressed by that name, "That's Leon."
"The Keyblade... Yeah, we had to get it away from you to shake off those creatures. It turns out that's how they were tracking you," Yuffie informed Sora.
"It was the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long. Still hard to believe that you of all people are the chosen one," Leon stated. The lean muscular man picked up the keyblade to get a closer look. However, it had different plans; vanishing and reappearing back into Sora's hands. Leon sighed, "Well, I suppose beggars can't be choosers…"
Sora heaved in confusion, "Why don't you start making sense! What's going on here?"
"You were attacked by creatures called Heartless," the ninja said.
"The Heartless?"
Leon sighed again, seeing as the boy wasn't catching onto anything that was being said," Those without hearts. The darkness in people's hearts – that's what attracts them. And there is darkness within every heart."
Donald, Goofy, and the women whose name was Aerith, were discussing about the Heartless and who was the source of their power. "There is a powerful man by the name of Ansem who we believe is controlling them."
"Ansem?" Goofy wondered.
She nodded, "He was studying the Heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report."
"Gawrsh, uh, can we see it?"
"Its pages are scattered everywhere."
"Scattered?" the mage questioned.
"Through all the worlds."
A lightbulb popped up in Goofy's head, "Then maybe that's the King went lookin' for."
"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly," Aerith nodded.
"We've gotta find him quick!"
Donald stopped all the excitement, "Wait! First, we gotta find that 'key'!"
"That's right. The Keyblade."
In the other room, Sora was learning more and more than he'd ever known about himself. With all of this new information, it was quite confusing. "So…this is the key?"
Yuffie clapped now getting Sora to know more about his weapon, "Exactly!"
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what," Leon played with his Gunblade.
Sora sighed, "Well, I didn't ask for this."
"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you."
"How did all this happen? I remember being in my room..." Sora eyes grew wide in realization of all the events that have had happened, "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island? Riku! Kairi!"
Leon shook his head, "You know what? I really don't know. Sooner or later, the Heartless will find you. You'd best prepare yourself to fight for your life. Yuffie, let's go join Aerith. She should be there by now, with the other visitors."
Suddenly, a Heartless Soldier appeared. In response, Yuffie ran out the bedroom door, she flattens Donald Duck between the door and the wall by accident. Aerith, who was guiding Goofy and Donald, sees Yuffie running down the hall with her weapons in hand. Leon readies his Gunblade, and Sora holds his Keyblade. The Heartless Soldier jumped out the window to get away, but Leon also jumped out the window, right on its tail. Sora decides to take the safe route that Yuffie took; the long way out the front door. The Heartless ran away out of their view.
Leon directed the group, "Don't bother with the small fry. Find the leader! Let's go!"
The duo was running on top of the balcony, chasing the Heartless. Sora was below them on the ground level, "Gawrsh, are these the Heartless guys?"
The Heartless lunged at Donald and Goofy and they fell off the balcony, and onto Sora's back, making all three of them dizzy. An enemy called a Guard Armor appeared, ready to attack the keyblade holder. Goofy and Donald held their staff and shield high in position. Fire magic struck the enemy and stunned, leaving a few burn marks on its body. Now that it was stunned, Sora took the opportunity to swipe a few times and weakened it even more. The Guard Armor did a body slam where Sora was, but Goofy eliminated the shockwave with his shield, guarding his friends. This time, Sora and Donald attacked at the same with magic and power, thus, destroying the huge enemy. A heart also floated above it, and vanished into thin air.
Catching their breath, Sora walked over to the duo, "So, you were looking for me?"
Donald and Goofy nodded in response. Leon came up behind them, "They, too, have been seeking the wielder of the Keyblade."
"Hey, why don't you come with us? We can go to other worlds on our vessel," Goofy offered to Sora.
He sighed thinking about his friends, "I wonder if I could find Riku and Kairi..."
"Of course," the mage answered.
Goofy turned, "Are you sure?"
"Who knows? But we need him to come with us to help us find the king."
Leon looked at Sora, "Sora, why don't you go with them? You'll probably find your friends."
"Yeah I guess…"
"But you can't come along looking like that. Understand? No frowning. No sad face. Okay?" Donald waved his finger.
Goofy made an interesting looking face, "Yeah, ya gotta look funny, like us!"
"This boat runs on happy faces."
"Happy?" Sora felt heavier by the minute. He decided to give it a shot by putting a big, cheeky grim on his face, making Donald and Goofy laugh. "Okay, why not? I'll go with you guys."
"Donald Duck."
"Name's Goofy."
"I'm Sora, nice to meet you."
They place their hands on top of each other's and raised them in the air, "All for one, and one for all!"
All of them headed back to the center of Traverse Town to prepare for the long journey that lies ahead of them.
"Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread," Leon told the newly made trio.
Aerith stepped up, "I hope you find your friends."
"Look out for each other. Keep your spirits up."