Last time we focused on Team Hayer as they found themselves attacked and swallowed by Monstro. While Nessie and Edward worked on fixing a critical engine part, Hayner and the others explored the inner chambers of the giant space whale, slaying Heartless and collecting treasure along the way. After an encounter with demons, we learned that Gideon planned to corrupt Monstro's heart and turn the giant whale into a dark battleship.

After a vicious battle, our heroes foiled the plan of the demons and pulled their sixth gold key from between the teeth of Monstro. The whale was grateful for all the help our heroes hag given him, then politely asked them to get out. With the ship repaired, they headed out to rendezvous with Team Sora. 'Nuff said, on with the show!"

Chapter 7: Back to Traverse Town

"Good luck with everything, Sora," said Simba as he walked onto the transporter pad, "I'll tell everyone that you said hi."

"See you around, Simba," said Sora. With that Sidney activated the transporter and Simba was beamed down to The Pride Lands.

"Okay, that's that," said Aiden, "can we please get going and finish this whole mess? The sooner we get that talisman, the sooner I'll feel better."

"We're not there yet," said Riku, "it's still a long way to Traverse Town."

"I'm still not completely sure about this whole mess," said Tess as they walked back to the bridge, "This L guy messed with our dreams."

"As far as I could tell he was telling the truth about the keys," said Kairi, "those keys were scattered across the realms for a reason, and keys unlock things after all."

"Well for the record," said Aiden, "if that talisman isn't there when we open the vault, I'm going to be very disappointed."

"Same with me," said Jacob as he joined them on their way to the bridge, "We've been through far too much just to have it all come to nothing." They all then reached the bridge, where Lyra and Pan were taking a turn at the helm.

"It shouldn't," said Lyra, "the Alethiometer says that the vault is secured and that the talisman is safe."

"Any idea where the last key is?" Sora asked.

"Not really," said Lyra, "it's not out in the open, so we're going to have to search for it."

"Typical," sighed Aiden.

"But you've got us this time," said Emmet as he, Rosalie and Bella walked onto the bridge, "We'll sniff out that key for you in no time."

"You can do that?" Kairi asked, "smell a gold key?"

"Everything has a distinct scent," said Rosalie, "especially metals like gold."

"But these keys aren't like ordinary gold," said Bella, "they're different, and that makes them easier for us to sniff out."

"Why didn't you do that back at the castle?" Sora asked, "you could have saved us a lot of trouble; we wouldn't have had to search the castle room by room until King Mickey remembered where he put the key."

"And saved me a lot of aggravation with the Alethiometer," said Lyra, "we have to destroy those Uridium items soon, their interference with the Alethiometer is getting worse."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Bella, "and as for why I didn't help, you guys didn't ask for it."

"Well now we're asking for it," said Kairi, "the sooner we have that talisman, the sooner we can defeat Gideon and Maleficent once and for all."

"Then there's no time to waste," said Riku as he got into his seat, "Setting course for Traverse Town. Entering hyperspace…now!" With that the ship lurched into hyperspace.

"It's almost over," said Sora, "we're almost done."

"And hopefully soon Merlin and Master Yen Sid will have figured out how to shield all the worlds in the realms of light," said Kairi, "we'll all be safe at last from the darkness."

"We're not forgetting that we'll finally be face to face, in the flesh that is," said Aiden, "with the girl who's been haunting our dreams."

"That's my daughter you're talking about," said Bella, "and you should talk, you've been haunting her dreams as well."

"Blame L for messing with everyone's dreams," said Jacob, "and he'd better be telling the truth about the talisman being able to destroy Gideon. Otherwise, I'm going to rip him apart myself."

"Merlin and Yen Sid did say that the only way to cure Quill and Embry is to destroy Gideon," said Bella, "they're my friends too, Jacob, so I have a stake in this as well. I owe that maniac for so many things, most of all for taking my daughter away from me."


"That talisman had better be in that vault when we get there," said Nessie as The Voyaging Light cruised through hyperspace. "I owe Gideon so much pain."

"I'm afraid you'll have to get in line, little one," said Jasper, "all of us have a bone to pick with that maniac."

"There's only so many ways to make a human suffer before he dies," said Alice, "so many ways to break and twist, but there's a limit to how much pain a human can take before he finally gives up the ghost."

"All I ask is that you three wait just long enough," said Edward, "So I can hear what plans are running in Gideon's vile head. Then we can render him."

"You guys are seriously messed up," said Pence, "Cool, but still messed up."

"Thanks," said Nessie, "I'm sorry if this disturbs you, our planning revenge, but…"

"But you deserve it," said Will, "considering what Gideon did to you, it's only reasonable that your family receives vindication for the wrong done to you."

"And of course our canine friends," said Edward, indicating the two wolves, Seth and Leah. Edward then looked at Seth and Leah, "yes, you can tear off two of Gideon's limbs."

Seth then growled something, something that Kirjava found rather repulsive, "for crying out loud, man! That's just disgusting!" she then looked at Leah, "if anyone deserves to rip that part off of Gideon, it's you, Leah." At that Leah nodded in agreement.

"Castration?" Olette asked in an uncomfortable tone.

"Double castration actually," said Edward.

"That's a little on the side of overkill," said Hayner.

"A million deaths won't be enough for Gideon," said Nessie in a serious tone, "he made my life a living nightmare. He stalked and kidnapped me, then separated me from the ones I love. If I could I'd make him immortal, all so I could hurt him over and over again until the end of time."

"You really shouldn't think such thoughts," said Olette in a concerned tone, "all that hate and rage in your heart, it'll just lead to more and more darkness."

