Everything was black, and all was silent. Was Sora dreaming? He wasn't sure. Through the darkness, he could make out a boy standing before him, smiling. He was dressed in white and had golden hair, and his face looked so much like Sora's.
"Sora!" the boy called out. "Wake up!"
"Who…are…you?" Sora whispered
"Sora." said a different voice, one that Sora recognized instantly.
He opened his eyes and the faces of two of his best friends, Krillin and Gohan came into focus.
"How long have I been asleep?" Sora yawned.
"No idea." said Gohan.
"We just woke up, ourselves." Krillin added with a shrug.
"Where are we?" Sora wondered. "I can't remember how we got here!"
"Let's see…we defeated Ansem…" Gohan began.
"More like Ansem defeated himself." Sora corrected him. That much Sora remembered.
"We got out of the Realm of Darkness, and we ended up on that country road, and…that's all I can remember." Gohan admitted, a large bead of sweat running down his head.
"Well, let's try and find out where we are." Krillin suggested.
Sora, and Gohan agreed. They made their way out of the strange lab and began exploring the mansion. No one appeared to be home. In fact, the whole place looked as though no one had lived in it for years, save for one room. It was a plain white room with all kinds of drawings hanging on the walls. The drawings were all really good; there was one of Sora, Kairi, and Riku; there was one of Sora fighting Shadows with Krillin and Gohan, there were sketches of the bathhouse where they met Chihiro, the carcass of Inuyasha's father, the ocean world where he met Misty, Magnus Lee's castle, Hollow Bastion's entrance hall, and another castle Sora didn't recognize. There was even a sketch of the golden-haired boy Sora saw in his sleep. Sora looked around the room for a bit and found a note on the table.
Sora, these sketches are for you.
That was all it said. Sora couldn't begin to guess who might have made them, but he carefully pulled each sketch off the wall nevertheless. He ran downstairs, showed them to Krillin, and told him about the note. Krillin conjured a folder, placed the sketches inside, shrunk it, and placed it in Gohan's pouch. Finally, they put the mansion behind them and started exploring the Town, which they quickly discovered was called Twilight Town. It was a bright and warmly colored town with a tram and lots of shops. Sora licked his lips at the sight of a candy shop but Krillin reminded him that they had no munny. The more Sora looked around, the more he felt like this town meant something to him, but he didn't see how this was possible. They got to a back alley and Sora was drawn to a hanging curtain. He He pulled it to the side and peered into the small room behind it. Two boys and a girl were behind it, looking quite bored.
"What do you want?" The boy with wavy blond hair in camouflage shorts snapped.
"Uh, nothing." Sora said quickly. "Just wondering what was back here."
"Now you know." the blond boy snapped. "This is our spot."
"Hayner!" the girl hissed. "Quit being rude!"
The dark haired boy in the red jersey approached Sora.
"I don't think I've seen you before." he said.
"I'm not from around here." Sora said.
The dark haired boy introduced himself as "Pence" and the girl introduced herself as "Olette." (She reminded Sora a bit of Selphie.)
"I got stuff to do so, catch ya later." the boy called Hayner said moodily, and with that he strode off.
"You'll have to excuse Hayner." Olette sighed.
"He always gets grumpy when summer vacation ends." Pence added. "So what's your name?"
Sora introduced himself and when Krillin and Gohan came in wondering what was taking him so long, he introduced them as well.
"Sora, Krillin, and Gohan." said Olette "We just met someone at the station who said he was looking for you."
The three of them exchanged surprised glances.
"He was wearing a black coat…well…more like a cloak, really. And he had really spiky black hair, spikier than yours."
"That's gotta be dad!" Gohan gasped.
They thanked Olette and Pence and hurried up the hill to the train station. As soon as they got there though, they were confronted by a horde of strange silvery grey creatures. They were unlike anything Sora had ever seen but when they slunk toward him and tried to grab him, he decided that they were obviously not friendly. They moved with unbelievable grace and were surprisingly tough. Usually one hit from the Keyblade was enough to defeat most Heartless, but these creatures were not only durable, they were quick enough (physically and mentally) to evade most of Sora's strikes! Krillin froze a few of them, not wanting to damage the building with his more destructive spells. Gohan relied on his martial arts skills to fight. He wasn't quite in top shape, but he managed to squish a few of their heads with punches, kicks, and stomps. As soon as they bested one group of creatures, another wave appeared before them.
These creatures were a bit larger and had long bladed arms. Before anyone could make a move though, someone in a black cloak dropped down and sliced the creatures apart so fast that Sora barely saw him move. He was holding a Keyblade identical to Sora's Kingdom Key, only every inch of it was black as jet.
