Chapter Fifty New World Order

The inside of the castle was dark and eerily quiet. The loudest sound was the pulse-like thump, thump, thump that got louder the deeper into the castle they got. Their boots and feet made no sound as it touched the ground and outside of bated breath no one spoke. Everyone was on high alert, waiting for something to attack them. They all had their weapons out, and the little pegasus Piff stayed hidden in Vincent's cape for safety. Donald went ahead of the group with his staff as a light, waving it back and forth to make sure no corner of the corridor that stretched ahead of them was undiscovered, allowing for an ambush. Kairi stuck close to Sora, and Sora in turn stuck close to the seasoned warrior, Vincent.

The silence was finally getting to Riku, and he felt obliged to fill the area with conversation to calm his nerves, "While I'm glad you got your heart back and everything, Vincent, but it would have been really helpful if you could still sense Heartless like before,"

"Being a Heartless wouldn't do me any good," Vincent replied. He did not look at the boy who asked him a question, his attention was exclusively devoted to his surroundings, "This whole world is a Heartless, that sensation would probably have driven me insane,"

"Oh," Riku realized. Once again everyone fell silent and continued to journey down the seemingly endless corridor.

Their long uninterrupted journey did not escape Goofy, "Hey guys, have you noticed anything strange about this here corridor?"

"Yeah, we've been walking down here for well over two hours now and we haven't run into any attacks," Riku realized.

"No, not just that," Goofy shook his head and stopped walking. The rest of the party followed suit, "From the outside the castle looked really steep with a whole bunch of levels, but while it looked big, it wasn't that big,"

"I don't follow you," Sora admitted.

"In the two hours we've walked, we haven't run into a single set of stairs. We haven't changed level at all and we haven't come across any corners. We've just been walking in a straight, perfectly level line. That smells pretty fishy to me," Goofy explained.

"You're right," Donald realized, "We've been walking in the dark so it's been hard to notice,"

"This must be some kind of trap caused by the darkness, like we were stuck in an infinite loop," Sora assumed.

"So how do we get out of it?" Kairi asked, "Without doors, stairs or corners, we could be trapped in here for the rest of our lives,"

Vincent suddenly touched the wall, "I might not be able to sense them anymore, but it doesn't mean I don't know it when I see it. Even though that door we came into wasn't oozing Heartless blood, these walls and floors are covered with it,"

Sora suddenly got an idea and struck the wall with his Keyblade, leaving a long slash in the wall. A sudden breeze came from the wall, indicating a passage on the other side, but just after the wall was cut open, the whole corridor began to buckle and writhe like a snake. Donald and Riku were knocked to the ground and Kairi fell on the wall for support, but as soon as she touch it, a giant hand emerged and grabbed her.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled as Kairi screamed in fear. The Keyblade Master yanked Riku to his feet and ran over to help his friend, but as they approached her, dozens of Heartless started oozing out of the walls. The two boys slashed and hacked at the Heartless as they tried to reach the girl. Goofy dragged Donald to his feet and joined the fray. The four battled to free Kairi from the giant hand that was threatening to pull the girl into the wall while Vincent tried to give support by shooting the Heartless as they entered the hall. The Heartless were coming in thick hordes and it was becoming harder for the warriors to move and as more Heartless came in, the further they were pushed away from Kairi. Sora was desperate, "We're getting overwhelmed!"

Vincent forced his way towards Sora, but found it difficult since he no longer had use of a clawed arm. Giving up on trying to move on the ground, the gunner leapt up and started stepping on the Heartless' heads and backs to get above the fray. With quick steps Vincent ran to Sora and the others and one by one pulled the group up until they were standing on top of the crowds of squirming creatures instead of being stuck in them. Kairi continued to struggle against the giant Heartless hand that was threatening to pull her into the wall and once again Sora and Riku rushed over to her rescue. Using a combined attack they sliced the hand to ribbons and grabbed her before she could be swallowed up by the teaming dark creatures below their feet. The old slice in the wall Sora had made previously seemed to have healed itself, so making a new incision in the wall, he shoved Kairi through first to safety as yet another mass of Heartless tried to come in after them. Vincent held the monsters back before escaping through the wall after Donald, Goofy and Riku.