"What are you talking about?" Nessie asked, "this isn't darkness, it's indignation, righteous fury. And this is so more than revenge. This is justice."

"Justice is more acceptable," said Hayner.

"Definitely," said Will.

"But what about us?" Pence asked, "We're in this too, right?"

"Definitely," said Hayner, "we're going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Nessie has her justice."

"You guys are the best," said Nessie, "and I mean it. I'm so glad that I fell out of the sky and landed in front of you. You've helped me find my way through the worlds, and reunited me with half my family."

"Any time," said Olette, "and we're almost at where you'll be reunited with the rest of your family."

"And the others," said Hayner, "I wonder how Sora and his group are doing? And I also hope that they do have all the keys they were supposed to get."

"They're most likely thinking the same of us," said Will. He then looked at the forward view screen, which showed the stars streaking pass in hyperspace. He had a distant look on his face, as if thinking of something important to him.

"You're thinking about her, aren't you," said Kirjava, "about Lyra."

"Sometimes it's not convent for one's own daemon to be able to read their human so well," said Will, "but yes, I am thinking of Lyra, and I hope she's thinking of me."

"You can't think like that," said Kirjava, "the two of you are from different universes. You know that any time that the two of you spend together will only be cut short."

"I know that," said Will, "no matter where we go, one of us is going to end up dieing after only a few years, maybe the both of us."

"You two love each other so much," said Edward, "but you can't be with each other for long. One can't remain away from the world they were born on before their bodies begin to wear down and eventually die."

"But what are you going to do when we all meet up in Traverse Town?" Olette asked.

"I don't know," said Will, "I…I don't know."


"I don't know what I'm going to do when I see Will," said Lyra, "I…we went through so much together, and we had so much love for each other but so little time together. But we promised each other than we would live out our lives and find happiness, and we did. But now we're being thrown together again. It's as if fate, destiny, just won't let things be with us."

"I'm sure things are gonna work out for you somehow," said Kairi, "but worry about that when the time comes."

"One crisis at a time," said Riku, "for now, just focus on finding the key and getting the talisman from the vault."

"And then we go kill Gideon and Maleficent," said Aiden, "sounds like a plan to me."

"Well save a piece of Gideon for me," said Tess, "I want to hurt him."

"So do I," said Aiden.

"Hold it," said Emmet, "if anyone's gonna get first crack at Gideon, it's us vampires."

"And shape shifters," said Jacob, "he's done more to make us miserable than for you guys."

"But he want's to turn Kairi evil," said Sora.

"We could all argue about who has the right to punish Gideon until all the humans die of old age," said Bella.

"That would settle the argument in a way," said Rosalie.

"Maybe," said Bella, "but for the present, there's only so many pieces of Gideon to go around. I say we let the one who's suffered the most get first crack at him."

"You mean Nessie," said Jacob.

"I mean the both of you," said Bella, "he's hurt you and Nessie the most by separating you, and from what you told me about Imprinting, when a wolf and the one he imprints on are separated, it's like a knife to the heart for the both of you, only worse. So if anyone has the right to make Gideon pay, it's the two of you."

"That sounds fair to me," said Riku.

"No arguments here," said Tess.

"None from us either," said Sora, while Kairi and Aiden shook their heads.

Just then Sidney appeared, "we're five minutes from Traverse Town," she said.

"Five more minutes," said Bella in an anxious tone.

"Yeah," said Jacob in an equally anxious tone, "Five more minutes."


"We're almost there," said Nessie, "another five minutes. Then we'll all be together again."

"Actually, it'll be a bit longer than five minutes," said Pence, "we're gonna exit hyperspace in five minutes, but then we need to achieve orbit around the world, then we need to land in the shipyards on the ground, so it's gonna be more like half an hour before we all get to see each other again."

"Why can't we just beam down?" Olette asked, "or better yet, one crew should just beam over to the other ship."

"That kinda would make more sense," said Hayner, "but The Voyaging Light has been through a lot and I'd like to get her looked at. And I'd like to have a real, fully functional EPS manifold installed."

"I keep saying that it's not my fault," said Pence, "the guy seemed totally legitimist to me."

"Always ask for credentials when shopping outside a store," said Jasper, "especially when the deal seems too good to be true."

"And even if he does have credentials," said Alice, "always think twice, because the deal may just be too good to be true."

"We'll make sure that the ship get's the best overhaul she can get," said Hayner.


"Why can't we just beam over to their ship when we meet up in orbit?" Aiden asked.

"I'm picking up minor fluctuations in the transporter controls," said Sidney, "nothing too serious, but I'd rather not risk one of you materializing inside out, or worse, merging with someone else."

"It'd be like The Fly all over again," said Emmet, "and I'm talking about the Vincent Price version."

"Oh, that was a good movie," said Sora, "the remake was just awful."

"A lot of movie remakes are awful," said Rosalie, "and I've lived long enough to see the originals when they were first shown in theaters."

"Why mess with what's already good?" Emmet asked, "the only reason they keep remaking classic movies that were done right the first time is to make money."

"Couldn't agree more," said Riku. Just then the navigation consul beeped, "we're almost there. Exiting hyperspace…now!"

The ship jumped back into Normal space and headed into orbit around Traverse Town.

"I'm picking up another ship on the scanners," said Sidney, "and I do believe it's The Voyaging Light. I'm establishing communications with them now…yes, we have a com link, but audio only."

"Right," said Sora as a microphone appeared on the arm of his chair, "this is The Intrepid Heart, calling The Voyaging Light, are you receiving me, over?"

