CHAPTER 10
Reunited at Last?

Krakarov Volcano, Sora wasn't sure what to expect when he got there, but it certainly wasn't Heartless flying around. It appeared to be a new type of Heartless also, one he had never seen before. They wore a blue bandana on their heads, had wings, and rather muscular arms. These kinds of Heartless, were known simply as Air Pirates.

"This place is crawling with them!" Toad exclaimed.
"I'm guessing this Clockwerk guy is a magnet for Heartless." Sora suggested.

This made Sora worry about Sly, since it would probably be the first time he would go up against foes like Heartless. And even if it wasn't, there were too many of them for Sly to handle in such a dangerous place. They all had to hurry, and make things right! The van could be seen from below, which made Sora park the Gummi Ship a reasonable distance from it. Approaching the van, Sora knocked on its doors.

A turtle with glasses rolled down the window, nearly expecting an ambush, but instead was met by Sora waving at him. "Uh," the turtle hesitated for a minute, "are you the group that took pages from the Fiendish Five that Sly complained about? How did you get all the way over here!?" Sora couldn't help but wince, realizing how negative of an impression he must've made on Sly, not that Sly's own impression at first was too good either.

"Yeah," Sora said, "we just wanted to apologize, we didn't know what Sly was collecting those pages and breaking into Police Headquarters for. We just immediately assumed that he was, well, up to something bad. We kinda jumped in without thinking, so I wanted to apologize." Rubbing his head out of guilt, Sora looked the other way. "We heard about how the Fiendish Five attacked his father, and Clockwerk was the main perpetrator. So I figured we should make things right, even if Sly hates us."

The tense worry in the turtle began to fade away, he had been afraid that the kid and his group of friends were going to get in the way, but it seemed that he was wrong. Granted, the only reason the turtle came to such a conclusion was because of how irritated Sly was earlier about it. "Listen kid, we all make hasty mistakes at a young age. I mean, I bet if I was younger, and I saw someone breaking into Police Headquarters, I would do the same, silly thing that you did because I wouldn't have gotten the whole picture! I gotta admit though, it's either really brave or really stupid to go against Muggshot, Mz. Ruby, and the Panda King at your age, and on your own."

Sora couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, I'm not on my own on this adventure! My friends and I all work together, that's the reason we've come so far. And we make sure to make all kinds of friends on the way." The turtle looked over to Toad and Luigi, who both smiled.

"You're telling me you work in a team of three, like Sly does?"
"Yeah— wait, what?"

"You see, when Sly was dropped off at the orphanage, he met Murrary and I." The turtle then glanced over to the pink hippo, the one responsible for tossing Luigi and Toad before. "For years, we've been a team, until we became old enough to become thieves of our own. Each of us have our own role in the operations that we pull off." The turtle then became hesitant again. "Sorry for rambling, it's just not often I see someone working in a way similar to us!"

"You weren't rambling, it's fine," Sora assured him. "Luigi, Toad, and I are all looking for our friends who went missing. Brother in Luigi's case."

"Speaking of which, have you seen Mario around here? Has a mustache and wears a red hat?" Toad asked. "Sometimes he likes to run around in active volcanoes!"

"I'm afraid I haven't. Name's Bentley by the way." Opening the van's door, he let them in, something which surprised Sora. "Sly has been gone for a while now, and you really want to help him, I suggest coming along with me." The three of them hopped into the van, only now seeing how much more spacious it was on the inside.

Although he intended to inform Sly over the binocucom about the visitors, Bentley soon began to worry even more. "Sly?" No response. "Sly? Can you read me?" Still nothing. "Oh no, he's not responding! I'm afraid something might have happened. We need to hurry!" Murray, the hippo, immediately began driving the van to where Sly might've gone, deeper into the volcano.

Upon going deeper into the lair, there was Sly Cooper, trapped inside of a gas chamber, with Carmelita Fox also trapped within a barrier of some kind. "Carmelita!? What's she doing here?" Sora exclaimed.

"Oh no, that cop probably tracked us down all the way over here! I better hurry, before that gas turns Sly's brain into cheese!" With some quick hacking skills, Bentley managed to crack the coding in the computers, which shut off the gas. Sly got back up, shaky from his experience, then shattered the barrier which contained Carmelita.

"I really was wrong about him," Sora muttered to himself, "he may have broken into the Police Headquarters, but he's willing to help innocents, huh?"

After that, Sly finally picked up on the binocucom once again. "Thanks for the save there, Bentley. Listen, Carmelita and I have a truce right now. She's going to cover me while I reach the top of the Death Ray to get her jet-pack back." Before Sora could say anything, the communication ended.
As the van carefully pulled up to watch Sly, he managed to climb all the way to the top of the tower, grabbing Carmelita's jet-pack and putting it on. "Sly! Behind you!" Bentley shouted, as Sly turned his attention to a flying figure, which had risen to face the raccoon.

The figure was an owl, his body entirely made out of metal, his voice was cold, and menacing as he spoke. "Remarkable, you Coopers always find a way to cheat death until the very end, it seems." Chills went down Sora's spine as he heard the owl talk, something about him just felt more unnatural than usual.

That was when Sora realized something. "Wait," he said, "Bentley, wasn't there a flying figure in the pages of the Thievius Raccoonus? I only held them for a short time, but I think I saw something that looked like an owl in those pictures." Bentley quickly opened the Thievius Raccoonus to confirm, and Sora was correct. The silhouette of a large owl was in just about every image, dating back to even the oldest in the Cooper line.

