The moment he emerged, it was a familiar sight. Soft white sand, clear blue water and beautiful palm trees fluttering in the breeze. The world hadn't simply taken Sora's island in its grasps like the other worlds, it incorporated it, made it its own. "Is this…is this my island?" He ran off towards the secret place. He had to check, to find out.

"This world has been connected." A portion of the islands disappeared, the paopu island he'd fought Riku on.

"What?" Luigi asked looking around.

I've heard this before… It hit him. Ansem was the cloaked figure from the island that day. It wasn't by chance Destiny Islands had been destroyed anymore, Ansem had taken it.

"Tied to the darkness…soon to be completely eclipsed." Anything passed the bridge vanished moments later.

"There is so much to learn." The water turned purple, as though poisonous.

"You understand so little." The island started to shake beneath them.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing." Before their eyes, the island completely transformed, split open from the center. It was no longer Destiny Islands, it was broken. The island no longer even touched the water anymore. Standing on the shore was Riku, or at least what looked like Riku.

They ran to the beach, Sora in the lead. They stopped just behind him, and Sora tried to call out.

Before he could speak though, Riku did. "Take a look at this tiny place. To the heart seeking freedom this prison surrounded by water. And so this boy sought to escape from his prison." It wasn't Riku, it was Ansem, once more using Riku's form. Ansem raised his arms to the air. "He sought a way to cross over into other worlds. And he opened his heart to the darkness." He turned around, shedding Riku's form to become his true one.

"Riku!" Sora reached out for his friend.

"Don't bother. Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so ends. The heart is no different." He said it like it was obvious. "Darkness sprouts within it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came.

"You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"That's not true!" Sora argued back, his face turned into one of determination. "Sometimes the heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down, there's a light that never goes out!"

"So you have come this far and still you understand nothing. Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" And with those words a black Heartless like creature appeared on Ansem's back. Sora jumped into battle, swinging his Keyblade at Ansem, who took the hit like it was nothing. Once close, Ansem sent the strange Heartless at Sora, and it scratched at him. Luigi, who had managed to sneak beneath him, managed to launch an uppercut at Ansem before firing a fireball. "Come, Guardian." The Heartless on his back came between the fireball and Ansem. Sora tried a slash while Bowser began to claw at him, but the guardian seemed to protect him from all damage. The attacks did nothing as it sat in front of them. The moment the Heartless returned to his back, he fired a dark fireball at Sora, knocking him back. Bowser sent a massive amount of flames towards Ansem, which hit him.

"Defense!" A shield of wind surrounded Sora to protect him from damage and he ran at Ansem again. He sent another fireball at him, but this time the dark fireball bounced of the shield and away towards the water. Sora hit Ansem with his Keyblade before jumping back and throwing it at him. Ansem got close to Sora this time, hitting him with his guardian's claws. The shield did nothing to prevent the hit, however it did lessen the damage. Bowser jumped in front of Sora before the next attack came, hitting Ansem with his claws and ducking into his shell to avoid the next attack. Ansem turned and fled into the trees, much to everyone's surprise.

"I don't think he's giving up yet…" Tippi said. "After him." They did as the Pixl said and ran towards the trees. Sora and Tippi made it into the dark hollow in the center of the island, but not Luigi or Bowser.

"Bowser! Luigi!" Sora wanted to run back out, but Tippi brought his attention elsewhere.

"We have more important things to deal with." He looked up to see the Heartless monster from his dreams, the one that first destroyed the island. "That's a Darkside, a Heartless that can summon other Heartless and relies on its fists to pack a punch. It's rumored to be the darkest Heartless one can fight."

"Thanks for the warning," Sora said as the Darkside punched the ground. He rolled out of the way, a pool of darkness forming around the wrist. He began to slash at the Heartless's arm while it was buried in the ground. Suddenly, two Shadows emerged from the ground. Sora turned his attention to them, attacking them as quickly as possible and taking them out just before the Heartless punched its arm into the ground, sending out a shockwave to hit him. The shockwave knocked him back he stood up to see a ball of darkness in the Darkside's hands. It raised the ball into the air, sending small spheres of dark energy at him. He rolled to avoid the balls of energy and watched as the Darkside punched the ground again, causing a shockwave. Sora jumped over it and ran towards the Darkside attacking it. It started to send out more dark energy, this time from its chest. He raised his Keyblade, blocking the attack and returning it to the Heartless. The Darkside vanished in a cloud of darkness.

"Come out and fight me Ansem!" Sora shouted.

Ansem appeared in front of him. "If that is what you wish." His guardian grabbed at Sora and vanished, much to both Sora's and Tippi's confusion. Sora raised his Keyblade to block as Ansem charged at him, but found himself unable to move.