"Is that you, Sora?" came Hanyer's voice over the com link. "Something's wrong with our video link, we're only getting audio."

"I suppose this is my fault as well," said Pence, "you guys are gonna blame me for breaking the vid screens."

"No," said Olette, "we just have a short in the system, easily fixed, but we've got a few other problems that need taking care of."

"I'm sure that together we can fix each others ships," said Kairi.

"We'll land our ships next to each other," said Riku, "then we can swap stories."

"One thing though," said Will, "how many keys have you found?"

"Six," said Lyra. Her voice was calm and her expression neutral, but Sora and the others could tell that on the inside, Lyra was halfway to going crazy over being so near yet so far away to will, "how many keys did you find?"

"Also six," said Will, who was feeling the same way. "All we need to do now is find the last one and then find the vault."

"We'll both land and start looking for it," said Riku.

"See you down on the ground," said Hayner, "over and out." With that the communication link ended.

"Better get down there before something happens," said Tess, "something bad."

"What kind of bad thing could happen?" Sora asked, "we're almost done with this."

"I know," said Tess in a worried tone, "I…I feel that something terrible is about to happen. It's like how I felt when just before we met The Daleks."

"Oh, then it is serious," said Riku.

"We'll keep our eyes open for trouble," said Kairi, "but now let's focus on landing."

"Right," said Aiden, "one crisis at a time," he then rubbed his wrists, "alright! Let's do this!"

The two ships landed entered the atmosphere of the world and landed at the shipyard, right next to the first district.

…Traverse Town…

Almost as soon as Sora and the others had stepped off of the ship, they heard the shouting of a young girl with love in her heart, "JACOB!" and before Sora could blink, Jacob was tackled by Nessie. The two of them embraced happily and before everyone present, Nessie kissed Jacob full on the lips, and he kissed back with equal passion.

"I beg your pardon?" Bella asked in a tone that was heavy with motherly protectiveness, "Aren't you forgetting something, young lady?"

"How could I forget," said Nessie. She then tacked Bella, but Bella remained standing. The two of them embraced happily, "I missed you so much, mama. And I've got so much to show you. But wait until Papa and the others show up. And they should be here right about…now."

Nessie jumped out of the way just as Edward ran up to Bella. The two vampires, husband and wife, embraced and passionately kissed.

"Don't you ever leave me again, Edward," said Bella after they finished kissing, "I don't think I could stand it being separated from you again."

"Neither would I," said Edward, "it would probably destroy the two of us."

"We'd probably just be bored being all alone," said Alice as she and Jasper hugged Rosalie and Emmet. Edward then hugged Rosalie and Emmet, while Bella hugged Alice and Jasper.

Meanwhile the four shape shifters trapped in wolf form, Quill, Embry, Seth and Leah, all leaped and frolicked around each other, getting reacquainted.

"The two groups are telling each other what they've been through," said Edward, "Quill and Embry are shocked that Seth and Leah can't phase back to human, and vice versa."

"You can all rest easy," said Jacob. He then phased into wolf form, without taking off his clothes, then he looked at his pack, speaking to them telepathically.

"He's telling his pack that the only way to cure them is to kill Gideon," said Edward, "and they couldn't agree more."

"So we're all together," said Kairi. She then saw that Will and Lyra were trying to not look at each other, while Kirjava and Pan were also doing their best to avoid each other. But Kairi could tell that the two humans and two daemons desperately wanted to pick things up where they left off long ago.

"I think we need to get cracking already," said Tess, "call me crazy, but I feel that we're running out of time."

"Trust her," said Riku to Hayner and his group, "we really could be in danger."

"Then let's get going," said Hayner, "so, any idea where to find the key?"

"What does the Alethiometer say about that, Lyra?" Riku asked.

Lyra took out her golden compass and asked the question. After about a minute she looked up, "I'm not getting a clear answer."

"It's still being confounded?" Will asked.

"We have to make sure that all of the Uridium is destroyed," said Lyra, "otherwise it's only a matter of time before I can't make any sense of the Alethiometer."

"It's on the to-do list," said Aiden.

"There is one thing that I can understand about the answer," said Lyra, "the number 2 keeps coming up."

"2," said Sora, "hey, that could be the Second District."

"It's worth looking into," said Edward.

"Lead on, Sora," said Jasper.

"Right," said Sora. He lead everyone through the large doors at the front of the First District. He then lead everyone across the large square with the restaurant on the left side, up the steps and past the two shops that used to be the item store and Cid's workshop, up the next flight of steps where, on the right was where Gepetto's workshop was, then behind Cid's shop and around the corner to the doors that lead to the Second District.

"Okay then," said Sora as they all entered the area, "What now?"

Just then the area was suddenly filled with Heartless, mostly Shadows, Soldiers, air Soldiers and Large Bodies. But there were also Dark Balls, Wyverns and Invisibles.

"We take care of these things, of course!" said Riku as he, Sora, Kairi, Aiden, Lyra, Will, Nessie, Hayner, Pence and Olette, all pulled out their weapons and readied themselves for battle.

But instead, Bella stepped forward and ripped a Large Body in half with her hands, "I'm getting sick of these things," she said as she then shattered an Invisible with just one hand.

"Sora," said Edward as he, the other vampires, as well as Jacob and his pack, proceeded to destroy the masses of Heartless, "we will take care of these abominations."

"You guys focus on finding the key!" shouted Alice, "I know you're going to find it!"

"Any hint on where it is, Aunt Alice?" Nessie asked.

"I'd try looking at that bell tower," said Alice, "but that's just my opinion."

