Welcome back for another chapter! It's about time for the Seven Keyblade Wielders to start their new journey! Let us begin!

Chapter 9

In Radiant Garden, everyone was getting prepared for what is about to come in their way: Raiden and the others told more about Shao Kahn, his followers and the dangers that await them, and as soon as they gave them the information, they returned to their world; Leon and the others, along with Ansem, were strengthening the town's defenses in case Shao Kahn ever invaded again; Mickey, Donald and Goofy were getting their Gummi Ship ready to head back to Disney Castle while the seven Keyblade Wielders were getting ready for their travel across the worlds.

Inside the castle, Kairi was approached by the three good fairies, Flora, Fauna and Merryweather to give Kairi new traveling clothes. She was with Aqua while she was getting her new clothes. Once Kairi and Aqua entered the dressing room, the three good fairies saw Aqua, gasped happily and Flora said "Oh my dear! If it isn't Aqua! Oh how long has it been since we last saw of you? It is good to see you again."

Aqua smiled and said "It's good to see you too. It has been a long time."

"I know that we are supposed to give Kairi here her new clothes," Fauna said, "But we don't mind giving you new ones."

Aqua waved her hands in defense and said "No, that is fine."

"Alright," Merryweather said, "If you changed you mind, let us now."

As Aqua nodded, the three fairies looked at Kairi and Flora said "Now let us do something about your clothes."

When Flora waved her wand, she shot her magic at Kairi's clothes and…they changed the color of her clothes to red. Irritated, Merryweather said "Ohhh! That will never work!"

As she waved her wand at Kairi, she used her magic to turn Kairi's clothes to blue. Then, Fauna said "How about this?"

Once she used her magic on Kairi's clothes, the color changed to green. Not deciding what color, the three fairies continue to use their magic to change Kairi's clothes to red, blue and green. As they did that, Aqua can't help but laugh at this. A bit annoyed, Kairi said "Not to be rude, but can you three decide?"

The three fairies stopped and Flora said "Forgive us, we were sidetracked. Now, together. And no scrabbling."

At the same time, the three fairies waved their wands, shot their magic at Kairi and her clothes glowed. Once the light faded, Kairi was wearing a new set of clothes: she was now wearing a white sleeveless top shirt with a dark pink vest over it with silver designs, dark pink pants that reached to her knees, white shoes and dark pink arm bands.

As Kairi was looking at her new clothes in awe, Flora said "Those clothes have similar magic like Sora's."

When she waved her wand, an orange/yellow orb appeared in front of Kairi and Fauna said "Now take the orb dear and watch what happens."

Once Kairi took the orb, her clothes flashed and her whole clothes changed to white and had gold flame designs all over the clothes. When she looks at her new clothes style, she noticed two giant angel wings behind her. Just then, Kairi's Keyblade Destiny's Embrace appeared along with the OathKeeper Keyblade in each of her hand. Kairi had learned her own Drive Form: Angel Form. As she awed in her new form, Merryweather said "You can use Drive Forms like Sora. Your journey will be difficult."

"But as you travel, your clothes will have new powers," Flora said, "But that is something you have to discover for yourself."

When Kairi reverted to her normal form, she smiled and said "Thank you for this. I promise to use them when I need help."

"You're welcome, dear," Fauna said.

Once they were done, Kairi and Aqua left the room. Along the way, Kairi looks at Aqua and asked "So…why didn't you tell us who you were when we first me?"

Aqua bit her bottom lip and said "I'm sorry, but I couldn't expose myself just yet. And with Maleficent and Pete about to attack Radiant Garden, I didn't have the time."

Kairi nodded and said "It's okay. We're just happy that you, Ventus and Terra are back together."

Aqua smiled as she pulled out her blue Wayfinder. When Kairi saw it, she slightly gasped as she took out her lucky charm. When Aqua saw it, she smiles again and said "You have one made out of seashells?"

Kairi nodded and said "I made it for good luck."

