Okay, look. Yall. When a story is listed as complete (or chapters 1 of 1 on AO3) that means its a one shot. So why did over thirty people subscribe to updates between AO3 and Fanfic? You know what? Fine. I'll make a full story.

Happy now? :P

Also if any of this ends up happening in KH4.3847/infinity re:re:post coded I will eat my hat.

Bring it, Nomura.

The party on the beach wasn't what Kairi needed.

But he was.

When did he get so… broad?

Kairi rubbed his palm with her thumb, and she could feel him shudder under her touch. Too easy. She saw Sora blush, and he moved, slowly, gently, as if to let her say no at any point as he moved from holding hands to curving his left arm around her back, resting that hand on her waist, linking his thumb to her belt loop.

She didn't say no.

"I knew you'd find me, Sora," she whispered.

He dodged a Frisbee, and the two of them walked past their friends for the paopu tree. There would be plenty of time to talk with everyone else later.

Roxas and Ventus both gave Sora a sly nod as he passed.

Sora curled around Kairi as they sat. She enjoyed his weight, his presence, his scent.

Until she started noticing it being replaced by the smell of wet pavement and… fried noodles? She looked up to glimpse at Sora, only to watch him stare through her, all but an afterimage himself.

And then, he was gone.

Kairi screamed.

The party froze, like they were hit with Stop all at once.

It was Lea who broke the silence. "Kairi!" he shouted. "W-wait. Where is Sora?!" he added, running toward her.

"He's… gone…" she said still staring at the space where he'd just been, reaching out and grabbing air.

"Gone?" he asked, hoarse.

"I… still feel him, he's still connected. But yes, gone…"

Lea put on a goofy grin for her. "If you feel him, he's fine. You told me you turned him back from being a heartless, right? Maybe some other planet summoned him. He's got his phone, right? Text him."

Kairi put her hand down, and exhaled. "I.. I didn't even… why are you so calm?!"

"Because I can't do anything about what just happened. But I can try and go after him. Do you have any-"

Lea didn't even finish his sentence as there was another scream from the beach. He didn't even ask permission, just slung Kairi on his shoulder and ran back to the others.

Riku was starting to vanish.

"Talk. Now," Lea demanded, trying to grab his hand with his free one. It passed right though. He started fumbling with his cell phone, instead.

"Um… I…" Riku stared.

"Focus," Lea said sharply. "We'll come for you but you need to tell us what you can."

Lea smelled wet pavement off Riku, like when it rained in the World that Never Was.

"I see… Riku said, trying to focus as he was disappearing. "Neon. Think World that Never Was or Fransokyo. But I can't read any signs. It's dark. There's electric lights everywhere and ground vehicles. Skyscrapers. And-"

The last flicker of Riku vanished before everyone.

The waves crashed. Lea frowned. Someone's stomach rumbled, breaking the silence.

"Riku smelled like Sora did. Before he disappeared," Kairi said quietly. "Wet pavement and fried noodles."

Aqua clapped her hands, once, loudly.

"All right then. Grillmaster, fire it up and get those fish cooked. Someone make a bonfire. I call this meeting of Rescue the Rescuers to order!"

Isa had vanished in a corridor of darkness, and returned a few moments later, dragging an irate Vexen, Demyx, and a whiteboard. Lea had set a bonfire alight while Goofy and Hayner quickly started coordinating dinner. Aqua stood, surveying the group before her. There were going to be a lot of worlds to cover, but there were just as many people before her. And they didn't have to go everywhere- it was time to start narrowing the search.

"Everyone cozy?" she asked, to a mixture of nods and grunts as the group dug into grilled fish and island vegetables. "Kairi, you're the only one who saw Sora disappear. I know it probably is going to be painful, but tell us anything you can."

"We were just sitting there, he was leaning on me. It felt lighter first, and then he just looked surprised, and sad," Kairi said slowly. "And he smelled like wet pavement and street food. Fried noodles. Like the kind in San Fransokyo. So did Riku."

