Riku crashed through the roof of the treehouse, catching a supporting beam on the way down to try and stop his fall only to have it snap under the sudden weight. At least it had given him pause enough to land safely. It looked like the place hadn't been lived in for a while – everything was a wreck, even discounting what he'd caused.
Neither Donald or Goofy were around.
"Great," he muttered sardonically. "Now all I have to do is find everyone again. I assume you're listening," he added. "Where's Sora?"
There was no response this time. Either there was no one back at Hollow Bastion keeping an eye on him, or they were all busy.
"Great," he repeated, then turned to the only exit. A large leopard was barring his path, snarling at him. The hostility toward him was clear.
He almost called on both his weapons, but decided it wasn't really necessary and kept to Soul Eater instead. It flashed into his right hand, where the Keyblade normally was, though he barely noticed this. A weapon was a weapon, it didn't matter to him which one it was or which hand he took it in. He was ambidextrous. Or at least, Riku had been. So now he was too.
"Here, kitty," he murmured with a grin that showed no mirth, letting the leopard stalk closer, trying to circle around him. He followed the big cat's steady, silent steps around, waiting to make his move.
They circled once, then a second time. When it was by the doorway again, he launched himself forward, swinging Soul Eater to bar the leopard's attack as it reared up to scratch at him, then slamming a shoulder hard into it to shove it out. The force of it carried it through the air and over the edge of a wooden balcony. Claws scrabbled at the wood desperately, but he cut the wood it was holding onto, sending it tumbling down after it.
There was an eerie chuckle from behind him, hauntingly familiar. Riku turned quickly to look, but saw nothing.
"Who's there?" he demanded.
There was no response again. No reply, no answer, nothing. It was just him here. Maybe he was just hearing things.
He shook himself, then picked his way along the remains of the balcony, down past some netting beneath the treehouse, and into the jungle below. There was a well-worn path, sometimes through trees, once even over treetops, that showed the way further down to the jungle's floor. Worn as it was, several times he was forced to use Soul Eater to cut out parts of the jungle that barred his path.
Through the thick green foliage, he could just make out some yellow stalks not far away, which turned out to be a large bamboo thicket. He spotted Donald and Goofy being taken out of the thicket by a tall stranger in khaki clothing, though he could not yet see where to. He didn't try to see where it was though – just behind them, emerging from behind some tall rocks was Sora. Looking for all the world like he had before all this started, but naturally with differences. There was no chain at his belt and his brown hair was now styled as Riku's had been. It looked odd on him, and felt strange looking at what had once been himself as others did, but it was undeniably Sora.
He carved through the jungle with renewed effort, barely noticing the camp that the stranger had taken the others to as he ran through toward the bamboo thicket, a large open area surrounded by tall bamboo stalks with only a rock in the middle of the area.
No one was there.
There was another way out opposite him, quickly taken to leave the thicket to a rocky area that was also deserted. Where had he gone?
From behind him, the chuckle came again. He was certain now – it was the same chuckle he'd used to give when he'd been Sora, but... there were differences. It seemed more cold, more calculating. As if Sora were laughing at someone unfortunate simply because they were unfortunate.
But there was still no sign of him, and nowhere else he could have gone, so he turned and started to head back toward the camp in search of his friends. Where had he gone, and what was he doing? Maleficent had said he'd been seen here... but by who? She had an agent here, that much seemed obvious, else how would she have known? He'd track this agent down and find out what Sora had been doing.
Then as he re-entered the bamboo thicket, he realized there was no point. Sora stood on the rock, Riku's Keyblade in one hand. He noticed Sora had a crown around his neck, identical to his own, but the crown was completely black instead of the silver of his own. Even the links had the alternating black and white his own did.
Sora appeared to be examining his Keyblade with interest, but glanced up with a vicious looking smirk when he noticed Riku come into the clearing. Riku tried to summon it back to himself, but it remained in Sora's hand. Sora merely laughed again.
"You don't get it, do you?" Sora asked, amused. "It wasn't meant for you."
"What're you talking about?" Riku demanded. "It appeared in my hand that night!"
"Oh, really? Is that so? Why don't you try remembering that again, and see if it really is your hand?"
"Huh? Of course it's my hand!"
"Are you really sure?" Sora taunted. He tossed the Keyblade to his other hand, checking the newly freed hand. "'cause I think it was this hand. The Keyblade chose a boy called Sora. And that's me."
"But you're not-"
"Not what?" Sora interrupted, the smirk fading to be replaced with a harsh expression. "Not Sora? Not Riku? Not real? I don't care! I'm Sora, and the Keyblade chose me! You..." he looked deploringly at him, then finished, "You're nothing more than a delivery boy."
