Hope could be heard groaning as he awoke inside of a white room with Aqua and Titanica by his side as they awoke.
"Ugh. What happened? I remember leaving the Imperial Assault Force Headquarters...but...wait, I think we were...attacked?" Hope wondered as he looked around. "Wait, I've been here before."
"Ugh. Where are we?" Titanica wondered.
"Wait. Hope, all three of us have been here. Its…" Aqua began.
"Castle Oblivion.' Hope said. "But...how could we have ended up here?"
"Good question." Aqua said. "I remember we were heading to Shibuya, but then something attacked us. After that, nothing."
"Well, we could check out that room." Titanica said pointing to a door with a slightly opened door.
The three of them entered to see dozens of machines at work.
"What is this place?" Titanica asked.
"This must be Vexen's old lab. Where he made the Riku Replica and….Xion." Hope said remembering some sad thoughts. "No. Can't think of it now." Hope said bumping into a tank. "Oh, please don't…." Hope began before seeing inside the tank was himself.
"Its...you?" Aqua asked.
"I think Reuniclus wanted to more than make some of you." Titanica said.
"I don't think this was done by Reuniclus." Aqua said looking at a few scratch marks on the walls. "Something was in here...or someone."
They continued further in to see several more tanks, each with a Hope inside.
"Look at this. There's enough of you to make a private army." Titanica said.
"But who could be behind all of this?" Hope asked.
"Well, why don't you ask the mastermind yourself?" said a voice as the three looked at a floating chair sitting in it was a familiar face with a robotic arm. "hello...Hope. Miss me?"
"You….Despair?" Hope asked.
"In the flesh, well, mostly flesh." Despair said.
"But how? I took you down…" Hope said.
"It was bison that did that replica I sent out in." Despair said. "Though I can't say I blame him. That idiot learned too much."
"So youre making more of me, and yourself? And for what?" Hope asked.
"Well, to put it simply, I'm starting my own villain syndicate. I make these clones as an offer to villains around the universe. In return, they join my side. I've already gotten a few on board, Bison included." Despair said.
"Its not just me youre cloning. Youre mass producing Katana and Akatanas too, and… whats that?" Hope said looking at a male in a white suit and a sword at his side in a tank.
"That is something I've been working on. A male version of Katana for Ouma America. Project: Sword. In addition to you, I mass produce artificial soldiers for dozens of evil organizations. They're endorsing is what keeps me on top. And I have Vexens notes on the replicas to thank." Despair said.
"Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. Its time to smash this place." Hope said.
"Oh, I wouldnt be too sure of that. You have to get past my big gorilla first. Hey, get out here, Nemesis!"
"What?!" Hope said as the familiar sight of the massive Nemesis T-ttype.
"Now, don't kill the boy. I need him for more clones. But the other two are free game." Despair said.
"Grrr. STARS!" Nemesis shouted.
"Uh… nice to see you again?" Hope said. "I think we better RUN!"
They dashed out of the room as nemesis followed them.
"Wait. Hope, we can't leave the castle!" Aqua said.
"No, but we can-" Hope began.
"That's not what I mean. If Despair is using it as a base, then I need to get something out he can't have." Aqua said.
"What is it?" Hope asked.
"Ven." Aqua said.
They ran down the stairs before reaching a blank wall. Aqua rose her keyblade as a door appeared. Upon entering, Hope and Titanica were surprised to see a sleeping Ven in a chair with his keyblade nearby.
"He was here the entire time?" Hope asked.
"It was the only place I thought he might be safe. But with Despair here, I can't risk it." Aqua said. "I need to warp him somewhere safer."
"A warp spell?" Hope asked.
"Yes. But, I need some place so…" Aqua said putting her hand on Hope's head as she used her magic to find a good place. "Perfect!" Aqua then ran over to Ven as she rose her keyblade up and in a flash, Ven and his keyblade vanished.
"So, where did you send him?" Titianica asked.
"Somewhere that Nemesis can't reach, neither can Despair, the Multiverse Tree." Aqua said.
"Okay, but…" Hope said as Nemesis crashed through the wall. "Does that go the same for us?!"
"STARS!" Nemesis roared.
"Somebody help us!" Titanica said.
"No ones coming to save you." Despair said arriving. "Nemesis, nail the blue brat. We can use whatever living organs are from the remains."
Nemesis prepared to fire at Hope as it launched an attack. Hope braced himself as a disc of flames blocked it. When Hope opened his eyes, he found himself in the arms of a person in black.
"You know...even in someone else, you cause a lot of problems, eh...Xion?" they said.
"No way." Titanica said.
The figure was revealed to be a man with spiky red hair.
"Axel!" Despair said.
"Axel? Nah. I'm Lea. Got it memorized?" Lea said.
"Thank god." Hope said.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Despair said.
"See, I made a promise to them. That no matter where they ran, I'd always be there to bring them back. So, seems like you didn't right a sequel to this little plan. So...what's your next move?" Lea said with a smirk.
"Grr. You're dead!" Despair said as Nemesis charged.
"Yeah, not happening." Lea said grabbing the three as they vanished in darkness.
"What? Noooooo!" Despair shouted.
When they came up, they found themselves in some kinda shop
"So, you were able to save them?" said a blue haired merchant.
"Yep. Got all three of them out. I owe ya big." Lea said.
"I'll take them from here. I think my other customers destination could be the same as theirs." she said.
"As much as I wanna keep looking for them, I think I wanna stick with these guys for a bit. I kinda owe them too." Lea said.
"Thanks Lea. Um… dont mind me asking, but who's the girl?" Hope asked.
"Welcome, new customer! I'm Miyuki, the owner of this airship shop." she said.
"I ran into her when looking for some people. She told me you might end up here, and well, consider it to me making it up to Xion." Lea said.
"Okay. So… where are you headed, Miyuki?" Hope said.
"A customer of mine wants to head to a ship called the Queen Zenobia. SHe knows youre on here, but she wants to be concealed until she can grandly enter properly. I could add you to that destination, but…" Miuki said.
"Let me guess, you want us to shop here?" Aqua asked.
"Its how it works." Lea said. "Women's already ate through the savings I got working in Paris."
"Wait, I think the bigger question is….how are you back?" Titanica asked.
"Well, after I, I mean Axel, gave my, his life for you...I woke up in Paris. I was surprised. I was...a person again. Heart and body in all." Lea said.
"Wow. Guess were together so… lets see what you got Miyuki." Hope said.
"RIght this way! I got some good deals." Miyuki said.