"I'd second that. I definitely got a whiff of yaki udon," Lea said, to confused stares. "Noodles fried with vegetables?"

"Who fries noodles?" Pence asked, a bit confused. "Wouldn't they get all gummy in the oil?"

"Griddle fried, not deep fried, ya big dummy," Hayner said, nudging him.

"Order!" Aqua said authoritatively. "Can we make an assumption they both got taken to the same place?"

The group murmured.

"They might not have," Aqua continued. "But we can use what Riku said as a starting point. At the very least, search with him in mind." She tapped at the whiteboard and Isa scribbled Sora and Riku'snames up on top, with the bullet points

-WET PAVEMENT

-FRIED NOODLES?

"What did Riku say?"

Lea took out his phone, and fumbled with it. "Quiet," he ordered, and hit a few more buttons.

"I see… Riku said, from the Gummiphone. "Neon. Think World that Never Was or Fransokyo. But I can't read any signs. It's dark. There's electric lights everywhere and ground vehicles. Skyscrapers. And-"

"I got a recording," Lea said quietly. "Just audio, though."

"Play it again," Aqua ordered, and Isa readied with the marker.

-NEON

-LIKE TWTNW, BUT NOT

-ILLEGIBLE SIGNS

-DARK (NIGHT? PERPETUAL?)

-ELECTRIC LIGHTS

-GROUND TRANSIT (CARS?)

-SKYSCRAPERS

Isa put the marker down.

"Any other assumptions?"

"Well, he'd be in a city, between skyscrapers and pavement," Mickey said, looking at the board. "We're looking at something industrial."

"Radiant Garden level technology, at least," Roxas piped in.

"He didn't mention anything odd about the inhabitants," Naminé said quietly. "Which means they weren't unusual from his point of view. We can rule out places like Monstropolis. He would have mentioned if the people weren't the same species. And we know it's habited. He would have said empty. Probably. If I had only a few moments to describe somewhere I'd talk about what made it look different."

Aqua nodded. Isa added

-PROBABLY HUMANS

-RADIANT LEVEL TECH

"Anything else?" Aqua asked.

Donald frowned. "Riku not being able to read anything bothers me."

"We're all from lots of different worlds but we can all understand one another right?" Olette asked.

"Then this is an Old World," Mickey said, solemnly. "One that split from even before the time of Faerie Tales."

The whole gathering went silent. "An Old World?" Lea asked.

Mickey nodded.

Ventus crossed his arms. "I remember Master Erauqs mention them once. They're the farthest pieces of the original world we were all part of, when it was one whole giant world all bound up. The world shattered because of the original Keyblade War but…"

"A few pieces on the edge broke off on their own," Terra finished for him. "Sealed off from the rest of everything. They say that that's where chocobos come from."

"Mhmmm, when the barriers weakened last time and things got through," Mickey replied. "It's also how we got malboros."

Most of the group winced. The few that didn't knew immediately that whatever one was, it wasn't pleasant.

"So, then," Aqua said, looking back to the board. "Isa, I think there's one more criteria here."

Isa nodded, and in large letters, added one last line.

-TAKEN TO THE OLD WORLDS

Everyone with a phone was squinting at their screens, frowning.

"Where were chocobos first sported from?" Xion asked aloud. It was like the worlds most dire game of Trivial Pursuit.

"Wonderland!" Ventus said, holding up his device. "Six hundred years ago or so."

"Malboros first spotted in the woods of Corona about three hundred years ago," Roxas added.

Isa was marking waypoints on their board.

"Yaki udon is San Fransokyo food. It's a stretch but there might be a sub portal to an Old World from there," Lea added. Isa marked it down, too.

"Monstropolis has its own direct portals out," Xion added.

"It's worth a shot," Aqua said. "We have the manpower to stretch the net wide, let's think of any possibility."

"Traverse Town," Mickey piped. "When a world falls, it's residents can end up there. That or Radiant Garden or Twilight Town. They're all hodgepodges of other places. They might have portals out, too."

"The Keyblade Graveyard."