"Goku?" Krillin gasped
The cloaked man tossed a pink pouch to Krillin and said "Board the train and leave this world. The train knows the way."
He then ran to the edge of the balcony and jumped into the town below.
"Was that really him?" Sora wondered.
"That was dad alright." said Gohan.
"Well, we better do as he says." Krillin advised.
They entered the station and were about to approach the ticket booth when they heard "Wait up!"
It was Pence and Olette with Hayner not far behind.
"We came to see you off." said Pence. "It just seemed like something we should do."
"Oh, thanks." said Sora, somewhat shocked by the kind gesture.
He noticed Olette gasp when Krillin took out the pouch that Goku gave him to pay for their train tickets. She took out a pouch of her own and Sora saw that it was identical to the one Krillin was holding.
"Hey, Sora." said Hayner, "Sorry I snapped at you before."
"No problem." Sora replied. Suddenly Hayner's face looked eerily familiar.
"Hey, I've never met you before have I?" he asked.
"Nah." said Hayner. "I have a good memory for faces an' I don't remember yours. Why d'you ask?"
Sora could only scratch his head and shrug. He saw shocked expressions on Hayner and Pence's faces and felt a tear sliding down his cheek.
"Dude, is something the matter?" Hayner asked.
"Don't know where it came from." said Sora, wiping it away quickly.
He said goodbye to his three new friends and joined Krillin and Gohan by the silver snake-shaped train. They took in its otherworldly appearance for a moment and the snake head opened its maw.
"Freaky." said Krillin with a shiver.
"You really gonna ride that thing?" Hayner asked.
"Guess so." said Sora, with a grin. "Don't worry about me. I've been through things you wouldn't believe."
Hayner, Pence, and Olette watched their strange new friend and his companions board the creepy snake-train.
"Whaddya think he meant by that?" Hayner asked them.
"Dunno, but I think I'm gonna look forward to seeing him again." Pence said as the snake-train turned itself around with all the flexibility of a real snake and slid effortlessly down the track.
Olette couldn't stop thinking about that pouch that the one called Krillin had. Every stitch was identical to hers. But she made that pouch herself! She knew the phrase, "Great minds think alike" but this was unreal!
"I think we've got another mystery to solve." she said.
Sora looked out the window as the train sped through total darkness, forcing himself to dismiss the feelings of nostalgia and sadness from his mind for now. His mind was quickly filled with wonder as the train sped through a vibrant green nebula.
"Do you think we're in the Realm of Light or the Realm of Darkness?" he asked.
"Maybe we're somewhere in between." Krillin proposed.
"In between?"
Was there really such a thing? Sora wondered as the train began slowing. He, Krillin, and Gohan rushed to the foremost window and saw an encrimsoned white light ahead. When they passed through it, they were in a bright pink void with a sea of yellow clouds below and they were approaching a very small green world. Sora could make out a few trees, a small, simple house, and a bright red car.
"Hey!" Krillin exclaimed. "Never thought we'd see this old place again!"
"You know this place?" Sora asked.
"This is King Kai's world." Krillin explained "He was Goku's teacher, very mystical guy. Quite the comedian too."
The train took them close enough to the world that they could drop onto it. As soon as they landed they were greeted by a large, muscle-bound man with short brown hair. He was dressed in a black and white prison uniform and had the words No Future etched into his skin above his left eye.
"Well, what do we have here?" the man growled.
"Who are you?" Krillin asked.
"I'll ask the questions." The large man snarled.
He snapped his fingers and ten Shadows surfaced around him.
"I take it you guys are here to be trained by the Kai, that right?"
They did not respond but had their weapons ready.
"Well, you're too late! He's probably a Heartless by now."
"No way!" Krillin protested "King Kai was one of the greatest masters who ever lived! It'll take more than a few Heartless to finish him!"
"That's why I sent dozens inside to ambush him!" The large man snarled. "Word is he's gotten lazy and soft over the years! Why am I talkin' to you runts anyway? Attack!"
The horde of Shadows leapt toward the three heroes, who reduced them to black smoke with ease. Then a dozen Soldier Heartless appeared, but Krillin blasted them in all directions with a cluster of lightning bolts.
"Wolf wolves…wolf wolves…" the large man began chanting, "MAGIC EYE CANNON!"
A shining ball of light shot out of his magical right eye. Krillin and Gohan dived out of the way, Sora tried to knock it back at the man but it exploded, sending him tumbling back.
"Drift!"
Krillin casted a zero gravity spell on the man and he began drifting upward.
"Wha…What the hell? What the hell did ya do to me?"
Krillin pelted him with fire balls and lightning, sending him even farther away, it wasn't long before he was out of sight.
"Is it safe to come out?" a throaty voice asked.