Aqua laughed and said "Same here. I heard of it from one of the books where I used to live. I made it for me, Ven and Terra as a symbol that no matter where we are, we will always be connected."

At that moment, Aqua had an idea. She smiled, looked at Kairi and asked "Hey Kairi, can you help with something?"

Smiling, Kairi replied "Sure, what do you need?"

Terra and Riku were having a sparring match in the courtyard of the castle. Rushing to Riku, Terra swings his Earthshaker Keyblade at him, but Riku used his Way to Dawn Keyblade to block his attack. After couple of swings, Riku fired a Dark Fireball while Terra slammed his Keyblade on the ground and a wall of earth appeared and blocks Riku's spell. Once they stopped their sparring, the two of them dispersed their Keyblades.

"I felt the darkness in you," Terra said, "But…how do you manage to control it?"

Riku looks at him and replied "I don't allow it to control me. I made the mistake of believing it was the only way to make me stronger. But I was wrong. And that gave Xehanort the chance to control my body."

Raising an eyebrow, Terra said "He did?"

"Yeah," Riku said, "But because of my friends, I was able to break free and was rid of Xehanort. But…his darkness was still in my heart and was forced to use his darkness when Sora was in his sleep while his memories were being fixed. And before we faced Xemnas, because of Ansem's machine, I was able to return to my normal self."

"And yet you have darkness?" Terra asked.

Riku nodded and said "I do. But it is my own darkness."

Terra sighed and said "I wish I was in your position."

As Riku raised an eyebrow, Terra said "I allowed the darkness in me to grow because I wanted to be stronger. I wanted to be strong to protect my friends, but Xehanort had the chance and took over my body."

Riku crossed his arms and said "Well…it's good that Jason separate you and Xehanort. You don't have to worry about the darkness."

Confused, Terra asked "Why?"

Riku replied "I don't sense any darkness in you anymore. When Jason said that his Keyblade separated the Light and Darkness from Xehanort, I guess you were supposed to represent the Light while Xehanort the Darkness. In a way, all the darkness that was in you must have been transferred to Xehanort."

"Really?" Terra said as he looked at his hands, "Then…I am no longer bound to darkness?"

Riku nodded as he patted Terra's shoulders and said "Must feel great, huh?"

Terra smiled and said "Yeah…it does."

"So…" Ventus said, "Why are we here again?"

Ventus and Sora were in the marketplace and Sora said "Leon gave us some munny so that we can get some supplies for what's ahead."

Confused, Ventus placed his hands on the back of his head and said "But Jason has tons of Potions, Ethers even Elixirs on him. Why get more?"

Sora replied "In case we run out."

Ventus just shook his head and said "Still, it feels strange. After 10 long years, everything is different."

Sora chuckled and said "Same thing happened to me when I heard I was asleep for a year."

Ventus rolled his eyes as he looks around. He then saw a store with Uncle Scrooge, Donald's uncle, in it. He raised an eyebrow and asked "Is that Scrooge? What is he selling?"

When Sora looks over, he smiles as Roxas appeared next to him. Both Sora and Roxas looked at each other and Sora said "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Roxas nodded and said "Go for it."

Confused, Ventus looks at them and asked "What is it?"

Sora looks at Ventus and said "Hey Ventus…"

"Dude," Ventus said, "Just call me Ven."

Sora nodded and said "Okay Ven, I need your help."

"Okay," Ventus said, "What do you need help with?"

"So," Jason said, "This is the Gummi Ship that is going to take us?"

Standing next to Ansem, the two of them were in the docking bay looking at the Gummi Ship the Jason and the others will be traveling to other worlds in. The Gummi Ship was blue with gold trimmings, had a triangular shape frame, was 7x bigger than the Highwind, it had light-speed engines on the rear and sides, and it had blaster enchantments on it.

Eyeing the Gummi Ship, Ansem said "This Cid person named it Divinity. Since you and the other Keyblade Wielders will be using it, the name seems fitting."

Still looking in awe, Jason said "This ship is huge! How big is it?"