"Is the path to Scala ad Caelum open?"

"Halloweentown is directly linked to a whole buncha other worlds, ain't it?"

"The World that Never Was? Land of Departure?"

Aqua whistled loudly. "Okay, this is a good start."

"Destiny Islands," Kairi added quietly. "The Secret Place has a doorway out."

Everyone went silent.

"It's close, but I think Sora or Riku closed the pathway a while back," Kairi added. "Might still be worth the look."

"How close?" Aqua asked.

Kairi pointed to a small crevice in the rocks, and Lea stood up, dusting off sand.

"How about a five minute leg stretch?" he joked.

As many of them that could huddle in the little cave were, with Kairi in the lead. And there it was, the wooden looking door at the back of their secret little cave.

It was overflowing with an ominous purple aura.

Lea squeaked his way through, but was stopped by Isa.

"Let me," the taller man demanded, and gingerly touched the edge of the warping. His hand began to dissolve, and he snapped it back immediately.

Unlike Sora and Riku, it turned back to a solid immediately.

"Likely culprit?" Lea asked, staring at Isa's hand in shock. "Are you…?"

"I'm totally fine, it didn't even hurt," Isa replied. "It's not darkness, that's for sure. It actually felt… warm. I know my hand disappeared but I think it's safe."

Mickey looked at it incredulously, and demanded to see Isa's hand. So did Donald. The two conferred in hushed whispers a few moments.

"Actually… I can't believe I'm saying this, but I think Isa is right. It should be safe to pass."

"Want me to stick my head in?" Isa asked.

"No, but you'll do it anyway, won't you?" Lea asked. Isa blushed a little, before turning to the oozing portal.

The top half of him vanished as he leaned; Donald held his leg tightly to ground him.

A few very tense minutes later, and Isa took a step back. Donald pulled, if only to make sure.

Isa blinked, as if he was adjusting to the light.

"That's… well, it's a place, that's for sure."

"What did you see?" Aqua asked sternly.

"Skyscrapers, electric lights, signs I couldn't read, dark," Isa ticked off.

The relief on Kairi's face radiated the whole room, but Isa put up a hand.

"But I also saw people flying with wings. No rain. And it wasn't ground transport. There were definitely flying vehicles too. It might be where they went, but…" Isa shook his head. "We probably want to still split up and check as many of the places we listed as possible."

"And maintain order," Donald added, with an irritated quack. "If the King, Goofy, and I are searching- and we will be- I need to make our curse a bit stronger."

The group shuffled out of the cave and back to the bonfire. Isa added Destiny Islands to his list.

"C-curse?" Pence asked worriedly.

"We have to maintain order. Doubly so if we try going to the Old Worlds. We won't be able to speak their language. If the King or I ended up in one and it's really just humans…"

"We'll stick out like a sore thumb, a'hyuck," Goofy finished for Donald. "Same idea if you're going to Monstropolis and yer a human. You'll scare 'em."

Kairi looked at Donald. "I can't imagine what you'd look like as a human," she said, squinting.

"Me either, Kairi," Goofy said with a chuckle. "And I can't imagine you as a monster."

Donald quacked loudly, silencing the chatter. "Anyone who doesn't have this curse step forward. Actually, I'm making it stronger. I'm cursing us all. Objections?"

Aqua smiled. "I'll help." Donald nodded, and the two looked at each other, took in a deep breath, pushing the air away from them.

"Should do it," Aqua said, with a nod.

"I don't… feel any different," Xion said, flexing her fingers.

"Well, on this world, looking as you are is expected. And I can't control everyone's individual transformations. The world's heart will do it," Aqua added.

Isa looked back at the whiteboard. "So, we have twelve worlds to search. Thirteen with Scala, but let's set that aside for now. We know for a fact Destiny Islands has a portal, and it's a close match. But I don't think that's where Riku is. He would have said flying vehicles. There weren't ground cars there. At least none I could see. It's still worth the search though."

"So we need twelve groups," Mickey said. "How are we splitting this?"