"The bell tower!" said Sora, "of course! Let's go!" with that he took off across the walkway, running past the hotel, slashing at the odd Shadow that tried to get in his way.

"Hold on, Sora!" said Riku as he and the other humans, and half vampire and two daemons, chassed after him, with Jacob and his pack providing flanking support against the masses of Heartless.

Sora reached the far side of the area and entered the Gizmo Shop, only to find that the area was choked with Dark balls.

But then Riku and Tess ran into the room, followed by Hayner and Olette. They began swatting the Dark Balls out of the air, "get going!" said Hayner, "we've got this covered!"

"Save some for us!" said Will as he and Lyra, along with, Quill, Embry, Pan and Kirjava, began attacking the Dark Balls as well.

"Right!" said Sora. He, Kairi, Aiden, Pence, Nessie, along with Jacob, Seth and Leah, ran to the far side of the room and exited it. They walked outside and went up the semi-crooked ladder to the roof of the building, where the ropes to ring the bells were. Next to the alcove where the ropes were several wooden crates. Directly across the ropes were three short pillars, each with a picture of a bell on it.

"it's got to be around here somewhere," said Sora as he looked around the rooftop.

"Is it in one of the crates?" Aiden asked as he looked at the wooden boxes, "or maybe it'd in the bells themselves."

"Wait," said Nessie as she sniffed the air, "I smell gold, and not regular gold."

"You can smell golf?" Kairi asked.

"Everything has a scent," said Nessie, "especially metal, and doubly especially otherworldly metal that the keys are made of." she walked over to the three small pillars, "it's in one of these," she then sniffed the one of the right, "It's here!" she then broke the pillar open and revealed the thirteenth gold key.

"Awesome!" said Sora.

But then Nessie sniffed the air again, "wait…there's another key here," she broke open the middle pillar and revealed another gold key. She then broke open the last pillar, revealing a third key.

"They're identical," said Aiden as he looked at the keys, "and all of the ones we've found are all a little different from each other."

"No, they're not different at all," said Nessie as she closely examined them, "like they were all made from the exact same cast."

"Ryuzaki sure didn't warn us about this," said a frustrated Pence.

"But what does it mean?" Kairi asked, "why are there three keys here when all the other keys were by themselves?"

"I don't know," said Sora.

Just then Riku climbed up the ladder, "the area's free of Heartless," he said. He then saw the three keys and his face changed to that of someone disgusted with the situation, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!"

Tess, Hayner and Olette climbed onto the roof, "Are you freaking kidding me?" Tess snapped.

"I'm just as pissed off as you guys are," said Aiden, "all that work and traveling, just to find out that you've been lied to."

"I think we need to just calm down," said Kairi.

"Calm down?" Aiden asked, "calm down? I don't feel like calming down at all!"

"Well calm down anyway," said Kairi, "we found the key, I mean, keys, so now let's find the vault."

They met up with Lyra, Will, the vampires and the wolves on the street below. "Why are there three keys instead of one?" Will asked.

"This I did not see in my vision," said Alice.

"Someone's messing with us, I'm sure of it," said Hayner.

"We'll worry about that later," said Kairi, "let's just find the vault," she looked at Lyra, "any ideas?"

Lyra then consulted the Alethiometer, "now I'm getting a clearer answer. The vault, it's in the third district, right in the middle."

"That would be the square," said Sora, "come on!" he then lead everyone through the alley to the third district. They arrived at the small shop atop the stairs that lead to the big square in the middle of the area. The walked down the stairs and out into the square.

"Shouldn't there be Heartless in this area?" Tess asked. The district was oddly free of enemies, and the lack of battle noise was eerie.

"I guess so," said Sora in a slightly uncomfortable tone.

"I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth," said Hayner, "now where's this vault?"

As if in answer, a large circle of light, appeared in the middle of the square, encompassing over half of the area of the square. Sora and the others backed away from the circle of light as the area of the ground highlighted by the light began to rise up, stopping after about fifteen feet.

"I think the vault has found us," said Aiden.

"It must have reacted to the keys," said Jasper, "it's the only explanation I can conceive."

"Makes sense to me," said Alice.

Sora walked around the cylinder, eventually stopping at one spot that had thirteen keyholes, "this is it," he said as he took out his gold key, "this is where the keys go."

"Gee," said Jacob after phasing back to human, "is it really that obvious?"

"Don't make this more aggravating that it already is," said Olette as she, Pence, Hayner, Nessie took out their keys, while Will held up his key and Kirjava's. At the same time Kairi, Riku, Aiden, Tess and Lyra took out their keys.

"Is there any order in which they go in?" Sora asked as he looked at the keyholes on the vault. They were arranged in the formation of a clock face, with twelve forming a circle around a thirteenth in the middle.

"The middle one must be for the last one," said Kairi as Nessie held up the three new keys, "but as for the first twelve?"

"Let me look at them," said Edward. He examined each key, "yes, the differences in each represent numbers," he looked at Kairi, "put yours at the 12 o'clock position." Kairi did so, inserting her key at the top hole.

"Hayner, yours goes at the 1 o'clock hole. Pence, yours is at 2 o'clock. Aiden, yours is at 3 o'clock. Will, yours is at 4 o'clock. Tess, yours is at 5 o'clock. Riku's is at 6 o'clock. Olette is at 7 o'clock. Sora is at 8 o'clock. Hayner is at 9 o'clock. Kirjava is at 10 o'clock, and Nessie is at 11 o'clock."

One by one they inserted their keys into the lock, eventually filling the twelve in the circle.

"Now to find out which of these is the real one," said Nessie, indicating the three new keys.