"Is he immortal or something?" Toad wondered.

"My desire for revenge is the prime ingredient in the fountain of youth," Clockwerk explained to Sly, for all to hear. "I've kept myself alive for hundreds of years with a steady diet of jealousy and hate, awaiting the day when I would finally eclipse your family's thieving reputation. Now, the day has come for me to end the family line once and for all."

Once Clockwerk said that, Air Pirate Heartless began to surround him. "Those creatures that were near Sir Raleigh's lair, they're here too!?" Bentley exclaimed. "This is bad, there's no way Sly and Carmelita can face Clockwerk and those monsters on their own! Sora, I know it's dangerous, but do you think you could help?"

"It's-a over a pit of lava! That's-a easier said than done!" Luigi stammered.

"Then we'll have to call for some assistance!" Making sure the teleportation was ready, Sora quickly attempted to contact Dr. Light. "We need help! Can anyone there fly!?"

"You bet!"

The voice that came back surprised Sora. Teleporting into the van was Mega Man, having a robotic dog with him. "Rush can jet me anywhere if I ask him to! So where's the enemy?" The ground began to shake underneath the van, making Luigi scream for his life.

"Giant robot owl!" He cried.
"Mega Man, take me with you!" Sora requested.

"Huh? But, I dunno if there's room for two—" Before Mega Man could object, Sora stepped on Rush along with him. The dog didn't seem to mind at all, and began flying off to the fight scene. "Well, okay! Just don't fall off, I don't think I can have Beat come rescue you." Mega Man then began shooting at Clockwerk, while Sora began using his magic against the Heartless, or his Keyblade if they got too close.

Something caught Sora's eye while flying around on top of Rush. It was at the side of the tower, where Sly was fighting Clockwerk. "Wait, something here can help us! This way!" Sora commanded, making Rush fly towards the broken up piece of the tower. Pokéballs, lying right there of all places. Sora had to be careful though, because one wrong move, and they could end up dipped in the lava, lost forever.

Typhlosion, Unown, and Moltres. The last one on which, had fiery wings, meaning it was capable of flight and most likely not bothered by the volcanic scenery. Sending it out, Moltres screeched, releasing a powerful heatwave which disposed of the Air Pirates for good. Sly managed to take notice of Sora and Mega Man, but decided to ignore them for now, focusing only on Clockwerk, since he was the common enemy here.

Clockwerk metal armor began to fall apart after being ganged up on. Losing power, he dived into the lava, seemingly done for. "What are you doing here?" Sly asked Sora. "You can't possibly want to take more pages from Clockwerk, I'm not going to let you."

"It was a misunderstanding, and I'm sorry!" Sora yelled. "I want to make things right, so—"

He was interrupted by Clockwerk coming back out, his endoskeleton being revealed. "He's still going? How is that possible!?" Mega Man wondered.

"I don't get it," Sly spoke, "you're so familiar with my family. You must have known my father had a son. If you hated the Coopers so much, why did you let me live when you stole the Thievius Raccoonus?"

"Because I wanted to show the world that without your precious book, the Cooper line was nothing," Clockwerk replied. "It was wrong of me to assume that, but you are still the weakest Cooper I've yet encountered. I'll finish you like I finished your father. Then the Cooper line will be erased, and the only master thief will be Clockwerk."

His cold, metal heart made of hatred, would be giving up soon, and Sora knew it. "Dedicating your whole life to this and plotting murder? You're not even a thief anymore, you're a monster! You're full of darkness, and those creatures are feeding off of your hatred!" Clockwerk glanced at Sora, releasing an electrical ring at him and Mega Man.

They weren't able to dodge it in time, and were shocked, falling onto a rock within the magma. "I'm afraid that's the most I can do to help you, Sora. I'm sorry." Mega Man apologized, kneeling over to Rush, who had been electrocuted. "I need to take Rush back to Dr. Light for repairs, are you going to be okay?"

"I'll be just fine! Hope Rush gets better soon." With that, Mega Man and Rush teleported back to Dr. Light's lab, leaving Sora by himself. Carmelita opened some spots for Sly, so he could take down what was left of Clockwerk, who was now struggling to keep himself in the air. Even Moltres was eventually shocked by the rings, and ended up falling. Sora attempted to retrieve Moltres back with the Pokéball, and succeeded. "This Clockwerk is no joke," he mumbled.

Thankfully, it seemed Sly had him on the ropes now, as Clockwerk dropped back into the lava, not able to get up this time. "Sly! You've got to get to his head and destroy it before his auto-reconstruct circuitry kicks in!" Bentley told him. Sly did exactly that, making a careful landing before leaving the jet-pack behind, attempting to reach what remained of the owl.

Clockwerk's heart had gone blank by then, however, and Sora could tell. "I must destroy the Coopers," he said, even more emotionless than before. "I will become… I will live… darkness." Raising his head and turning it 180 degrees, Clockwerk stared down at Sly. "You will never be rid of my hate."

A different kind of Heartless appeared behind Sly Cooper, having a red banana on its head, an eyepatch, and carrying curved blades. Sora, taking a literal leap of faith, jumped to where Sly was, on top of Clockwerk's body. Sly was worried for a moment, until he noticed that true to how things seemed now, Sora was on his side, slicing at the Heartless with his Keyblade. "I'll take care of them, I know it's personal with you and Clockwerk!" Sora yelled to him.