Aqua did a quick headcount. "We'll have to split into groups of two at the largest if we want to be efficient. Except…" she said, looking at Hayner, Pence, and Olette. "You three have no magic or combat skills, correct?"

"No, ma'am," Pence said, head low. "None of us can even fly a ship."

"You have one major advantage, though."

"What's that?"

Isa pointed to Twilight Town on the list. "You're natives, right? Search your home. If there's a portal, we'll send someone to you."

"A scavenger hunt?" Olette asked.

"A big one," Aqua said with a smile. "Huge."

The trio's eyes lit up.

"Remember, this is reconnaissance mission. All we're doing is seeing where portals are right now. If you find one, peek in. That's it. We clear? We'll regroup and actually explore once we have an idea."

"So really, we only need ten more groups?" Isa asked. We already know there's one here, and we've got Twilight covered."

Aqua nodded.

"I'll take Radiant Garden," Demyx offered. "I can even try and rope in Dilan or Aeleus."

"You just want Radiant because you won't run into heartless," Vexen said, rolling his no-longer-gold eyes.

"Aaaaand I'm a local," Demyx whined.

"Fine," Aqua said clapping her hands. "The World that Never Was?"

"Xion, wanna go?" Roxas asked. "It has to be someone who can make dark corridors anyway."

"You just want time with your giiiiiirlfriend." It was Demyx's turn to poke fun at someone. Both Roxas and Xion blushed.

"Traverse Town?" Isa asked, changing the subject quickly.

"I can go alone," Mickey said quietly.

"But, Your High-" Donald started, though Goofy shushed him.

"I think he needs some time alone, Donald."

Isa went down the list. "San Fran? Lea, seems like you know the place."

"I also have three warrants for my arrest, nope, no dice," Lea said shrugging. "Axel miiiiight have done some serious property damage three years ago."

Isa winced. "I think I remember that. Okay."

"Ven, Terra, field trip?" Aqua asked. "Our home is small. We can do the Land of Departure in a few hours, and that's if we're slow. And we have Keyblade armor. It's not as fast as using those corridors you Nobodies use, but it's close."

Isa marked the trio for both places.

"I can take Wonderland," Isa said. "I'm on… let's say I'm on good terms with some of the residents. We still have four places. Who feels safe going to the Keyblade Graveyrd?"

"I'll go," Naminé said quietly. "Heartless and Nobodies don't attack me anyway."

"Not alone, you're not," Isa said sternly. "You can't make corridors anyway, can you?"

"May I escort you?" Vexen asked.

Naminé nodded, and Isa crossed another world off the list.

"Donald and I could take any of the three left," Goofy interjected. "We've been to all of them, and we have a vessel."

"I have no preference, but I think Kairi and I should go together," Lea said, looking at the remaining choices. "She can't fly a ship or make corridors. I can't fly but I still can make them safely."

"We're still short a team," Isa said, scanning the group. "Anyone not accounted for?"

Roxas and Xion looked at each other. "We can split up," Xion said quietly.

"Not if you're going to the World that Never Was," Isa said, boring a hole in her forehead with his stare. "It's huge and dangerous. You two stay together."

"I'll go somewhere else," Demyx said with a sigh. "I'll call Ienzo and have the locals search. Leon's team owes me."

"Done. So who goes where?"

"Monstropolis is the safest," Goofy supplied. "There's no Heartless there. And with… with the end of Vanitas… the Unversed should be all gone. It's just a lot of portals."

"Millions of them!" Donald piped.

"No fighting but a million places to look?" Demyx asked, frowning. "The other two places?"

"Corona's city is safe too," Goofy said, thoughtfully. "But the forests have weak heartless and some Nobodies."

"Are there Nobodies in Halloweentown?" Demyx asked.

"Gawrsh, none I can remember," Goofy admitted.

"I'll take Corona," Demyx said with a wave of his hand. "I can make them beat stuff up for me."

"Then we have Halloweentown," Donald insisted. "Kairi, you have a bond with Sora. Maybe that'll make it easier to search all the portals."