"Look!" said Tess as she pointed at a spot above the lock. Strange script had appeared in gold letters. The language was unlike anything the mortals could understand, but one of the vampires did.

"It's Venusian," said Alice as she looked at the writing, "don't ask me how I know, I just do."

"Aunt Alice has no memory of her human life before she became a vampire," said Nessie to Sora and the other mortals. "She just woke up after the change as an immortal, with everything before that a total blank."

"If you can understand it," said Edward, "then it must be for a reason. I cannot fathom that reason just yet, but one shouldn't waste a golden opportunity when one sees it."

"I wouldn't call it a golden opportunity just yet," said Alice, "the writing is a warning against unsealing the vault, mainly about the powerful item inside and how dangerous it is in the wrong hands. It says that if we've come this far and have found all the keys then we should know which of the new keys is the right one to unseal the talisman. But if we don't know and use the wrong key, then the vault will be completely sealed, forever."

"So we've got a one in three chance of getting it right," said Sora.

"Typical," said Aiden.

"The Alethiometer isn't telling me anything about which key is the right one," said Lyra.

"And I'm not seeing which one is right either," said Alice.

"So we'll have to guess," said Jacob.

"But what if we guess wrong?" Olette asked, "then we'll lose the talisman forever."

"That's way too much pressure for me," said Aiden, "so don't ask me to choose which one."

"I don't want that responsibility either," said Pence. At that Riku, Kairi, Tess, Hayner and Olette looked down in mild shame as they admitted to themselves that they didn't want to take the chance.

"I'll do it," said Will, "I'll take the chance."

"No, I'll do it," said Lyra, "I won't let you risk everything, Will."

"And why should you take the risk, Lyra?" Will asked.

"Oh for crying out loud," said Nessie, "I'm the one holding the keys, I'll do it. I'll chose."

"No, let me do it," said Sora.

"But I want to do it," said Nessie.

"So do I," said Sora.

"They're going to argue about it for a while," said Alice, "and it'll end in a stalemate. So I'll end it right here and now," she looked at Sora and Nessie, "I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100. What is it?"

"55," said Nessie.

"17," said Sora.

"It's 20," said Alice, "Sora's closest."

"Dang it!" snapped Nessie. She then sighed with reluctance, "alright," she handed the keys to Sora, "it's up to you now."

"Right," said Sora. He then looked at all three keys, then looked at them one at a time, "I honestly don't know what makes them different, so I'm just gonna trust my feelings. I'm gonna listen to what my heart says and go with it."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Jasper asked, "relying on instinct may not be the best course in this situation."

"You think you can figure out which key is the real one?" Riku asked.

"I'll bet he can't," said Aiden.

"How much you wanna bet?" Tess asked.

"No one's betting anything," said Kairi, "Sora's making this choice." she looked at Sora in a trusting manner, "go on, I believe in you."

"Thanks," said Sora. He then closed his eyes in concentration for a few seconds, then held up one of the keys, "it's this one."

"Why that one?" Nessie asked, "it's the same as the others."

"It just feels right," said Sora.

"Are you absolutely sure about this, Sora?" Alice asked, "I don't know if it's dark magic that's stopping me from seeing the outcome of your decision or something else, so there's no second chances with this. If you chose wrong, then it's game over for real."

"I know," said Sora, "believe me, guys, I know what I'm doing," he held up the key he chose, "this is the right one."

"We trust you, man," said Aiden, "go for it." At that Kairi, Riku and everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Alright," said Sora, "here we go." He walked up to the vault and placed the key he chose in the thirteenth keyhole.

"Here goes everything," said Sora. He then turned the key one quarter to the right. The twelve other keys, starting with the one at 1 o'clock and working their way all the way up to 12 o'clock, turned one by one to the right. Once all the keys were turned, a doorway formed in the outer wall of the vault.

"Looks like your heart was right," said Bella.

"I guess so," said Sora, "now let's go get that talisman!"

But then Edward tensed, as if sensing something terrible, "He's here! Gideon! I can hear his thoughts!"

"Gideon's here!" Nessie exclaimed as she angrily drew her sword, while everyone else got their weapons ready and looked around anxiously.

Just then Gideon appeared from around the stairs on the left side of the fountain, "here I man, ladies and gentlemen," he said in a clam, cheerful tone as he walked towards Sora and the others.

"You're Gideon?" Sora asked in a disbelieving tone. It seemed hard for him to accept that such an ordinary looking person was capable of such evil that he and his friends had to fight against.

"You were expecting something else?" Gideon asked, "something in the manner of wildly colored skin or maybe something in the way of multiple arms, legs and eyes."

"Well," said Sora, "since you've sent a lot of demons at us, I figured you'd be more like a demon yourself."

"Trust me," said a very irate Nessie, "he's Gideon."

"How lovely to see you again, Renesmee," said Gideon.

"You have no right to call her that," said Edward in a calm but still angry tone.

"And it's nice to see you as well, Edward," said Gideon. He then looked at Bella, "and your lovely wife," he looked at Alice, Jasper, Emmet and Rosalie, "and your fantastic siblings as well," then at Jacob and his pack, "and your pet puppies."

The four wolves growled irately, while Jacob glared at Gideon, "keep talking, you pompous bastard, it'll only make killing you that much more satisfying."

"Yeah, whatever, mutt," said Gideon in a dismissive manner. He then looked at Will and Lyra, "you two, I'm not sure we've met yet."

"We haven't," said Will, "I was sent to stop you and your evil.

"Same with me," said Lyra, "me and Will, we volunteered to come here to make sure your wickedness is finished once and for all."