Ansem replied "It has 8 rooms, each with it's own bathroom, a well-stocked kitchen…"

"Wait, Wait, Wait," Jason said, "Pause, Pause, Pause. Bathroom? With…clean water?"

Confused, Ansem replied "Yes. It also has a training room, a cleaning room for…"

"And the kitchen has clean food?" Jason asked.

Ansem looks at him, raised an eyebrow and asked "Why are you asking all of this?"

Jason shrugs and said "I have never eaten fresh food and it has been years since I have taken a real bath."

"Is that so?" Ansem asked, "Just where are you from?"

Jason replied "I'm from a place called the Capital Wasteland. The place is as it's named: a wasteland. The planet is dead, destroyed by nuclear weapons by humankind. The Capital Wasteland is the closest thing to hell you'll ever get: contaminated waters, dry land, poisoned food and deadly air. And to top it off, there are people are out to kill you for their own amusement. So yeah, things like clean water and food are rare to come by."

Ansem nodded his head solemnly and said "I'm sorry that you live in that kind of world, my boy."

Jason shrugs off and said "It's fine, old man. Besides, I lived."

Ansem chuckled and said "Very well. But…let me offer you advice for your journey."

When Jason looks at him, Ansem said "Never let the darkness get you. You may be seduced by it, but never give it. It destroyed more lives than you think, my boy. Be on your guard."

"I will," Jason said, "Don't worry."

Ansem nodded and said "Very well, my boy. Stay strong, watch over your new friends and never let the darkness win."

Once he said that, Ansem walked away and left the docking bay. Alone, Jason looks at Divinity until he heard a voice said "Hey Jason."

Turning around, Jason saw Terra and Riku walking towards him. Jason nodded and said "Hey guys. Like the ship?"

Both Terra and Riku looked at the ship, whistled and Riku said "That is a big Gummi Ship."

Terra then said "We are all going in that?"

Both Jason and Riku looks at him and Jason said "Yeah, all seven of us."

Terra nodded and said "Your generation is lucky to have this kind of luxury. Back then, when me, Aqua and Ven traveled to other worlds, we just used our Keyboards."

As the three of them stared at the Gummi Ship, Sora's voice said "Whoa! Cool!"

Jason, Terra and Ven turned around and saw Sora and Ventus walking towards them. In Sora's hand, he was carrying a foam cooler. Raising an eyebrow, Riku asked "What's in the cooler?"

Before Sora could reply, they heard Aqua's voice saying "Oh my gosh! We are riding in that?!"

When everyone looks over, they saw Aqua and Kairi, who was smiling brightly, walking up to them and Jason said "Yup. She is a beauty."

As Aqua looks over at Kairi, the two of them nodded as Aqua turns to Sora and Riku and said "Sora, Riku, we have something for you two."

When Riku and Sora look back at her, Kairi then pulled out two, metal star-shape charms in her hands. One of the star charms was yellow while the other one was dark purple. As Riku and Sora were in awe, Terra and Ventus knew what Kairi and Aqua made. Kairi then pulled out a third star-shape charm, which was pink, and said "Aqua and I made these Wayfinders for us. Isn't that great?"

As Sora got the yellow one while Riku got the dark purple one, Aqua walks up to Jason and said "Here Jason."

When Jason looks at her, he saw another Wayfinder in her hands, but this one was silver. Touched by this, Jason looks at her and asked "You made one…for me?"

Aqua smiled while she nodded and said "Of course. You're our friend, Jason. We all owe you."

Jason then reached out and got his Wayfinder. Then, Aqua took hers out while Ventus and Terra took out theirs. Once everyone was holding theirs, Aqua said "Now the seven of us are connected through these charms. As long as we have these charms, we will always be together."

Everyone smiled at what Aqua said and smiled. Then, Sora said "Wait, I want to share something with all of us."

When everyone looked at him, Sora reached into his cooler and pulled out four light blue ice cream bars. He handed the four of those ice cream bars to Ventus, Aqua, Terra and Jason while he took out three more and handed two of them to Riku and Kairi while he kept the last one for himself. As the others look at Sora, Jason observed the ice cream and asked "What is this?"