Kairi frowned. She wasn't even getting to fight? Again? But Lea just smiled, poking her in the ribs.

"I'll take photos for Sora when we get there," he said with a grin. "I'm sure he'll love to see what you look like as a little monster."

Bellies full, the groups began to split up.

"Where's our meeting place?" Roxas asked. "Somewhere we can all sit together."

"Ansem'll let us use his castle," Demyx said, sliding his phone in his coat. "He's also set up a search party in Radiant Garden. When you're done searching your locations, go there."

Hayner crossed his arms.

"I'll get someone from Radiant to pick up you three pipsqueaks," he added with a sigh. "But you'd better come back having turned over every paving stone in the city."

Lea glared at Demyx. "Myde, you sure you don't want me to kill you? Even, you?"

There was a mix of gasps and laughter, from the people who understood the implications and not.

"You joking? I'm not gambling on wether I get to keep these powers. If I lose 'em like Dilan or Ienzo, I'll have to actually learn to pilot a ship. No thanks. I'm no Luxord, I'm not gambling on keeping my sweet lazy powers like you and Isa did."

"I can't say I had much of a heart as a human, Lea," Vexen added with a slight nod. "But like this, I can actually do some good for once. Speaking of Luxord…"

"His Somebody hasn't been found yet," Demyx said with a sigh. "And honestly… he might never be. He's like me. Our Somebodies were eaten by Heartless in the Keyblade War. He might have awoken not just in the Keyblade Graveyard, but during or after the fight. Lemme know if you find him there?"

Vexen just blinked. "How… old are you, exactly?"

Demyx shrugged, summoned his sitar, and strummed it, crowd-surfing into his corridor of darkness to Corona.

Kairi laughed uncontrollably, and her whole body shook.

"You're a sentient blob of pink gelatin…" Lea said, staring at what had been a normal human teenager not one moment earlier. Lea wasn't wrong, Kairi was a gelatinous, semi-translucent pink monster with four tentacle like legs and squishy, blobby arms with three fingers on each hand. She had tentacles in a short cropped bob, just like her hair should have been, if it wasn't like gummy worms. She was still wearing her pink coat over the form, and Lea wasn't sure if it tied it all together or just increased the hilarity. Kairi slowly adjusted to her new appendages, and quickly figured out how to make lazy loops around her companion, to get a good long look.

"I'm not laughing because of me," she said. "I'm laughing because of you."

Lea adjusted. The first thing he noticed was the tail, long, muscular, and helping him balance on his thin-twig legs. He only retained his black duster, the rest of his own clothes missing.

"I feel very, very exposed," he admitted. "Your coat at least covers…"

"Covers what?" Kairi asked, head tilting. "My lower half is an octopus. You've got fur, and…" she added, looking left and right at the pleasant tree-lined street and random pedestrians of every shape, size and color, "it looks like the concept of clothes is at best optional here."

"When on Mt. Olympus," Lea said, shaking his head and feeling a head's nest worth of large quills shake with him, "wear a toga?"

Kairi smiled, and flipped out her phone, grabbing a selfie of both of them.

"My eyes are like… dinner plates," Lea laughed, looking at his reflection. "Huge. At least I have these porcupine quills I can use if anyone rubs me the wrong way. Literally."

Both of them giggled a little at that, and Lea fished around in his duster for the piece of cardstock Donald had provided.

"First stop, Monsters Inc."

Lea stepped up to the pedestrian gate of the energy company to a bored looking security guard, Kairi right behind.

"'Scuse us," she said in her Polite Talking to Adults voice. "We're associates of Sora, Donald and Goofy Exterminators. We needed to speak to the CEO."

The security guard rolled a claw. "Yeah, everyone needs to speak to the CEO. Get in line."

"Ma'am," Kairi added, hoping she picked the correct pronoun. "We have a signed note from Mister Sullivan himself to come back anytime."