Nodding, Sly held back his cane, and swung it at Clockwerk's mechanical head multiple times, until Clockwerk's head had completely popped off. It sunk into the lava, mechanical whirring could be heard, the light of Clockwerk's eye flickering for a few moments, before going out for good.

Once Clockwerk was gone, Sora thought he had seen something within the lava. It was hard to make out, but Sora was certain that it was a keyhole. Pointing the Keyblade at it while Sly recovered the last pages of the Thievius Raccoonus, Sora fired a beam into the keyhole, making the hole in the lava close back up, with the soft locking noise being heard.

"Sly!" Bentley shouted. "Look up above you!"

His ears twitched, and Sly glanced upwards, seeing a figure fall down towards them. Holding his arms out, he caught whoever they were, and Sora was first to recognize them— or her— as one of the members of the Star Fox team.

Before anyone knew it, a light of some kind was cast over Carmelita, and it began pulling her up. Due to how close she was to the Cooper Van, it ended up being pulled along as well.

"What's going on!?" Toad shouted.
"We're being abducted!" Luigi cried.
"Aliens!?" Murray exclaimed.
"Let me go!" Carmelita demanded.

"Guys! Carmelita!" Without thinking, Sly made a swift jump, and ran towards the beam, hoping to pull Carmelita back down with his cane. Instead though, he got pulled up with them, straight into a large mothership, the one that Luigi had seen earlier. By the time Sora got over there, it was too late. His teammates were gone, and so was the Cooper Gang.

His hands clenched around the Keyblade, furious that someone had just taken away his friends. But then he remembered, and looked back to the blue fox, who was slowly regaining consciousness. She mumbled for a few seconds, holding her head, realizing who was standing there. "Sora! Is that you?" She asked, uncertain as to where she was. "Thank goodness you're here."

As much as Sora wanted to ask her what the heck had just happened, he had to take a bit of time, otherwise, he might scare her. "You're Fox's friend, but I don't think I ever caught your name." Why did the staff in her hands look so familiar, like he had seen it somewhere before?

"It's Krystal. There's no time for introductions I'm sure, you have to listen to me. I was walking in Traverse Town when I was suddenly beamed up by that mothership. The ones responsible, I think it was the one friend you were looking for, Riku!" Sora's eyes widened, his anger boiling even more. "They were searching for girls, and I had gotten mixed up for one of them, so they dropped me down here. Whoever they pulled in just now is their real target."

"Girls?" Sora wondered.

"I don't know if this is of any help to you, but your one friend, Kairi was mentioned." Sora gasped when he heard that name, and immediately began to run back to where he had landed the Gummi Ship. "I'll tell you more when you return!"

Sora didn't even have to think about the decision he was about to make, as the Gummi Ship was pulled into the large mothership, and landed right inside. He hopped out, and made a run for it, looking around inside the spacious area of the mothership.

"I didn't think you'd come, Sora."

Looking down a corridor, there was Riku, glaring at Sora.

"Good to see you again."
"Where are Luigi and Toad?" Sora asked.

"Are they that important to you?" Riku asked back, his gaze becoming colder. "More important than old friends? Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking about her."

Riku then moved out of the way, revealing a slumped Kairi.

"Kairi!"
"That's right. While you were off goofing around, I finally found her."

Sora tried to run up to Riku and Kairi, but soon found his path blocked off by a short, grey alien, who was poking him with a gun. "Slow it down there, captain! Afraid you won't be causing any shenanigans on the Furon Mothership." To make matters worse, Sora was now surrounded by Heartless.

"Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless!?"
"The Heartless obey me now, Sora. Now I have nothing to fear."

Gritting his teeth, Sora finally lost his cool, and pushed the alien, Crypto, aside just so he could lash out. "You idiot! You're stupid!" Sora screamed. "Kor, Mz. Ruby, and Clockwerk all made the same mistakes, and guess what happened!? They'll do the same to you! They'll swallow your heart sooner or later!"

"Not a chance, my heart's too strong."

"I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance." Holding his palm out, a shadow formed in front of Sora, mimicking his appearance entirely. Sora was absolutely astonished when he saw it, distracted long enough for Crypto to zap him with a device, knocking Sora unconscious. "You can go see your friends now," Riku said, mockingly.

Riku then turned his attention to Crypto and Pox. "Let's get underway already. Keep Sora away from Kairi, until we make it." With that, he walked away, taking Kairi with him.

"Why, that no good, smelly human, thinking he can order us around!" Pox complained.
"Yeah, well what are we gonna do, Poxy?" Crypto asked.

"Nothing!" Pox replied. "The Furon Mothership is crawling with Heartless! They can keep an eye on all of those prisoners!"

"Uh huh, and what if that sneaking thief makes a plot to break out?"
"There's no way a bunch of furry animals are going to plan an escape!"

Crypto made sure to remember that, just in case those words bit Pox back in the butt.

"You don't say?"
"Yeah, it was definite Kairi," Sora said. "I've finally found her."
"Alrighty! Let's go talk to her then!" Toad cheered.
"Yeah!"
"Sounds-a great," Luigi sighed, "but could you get off of me?"

"Oh," looking down, Sora realized that he and Toad had been piled onto Luigi. "Sorry about that!" They all got up, peeking from the outside of their prison, looking over to the cell across from them. "Sly! He's here too! Hey, Sly!"