Sora laughed as Roxas appeared next to him and said "Sea-Salt Ice Cream. I would have gotten one for me and Namine, but we don't have physical forms."

Namine then appeared and just laughed. Still looking at the Sea-Salt Ice Cream, everyone went ahead and started to eat their ice cream. Savoring the ice cream, Terra was the first to say "It's salty…"

Aqua then said "Yet sweet at the same time."

Eating his, Ventus said "Man, this tastes awesome!"

Riku and Kairi ate theirs and Kairi said "This is delicious. I wish there were some back at the islands."

Riku nodded and said "Yeah, I agree."

As Sora nodded as he ate his ice cream, everyone all heard a voice whining. When they all looked towards the voice, they saw Jason covering his mouth with his left had and his ice cream with his right. When they saw his ice cream, they saw that he took a huge bite of it. Looking at Jason, Kairi asked "Did you take a bite of your ice cream?"

Jason nodded.

"And you bit it with your front teeth?" Namine asked.

Once again, Jason nodded.

Everyone couldn't believe it: Jason took a whole bit of his ice cream and caused his front teeth to freeze up in pain. Little by little, everyone was starting to smile a bit until Aqua, Kairi, Ventus and Sora started to chuckle in amusement. Jason looks at them and gave them a death glare.

"Oh come on!" Sora laughed, "It's funny!"

Once he recovered, everyone finished their ice cream and Kairi said "That was delicious."

"Yeah," Sora said, "Let's make a promise."

As everyone looks at him and raised an eyebrow and Sora said "This is our first time eating Sea-Salt Ice Creams. So, when this is all over, let's all promise to come back here and have more. Promise?"

Everyone looked at each other and they all agreed. Sora smiled and then said "Plus, I want to see Jason's face when he eats the ice cream again.

Jason gave him a death glare and said "Well sorry that I never had ice cream before."

Surprised by this, Kairi asked "You never had ice cream before?"

"Never," Jason said, "My world doesn't have any of that."

Curious on what world he is from, Terra asked "Where are you from?"

Before Jason could reply, a voice said "Oh good! We are in a nick of time!"

When they all look over, they saw Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, Cid, Cloud, Tifa, a hologram of Tron and Merlin. Sora smiled and said "You want to see us all off?"

Leon nodded and said "You are going on your most dangerous journey. So of course we are going to see you off."

As Sora laughed, Aerith said "We just hope the seven of you will be safe out there."

After a moment of silence, Jason said "So…I guess it's time."

Everyone nodded as Mickey, Donald and Goofy walked up to the seven Keyblade Wielders and Mickey said "I wish for the best of luck of you all. Remember, with our hearts connected, we are never apart."

As Sora, Kairi, Riku, Ventus, Aqua and Terra nodded, Jason stood there and thought "Our hearts are connected?"

Sentinel said "I think it's like a special connection between friends."

Just then, Sora rushed to Mickey, Donald and Goofy and gave them a hug. Laughing, Mickey, Donald and Goofy hugged back. After a moment, Sora departed from them and said "Stay safe, okay? And say hi to everyone."

"Sure do!" Goofy said, "And say hi to all our friends and new ones!"

Sora nodded and said "Can do!"

Once everyone said their goodbyes, the seven Keyblade Wielders entered Divinity. As they entered the Gummi Ship, they were awe at the interior of it. The ship was huge, bigger than any Gummi Ship Sora had been in before. After walking around, they reached the pilot room. There, there were at least 8 seats present there. And in the front center is the pilot seat and in front of it were the controllers for the ship. Curious, Sora asked "So…who's going to drive?"

Jason said "I don't know how."

"Me neither," Kairi said.

Riku said "Never knew how to drive one."

Ventus said "Nope."

"I could try it," Aqua said.

Terra shrugged and said "Maybe later."