At that Gideon laughed cruelly, "as if you kids could stop me; me! I who have discovered the secret to immortality!"

"What do you mean?" Aiden asked.

"He means he can clone himself," said Edward, "just like he's cloned his minions, the League of Evil Exes. As we speak their new bodies are maturing and should be ready in a manner of days."

"You got that right," sad Gideon, "oh, and before we go any further," he then pulled out a black ring with an even blacker stone on it and put it on his finger, "there, now my head is safe from prying ears."

"He's right," said a slightly concerned Edward, "I can't hear his thoughts any more."

"Bingo!" said Gideon, "now, moving on," he then looked at Hayner, Pence and Olette, "you new brats have been only a minor thorn in my side recently, but you'll get yours when the time is right," he then looked at Riku and Tess, "and you guys as well," he looked at Aiden, "you, I'm not going to hurt you, not as long as Maleficent needs your brain intact."

"You'll find that my brain isn't for sale, you scum-sucking puss bag," said Aiden.

Gideon ignored the insult and looked at Sora, "the young hero who's caused so much trouble for everyone. I expected more."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora asked.

"Well, for starters," said Gideon, "I thought you'd be taller."

"I am tall!" said Sora.

"In your eyes maybe," said Gideon. He then fixed his eyes on Kairi in a possessive manner, "and Kairi, at long last. I've waited a long time to meet you."

"Whatever you're thinking about doing to me," said a very irate Kairi, "you can forget about it. I'm not going to be your mind slave!"

"You won't have a choice when I'm done with you," said Gideon. He then pulled out a green microchip, "once this goes on the back of your neck, you'll do whatever I tell you to do, even kill your boyfriend there."

"I'll never hurt Sora!" shouted Kairi, "I love him, and he loves me. The day we hurt each other is the day Hades turns on the air conditioning in the Underworld!"

At that Sora laughed loudly, "that's a good one, Kairi."

"Thanks," said Kairi.

"Well now," said Gideon, "it seems I'm going to have to destroy this little romance you two have."

"Over my undead body," said Bella as she and her family, as well as Jacob and his back, along with Hayner and his group and everyone else, stood defensively in front of Sora and Kairi.

"If you want to hurt Sora and Kairi," said Jacob, "you're going to have to go through us first."

"I was hoping you'd say that," said Gideon.

"Watch out!' shouted Alice, just as hundreds of humanoid robots, about 5ft tall, steel gray and armed with razor-tipped claws and laser cannons, teleported into the area and attacked Sora and the others.

"Where'd these things come from!" exclaimed Tess as she blocked a laser blast and parried a claw slash from one robot, then avoided another laser blast.

"I don't think we've ever fought robots before," said Riku.

"They're not like Heartless," said Aiden as he blocked a claw slash, then blocked a laser blast.

"These things are the work of the last two of the Evil Exes!" said Nessie as she dueled several of the robots, but her sword seemed to have no effect on them, "The Katayanagi twins. They're expert roboticists, preferring to let their toys wear down their opponents first before moving in for the kill!" frustrated that her sword wasn't working, she quickly sheathed it and began ripping them apart with her bare hands.

"They're tough!" said Jasper as he and the vampires easily avoided the robot attacks and effortlessly dismembered the metal monsters, "but they still die."

Jacob, who had phased back into wolf form, was with his pack also tearing the robots apart.

Eventually Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Will, Hayner, Pence and Olette found that attacking the head from behind was an effective means of destroying the robots. But for every robot destroyed, more and more teleported into the area.

"There's got to be an end to them!" said Hayner as he decapitated one robot after another, only to find more waiting to fight him.

"We have to find the twins!" said Nessie, "they're the ones controlling the robots! Take out the twins and you take out the robots!"

"Well if you know where they are, do point them out for me," said Tess as she dodged a laser blast, then destroyed several robots in a spinning attack.

But then Sora saw Gideon walking towards the vault, with the robots ignoring him as he made his way through the battlefield.

"He's going for the talisman!" Sora shouted, "We have to stop him!"

"But there's too many robots between us and Gideon!" said Pence as he bashed one robot, then another.

"Just hang on for a second," said Emmet, "I'll clear a path for one of you!"

"Lead on!" said Riku after slicing off the head of a robot.

Emmet then rushed through the area, destroying robots so fast that they seemed to fall apart in a blink of an eye. But by then Gideon was almost to the vault.

"No you don't!" shouted Riku. He ran headlong for the vault, projecting his Dark Shield before him that acted like a snowplow against the robots that tried to get to him. He and Gideon reached the vault door at the same time.

"You Keyblade brats are really getting on my nerves!" said Gideon as he drew a vicious blade from his cane, "I'm going to eviscerate you all, except for Aiden and Kairi."

"You'll find that my friends and I are hard to kill!" said Riku as he held up his Keyblade in an offensive stance, while Gideon held his sword in a different offensive stance. They began dueling, with each of them attacking and blocking with equal strength.


…New Hollow Bastion…

"It seems that Gideon has finally decided to take matters into his own hands," said Maleficent as she, Xorat and The Negotiator watched the fight on Traverse Town via an enchanted projection from the floor in the throne room.

"It would appear so, great one," said The Negotiator, "no doubt that the mechanoids created by the twins will keep the brats occupied while Mr. Graves recovers the talisman."

"Assuming that Riku doesn't finish him off first," said Xorat, "send me now, mistress of all evil, send me and I will end this here and now!"

"Not just yet, dear Xorat," said Maleficent, "this is Gideon's final chance. We should let him have his chance, before we destroy him for failing for the last time."