The raccoon lifted his gaze to Sora. "Looking for a way out of here?"
"Aren't you stuck in here too?" Sora asked.
"Nope, just waiting on Bentley."

The prison barrier went down and opened up, freeing Sly Cooper from his cell. Bentley and Murray approached him, thrilled to be back together once again. "Great work Bentley. Quick fingers you got with the hacking, I'm surprised that those aliens didn't strip you of everything you had. Guess they aren't as smart as they look. You find Carmelita yet?"

"I have actually, along with another girl… Oh no, please don't tell me you're going to try to rescue Carmelita again, it already went over badly when we were trying to find Clockwerk!"

"We can't just leave her there with a bunch of aliens, it wouldn't be right! Besides, stealing just won't be any fun without her." Sly explained.

"Sly, your ridiculous raccoon logic sends shivers up my shell, but fine." Doing some hacking once again, Bentley opened up Sora's prison cell, freeing him and his friends. "We're gonna need all the help we can get. Those black creatures with the aliens aren't messing around! The six of us though can surely take them if we all work together."

Sora smiled, while Sly pondered the idea. "Working together with the kid and his weird friends, huh?" He held his hand out in front of Sora, but then immediately pulled away when Sora tried to shake it. "Alright, but we're only in this together until we find Carmelita."

"Hey Poxy," Crypto started, "remember when you said, 'there's no way a bunch of furry animals are going to plan an escape' a while ago?"

"Yes, of course, why?"
"Well, I got news for ya, the prisoners escaped."

"What!?" Pox screamed. "Hurry and bring the hostage to me, Crypto!" The gray alien ran off, leaving the Furon emperor to his devices. He had to make a plan to stop Sora if it got that out of control, and Pox knew exactly how to do so.

Finding Carmelita wasn't as challenging as they all thought it would be. She was in a different set of prison cells within the Mothership. "Carmelita!" Sly called out. "Don't worry, we're here to get you out!"

"A second time?" Carmelita sighed. "I don't get it, Cooper. I've hunted you for years, tried to throw you behind bars. But when you get a chance to leave me in a cage, you set me free. Why?"

"Carmelita, we may be on opposite sides of the law but you're not my enemy and you know that," Sly explained to her. "Now, the freaks that decided to abduct us? They're on my list now." While Bentley proceeded to try his hacking skills on Carmelita's prison cell, Sora came up to it.

"Uh, Carmelita? Is there another girl in there with you?"

"Yes actually," Carmelita then moved out of Sora's view to reveal Kairi, who was slumped, just like she was before. "She seems to be asleep. Hasn't moved an inch, even though I tried to shake her awake."

"Kairi?" Sora called out to her. "Kairi—"
"Sorry to break up the reunion here!"

Having a gang of Heartless with him, some of which were shadow versions of Sora himself, Crypto raised his blaster at the group while opening the prison cell on his own. "I was ordered to keep you lot away from the ladies, and that's just what I plan to do. Get 'em!" The Heartless swarmed the group, while the shadowy doppelgängers of Sora took ahold of the prisoners, getting away with Crypto, while the others were left to be distracted.

"Darn it!" Sly grunted. "We gotta go after them!"
"We can't right now, we're surrounded!" Luigi pointed out.

The whole group of them attempted to wipe out all the Heartless as quick as they could, even though Sora was extremely put off by the clone of himself. Sly swung his cane at the Pirate Heartless, yanking away its blade, then rolling into it while it was defenseless. Toad meanwhile, blocked a Pirate with his shields, leaving the Heartless wide open for attack. Murray, while a bit scared at first, brought it in him to pick up the Heartless with all his might, chucking them across the hall. Bentley however, could not fight back, so he remained in his shell, which the Pirate Heartless struck, only to be knocked back by Bentley's natural defense. Luigi took the chance when that Heartless was open, using fireballs to get rid of it.

With all of them out of the way, the group kept moving. By the time Sora and company reached a higher level of the mothership where Crypto had ran, the alien was nowhere in sight. Instead, Riku stood there, carrying Kairi in his arms.

"Riku, wait!" Sora yelled, but he was ignored, as Riku backed away, making the shadowy copy of Sora appear. Unlike the other doppelgängers, this one carried a mimic of his own Keyblade, and had bright, yellow eyes. As Riku fled the scene, Sora made sure to not let the doppelgänger get to him this time.

During the battle, it seemed like the whole group of allies weren't doing damage to the copy, and he was able to do almost anything that Sora could, except use magic. Luigi halted, realizing he had a rather risky move which had not been of much use. Not until now, at the very least. Dashing up to the AntiSora, Luigi began spinning around, activating some magic power.

"Cyclone!" Accidentally making contact with Sora himself in the process, Luigi spun around, creating a whirlwind which smacked AntiSora around. Once he stopped, Luigi felt a little dizzy, then noticed he had harmed Sora.

"It's fine, actually," Sora muttered, "come to think of it, isn't that a form of magic you used just then? How long have you had it?"

"Um, long enough? I never use it, because I thought it would be too risky. But right-a now, I just want to save your friend!" Rather than upset over the damage he had taken, Sora seemed actually surprised that Luigi had been holding onto a form of wind magic for so long.

"Thanks Luigi!"
"Why?"

"For coming so far in helping me find my friends, becoming so courageous on the way, and passing off…" Sora then began to shout out his next attack, "Aerora!"