Thankfully, the Heartless did not follow them to the other side of the dark wall, but the new area presented its own challenges. The dim light was slightly better than the corridor and the group could see what lay before them. The giant hall opened up into what seemed like an infinite amount of passages and staircases, resulting in a massively confusing scene right out of an Escher drawing. The view was not encouraging.

"So how do we find Matilda now?" Riku asked, "While we weren't really going anywhere in that hall, at least we couldn't get lost,"

"I have no idea. In this castle one wrong turn could end up leading to something pretty nasty. I mean, where do we even start?" Sora understood Riku's concern immediately.

While the group stopped to think of what their next more would be, Kairi noticed something about the Keyblade in Sora's right hand, "Sora, the Keyblade, it's glowing!"

Sora lifted the weapon up and saw the girl was right. The mystic weapon was now shining brightly, making the room less dark and giving a little comfort to everyone bathed in its glow, "It looks just like it did in Traverse Town,"

"I bet it's because of Matilda," Riku concluded, "It was because of her Vincent took on his full Heartless form and I bet it was her power that turned him back when the Keyblade glowed the first time,"

Sora felt an emotion tug at his heart, "Even though she's trapped inside of M she's still trying to help us,"

"Then let's not disappoint her," Vincent said with resolve.

The group soon discovered the purpose behind the Keyblade's light. When it appeared they were going down the wrong set of stairs or made a wrong turn, the light began to fade, but they assumed when the light got stronger they were going in the right direction. They were attacked a few more times by stray Heartless, but their way was largely uninterrupted until they entered a passage where the Keyblade's glow seemed the brightest. The light was almost blinding as they entered a giant hall at least thirty feet tall, every detail suddenly visible in the ancient building. It seemed this castle was once a beautiful place with figures of cherubs and angels carved into the tops of columns, but age and the viral darkness had corrupted and perverted the cracked figures, making it a mockery of its former self.

Suddenly Sora's Keyblade lost all its light throwing the team into pitch black Darkness. Donald lit up his magic staff and called out to his friends to make sure something hadn't happened to them, "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're still all here," Riku called out reassuringly, "I'm holding into Sora's shoulder and Kairi's hand,"

"Actually you're grabbing onto Kairi's shoulder and holding my hand," Sora corrected his friend. Before the two could start one of their legendary arguments a strange and familiar sound came through the darkness. A stomach churning throbbing and demonic laughter filled the giant chamber. The light from Sora's Keyblade illuminated once again and they could see what was making the sound. Sora, Goofy, Donald, Kairi and Riku stood paralyzed in fear, "Oh my gosh, it's Xenahort,"

Before the group in all his horrific glory was the Heartless being that Sora first fought against in his first battle to save Kingdom Hearts. His giant body was anchored into the ground with three monstrous protrusions breathing around a central heart-like organ. From the top a human torso and head were sticking out, minuscule compared to the rest of his body. He was not like before, he was like a shadow of himself. Before the monster was brightly colored, this version of Xenahort was black and slightly translucent. While most of the group stayed stunned, unsure what to do, one of the members wasted no time in attacking.

"CURSE YOU ANSEM!" Vincent roared and ran forward, shooting the monster with his exploding charges. The man had waited many years to confront this being, the being that made him a Heartless, the one who took his life away from him, who made him lose his friends and himself. The gunner was not thinking when he attacked, he was overcome with blind rage and as he got closer to the giant Heartless he once knew, one of the Xenahort's protrusions acted like a vacuum and sucked Vincent into his body. But he did not stop there. With Vincent's war cry the battle had begun and Xenahort began sucking up Goofy, Kairi, Riku and Donald, leaving only Sora behind to once again face his enemy alone.

Though taken aback by having to face Xenahort's Heartless once again Sora quickly recovered and faced the being, "You don't scare me Xenahort. I'm not a little kid anymore, I've beaten you once and I'll beat you again. And once my friends are free and you're gone, we're going to go back to save Matilda like we planned!"

