Avalon yawned, fiddling with a flyaway strand of hair. They had been floating through the stars for the longest time, trying to determine where to go to next, but no new worlds had yet to appear. Everyone else was asleep, but Stella had been examining the screen for a while, trying to decipher a fuzzy signal that had been received the last few trips.
"It's Twilight Town!" She exclaimed, jolting everyone awake. "It's back!"
Everyone jumped from their seats, struggling to look over Stella's shoulder. There Twilight Town was, clear as day. Stella changed the navigation to Twilight Town, and they arrived in no time.
They walked through Twilight Town, where everything seemed to be as normal as it was the last time they had been there. Heartless were scattered about in a low frequency, but they were fairly easy to defeat. IT wasn't long until they passed through Tram Common, where a small boy was running in a frenzy, yelling "H-help! The sandlot! It's Seifer! Somebody please help us!"
Sora looked at the gang, and no words needed to be said. They rushed to the sandlot, hoping to be able to arrive in time.
When they arrived, Seifer, Fuu, and Rai were on the floor, surrounded by Dusks that were quickly closing in. A shot rang out, and a Dusk fell, making the other Dusks turn toward the source.
Avalon smiled, holding up her gun. "Pick on someone who can fight back, ya?"
Stella rolled her eyes, drawing her sword and charging at the Dusks. It wasn't long before the Dusks were defeated, and the group barely broke a sweat.
"Impressive." Everyone turned around to look at the source of the voice. A cloaked figure clapped his hands, walking toward the group. He paused, his demeanor appearing to be more serious. "By the way," he said, "have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere, for he can't be far if I possess his heart."
"Creepy, but, who wants to know?" Stella growled. Sure, she didn't like Axel, but Amanda did, so she wouldn't give up anything to a guy that she didn't know.
The cloaked man ignored her, and continued to face Sora, who had his Keyblade out and ready. "You see," he continued, "Axel's no longer acting in our best interest."
"Like he ever did?" Avalon whispered to Stella, who suppressed a giggle.
"Having a fight?" Donald asked teasingly.
"Not very organized Organization. . ." Sora added.
The man pointed at Sora. "Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless."
"Thanks for your concern." Stella growled sarcastically. "But I'm pretty sure we can take care of ourselves."
"Glad to hear it." Once again, the cloaked figures demeanor changed. "Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you."
"As if you had hearts." Avalon growled.
"True, we don't have hearts . . ." The man took off his hood, revealing long blue hair and a x-shaped scar that was between his eyes. ". . . but we remember what it was like. That's what makes us special." He turned, opening a dark portal.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora growled.
The man paused, looking over his shoulder at Sora. "We know very well how to injure a heart. Sora, you just keep on fighting those Heartless." He glanced at Stella, then walked into the portal.
"What a creeper." Stella murmured, shivering slightly.
Sora watched the portal as it disappeared. "I wonder if that leads into the Organization's world?"
Avalon shook her head. "I wouldn't bet on it. It can lead anywhere the maker of it chooses. Besides, I'm more concerned of his threat."
Sora looked at Stella with concern, then changed his mood quickly. "I guess I'll have to keep a closer eye on you, I'll protect you." He grinned.
"I'm not even gonna comment on that one." Stella shook her head. "Besides, I think I'll have ot be the one to protect you."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Sora crossed his arms.
"Hey, you!" They turned to face Seifer, who looked at them with disdain. "How 'bout you get out of my town now? You've caused enough trouble."
"Have it your way!" Donald growled, irritated. "C'mon, guys."
"Hold it!" Seifer yelled again as they turned.
Avalon turned around quickly, pointing at Seifer. "Objection!" She covered her mouth quickly, blushing. "Reflex. What I meant to say was: will you just make up your mind?" She laughed weakly, and Stella nudged her in the ribs.
Seifer shook his head and held up a trophy that had four crystals embedded in it. "This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town."
"Thanks, but . . . we don't really need it." Sora said weakly.
Seifer ran up to Goofy, thrusting the trophy into Goofy's hands. He smirked as he left, Rai and Fuu following.
"Weird town." Stella murmured, scratching her head.
"Oh! Sora!" Pence ran in from the same direction as Seifer had left.
"Pence, right?" Sora asked.
Pence nodded. "Hey, do you know a girl named Amanda?"
"Yeah!" Stella and Avalon said in unison.
"Then you guys had better follow me to the station!" He began to run and they made it to the Station Plaza in a short amount of time.
"He-ey!" Hayner called, waving his hands. He and Olette stood by the train station entrance, and the group hurriedly walked to them.
"So how do you guys know Amanda?" Stella asked hurriedly. The meeting with the blue-haired man had worried her, and she knew it wasn't without reason.
Olette and Hayner looked at each other quickly, a hint of remorse in their gazes. Still, they began to tell the group what happened.