A powerful gust of wind blew the AntiSora away, doing a significant amount of damage to it. In retaliation, AntiSora split up, having two replicas of itself. At first, they all thought that AntiSora's stamina was split up into three, until they saw that no visible damage was being done to the copies, except for one, which mixed itself back up.

"Everyone slow it down, allow me to pick out the real deal!" Bentley said, taking out a small device, making a green, holographic marker appear on the real AntiSora. "Found it! Sly, you attack the real fake, and then the rest of you join him!" Sly did exactly that, sneaking up on the one AntiSora to the left of them, and then taking him down via diving. Everyone else followed suit, wailing on AntiSora until a puddle of darkness formed underneath him.

Rather than sinking slowly, AntiSora was immediately pulled in, and the puddle of darkness vanished. Only problem was now, was that there was a fork in the road. "Alright, let's split up for now. Kid, you take the left, while my gang will take the right." Sly suggested.

"My name is Sora you know, also no way! We should be sticking together!"

"It wasn't a yes or no option." Sly replied, running off into the corridor on the right, shutters closing behind him and his friends.

Mildly irritated, Sora gave up and took the left, finding himself in a lab, and what he saw next was absolutely jarring. Three Pokémon, out of their Pokéballs, fainted and hooked up to devices. "Are those aliens," Luigi stammered, "conducting experiments on the Pokémon!?" Sora took out the Pokédex to confirm that was indeed the case.

One Pokémon known as Gallade was hooked up to several devices, as if its behavior was being studied. A small Pokémon known as Gothita, had a band and several suction cups plastered to its head, indicating that the aliens were studying its brain patterns. A fox Pokémon, Braixen, was locked up in an electric cage, and had cords attached to its tail.

"This is too horrible!" Toad cried out. "Sora, we have to free them!"
"Hey, hey! Don't forget about me!"

Sora jumped, putting the Pokédex away, examining the opossum that was strapped down to an exam table. Much like Shovel Knight, he was wearing blue knight's armor, though it appeared that the back part of it had been pulled off. Come to think of it, the back part resembled a jet-pack more than anything else. "Boy, I'm so glad someone sane finally showed up! Can you get me out of here? Before those aliens come back to dissect me?"

Seeing a tan gem next to the exam table, Sora soon realized that this was similar to the case with Marcus Fenix, with someone being unsealed from their gem much sooner than anticipated. "Toad, Luigi, free the Pokémon while I help this guy." Sora's companions nodded, trying their best to release the Pokémon without harming them. Toad used his healing magic, which relieved the Pokémon of their injuries, while Luigi put them back into Pokéballs.

Sora undid the straps which had been keeping the opossum character tied down to the exam table. "Whew, thank goodness for that! I was certain I was a goner. Guess I'm too far from Elhorn to try and attempt any escape plans." The opossum then shook Sora's hand. "The name is Sparkster! What about you?"

"I'm Sora, this is Luigi and Toad." Sora introduced. "We're chasing down those aliens, they imprisoned a friend of mine, and they're planning to take her away!" Shocked, Sparkster grabbed his sword, which had been put aside for examining. Putting his jet-pack on, Sparkster raised his sword.

"Then count me in to help you! You got me out of being dissected, so it's only fair, let's go stop those aliens!" Preparing to take off, the whole group chased after Sparkster, hoping that he wouldn't get too ahead of himself.

"Hey, Sparkster?" Toad asked. "Where did you get that jet-pack? Where can I get one?"

Admittedly, between Sly and Sparkster using one, Sora had to admit, he was a little jealous and wanted to fly himself. Though he probably wouldn't have been as blunt about it as Toad was. "I got it when learning the ways to become a Rocket Knight. You see, I was adopted by Mifune Sanjulo, the Rocket Knight Master! He taught me everything he knew when I was young. I'm sure if you ask, you can get something like it, but just don't use it for evil!"

How does one use a jet-pack for evil?

"Who was responsible for tying you down to that table anyway?" Sora asked.
"Well, wouldn't you like to know!"

Straight ahead, Sora had unwittingly stumbled upon the main lair of Pox, who was sitting in a hovering chair. "I'm not happy at all that you all managed to escape, what's worse is that you freed those strange creatures I planned research for the glory of Furon! To top it all off, that slimy Riku boy, he and Crypto ran off with those girls in the saucer."

"Where!?" Sora demanded to know. "Tell me right now where they went!"

Pox could only laugh at the boy and his companions, who trying to look menacing in front of him. "I'll humor you I suppose, they went to the Hollow Bastion, where Dracula resides. I only told you this because you won't be going there, I'm afraid! Not unless you want these two to have their brains scrambled!" Pressing a button on his chair, Sora gasped when he saw Bentley and Murray, imprisoned inside of an electrical barrier.

"Now, the lot of you, I don't really care about. Why even that smelly roadkill can walk free, I'm not interested anymore." Sparkster began gritting his teeth, growling when Pox said that. "But you, however, Sora, with all the things Riku has said, I think I'm going to be fair. Surrender, and you can all walk away, while I study you and your otherworldly weapon!" Pox demanded, laughing more maniacally. "Refuse or try to fight against me, and I'll be making turtle soup and hippo meat right in front of your eyes!"

"You're the worst one yet!" Toad shouted.
"I know," Pox cackled. "Which will it be, Sora? Your body and Keyblade? Or these animals?"