"What?" The guardian appeared behind Sora, preventing him from being able to avoid the attack. He was hit twice before the guardian vanished and he had a chance to avoid the next one by barely rolling out of the way in time. He ran at Ansem, only to find his movement once more restricted by the Heartless's hold. The Heartless let him go before Ansem could attack, but it was still surprising. He backed away slightly, this time avoiding Ansem so long as the Heartless seemed to possess him. When finally it appeared on Ansem's back, he swung his Keyblade, only for it to be blocked by the guardian moments later to defend him. As Ansem charged him once more, he lifted up the Keyblade, this time stopping the attack in its tracks. He swung and hit Ansem with it, causing the man to back away. Once at a far enough distance, the guardian began to fire off discs of energy, which Sora rolled to dodge before he tossed his Keyblade, once more hitting Ansem.

The guardian vanished once more, unlike before it wasn't near Sora when it vanished. A dark pool appeared beneath his feet and he rolled out of the way just in time to watch the guardian rise out of the ground and begin charging at him rapidly. He rolled in every which direction to avoid the Heartless, but even then he was battered left and right as the Heartless hit him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ansem defenseless and threw his Keyblade before rolling to avoid the guardian as it charged once more. The Keyblade hit Ansem, causing the guardian to stop its assault and return to Ansem. Now no longer under attack, Sora ran at Ansem again. Before the man could use his guardian as a shield once more for the attack, he struck, slamming the Keyblade right into the Heartless emblem emblazoned on his chest.

The world went black.

-x-

When Sora opened his eyes once more, he was no longer inside the distorted version of Destiny Island. The islands were gone, replaced with a black abyss. The only feature was a small sandy platform with a white door on it. He wasn't even sure how he, Luigi, and Bowser weren't standing on it. It was like they were flying. "Wha..?

"Behold the endless abyss! Within it lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts! Look as hard as you are able and you not find even the smallest glimmer of light," Ansem said, no longer in their sight. "From those dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours."

Sora looked down and gasped, his eyes flying open wide as he looked at the large pink ship below him. Ansem's voice came from that direction. "Darkness conquers all worlds!" A portal appeared, sucking in Luigi and Bowser, and suddenly, Sora was no longer able to keep flying or even stay afloat. He began falling down in the never ending darkness.

"Sora!" Tippi shouted, but it was no use. He kept falling faster and faster, unable to stop.

"Giving up already? Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that." And suddenly, he fought against the falling motion. He had to save Riku from Ansem, and that's what he was going to do. He started flying up, his Keyblade in hand and in fighting position. The Keyblade had changed design, no longer the familiar gold and silver key, it had become a white key with a yellow and blue tipped star at the tip of the blade. A heart connected it to two wings that made up the handle, and dangling off the edge was Kairi's lucky charm.

He flew in towards Ansem, flying around lasers that Ansem sent towards him, aiming to hit him, and the two were near each other. Sora swung his Keyblade only to be blocked by Ansem's weapon, a pole like weapon. The weapon aimed at Sora, but Sora blocked it and swung his Keyblade at Ansem, landing a hit on him. The lasers fired upon him while Ansem continued swinging his weapon, but Sora simply dodged it, before hitting Ansem in the face with his Keyblade. As if taunting him, Sora summoned a shield shaped like the Heartless heart to surround protect him like the guardian earlier, but the portal that took Luigi and Bowser inside reappeared. Sora flew in.

He was inside the large ship like Heartless Ansem had fused with, that much he was sure of. Heartless were inside, Shadows, and he set about destroying them. They were weak, and fell quickly. A glowing ball appeared, which Sora struck at and caused the room to begin to explode. He flew out quickly to avoid being hit. The moment he did, the ship's main weapon system began firing at him, oddly enough normal bullets and lasers. "Take out the weapon's system!" Tippi shouted. Sora ran in at it, dodging all the attacks before hitting each one and destroying them. Another of the portals appeared. Sora flew in.

"About time!" Bowser shouted. The room was empty of Heartless, Bowser's claws and flames having taken them out.

"Sorry," Sora said and smiled. A light flashed and suddenly yellow eyes glowed in the room. Bowser let loose more flames, revealing that the Heartless were of the Darkball variety, several of which perished in the flames. Keyblade and fire they began rapidly destroying the Heartless army inside the ship until once more a glowing ball appeared. Sora destroyed it once more with a hit of his Keyblade, causing further explosions as he and Bowser flew out of the room once more.

Before he or Tippi had a chance to locate the next target, the ship's large face opened its mouth, firing a large lightning blast at the duo. They flew out of the way before Sora nodded. The duo flew forward and began attacking the face, Bowser's claws raking across its surprisingly fleshy skin while Sora stabbing it in the eyes. It tried to fire at them once more, but before the attack could hit, Sora landed one more blow, causing the face to go limp. The two flew into the next portal.

Inside of the room it sent them in was Luigi, punching his fist into one of the Heartless, an Invisible. "Hey, help me out!"

"No problem," Sora said and with the trio attacking the lone Invisible, it fell quickly. Sora slashed at the power source as it fell like he did in the first two rooms. They flew out of the mouth just before an explosion occurred.

"Go for the main core!" Tippi shouted. They watched the force field fall and charged. Bullets fire from more guns, each one aiming for them as they started attacking, but the three were able to quickly take it out, the main core having virtually no defense against attacks beyond the disabled shield.

