Disclaimer: I do not own the KH franchise.

"This is it," Sora says. "Hollow Bastion." This world gives me the chills. It's as if something bad happened here, and I'm picking up on it. The dreary castle in the distance isn't exactly helping the image either. In front of us are a straight line of floating stones that lead to a large outcropping of rock in front of the castle.

In preparation for what's about to come, Sora exchanged Kingdom Key for a silver Keblade resembling Leon's necklace: Sleeping Lion.

"Now we can finally find Kairi." I add.

"Finally, I thought you'd never get here." Vanitas says.

"Look who's back." I silently say.

"Hey, I couldn't talk to you because of all the darkness in that world!"

I ignore him. "Ready to go, guys?"

"Let's go!" Donald, Goofy, and Sora all say.

We hop from rock to rock, fighting the heartless that appear. I now realize that we're over a large, but calm waterfall. On the second to last stone, we all notice a battle going on with surprise. A large, hairy creature wearing a violet cape against… Riku!

"No vessel, no help from the Heartless... So tell me, how'd you get here?" Riku says.

"I simply believed. Nothing more to it. When our world fell into darkness, Belle was taken from me." The monster says." I vowed I would find her again no matter what the cost. I believed I would find her. So, here I am. She must be here. I will have her back!"

"Take her if you can." The monster tries to attack in a blind fury, but Riku easily counters, striking him down. The four of us stare, horrified at the sight.

"Stop!" Sora shouts. Riku turns to us.

"So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rivals, haven't we? We've always pushed eachother."

"Riku... What are you talking about?"

"But it all ends here. There can't be three Keyblade masters

"I have a bad feeling about this!" Goofy warns.

"Let the Keyblade choose...its true master." Riku holds out his hand. Simultaneously, Rising Sun and Sleeping Lion disappear from our hands and transform into two orbs of light. They swirl around eachother before merging in Riku's hand. As one Kingdom Key.

"What!" Donald shouts.

"Huh?" Goofy gasps..

Riku gains a sly smile. "Maleficent was right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi. It's up to me. Only the Keyblade master can open the secret door...and change the world." Riku's words blur in my head as I sink to the ground.

You don't have what it takes… Keyblade Master… Change the world.

"But that's impossible. How did this happen? We're the one who fought our way here with the Keyblade!" Sora cries.

"You were just the delivery boys. Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this." Riku tosses our old Wooden Swords to the ground next to us and leaves. Sora kneels to the ground in disappointment.

"Goofy. Let's go. We have to remember our mission." Donald says.

"Oh! Well, I know the king told us to follow the key and all... But..."

"Sora, Kaze, sorry." Donald and Goofy leave sadly with one last look back at us.

"How could this have happened. It doesn't make any sense!" I mumble to myself. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice the creature from before move slightly. He tries to stand, but falls down almost immediately.

"Hey, don't move. You're hurt." Sora cautions.

"Why... Why did you...you come here?" The monster says. "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."

Sora picks up the Wooden Sword and I do the same, as it is better than having no weapon. I hand the creature a high potion and after downing it, looks better than ever.

"Me too. We're not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me."

"And we're not giving up until we find her!"

"Let's go together, then. My name is Beast."

"Sora."

"Kaze." I look the way Riku headed. A large platform held up by strings of electricity floats there next to a large orb. Without a second thought, Sora touches it and we are immediately teleported onto the platform. It starts up and we are soon headed for the castle.

Needless to say, heartless are almost impossible to kill with a toy sword. Without our Keyblades, Sora and I are nearly helpless. I know, sad, right? Luckily, Beast is able to pick up the slack with his claws.

We eventually made our way to the front doors of the castle, but they were locked tight, so went to find a way to open them. A long puzzle later, the doors swung open and led into the front hall. A small fountain sat in front of the stairs.

A door opens near the side of the room to reveal a familiar woman in a yellow dress. I recognize her from that dream I had on the islands. How long ago that feels now.

"Belle!" Beast shouts in surprise. He runs after her, but the image of her fades and becomes a shadow heartless. Overcome with rage, Beast destroys the heartless, but not before the door slams shut on him.

"Beast!"

"Quit while you can." Riku says, suddenly appearing. Donald and Goofy stand by his side.

"No. Not without Kairi." Sora answers. Surprisingly, darkness begins to cloak Riku. It swirls violently around him, and when it clears, Riku looks drastically different.

He now wears a black and blue body suit made of darkness. It looks practically identical to Vanitas's.

"The darkness will destroy you." He says.

"You're wrong, Riku. The darkness may destroy my body, but it can't
touch my heart. My heart will stay with my friends. It'll never die!" I say.

"Really... Well, we'll just see about that!"

An intense pain fills my body and judging by Sora's expression, he feels it too. I realize neither of us can move, but no matter how much we struggle neither of us can escape this power.

Riku extends both hands and a cloud of darkness forms in each. Two bolts of darkness fire from his hand. I close my eyes, awaiting the end, but nothing happens.

I slowly reopen my eyes to see Goofy standing in front of Sora. Shocking us all, Matt stands in front of me, Keyblade out. They blocked the shot and saved us!

"Looks like we got here just in time!" Matt says with a smile.

"We would have been here sooner, but Matt kept reading the map wrong!" Yen whispers, walking in the now open front doors. Beast is nowhere to be seen.

"Sora and Kaze aren't gonna go anywhere!"

"You'd betray your king?" Riku asks.

"Not on your life! But I'm not gonna betray Sora, either, 'cause he's become one of my best buddies after all we've been through together! See ya later, Donald. Could ya tell the king I'm really sorry?"

Donald runs over to us. "Hold on, Goofy! We'll tell him together." We look at him surprised and he says, "Well, you know... All for one and one for all."

"I guess you're stuck with us, Sora."

Strangely, Sora looks down in disappointment. "Thanks a lot...Donald, Goofy."

"How will you fight without a weapon?" Riku taunts.

"I know now I don't need the Keyblade. I've got a better weapon. My
heart."

"Your heart? What good will that weak little thing do for you?"

"Although my heart may be weak, it's not alone. It's grown with
each new experience, and it's found a home with all the friends I've
made. I've become a part of their heart just as they've become a part of
mine."

I jump in. "And if they think of us now and then...if they don't forget us...then our hearts will be one. I don't need a weapon. Our friends are our power!" At that moment, I felt my heart grow stronger.

The Kingdom Key appears in Riku's hand and turns back into the two lights. They flow back into Sora's and my hands, becoming Sleeping Lion and Rising Sun.

"How did you… Forget it! I have my own weapon!" Riku summons an imposing weapon to fight, but I'm not afraid. We can take him now. Together.