The Heartless merely laughed and proceeded with his attack. Remembering his battle from long ago, Sora easily avoided most of the monster's attacks and managed to destroy part of his central organ. Xenahort sucked Sora into his body to be again in pitch black darkness but he could sense his friends were nearby. The smaller Heartless inside the giant one made for easy kills by the Keyblade Master and soon Donald and Goofy were free to help with the fight. With one of the protrusions gone the three found the central organ once more. Again they were sucked into the Heartless body to face more small enemies. This time Vincent was freed, thrilled to destroy more of the evil creatures that ruined his life and to help defeat the main monster that was the cause of his suffering. A third time they were sucked in and the four were reunited with Kairi and Riku. With the six fighters back together they combined they powers for a final attack and the shadow of the Heartless that was Xenahort disappeared back into darkness.

"Vincent, are you okay?" Sora asked cautiously. Facing the person who made him a Heartless clearly was an emotional experience for the man. But when Vincent turned to face the Keyblade Master, he seemed strangely calm.

"I waited almost seventeen years to do that," Vincent looked up, "Now I really got my life back," he turned back to Sora and the others, "Well, what are we waiting for? Matilda still needs us,"

Sora smiled and nodded and the group headed further down the giant hall, but another Heartless was waiting for them, the Guard Armor Sora first faced when he met Donald and Goofy for the first time. Once again the group battled and defeated the Heartless, but after that more battles came: the Heartless lizard from the Deep Jungle, the Grim Reaper from Port Royale, the dragon form of Maleficent, the Nobody palace of Xemnas. Every Heartless and every villain that Sora, Riku or Vincent ever faced seemed to be coming back from the shadows to face them again.

After once again destroying the Heartless dragon they once defeated while helping their friend Mulan, the group stopped to rest and heal up. While Kairi was getting her arm looked after by Donald she turned to Sora, "I don't understand, we've faced these things before, why did all of them come back?"

"I bet it's because of M. He has control over Matilda's power so he can resurrect any monster we've ever destroyed in order to stop us. He thinks even if we can beat them he's still messing with our heads," Riku figured.

"Then he obviously doesn't know us that well, 'cause we're not quitters!" Goofy said confidently. The group nodded in agreement and continued down the corridor.

The giant hall finally ended and opened up into a giant room. The loud pulsing that had previously been background noise became a deafening racket that caused the group to clamp their hands over their ears. Far above the warriors, sitting upon a worn stone throne, was M. He sat in a strange state of lethargy, with his head hung down and his arms and legs sprawled across the crumbling throne. The seat didn't seem to be truly supporting him, instead he looked as though he were partially suspended. From the being's cloaked body tendrils of dark violet and red connected to wall and rooted their way through the rotten stone like blood vessels pulsing and throbbing, giving the being the overall appearance of some twisted marionette. The image was repulsive and Sora did his best not to lose his stomach at the sight of the being. M seemed to suddenly realize he was no longer alone. He lifted his head up and spoke, "I should have expected as much to see you again, Sora,"

"We've come to stop you, M," Sora said warningly, "Give Matilda back,"

M laughed his strange hollow voice, "You really don't understand what I've done, do you?"

"What do we have to understand? You're a villain and you've taken control of Matilda to have power over Kingdom Hearts," Riku announced.

"My young friend you are very much mistaken. It was not my intention to take over the power of Kingdom Hearts, nor am I a villain" M shifted his body, the entire room seemed to react to his movement. Sora exchanged confused looks with Riku and the others.

"Well, of course you're a villain. Because of you innocent people have gotten hurt. You've destroyed your own allies, you kidnapped one of our friends! Right now worlds are collapsing into Darkness all because you!" Sora stated matter-of-factly, "If that's not a villain I don't know what is!"

"No, you don't understand. No one truly does. Though of all people I would have thought you would Sora," M's body lifted into the air and the tendrils moved the being closer to the Keyblade Master and his friends. The six raised their weapons, "Calm down, I don't have any intention to destroy you. At least not until you understand what I am doing,"

"Why should we believe you? You destroyed Seymour without any remorse, and he was your own ally," Riku kept his weapon up and placed himself in front of Sora to protect him.