The four of them didn't know what to do, they were stumped. Was this really it? The end of venturing with the Keyblade? It was going to end with Sora being tested on by aliens for the rest of his life? His friends would have to go on, and search for Mario and Kairi without him. Sora was just about ready to drop the Keyblade, but…

"Don't worry Sora, I got you covered."

"Eh?" Pox raised a brow, unaware that a third party was behind his chair, messing with the settings. Uncloaking himself, Sly made his presence known, which made everyone ecstatic.

"Sly!" Bentley and Murray exclaimed.
"Hey, where were you!?" Toad asked.

"Trying to stay out of view until the time was right." Shutting down Pox's chair made it crash to the floor, freeing Bentley and Murray as well. "Thanks for not jumping into a fight right then and there. I was really afraid I would lose my friends if enough time wasn't bought, but it seems you really do care about us. Guess we should have stuck together like you said." Sly then smirked at Sora, who smiled back.

"You filthy, no good… Curse you!" Pox grumbled and cursed under his breath, reactivating the systems on his suit. "Looks like I have no choice but to scramble you all myself!" The chair began to hover once again, but this time, it began to expand, shifting and folding metallic pieces out. It had become a Mech.

To make things worse, was that the mech itself had elements resembling the Heartless. "Behold! This is the power of Furon science, we have unlocked the true capabilities and power of the Heartless by examining their DNA!"

"You mean today that those black creatures are mixed in with your weird chair?" Sly asked.
"Silence! Now perish!"

Pox started by swinging the mech's deformed fist down at his enemies. Sparskter flew up, trying to get a good hit at the mech's head, only to have lasers fired at him. "Bentley, you gotta come up with a plan!" Sly said.

"Like what!? Not for nothing, but I'm panicking here too!"
"Anything!" Sora replied. "Just make it quick!"

Examining the mech over as fast as he could, the turtle spoke up. "That mech has some poles and cords you could probably slide up on, and from there maybe you could damage that mech. But I dunno how anyone would stun that thing even for a second!" Luigi decided to try stunning the giant mech with a thunder spell, but it was blocked off by a barrier.

This guy, he had to have a weakness, even if it was on a mech relying on Heartless power, something that was beyond what Nefarious and Eggman were capable of. "Maybe we're overthinking it, and it's something small, like a loose bolt?" Murray suggested. Sly and Sora looked each other, then at the legs of the mech, which indeed, had some loose parts.

"Got it!" The both of them replied, running up to the legs of the mech. Sly used his cane to yank out a large bolt, which was almost his own size. Sora did the same with his Keyblade, since Pox was entirely focused on taking down Sparkster. Once the bolts were loose, Pox lost his balance, and the legs lost their connection.

Sly took the chance to scale the large mech, preparing to tear off or blow up some of the circuitry that was close to the head. He placed down a mine, which mimicked the appearance of his hat, then detonated it. But just as he jumped away from the explosion, Pox grabbed him by the tail. "I don't think so, you hairy rat!" Pox screamed. "Destroying my barriers, try it again, I dare you!" Even though the mech had no legs now, it did a drastic amount of damage, throwing Sly directly to his friends, as hard as it could.

Bentley shelled up before he could be hit, but Murray tried to catch Sly, taking the harsh blow like a champion. "Sly!" Sora gasped, glaring up at Pox. "So which barrier is down, you coward!?" Pox didn't even give Sora a response this time, other than trying to slam the mech's fist down where Sora was, but Sparkster pushed him away just in time.

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Pox swiped at them again. "Just die already! You disgusting creatures will never top Furon science!" Now it was Sora's turn to think, as fast as he could, now that Sly and his friends were down. Sparkster kept flying around to distract Pox, trying to get a hit in. Finally, he launched a beam of energy from his sword, which indeed, struck Pox without being blocked off by any barriers.

"Sly shut off the barrier around the cockpit! It's vulnerable to strike!" Sparkster declared. "If you can stun him there, we can try to take off the other parts too—"

Before that sentence could be finished, Pox grabbed onto Sparkster, crushing his armor and jet-pack. The opossum cried out as he came crashing down, Toad hurried to try and heal him, but was finding himself running low on magic, having to rely on potions instead. Unfortunately, no potion could help the unconscious rocket knight.

With that, then there were three. Luigi cast ice magic, hoping to freeze Pox's face, literally. It succeeded, allowing Sora and Toad to try to find a way to take off the mech's arms. Just like the legs, bolts were loose. Bentley, unable to cower from this any longer, began typing on a small, portable computer.

Once the arms were loosened, they dropped to the ground. Pox stood there, astonished once he was no longer stunned by the ice. Shifting and turning the arm controls of the mech, to no avail, Pox began screaming again. "I will disintegrate you all into nothing but dust!" Attempting to shock Luigi and Toad down with powerful blasts, he didn't do exactly that, but they were still down for the count, unable to handle the mech's strength.

"Luigi!" Sora cried out. "Toad!"

Just like before, Pox had Sora cornered, the laser cannons pointed right in his direction. "Admit it, human! Furon science and the power of the Heartless are an achievement, one that the universe shall gawk at! Those fools Nefarious and Eggman, they are nothing but weaklings compared to the great Orthopox of the Furon Empire! I suggest you surrender yourself now, before it's too late!"

"I don't think so!" Bentley retorted. "Try your own alien technology on yourself for a change!"

