-1Disclaimer: Any copyrighted material that appears in this story is the sole property of the Copyright Holder and such as I don't own it or pretend to own it.

Chapter 12: Preparations

"We've got a problem Master," Sora said. "It seems that King Mickey has touched down on Traverse Town and is aiding Riku and Cloud.

Sephiroth frowned. "The King eh? This may be more complicated than I previously thought. With the King their strength will triple. Mickey is a formidable opponent but I'm sure we can fiend them off."

"Do you believe it wise to try to find off an attack from the King, Cloud, Riku, Goofy and Donald? They'll tear through everyone in this castle with the exception of me and you. Even then, if they all ganged up on us we wouldn't stand a chance. "

Sephiroth seemed to consider this for a moment. Sora's words were true. With the King and Donald and Goofy, all three experiences warriors, plus the power of Cloud and Riku would overwhelm the castle. The only other option would be to accelerate his plans and become Sora sooner than expected.

"Prepare the other Demons," Sephiroth said. "Position the Heartless on the outskirts of the moon. Don't use any Shadow Heartless, only Darkside and Anti-Angels."

Sora bowed, signaling that he understood, and turned to carry out Sephiroth's orders. Once he was gone, Sephiroth looked out the window in the direction of Traverse Town. It was only a bright star in the sky, being thousands of miles away.

Very well King Mickey. If you want a fight, come to me.

King Mickey's airship, the Royal Mouse, landed on the outskirts of Disney Castle. Chip and Dale began to the refueling process as well as began upgrading the ship's defense for the long journey ahead. As they did this, Riku and Cloud sparred with each other, preparing for the battle against Sora and Sephiroth. King Mickey had the gravitational field increased in the room they were sparring in so that they would be forced to push themselves harder and harder in order to move. The gravity got heavier slowly every few minutes and Riku and Cloud had trouble adjusting to the extreme amount of weight. But they slowly adapted to it and were soon moving at normal speed even at 500x gravity.

"You fellas learn pretty quickly," King Mickey said. "Sora and Sephiroth are going to be tough opponents but I figure we can handle them all."

"So what's the plan? Once we touch down I mean," Riku asked.

King Mickey turned to him. "Well, once we touch down we'll stick together and battle through the waves of Heartless that will no doubt be waiting for us. Once we make it to the First Floor of the castle, we'll split up. Donald, Goofy and I will handle Cid, Leon and the other Demons. You and Cloud will head towards the throne room where Sephiroth will be waiting. Cloud, I want you to handle Sephiroth while Riku takes on Sora."

"But how can I…?"

"Don't doubt yourself Riku," Mickey interrupted. "Sora may be using the power of Darkness but you are still stronger than him."

"But what if he goes into his Devil form? I couldn't handle him as a Demon! How can I possibly defeat him when he's even stronger?" Riku asked.

"Because you've got something Sora doesn't have right now," Mickey explained. "A Heart."

Riku smiled.

After completing Sephiroth's orders, Sora returned to the lower levels and into the chamber where Kairi was being held. She was pretending to sleep so Sora closed the door behind him and locked it.

"Kairi, I know you're not asleep," He said. "Get up."

Kairi opened her eyes reluctantly. "What do you want?"

"I just thought I'd let you know that Riku is coming," Sora said. "And when he does, I will kill him. And once he's finished I'm going to finish you too."

"Riku's coming? When?" Kairi asked frantically.

Sora snickered a bit. "That won't matter. You'll know he's here, you'll know he's dead, when I come again."

Sora laughed evilly and unlocked the door. "Shall I have something sent up for you? Food? Water? Anything at all?"

Kairi shook her head and buried her face in her pillow. Sora locked the door behind him and pressed his ear up against the door. He could hear Kairi sniffling and thought that she was crying because Riku was about to die. But, to his utter surprise, she wasn't crying about Riku.

"What have I done? Why did I hide it from him? Sora, I'm sorry…"

For a moment, Sora felt sad. He realized that what he was doing was wrong. How could he have done this to her? How could he have threatened to kill her and his best friend Riku? For a moment, his thoughts of revenge evaporated and he was the same old Keyblade Master he'd been before. But that was only for a moment, for Sephiroth's dark magic once again got a hold over his mind. He was happy because he was about to kill the man who'd stolen his love. Feeling content, he walked off, smirking at his evil thoughts.

As they boarded the Airship, Riku felt as though this was his final moment. That everything would be decided by this one battle and that everyone would either live, or die. As they all took their positions in the ship, King Mickey only had one thing to say.

"Gentlemen, we're ready."