"I'm still stronger than you, Sora! If you don't give that back, I'll take by force!"
"Oh will you now?" he answered, the vicious smirk coming back again. The Keyblade returned to Sora's right hand. "I wonder if that's true?"
"Riku!" two voices called. Donald and Goofy had turned up at the entrance from the camp. Sora glanced briefly behind him at the two, then leaped up, aiming for the distracted Riku.
Distracted or not, he managed to scramble clear, leaving the Keyblade in Sora's hand to go partly into the ground. Sora yanked it clear and pursued him, taking the offensive with swift but wide swings that left no room or chance to counter-attack.
Riku started to notice a pattern to Sora's attacks, ducking under one strike, then as he rose up he brought Soul Eater up alongside him, using the flat of it against Sora's wrist to try and disarm him even as he shoved back as he had the leopard earlier. Sora was surprised by this, but kept hold of the Keyblade.
Now Riku took advantage of the momentary surprise Sora had shown, disdainfully deflecting the hasty attacks Sora tried to make as he drove Sora back until he backed into a thick wall of bamboo. Riku dropped Soul Eater, took hold of Sora's arm and wrenched the Keyblade off him.
"This is my Keyblade," he growled at Sora, stooping to retrieve Soul Eater with his other hand. "It chose me. It's been with me since I left our island. If you want one, go get your own."
Sora looked stunned, but as Riku turned away to rejoin Donald and Goofy, his eyes narrowed and he swung one hand as if it still held the Keyblade. It flashed out of Riku's hand and back into his own.
"If it's your Keyblade, why does it keep coming back to me?" Sora demanded. "You had to fight me to take it off me, but I can take it back from you just by summoning it. It's mine, Riku. Like I said – you're just the delivery boy... and a thief."
"Oh, come on! You guys will back me up right?" Riku called to his watching friends. "You've been with me since Traverse Town, and I've had the Keyblade the whole time, right?"
"Well... yeah..." Goofy admitted, though he seemed doubtful. "It's just..."
"The King told us to follow the Key," Donald finished. "And if he's got the Key..." he trailed off.
Sora laughed again, "So it looks like they're not even your friends, Riku! What did you think, you could just take my Keyblade and the friends I was meant to make and be a hero?" Sora shook his head, moving to join them. "Why don't you just go find somewhere else to live, Riku? Somewhere that won't mind you opening the door and destroying their world like you did ours?"
The words hit him hard. He knew he hadn't been the one to do it, but he had the memories of it, and he'd told Maleficent he'd done it, and so the guilt hit him as if he had.
"Sora-" he began, but Sora shook his head again.
"C'mon, you guys. I gotta get to know you better."
"But Riku..." Goofy murmured, looking back to him as the three left.
"Forget about that thief. He's always doing that to me."
Then they turned the corner and were gone.
That didn't sound like Sora – not even when he'd been Sora. There was something strange going on here.
"Maleficent?" he murmured, quietly more from shock than any real desire not to be heard. When there was no response he tried again louder. "Maleficent!"
"Gracious Riku, what is all this commotion about?" she asked, her voice coming from behind him. He jumped slightly at the surprise, then leaned back against the bamboo wall. "Is there something wrong?"
"Sora... just took my Keyblade from me," he managed weakly. "The King's... lackeys went with him. They said something about being ordered to follow the Key. Maleficent, without them, I don't have any way of getting around."
"A considerable inconvenience," she admitted. "And most unforeseen... how did he take the Keyblade, Riku?"
"I didn't summon it while I was here... when I saw him here, he already had it. I tried to summon it myself, but it wouldn't respond to me – I had to fight him to take it off him, and afterwards he just took it off me again by summoning it back again."
"I see... Riku, I'm going to ask you something very important, do you understand?" He just nodded mutely. "I need to know if you have been... dishonest with me at all. About anything at all."
"What? No, never," he lied. He didn't want to mention that he still had memories from both Sora and Riku at the islands.
"Very well. I will bring you back to Hollow Bastion with me."
"But what about Kairi?"
"As soon as I have discovered anything about her, I will let you know. Now come... perhaps it is time you met my... associates."
He nodded, allowing the green fire she created to surround him. As it had the last time she'd transported him, the view went green except for him and her, then black, and settled into the familiar view of the room she'd given him in Hollow Bastion.
"Rest first, Riku. If you need anything, just ask. You'll find me in the castle's chapel usually, if not my associates."
"Speaking of associates," a voice said, coming into the room. Riku noticed him as he entered, taller than he was, but not quite as tall as Maleficent. He wore a black coat that almost reached the ground, black boots visible underneath them. The hood of the coat was pushed back to reveal long blonde hair, and deep green eyes. "I believe I'd like a word with the boy."