"Mr. Graves isn't finished yet!" said The Negotiator, "he'll get the tailsman and the brats, just watch and see."


At this time the hordes of robots seemed to have stop coming, so Sora and the others had a moment to relax. But then he, Kairi and everyone else saw that Riku was dueling Gideon.

"We need to help him!" said Sora.

"I doubt he's appreciate our interfering with his battle," said Edward.

"I never said you couldn't help me!" shouted Riku as he struggled to block Gideon's vicious attacks.

"No you don't!" shouted Gideon. He then unleashed multiple energy blasts from his sword at Sora and the others, forcing them back, "I prefer to keep my battles on a 1 vs. 1 basis, thank you very much."

"You really are a jerk, you know that," said Riku as he kept defending himself from Gideon's attacks.

"And you're a pathetic excuse for a hero, you know that," said Gideon, "admit it, you can't beat me!"

"I'll admit that you're more skilled when it comes to fighting," said Riku as he grinned eagerly

"Then why are you smiling?" Gideon asked.

"Become I know something you don't know," said Riku.

"Let me guess," said Gideon, "you're left handed."

"No," said Riku.

"Then what's the secret?" Gideon asked,

"While we've been busy fighting," said Riku, "my dear friend Tess has been sneaking past us invisible! She's in the vault right now!"

"What!" exclaimed Gideon as he jumped away from Riku.

But then came the sound of Tess shouting in a very angry manner, "Mother Puss Bucket!"

She emerged from the vault, an enraged look on her face, "there's nothing in there!"

"I beg your freaking pardon!" snapped Aiden.

"The vault, it's empty!" said Tess.

"I don't believe it," said Riku. With that he ran into the vault.

"This can't be happening," said Sora.

"It was all for thing," said Hayner.

"I knew it!" snapped Aiden, "I knew that L was a liar!"

"Wait," said Riku as he ran out of the vault, "there's this." He held up a single envelope with a letter in it.

"It's addressed to you," said Riku as he handed the letter to Gideon.

Gideon opened the letter and read it aloud…

Dear Gideon,

We've taken the Sacred Talisman of Zumakalis before you could get your evil hands on it. It was so awesome opening a subspace corridor inside the vault.

Anyway, we'll be seeing you soon just as soon as we finish one or two errands.

Oh, if someone else finds this, someone who needs the talisman in order to defeat evil, we'll give it back soon, promise.

XOXOXO,

Scott and Ramona

"Well," said an irate Gideon, "don't that just beat all!"

"I thought your gold compass thing said that the vault was secure and that the talisman was safe!" Aiden snapped at Lyra.

"It is safe," said Lyra, "and the vault is secure. No one has opened that vault door in a long time."

"But how did the talisman get out?" Pence asked.

"Scott Pilgrim and Ramona Flowers," said Nessie as she crossed her arms, "Ramona particularly. Her dossier said that she can create subspace corridors with her mind."

"As if I didn't have enough reasons to hate those two!" snapped Gideon as he tore the letter to pieces, "they're so going back on the top of my death list!"

"Not if we kill you first!" snapped Nessie, "and it looks like your minions are all out of robots."

"If you think that robots are all that the Katayanagi twins are all about," said Gideon, "then you're dead wrong."

"You're the one who's about to die," said Pence as he and everyone else closed in on Gideon.

"Oh really," said Gideon, "well, I know something you guys don't know either."

"And what would that be?" Sora asked.

Gideon held up his black ring, "this isn't the only mind-blocking item I have. I gave two of them to the twins, and they've been using the past few minutes to get their equipment set up."

"What?" Sora asked.

"Behind us!" shouted Alice. Sora and the others turned around to see two Japanese men, both in their mid-twenties, and they were clearly twins, the only difference being that one had black hair and wore a white shirt, while the other had white hair and a black shirt. They had set up an elaborate sound system that had about twenty huge amplifiers, all connected to a huge synthesizer.

"Blow out their eardrums, boys!" said Gideon as he quickly donned a seat of earphones that blocked out sound.

The twins then began playing an incredibly loud score on their oversized keyboard, each note strong enough to shatter glass, and the force of the air compression form the music completely bowled over Sora and the other humans.

"It's horrible!" shouted Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Tess, Aiden, Will, Lyra, their daemons, Hayner, Pence and Olette, fell to the ground in agony. They all had their hands over their ears, but the sound still shot through their heads, upsetting their sense of balance and overall making them feel miserable all over.

"My brain is melting!" shouted Aiden.

"My eyeballs are bleeding!" shouted Tess. This wasn't true, but she sure felt like it.

On the other hand, Nessie, her immortal family, along with Jacob and his back, were only annoyed by the loud music.

"If this is your idea of torture, Gideon!" shouted Bella, "then you'll have to do better than that to hurt us!"

"Oh, I can do better!" said Gideon, "and so can the twins!" he then signaled Kyle and Ken. One of them activated a switch on the syntheses, adding a new track to the mix, one with a much higher pitch.

The new anti-music didn't hurt Nessie and the vampires, but it did affect Jacob and his back. The five wolves suddenly collapsed to the ground, writhing about and howling in agony as the high-pitch noise scrambled their senses and inflamed their nerves.

"Jacob!" shouted Nessie. She then glared at the twins, "you bastards are so dead!" But before she could rush the oversized keyboard and rip them apart, the twins added another track to the mix, this one on a different wavelength that affected Nessie.

She screamed in agony and collapsed to the ground.

"Renesmee!" shouted both Bella and Edward.