"Eh?" Pox didn't understand, until several security panels opened up, paralyzing the mech with electricity. "You— you hacked into the mothership!?"

"And that's not all, Orthopox. This ship will be self-destructing if you don't let our friends free!" By the time Bentley said that, Sly was regaining consciousness.

Of course, Pox simply laughed. "You think my life being threatened is so bad? Cloning is possible on our planet, you see. Even Crypto is just one of the hundreds of Cryptos that had been dispatched! It would be no different with me, I will come back, and I will study that weapon of yours, Sora!"

Clenching his fists and looking at the Keyblade, Sora calmed down, and smiled in the face of his dangerous opponent. "You know, Pox, right? Not too long ago, I met this Clockwerk guy," Sly explained, "and I gotta say, I don't know how, but you managed to top him in terms of crazy. I don't even know you, and you didn't take down my father or anything, but somehow I dislike you more by a small margin."

"You want this Keyblade so bad, Pox?" Sora asked, raising his arm. "Then take it!"

Without any warning, the Keyblade was tossed at the cockpit of Pox's mech. The force of it was so strong, that the mech ended up snapping in two, and Pox began screaming again, this time in uncertain pain. "Sora… Sora!" Pox screeched, the mech falling apart, as he held his face. "I will get you one day, and I will destroy you for humiliating the glory of Furon science!"

"This alien science is nothing compared to the need to protect friends, I'm afraid," Sly replied.

Everyone regained consciousness and looked back at Pox one last time, seeing the look of hatred on his face as he covered his left eye, where the Keyblade had made its impact. "I will return, and destroy all of humanity! Even if Heartless take me now, the next version of me will be free to despise you disgusting creatures!" Reaching his hand out to grab the Keyblade, it vanished, and reappeared in Sora's hands. Slamming his alien fists on the floor, he watched as Sora and all of them took their leave.

Just in time, as the Furon Mothership would soon self-destruct.

"I'm going to kill you, human!" Pox screamed one last time, vowing to have revenge.

With everyone loaded onto the cramped Gummi Ship, Sora couldn't help but be depressed that he lost Kairi again, but he was satisfied knowing that she was just in reach at the Hollow Bastion. Sparkster had gotten back up, upset over his armor being beaten so badly, so Sora offered to bring him to a place where it could be repaired.

Landing back in Krakarov Volcano, Sly tilted his hat downwards. "Listen, Sora, I'm sorry I was kinda rude to you when we first met. I lost my cool, and that wasn't like me. You're a good kid, willing to stick up for your pals. Think you can forgive me?" Sora nodded in response.

"If it weren't for you, I would have been experimented on back there. Also, you shouldn't have to apologize! I mean, you had a right to be angry with me when I jumped the gun and assumed what you were doing was bad." Sly couldn't help but chuckle at this, knowing that indeed, this was one of the many drawbacks for being a thief. "Listen, we're going to try to find Carmelita for you, okay?"

Sly's ears perked up. "You are?"

"She's in the same place Kairi is, and I feel like it was partly our fault, so we're going to bring her back!" Sora declared. "Now we just need to find the Hollow Bastion, and be prepared for it."

"If I may interrupt," Sora looked over to Krystal, who had been at the Krakarov Volcano this whole time still after being dropped there. "I recall the name of another girl mentioned, I believe her name was Roll, so it's safe to assume a lot of missing girls may have been taken to this Hollow Bastion place."

"Roll?" Sora questioned, remembering that name very well.
"Huh? What makes you say that?" Toad asked.

"I'm telepathic, and for the past few hours, I could sense cries of distress coming from far away." Krystal explained. "Those aliens have made multiple mistakes, picking up the wrong girls in their search. Sora, I would hurry if I were you, there's no telling what kind of trouble they're in, but they are pleading!"

"A telepathic lady, huh?" Sly asked, raising his eyebrows. "Pretty interesting friends you have there, Sora."

"Sly, don't even try to cause more trouble with blue-haired fox girls," Bentley grumbled.

The whole group of them laughed, and with that, Sora said his goodbyes to Sly, wishing the best for their team, and in turn, Sly hoped that Sora would find Carmelita soon.

"Hey, Sora."

"Hm?"
"When we grow up, let's get off of this island. We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"
"Sure. But isn't there anything fun to do now?"
"Hey, you know that new girl at the mayor's house?"

"Did you hear what they've been saying? I think she arrived on the night of the meteor shower!"

The young Riku looked back at the wooden door one last time, mainly, the keyhole that was on it. Something about it seemed like it was…

Beckoning him.

Riku panted, his body slowly giving out from how much power he had used. Looking up slowly, his vision was blurry, but he could tell that Dracula was standing before him, giving him a look of pity. "How reckless of you to push yourself, and use as many distractions as possible, just to bring them here," Dracula spoke. "Those dark powers, they could cost your very heart."

Suddenly, Riku's heart pounded, his body jumped from the sound of something passing through the wind at a high speed. He turned around, grinding his teeth. "Ah, it seems there are castaways. Their world perished, but their heart did not." Dracula chuckled softly, amused by the persistence of who was running around. "When Crypto and Pox took away some of his dear friends, he pushed himself to find them, using nothing but his own willpower. Fret nothing though, for no harm will come to you. Even he is no match for your power."

"My power?" Riku said, still breathing heavily.