"Once again your grasps of what I have tried to do escape you. Seymour was a villain, he deserved what he got, especially after the unnecessary death of your friend Lulu. They all got what they deserved. The Horned King, the Wicked Queen, the Turks, Sher Khan, Negaduck, Yzma, they were all villains, none of them were my friends or my allies. I only pretended to ally myself with them because they would be the only ones willing to work with me, and I was willing to do whatever I needed to achieve my dream and my objective. They were easy to manipulate. But the villains' plans with Kingdom Hearts were purely selfish, mine are not," M explained, "Everything I have done was to make the worlds better, to fill them with happiness,"

"Are you trying to make yourself out to be some kind of hero? That all these terrible things are somehow good?" Vincent snarled, "You kidnapped an innocent girl and are using her. Because of your actions innocent people died. You may try to act as though you are not responsible for those actions because they were done by the villains, but you were the grand puppetmaster pulling their strings,"

"'Never feel guilty for things you cannot control.' Isn't that your personal mantra, Vincent Valentine? I admit many of the things I have done or have allowed to happen would not be looked down upon as things to be proud of, but all and all what I have done was for the greater good," M tried to explain. His calm remorseless tone caused the six warriors' blood to boil, "Besides, you keep demanding I release the human form of Kingdom Hearts, but I am afraid that is quite impossible, as she no longer exists,"

"What are you talking about?" Kairi asked fearfully. Donald and Goofy stepped on either side of her, more prepared to attack then ever before.

"You all have assumed that I kidnapped Kingdom Hearts in order to use her power. That is not true, I did not kidnap Kingdom Hearts, I absorbed her. I did not take over her power, I have become her," M explained, his connecting tendrils pulled him high above the warriors once again and the deafening sound that resembled a heartbeat got even louder, causing the very room to shake, "I am now Kingdom Hearts,"

"YOU'RE INSANE!" Sora screamed.

"Sora, you of all people should see how I have made things better," M's hollow tone for the first time seemed to have a hint of genuine emotion, "As the Keyblade Master you've fought to save Kingdom Hearts time after time after time. Each time you make new friends, you have to lose them again, trapped on your own world because of the rules of sealing Kingdom Hearts. Those rules are gone Sora, by becoming Kingdom Hearts I make the rules. Never again will you have to be separated by the walls of light. You'll never have to say goodbye to Goofy or Donald again. Never will you ever have to worry that Riku or Kairi will be separated from you. You could visit Twilight Town any time you pleased. You'd get to see Pence and Hayner and Olette whenever you like. You and Aladdin could face off against Mulan and Hercules in Olympus Coliseum just for laughs! I've set you free Sora! Don't you see it?"

For a moment, Sora did see M's point. The only time he got to be with Goofy and Donald was when he was out to save the worlds. He always felt the littlest bit guilty when he would look in the skies, because he would almost hope the worlds were in danger, so he could be with his friends again. The Keyblade Master looked back and looked every one of his friends in the eye: Donald, Goofy, Kairi, Vincent, but then he looked to Riku and realized M was wrong. Riku was looking up at M, an angry look in his face. The silver haired boy asked the being one question, "But what about the Heartless?"

"What about them?" M replied. In the shadowy corners of the room the group could detect the movement of some small Heartless wandering around.

"When Kingdom Hearts is unsealed, Heartless from the Dark Realm invade the worlds through their hearts. If Kingdom Hearts is never sealed again, that means there won't be any way to stop the Heartless and they'll continue to steal people's hearts and destroy worlds. Worlds are already being destroyed," Kairi explained.

"M, I love my friends more than anything, and would want to be with them all the time. But I also want them to be safe. With the Heartless free everyone will constantly be in danger. I rather not see them ever again if it meant knowing they'll always be okay!" Once again, Sora's Keyblade lit up, "And I know you're wrong M, Matilda is not gone yet. Knowing that I want her safe, too!"

M's body began to twitch and warp and the vessel-like threads that came from his body began to pump and change color slightly. The floor almost instantly became covered with thick black Heartless blood, "As long as you weren't in my way I had no reason to cause you six any harm. But if you insist on this futile battle I will be forced to destroy you," The Heartless blood began to boil and ooze and the giant Heartless that Sora and the others fought against earlier had returned: Anima, Yzma's stone warriors, the laser shooting Heartless from Sher Khan's tower and Sin, the Heartless that was the cause of Lulu's murder. Even M's body transformed slightly, and looked more monstrous than before, "I will do anything I have to, to see my dream come true,"