Thank goodness Jiminy Cricket kept every scrap of paper he'd even gotten. The guard snatched the small handwritten note Sully had once written for Sora, and scrutinized it, before picking up the little corded telephone in her booth, and slamming her window shut.

"Associates," Lea whispered in what he assumed was probably vaguely the direction of where an ear should be. "You sounded like a right professional there."

Kairi giggled quietly.

"You know, we should get you a giant whipped cream hat with a strawberry," he joked. "Then Sora could have himself a snack."

"Lea!" she cried. She wasn't sure when she and he had gotten on such chummy terms, but she admittedly liked the gentle teasing. It was better than when he'd first met her as a Somebody- awkward, and perpetually apologetic. Now, at least, he wasn't treating her like she was made of stained glass.

"Aaaaaand now your jello face went from strawberry champagne to cherry," he added, elbowing her.

She made a surprising slorp as her body quite literally rolled with the punch.

"Punch," he whispered. "You're fruit punch!"

"Lea, quit it or I'll shave y-"

The security window slammed open with a thud, as the lady handed back Kairi's paper. "An escort is coming. Please wait."

"Hiya!" said the little bowling ball sized imp.

Lea squatted, and held out a clawed hand. "'Allo. Lea. And this is Kairi. You must be Mike?"

"Mike Wazowski, at your service, Lea!" The imp was oddly chipper, and gingerly took Lea's hand for a shake. "Donald called us, sorry about the front gates."

"Don't worry. We heard what Randall did. Security checks are important for a place like this," Kairi added.

"I think it's just theater, if you ask me. And I know a thing or two about theater. I'm sure your bosses told you about the guy in the black coat who got in here without going through the front door."

"Black coat?" Lea asked incredulously, holding the lapel of his open duster.

"It was like he could telepo-" Mike started, before Lea slipped through one of his corridors and ended up at the end of the hall, waving with a smile.

"Dark isn't evil!" Lea shouted, jogging back to Mike and Kairi, who facepalmed, and then spent a good two minutes attempting to still the full body jiggle that ensued. Mike's jaw dropped almost clean to the floor.

"Okay, um, first off, wow."

Lea shrugged. "'S a gift."

"Second, what is that, buy one black coat, get teleportation free?"

"Actually, it's because I could do it I was given a black coat," Lea replied shrugging.

"Okaaaay, secret magic society, check. Next, you'll tell me Sora's little extermination company employs humans."

Lea and Kairi gave each other side eye and Mike's jaw almost hit the floor a second time in as many minutes.

"You know one of those three is secretly a human," Lea said, snorting a little.

"Let me guess, Donald," Mike replied. "He's the only sane one among the three of 'em. And he's small. We used to hide Boo in a monster costume too."

Kairi and Lea snorted. "Got us there," Kairi said, trying desperately not to laugh.

Mike pushed open a big heavy door, ushering them into Sully's office.

The big blue and purple polka dotted monster stood up to his full height, offering a massive paw to shake.

"So, what brings you here, exactly? Donald said we might have an issue, and I take this sort of thing very seriously. Safety first for my team, and the other worlds we visit."

Lea frowned. He didn't realize walking right up to the company CEO would actually be that easy. Kairi stepped in.

"Sora's gone missing, Mister Sullivan," she said, cutting straight to the chase.

"Sulley," he corrected. "But go on."

"He… we were at a party only a few hours ago. And he disappeared right in front of me, and then one more friend you don't know did too. Donald and Goofy were at the party too. Everyone there is pretty strong like Sora, Donald, and Goofy are, so we're trying every path we can to find him."

"Wait, you said disappeared," Mike piped in, still in the room. He was a little hard to notice, being so underfoot.

"Vanished. And no, he can't just teleport, so he was probably taken. We're pretty sure he ended up in another world. One with humans in it, and a big city."

Sulley frowned. "I mean, that's a lot of how humans live. How do you know?"

"The second friend- his name is Riku- was able to describe us some stuff before he faded away. I have part of it recorded." Lea fished for his cell phone, playing back the snippet.

Sulley frowned. "The part that bugs me is that he couldn't read the signs."