Everyone then looks at Sora and Riku said "Well, since Sora has been traveling around the worlds for a long time, maybe he can pilot it."

Raising an eyebrow and Sora said "You sure?"

Everyone nodded and Jason said "Go for it, bro."

In excitement, Sora hopped right into the pilot seat. At that moment, everyone then sat on their seats and buckled up. Turning on the engine, Sora grabbed the handles, and with ease, the Divinity lifted off the ground and, in a flash, it took off and into deep space. A few minutes later, the Divinity was soon setting sail to a world. Switching the controls to auto-pilot, Sora said "We'll arrive to a world in a few hours. Until then, we get rested."

"Sounds like a plan," Kairi said, "In the meantime, Jason, can you tell us where you…"

But when she turned around to talk to him, he was already gone. Wondering where he went to, Kairi looks around and asked "Where did he go?"

Also curious, Aqua asked "Yeah, where is he?"

Once the ship was on course, everyone got up and started to look around. After looking for minutes, both Kairi and Aqua found an open door leading to one of the room. When they got in, they heard the shower running. Now knowing where Jason is, Kairi sticks her head out and said "Guys! I found him!"

At that moment, the shower turned off and, after a minute, Jason steps out of the shower. When Kairi turns around to see him, her eyes widen and her face started to blush. The same thing happened to Aqua when she saw Jason. Wearing nothing but clean pair of sweat pants, Jason stepped out of the shower bare chest and barefoot. It was strange that Jason was still wearing his Pipboy on his left arm. But what shocked Aqua and Kairi the most was his physical appearance: he was well-built, had muscles in all the right places and, what shocked the two girls the most, there were the scars that were all over his body. Scars from animal scratches, bullet holes, stab wounds and burn marks, Jason had them all.

Stretching a bit, Jason let out a sigh of sigh of relief and said "That was the BEST shower ever! Man, it feels good to…"

When he looks over, he saw Aqua and Kairi looking at him with stunned looks. Smirking a bit, Jason teased them by asking "Hey ladies, like what you see?"

Embarrassed, both Aqua and Kairi turned around and faced away from Jason. Laughed, Jason pressed his Pipboy and puts on a clean grey shirt. He then spread his right arm out and his armlet appeared on his arm. Just then, Sora, Riku, Ventus and Terra all entered the room and Sora asked "Jason, there you are."

But when he looked at Aqua and Kairi, Sora tilts his head and asked "Why are your faces red?"

Still embarrassed, Aqua and Kairi look away while Jason said "They had a free peep show."

Aqua looks at him and slaps his back hard. But Jason just laughed and said "Admit it, you two liked it."

At that moment, Kairi turns around and tries to slap him, but Jason dodges it and said "Hey, you girls walked in on me without my shirt on. Not my fault."

Hearing him say that, all the guys' eyes widen and Ventus said "Seriously?"

Jason chuckled and said "Apparently they don't know how to knock."

Sora looks at Kairi and asked "Seriously?"

Kairi blushed more and said "Not our fault."

Shaking his head, Jason said "So why are you all here?"

Now remembering what they were going to ask, Riku looks at him and said "We want to know what world you are from."

Stopping for a moment, Jason looks at them, gives them a serious look and said "Are you sure? I don't want you guys to look at me any different."

Confused, everyone, except for Aqua, raised their eyebrows and Terra asked "Different how?"

As Jason stood quiet, Aqua sighed and said "He means…that the world he lives in is…different than we've all been too."

"How?" Sora said, "I know that every world there are rules, but how can Jason's world be any different?"

"Because Sora," Jason said, "If there was a rule in my world, there would only be one: kill or be killed."

Shocked, everyone looks at him while Jason said "The world I am from is a planet called Earth, but more specifically, the Capital Wasteland. This isn't a fun-loving world you guys have been to. My world is literally hell. Everyone is forced to survive on their own, form communities while being attacked and sources are scarce. And if, by some miracle, you manage to find some, guess what? You are at risk because food and water are contaminated with radiation, think of it like a form a poison. That's right, because of a war that used too much nuclear weapons, it literally destroyed the Earth's environment, landscapes and lives. So for over 200 years, the world has been covered in radiation."