"It burns!" Nessie screamed as she held her hands over her ears, "the noise! It's like I'm on fire all over, inside and out!"

"You go too far, Gideon!" shouted Jasper.

"I'm just getting started!" shouted Gideon.

The twins then changed the music again, adding a new track of a much lower frequency, one in the ultra-low range. The massive base pounding sent out shockwaves that could shatter concrete.

The force of the sound waves knocked Edward, Bella, Jasper, Alice, Emmet and Rosalie to the ground. They were shocked to discover that bits of their immortal bodies were beginning to crumble and fall off.

"You evil monster!" shouted Rosalie as cracks began to appear across the vampire's faces, "you sick, twisted bastard!"

"I aim to please!" said a viciously smiling Gideon. He walked over to Sora and the other humans, grabbed Kairi and Aiden, and dragged them off to the side. The two of them were still unable to move from the horrible music and were helpless as Gideon propped them against a wall.

"You two are going to watch this," said Gideon to Aiden and Kairi, "you've got front row seats to the final defeat of all of your friends. Then we're going to take a nice trip over to Maleficent. She's been looking forward to having you over at New Hollow Bastion for such a long time."

Kairi and Aiden could only glare contemptuously at Gideon. But then Gideon positioned their heads so they had no choice but to watch their friends suffer.

"It looks as if Mr. Graves is going to be victorious after all," said The Negotiator.

"I'm not impressed," said Xorat, "using music as an execution method, I can do so much better."

"In time you will," said Maleficent, "but for now let us enjoy the moment," she focused the image on Sora and Riku, "I have been waiting quite a while to see the demise of these two. The others are of little importance, but I want to see Sora and Riku die with my own eyes."

"Wait a second," sad Xorat, "aren't there supposed to be two more brats with them? That duck wizard and that dog guardsman."

"That's right," said a concerned Negotiator, "where are those two?"

"Time for the grand finale," said Gideon.

The twins then began playing more loudly than before, the massive sound waves generating a huge energy mass out of the speakers that condensed into an huge, energy creature that became a twin-headed dragon.

"Finish them, boys!" said Gideon, "eat them alive!"

The twins directed the two-headed energy dragon to attack Sora and the others. But then something happened, something that was Donald.

"Take this!" shouted Donald as he zapped the synthesizer with a Thunder spell. The sudden influx of energy overloaded the sound system, causing the twin-headed energy dragon to vanish. All the speakers exploded and the twins were electrocuted.

At the same time Goofy threw his shield at the synthesizer. The impact of his shield triggered a seemingly impossible chain reaction that created a small black hole that sucked the twins in. They were gone in a heartbeat, along with the keyboard and the speakers. The black hole then collapsed in on itself and popped out of existence, leaving behind a shower of munny.

Without the horrible music, Sora and the other mortals, human, hybrid and shape shifter, quickly regained their senses and all got up, while Edward and the other vampires also got up, their immortal flesh healing in the blink of an eye.


"I can't believe it," said The Negotiator in a distraught tone, "the twins have been defeated, again."

"I can," said Xorat. He looked at Maleficent, "now may I go, oh great one?"

"Yes, you may," said Maleficent, "go to Traverse Town, Xorat, and bring me the two brats needed."

"I obey, oh great and terrible Maleficent," said Xorat.

"Wait!" said The Negotiator in a pleading manner, "Mr. Graves is still there. He has yet to unleash his full power. If you would only give him the chance, he will…"

"Gideon has had every chance to deliver on his promises," said Maleficent, "and he has failed on every opportunity presented to him. I will not tolerate any more failure," she looked at Xorat, "go now, and if Gideon interferes in any way, destroy him."

"You cannot destroy Mr. Graves!" said The Negotiator, "his power is too great for a simple Nobody to defeat."

"I am no mere Nobody," said Xorat.

"But you just can't kill Mr. Graves," said The Negotiator, "only he knows the rituals needed to break through to limbo and free Lord Kira."

"That is his only redeeming quality," said Maleficent, "he is still useful, and therefore will only be destroyed if he proves to be too uncooperative," she looked at Xorat, "that is your order. Bring me Kairi and Aiden and return Gideon, but kill him if he refuses to be reasonable."

"I obey," said Xorat. With that he summoned a dark corridor and walked through it.

"I beg of you, great Maleficent," said The Negotiator, "show Mr. Graves some leeway."

"You speak as if you are begging for mercy," said Maleficent, "but no. I have had enough of failure. The time for success is now, and let this be the end of the argument," she glared at The Negotiator as her staff crackled with purple lightning, "unless you wish to be replaced by another clone."

"I have absolutely no desire to be replaced, oh mistress of all evil," said The Negotiator.

"Then stop bickering and enjoy the show," said Maleficent, "for this will surely be one to remember."


"Oh no," said a shocked Alice, "big trouble's coming, seriously big trouble!"

"How big?" Sora asked.

"Worse than anything you've seen before," said Edward.

Just then a Dark Corridor opened up and Xorat stepped out.

"What the…?" Aiden asked, "isn't that Pantyhose Taro?"

"I do not answer to that name anymore," said Xorat.

"He was Pantyhose Taro," said Edward, "one of the most dangerous enemies of Ranma Saotome. But he lost his heart to the darkness."

"That's right," said Tess, "We killed his Heartless just now!"

"And now we have to fight his Nobody," said Riku.

"Correct," said Xorat in a grim tone, "I am Xorat, the destroyer, and I shall be the one to finish you, Keyblade Brats!"

The end of chapter 7.

Next chapter finds our heroes fighting their worst battle yet against their most powerful foe to date. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you next time!