The shield holding Ansem in released him once more for Sora to attack. "Let's go!" Sora shouted and the three of them flew up to Ansem's level. His weapon hit the three of them, but Sora quickly retaliated with his Keyblade, slashing at Ansem. Bowser clawed at him before ducking into his shell to duck another laser attack while Luigi punched him. Sora closed his eyes and called upon the power of the Final Smash one last time, the beams of light descended down and hit Ansem, each getting progressively more powerful as they went. One more hit him, and suddenly an explosion went off as Ansem fell.

They landed on the platform by the door, the three of them and Ansem. "It is futile. The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness." He reached for the white door. "Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness…"

The door began to open slowly, tendrils of darkness leaving it. "Supreme darkness…"

"You're wrong." Sora shouted. "I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts…is light!"

Moments later, a bright light flooded out the door, blasting into Ansem instantly. "Light…" He lifted his arms in defense against the blinding light, but it did no goods. "But…Why…" And suddenly light erupted from his body as he vanished, defeated at last.

They ran to the door. "Come on!" He started to push against the door, followed by Bowser and Luigi. They leaned against it, desperately trying to get it closed.

Luigi looked behind the door and jumped in surprise. "What?"

"What are you looking at anyways?" Bowser asked, but was given a surprise moments later as he saw Heartless gathering behind the door. "The Heartless!"

"We've got to hurry!" Luigi shouted.

"I can't…" Sora said, caving slightly against the door.

"Don't give up!" Hands appeared from behind the door and Sora looked up to see Riku and Count Bleck. "Come on, Sora! Together we can do it!"

"Okay!" Sora began pushing harder with Riku and Count Bleck pulling, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference, and Heartless were building up on the opposite side.

Suddenly, the Heartless were destroyed as a red clad man with a Keyblade in his hand, the Keyblade opposite of Sora's in the sense that the handle was silver and the blade gold. "Big bro!" Luigi shouted.

"Now Sora! Let'sa close this door for good," Mario said.

"Close it! Quick!" Bowser insisted with a smirk. He had to have been happy with the end results of this journey considering it was his enemy trapped on the other side of the door.

"But…"

"Don't worry. There will always be a door to the light," Mario said.

"Sora, you can trust Mario," Luigi said. Sora nodded while Blumiere looked behind himself and Riku.

"Now! They're coming!"

"Blumiere? Are you really willing to…" Tippi asked.

Count Bleck nodded. "It's my fault he fell into darkness in the first place. It's my job to help him out."

Tippi sniffled slightly, but she understood. "We'll meet again."

"Luigi…Bowser…" There was no malice in the way Mario said his enemy's name. "Thank you."

And now they were pushing against the door with all their might, it finally moved to close at a rapid pace.

"Take care of her." It was Riku, and he was smiling. Sora nodded and pushed against the door even harder. He had to make it away from here now, to honor what Riku said, to protect Kairi.

Sora jumped back the moment the door closed and a light emerged from the tip of his Keyblade, and he assumed the same was happening with Mario's as well. The door glowed brightly before disappearing, destroying anyway for the three trapped behind to get out. Riku… His best friend was trapped, away from him, but he wasn't the only one who lost somebody to the door, both Tippi and Luigi lost somebody important to them too, and he couldn't let his loss stop him I'll find you soon.

He turned around, and on a platform nearby, Kairi was there, her eyes looking around in confusion. He went to her, ran to her. Bowser and Luigi went to follow. "Don't," Tippi said. "He deserves this."

"Kairi!" Sora ran for her, extending his hand.

"Sora!" Kairi fell, making a cry of shock as her hand reached his.

"Kairi, remember what you said before? Well, I'm always with you too. I'll come back to you. I promise!"

"I know you will!" Their hands slipped and suddenly Sora was drifting away from Kairi. They reached out for each other trying to grab the other, but they were too far away.

A bright light fell into Kairi's hands, and suddenly light flashed behind her as the whole of Destiny Islands reemerged from the ground. Sora called out to her, still getting farther and farther away. "I promise, I'll come back for you!"

And he was gone, swept up in the light and out of her sight. A bright light where he was is all that remained. Out of that light came thousands of shooting stars that filled the sky, restoring the stars to the sky, restoring the worlds.

Sora, your feelings have reached me, don't forget it.

-x-

Sometime has passed since the islands first reformed. Kairi still holds Sora within her heart as she walks into the secret place, looking at the drawings that had been on the wall. Her hand stops on one, the one of her and Sora together. Her eyes lock on the drawing of the two sharing a paopu fruit. She can imagine Sora drawing it just before the island was destroyed, smiling at her.

She nearly breaks down then. She misses him, she misses both of them, and wants them here, but she knows they'll come back, and despite the tears coming from her eyes, she smiles. Her eyes lock on the rock they used to draw and she picks it up to draw her own addition to the drawing.

When she leaves, she's now offering him the paopu back.