The car door opened and a short stout blue man in a black robe stepped out. He had a long pair of antennae on his head and wore dark sunglasses.
"I could have handled the Heartless, but the man with the magic eye would have been too much for me. Too bad comedy isn't a weapon or else I'd be unstoppable." he added with a snortle.
"Nice to see ya haven't lost your sense of humor, sir." said Krillin.
King Kai then approached Sora.
"And you must be Sora." he said grasping Sora's hand. "Good to finally meet you, my boy."
"Um…good to meet you too." said Sora, who was unsure what to think of this strange being.
He took them into his house and bade them all to sit.
"Now then, have you seen Goku yet?"
"Yes sir, we ran into him at the train station in Twilight Town. We didn't get a chance to talk to him, though."
"Yes, Goku has been running around a lot lately."
"So, do you know what's happened to us?" Sora asked.
"Well, from what I understand, the three of you have been in a deep sleep for a year."
"A YEAR?" The three of them exclaimed at once.
"Yes, but that's not important now. What matters now is that you are prepared for your next journey. It's probably going to be more challenging than your last."
"Another journey?" Sora questioned. "I was looking forward to finding my friend Riku and going back to my home world. I thought the worlds should be at peace."
"I know." King Kai said softly. "You saved your world and many others from darkness once, but now they are being threatened again by an enemy more dangerous than…"
He was interrupted by the growling of Sora's stomach.
"Oh! Heh, sorry." Sora said with an embarrassed grin.
"I guess I could explain the rest after dinner." King Kai chuckled. "Please tell me he doesn't eat as much as Goku." he whispered to Krillin and Gohan.
Curried rice, noodles, sweet and sour chicken, So many good dishes. Sora even tried some emperor scorpion and took a liking to it (much to Krillin's disgust). They continued to eat while Sora laughed at King Kai's jokes. It wasn't so much the jokes as the way King Kai told them.
"So how come there are still Heartless running around?" Sora asked, after he'd eaten his fill. "I thought I took care of them."
"You did prevent hundreds, maybe thousands of Heartless from being born." King Kai assured him. "But you need to understand that the Heartless are darkness incarnate. They have existed for as long as there has been darkness in the hearts of living beings. There will always be darkness in the universe and in our hearts."
"Oh…"
It sounded to Sora as if the Heartless would always be around. Was that going to prevent him from ever having a normal life again?
"It's not as bad as you think, Sora. Without both light and darkness, life as we know it could not exist. It is the struggle between the two that causes problems."
Sora stared, perplexed by these words. He wasn't sure how, but somehow it made some sense.
"Darkness is not evil, Sora." King Kai declared. "Good and evil are choices, not elements. Never forget that."
The three heroes nodded. That much made perfect sense, at least.
"Now, it's time you learn of the enemies you will encounter."
King Kai waved his hand and an image of Sora appeared.
"You know how Heartless are born, don't you?"
"They're born when we give into the darkness in our hearts." Sora answered. "Or if the Heartless take our hearts by force."
"That's right. However…"
The image of Sora turned grey and featureless.
"Sometimes when a strong-hearted person—good or evil—loses their heart to darkness, the body they leave behind acts on a will of its own."
The image of Sora's body continued to shrink and shrivel until it resembled one of the strange creatures they encountered outside the train station.
"We call these non-beings Nobodies." King Kai explained. "Nobodies are creatures of neither light nor darkness. They are empty shells with no feelings or memories. They are not meant to exist in this or any realm."
Sora stared at the abomination before him, unable to decide if he should feel sorry for these creatures.
"While Heartless act mostly on instinct, Nobodies possess some measure of intelligence."
He waved his hand again and another image appeared before them. It was a figure in a black full-length hooded cloak with a zipper and a chain dangling from the hood, like a drawstring. Two other figures in nearly identical cloaks appeared.
"The beings you see now are even more advanced. These powerful Nobodies control the lesser ones; they have formed their own organization and are working toward a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. They are intelligent, fully capable of speech, and they each have their own unique powers and weapons. There may be times when they appear to have feelings, but this is just a ruse. You must not be deceived."
Sora and his comrades may have held their own against one powerful enemy, but an organization of them could really be a problem. Sora couldn't imagine fighting a team of Ansems, even with Krillin and Gohan's help.
"So Goku must be out there trying to find out what these guys are up to." Krillin concluded.
"It seems that way." said King Kai "Now, the three of you are going to be training with me for a few days. You're all going to need it after being asleep for so long, especially you, Sora."
"I guess I am a bit out of practice." Sora admitted.
"Is it the kind of training my dad got?" Gohan asked excitedly.
"It's similar." said King Kai. "We start first thing tomorrow."