Jason then began to tell his story to the Keyblade Wielders, everyone was shocked of his life. He told them about the Vaults and what their purposes were, his life living in one with his father, but when he turned 19, his father escaped and Jason left to find him. Along the way, he told them that he saved many lives in Megaton, Big Town, Rivet City and those other places. He also told them about the Raiders, Super Mutants, Ghouls, giant insects, even the Enclave. When he told him that his father left the Vault to finish Jason's mother's dream to give free clean water to the Wasteland, Jason went along to him. But tragedy struck when the Enclave invaded the Jefferson Memorial where Project Purity was at, and Jason told them that his father sacrificed himself so that Jason and the other scientists escaped. In the end, Jason told them that he regained Jefferson Memorial back from the Enclave with the help of the Brotherhood of Steel and he killed the man who was responsible for his father's death. After that, Jason continue his story by ending it by telling them about him freeing the slaves from The Pitt, being abducted by Aliens, the simulation he had to do for the Outcasts, Point Lookout and finally him getting rid of the Enclave from the Wasteland.

After his finished his story, Jason looks at everyone and they all had shocked expressions on their faces. When they heard that Jason isn't afraid to take a life, that scared them a bit knowing that Jason won't hesitate to kill. Seeing their faces, Jason sighed and said "See? I told you that you guys will look at me differently."

Breaking the silence, Sora then said "It's just…we never knew that a world like yours…existed."

Jason laughed a bit and said "Yeah…there is."

Kairi then said "And you…kill other…people?"

Jason nodded and said "Like I said, it's either them or me. And how could I protect the people of the Wasteland if I'm dead? So…I don't have a choice but to kill them."

After another moment of silence, Riku said "Are you…going to kill anyone while you are with us?"

Raising an eyebrow, Jason asked "What do you mean?"

Riku replied "I mean if you are going to kill other people. Heartless are fine, but actual live people, we cannot tolerate."

Jason crossed his arms, thought about it and said "Okay, here is the thing. I will not kill anyone we encounter. Instead, I WILL though inflict some damage on our enemies. Alright?"

Thinking about it, when everyone was about to agree, Jason then said "However, if the danger arises and if any of your lives are on the line, then I will take dramatic actions. Are we clear?"

Everyone hesitated, but they understood Jason's reason and agreed. Once they agreed, Jason claps his hands and said "Good. Now…"

He then said "What world are we going first?"

Sora thought and said "I dunno. Before, me, Donald and Goofy would just go to any random world."

As Jason lays on his bed, he stretched his body and said "Damn, this bed is SOOO soft."

Everyone laughed and Terra said "Get use to it then. Knowing what's out there, we have to be ready."

Jason huffed as he sat up and said "Please, even in my time in the Capital Wasteland, I am always ready."

And that is it! Before this chapter ends, there are things I need to say:

First, Kairi's Drive Form. Since I want to give Kairi a bit of an edge, I decided to give her a drive form like Sora. Her first one being the Angel Form. There will be more, but that will have to wait until later.

For the different interactions between the Aqua, Kairi, Terra, Riku, Sora and Ventus, I thought it would be cool if the first Keyblade Wielders spend time with the second Keyblade Wielders.

For the Gummi Ship, I decided to call it Divinity because I thought it would be a cool name for the Keyblade Wielders.

For the Wayfinders, I thought it would be a touching moment if Sora, Kairi, Riku and Jason all had one, as a symbol of their new friendship with Aqua, Terra and Ventus.

Lastly, I figure to let everyone know about Jason's life in the Capital Wasteland. Even though Jason won't kill, but he will take it to that level if the danger arises and in anyone's life is on the line. Though everyone was shocked, they understood why Jason had to do to survive.

Anyways, that will be it! Next time, the Keyblade Wielders are going to…Wonderland (Spoilers!)! Until then, please review!