"The untapped power that lies within you," Dracula explained to him. "My child, the time has arrived I believe, for you to awaken this power, unlocking your full potential." Spreading his arms out, Dracula's cape fluttered, and a green light began to surround Riku.

Why… why did this hurt? What was he doing?

What would happen to him?

The trip back to Traverse Town was a bit more interesting than usual. Sora had to explain what happened to Krystal when he brought her back to the Star Fox crew, and while they were worried, the group of mercenaries were glad to have their teammate back. "Geez laweez, that Dracula guy isn't messing around. What does he want with a bunch of broads?" Falco asked.

"I am uncertain, other than the fact that it was not me who Dracula was looking for. I'm relieved, but at the same time, I'm worried about what could be going on." Krystal then turned the toad who had a hat on. "Slippy, Sora is going to a place known as the Hollow Bastion, and I sense danger coming from that place. We need to upgrade Sora's ship, so it's prepared."

"Hey, I was willing to do it for free, since he brought you back safe and sound!" Slippy croaked.

"Sora, I can't thank you enough. I thought something was weird when Krystal went for a stroll but then didn't come back. We really owe you one." Fox explained. "So we're going to adjust your ship to handle getting into potential dogfights, how does that sound? It's the least we can do." Sora nodded in response, allowing the adjustments to be made. He wasn't sure if he would ever get into something like a dogfight, but perhaps it was better to be safe than sorry.

Once that was done, Sora and company brought Sparkster back to Rosalina, and explained how he ended up being abducted. Dr. Light was more than willing to fix up his armor and jet-pack, so that way Sparkster would be ready to go back into action. It seemed Mega Man was really intrigued by Sparkster's jet-pack also, while Shovel Knight showed interest in his armor design. He was relieved to have been rescued, and his armor repaired, willing to be called upon should Sora need him again.

"Hollow Bastion," Rosalina shuddered at just the name of it. "A place crawling with Heartless, some of the worst ones, no doubt. The last, lost soul should be there, trapped in a jewel. However, I am almost certain that you will not make it far enough without the power of the stars." Several small, golden starts surrounded Sora and Luigi. They touched the stars, uncertain what power they would be granted from it. "Gravity," Rosalina explained, "and its more powerful counterpart, Gravira. It creates a small event horizon and will crush your targets. I did not give this spell to you sooner, for I thought it would be too dangerous. It shaves off a fraction of enemy health, and leaves them open for attack. Please use it wisely."

There was a long pause, as Rosalina had a look of uncertainty on her face. "Sora, if you come back from your journey to the Hollow Bastion, and there is still greater forces to take care of, I will grant you the most powerful version of all the spells you have known. I need you to prove that you and Luigi can handle such great power in your hands."

"Why not give it to them now?" Toad asked.

"She just said, Toad, we need to prove it. We're going to bring back the last, lost soul that's in Hollow Bastion, I swear on it!" Sora declared, although, as he said that, he appeared to be just as uncertain as Rosalina was. "Now c'mon guys, we gotta turn in those Pokémon to Professor Oak."

After that was done, Sora was still uneasy. He was looking at the ground, anxiety growing in his body. Eventually, he just stopped walking, unable to go any further, closing his eyes shut. Luigi and Toad immediately took note of the depressed expression on him, and knew that something was wrong.

"Sora? Are you okay?" Luigi asked. "Come on, let's-a go already!"
"Yeah, remember what was said before? No frowning, and no sad faces!" Toad chirped.
"How can you be so cheerful? There's still no sign of Mario. Aren't you worried?"
"A little, but…"

"Mario told us to find the holder of the key, and we found you!" Toad explained. "So, as long as we stick together, it'll all work out okay. You just gotta believe in yourself, that's all!"

Sora looked back up at them, staring off into the distance, his voice going quiet from those words. "Just believe," he muttered, thoughts trailing off, as a familiar voice called out to him.

"I believe in you."

Sora envisioned himself flying, straight into a light. He didn't know where he was going, or where his mind was heading for that matter, as his eyes were blinded by a flash, all the way back to young, more simple days.

He could see a young girl with red hair, running up to an older woman who was sitting in a chair.

"Where am I?"

"Long ago," the old woman started, "people lived in peace, bathed in the warmth of light. Everyone loved the light." The smile on her face didn't go away as she continued the story. "Then, people began to fight over it. They wanted to keep it for themselves, and darkness was born in their hearts.

"The darkness spread, swallowing the light and many people's hearts. It covered everything, and the world disappeared… But small fragments of light survived, in the hearts of children. With these fragments of light, children rebuilt the lost world. It is the world that we live in now. But the true light sleeps, deep within the darkness. That is why worlds are still scattered, divided from each other.

"But someday, a door to the innermost darkness will open, and the true light will return. So listen, child, even in the deepest darkness, there will always be a light to guide you. Believe in the light, and the darkness will never defeat you. Your heart will shine with its power and push the darkness away." The old woman finally paused, looking at the small girl before her. "Do you understand, Kairi?"

"Kairi!?"

Sora, floating in the midst of a library, looked down at the young girl with red hair. He began to reach out to her, but then…

She vanished, with light blinding him once again, snapping him back to reality.

Gasping, Sora opened his eyes, staring at his two friends.

"Huh?" Sora looked around, still in a daze.
"What's the matter?" Toad asked.
"Um, nothing." Sora then started mumbling to himself. "Kairi, did you call me?"

-

(end chapter)