"That's what bugs us too."

"So, you've been to the other world on the other side of the doors?" Sulley asked incredulously. "You're not on my payroll."

Kairi inhaled. Donald could whine about Order all he wanted, but he wasn't there to chastise. "Sulley. You have it backwards."

She breathed out and continued. "This is my and Lea's first time on this side of the doors."

"I knew it!" Mike cried. "Monsters can't just teleport, that must be some weird human magic."

"Actually, it's Nobody magic."

"Looks an awful lot like a somebody to me," he huffed.

"Capital-N Nobody," Lea corrected. "Not human. Kairi and Sora are real deal humans though."

"Wait, so Donald was wrong?" Mike cried, surprised. "Go figure, had that one eyed loser pegged as secretly a Code Mauve."

"Well, I guess it's good to know that humans and monsters can actually get along. I guess I should be asking how you did it, Kairi, that costume is too good," Sulley asked, peering down, curious.

"I can shapeshift. So can Sora." It was easier to say that instead of explaining the minutiae, and she saw two monsters change shapes on the walk to the company. She didn't need to give these two any more heart attacks. "Before you ask, no, most humans can't."

Mike snorted. "So we have a shapeshifter and a teleporter. Sounds like the makings of a B-roll superhero flick."

Sulley ignored the comment, and turned his attention to Kairi and Lea. "So, you can read on both sides of the portal then, right?"

Kairi nodded. "Yeah, we're specifically looking for a city where we can't."

"Wait." Mike said sharply. "They can't be looking for that door, can they?"

"What door?"

Sulley tapped his chin. "It happened earlier today. Our door machine churned out a door on its own. And when it's opened, it just is darkness. But… it still worked as a portal to another world. We're just not sure where. The kid had a laugh, we filled six whole tanks, so, the door's in regular rotation."

"That might be exactly what we're looking for," Kairi said, genuinely excited.

Mike rubbed his hands. "Then what're we waiting for? Let's go nab it."

"Upsy daisy," a woman's voice crooned.

"Five more minutes, Kairi…" Sora mumbled.

"You're still in Shibuya, squirt," a second voice said brightly. "And I'm sure you two want breakfast."

Sora shot up, hair staticked straight out like he'd stuck his hand in a socket.

"What time is it?"

"Does it matter? Normal players only get up when we wake them for the day, and when the time's up, they're back in stasis."

"Why are Riku and I ignoring the rules? What's with the infinity timers?"

Uriel and Gabriel looked at each other, grinning huge. "Your entry fee." Uriel stated, simultaneously with Gabriel's "Your cheat code."

"Cheat code?"

"The entry fee to play the Reaper's game is the thing you value most. Some people lose what they look like, and have to play with some fake face. Many will lose a memory. If you win the game you get the ante you put up back though. And you're allowed to keep playing if you can ante something else."

Riku got up groggily. "Sora already lost what he valued most. Kairi," he added with a smirk. "Though… I'm not sure what I paid. Sora's here, I've got a host of memories I'd honestly rather lose…"

Riku held out his hand, and his key snapped to it.

"Powers are intact, too."

"Sometimes people pay when someone else gives up something," Uriel said with a wistful smile.

"Are you saying Sora paid for both of us?"

Sora panicked. "Did I lose Kairi again?" He was on the verge of tears, but Gabriel reached over from her swivel chair and put a finger to his lips.

"I did say cheat code."

Relief washed over Sora. "Did Riku and I cash in some favor to Joshua?"

Gabriel opened her palm and a black, white and grey card floated lazily above it.

"That's a Nobody's symbol," Riku said, looking at the card back.

"That's Luxord's," Sora whispered. "He said it was a wild card."

"Yup. And this is your entry fee. Except… it's worth too much. Way more than just two souls' worth. So, you two have perks."

"Perks?" Riku and Sora asked in unison. Gabriel went to her closet and pulled out two hoodies. Black hoodies, with white patterns.

"How'd you like to help us run our little scavenger hunt for Yazora?"