Amanda was totally pissed off. First Axel had been completely cryptic, then he wouldn't tell her anything, and finally he shoved her into a portal and closed the exit, making there be only one, which led to an unknown place to her. He said it was for her own safety, but she really figured she was safer around him.
Still, hoping that this was one of those rare times where he was right, she decided to do what he said, and stepped toward the portal on the other end. She wound up stepping into a small room that was filled with three people who were staring at her with a mixture of curiosity and horror.
"Uh, hey there?" Amanda said nervously. She could feel her face heating up with embarrassment.
"How did you do that?!"
"Who are you?!"
"What are you doing here?!"
Amanda's head hurt from the barrage of questions. "Um, my name's Amanda. I don't . . . my friend said I would be safe here, and wound up kicking me here. I don't . . . really know what I can do now."
The group seemed sympathetic and way more understanding than Amanda could really have ever imagined. She learned their names, and their curiosity in her story was amazing. She told them the basics, trying not to confuse them with details. In short, it wound up being like this: she, her friends, and her twin wound up being transported to another world and got separated, she met this guy who was kind to her and she loved him, but they wound up following a bad path and had to fight Sora and her friends, and thought that her love was dead, but later saw him again and have been traveling with him ever since.
"How romantic . . ." Olette smiled.
"Well . . . I don't know about this Axel guy, but Sora's bound to show up." Pence offered.
"Yeah, he said he was coming back." Hayner added.
"Sounds good." Amanda smiled.
"I finally found you." Everyone looked around for the source of the voice. A portal appeared from the wall, and a blue-haired man walked out. "Funny," he said, "I figured Axel would be with you."
"Get a life, Saiix." Amanda growled, standing up abruptly.
"Is that any way to treat Axel's friend?" He said, feigning hurt.
"I doubt he would warn me about a friend." Amanda took a defensive stance, summoning her blade.
"No matter." He shook his head. "You're coming with me, whether you want to or not."
He stepped toward Amanda. Hayner and Pence rushed at him, but both of their attacks were easily dodged. She charged at him with her blade, going against Axel's warnings and her instincts, which both told her to run. He dodged her almost as easily as he dodged Hayner and Pence, and turned to wind up behind her, grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back, with his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, preventing her from moving.
His mouth was near her ear, and he whispered softly so the others couldn't hear. "You resist any longer, and I might have to seriously contemplate destroying Axel. His life is in your hands."
Amanda froze, looking over her shoulder at Saiix for any sign of faltering. It wasn't that she didn't trust Axel, but at least she stood a chance against him in a serious fight. Saiix was nothing like that; he was much stronger and dead serious.
"Fine. I'll go with you." She whispered, her shoulders slumping in utter defeat.
"I thought so." Saiix smiled, opening a portal.
Amanda stepped toward it, but turned and waved at the group before she entered it. In a couple of seconds, she was gone.
"No wonder that guy, Saiix, said he had Axel's heart." Avalon grumbled, crossing her arms.
Stella cursed a chain of cuss words. She sighed. "At least we know she'll be safe. She wouldn't be a useful tool if she were dead."
"Kristen would kill you for saying that." Avalon smiled. "So at least we know she's alive, for now."
"How can you guys be so nonchalant about this?!" Sora exclaimed.
Both of them looked at him plainly. "If we worry or get sad, it'll just ruin all chance we had. We just gotta keep pushing on and hope that everything will all work out." Avalon shrugged.
"Yeah!" Stella agreed. "We just gotta push onward and outward!" She abruptly extended her arm and pointed toward the ocean, accidentally knocking the trophy out of Goofy's hands. "Oops."
They quickly picked up the crystals, noticing how they managed to glow in the light. The blue one in Sora's hand suddenly glowed and floated into the air, and Sora opened another gateway.
"I guess it's time to go." Avalon whispered.
"You'd better hurry then, if you're going to find your friends." Olette smiled.
"You comin' back?" Hayner asked hopefully.
"Priomise!" Sora said, the others nodding their heads in agreement.
They returned to the Gummi Ship, looking for new pathways to head.
"I'm sorry, guys." Sora said glumly.
"What brought this up?" Stella asked, turning her chair to face him.
"I've heard so much that I'm 'the key that connects everything', so that means all of this is my fault."
"Don't be silly." Avalon said, stretching. "You bind worlds together, you bring people together, with you people's paths connect. How they intertwine-- like with Axel, Amanda, and Saiix—is completely up to them and how they choose to follow their paths."
"I'm sure Amanda wouldn't give this up for anything." Goofy added.
"I don't think any of us will." Stella smiled. "Every trial, every problem, it just makes it more of an adventure. It makes times like these worth it."
Sora looked down and smiled. "Thanks, guys."