Greetings, prospective readers, and welcome back to Brothers! Sorry to keep you guys waiting for so long. I had other interests to attend to, but it looks like the last chapter did pretty well for itself, and as always, as long as someone continues to enjoy my work, then I'll keep working on it.

Now then, from the looks of things it's pretty much unanimous in regards to Roxas reclaiming leadership of the Samurai Nobodies. However, Roxas reclaiming his Samurai most likely won't happen until we hit the first real trip to Space Paranoids, namely after Sora and company give Tron the password to the DTD, as I think the Battle of A Thousand Heartless would be a good place for them to return to Roxas.

Speaking of Space Paranoids, I'm planning on giving it the Tron: Legacy design/aesthetic ala The Grid from Dream Drop Distance, as well giving Sark and the MCP "human" mooks like they and Clu had in the movies, kinda like how Barbossa had his crew from the movie during the first trip to Port Royal/The Caribbean from the game, as well as the possibly unaligned Cursed Pirates from the second trip. Also… I may or may not be planning on having a Rinzler vs Tron fight when we hit that arc. After all, considering how the MCP is able to crank out Heartless inside Bastion OS even before getting full access to the DTD, who's to say that it couldn't make a version of Rinzler using Tron's data, most likely gained when it appropriated his functions in the first place?

But, anyways, that's all I really had to talk about, so let us start the game!

Chapter IV

New Allies And Revelations

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix OST: Restoring Hollow Bastion

As Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Roxas sat around the dinner table, the former three indulging in what was most likely their first real meal in a year, the blonde member of their quartet revealed the truth of his origins and connection to Organization XIII to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee.

"So… let me get this straight," Leon said as he crossed his arms and gave Roxas and Sora a stern glare, not that the latter minded too much. "You're Sora's body that went and became its own entity after he used that Keyblade of Ansem's on himself to save Kairi's heart, and you used to work for this Organization XIII?"

"More or less," Roxas confirmed in between bites of his meal.

"And before anyone gets any ideas, while Roxas may not be my brother in the traditional sense, that doesn't mean he's any less a part of my family to me. The only thing he's not a part of is me. Also, from what I understand from Roxas' story, the Organization took advantage of the state he was in when he was first created. He didn't know any better," Sora said, almost immediately sticking up for his brother, something that Roxas couldn't help but feel grateful for.

"Umm… I have a question," said Yuffie, raising her hand as though she were a student in class. "If you're the body that Sora casted off when he used that Keyblade on himself to free Kairi's heart, then how come you don't look anything like Sora?"

"I must say, I am rather curious about that myself," Merlin said thoughtfully. "As a matter of fact, you look identical to a young man I crossed paths with a little more than a decade ago… sadly, I wasn't able to get his name…"

"Yeah… I've been getting that a lot lately…" Roxas said, rubbing the back of his neck. "The good fairies who made Sora's new duds mistook me for someone named 'Ven.'"

This caused those present to develop rather thoughtful looks on their faces. However, before anyone could speak on the matter, there was a knock on the door of Merlin's house before it opened to reveal two people.

"We didn't miss dinner, did we?" asked one of the newcomers, who was a young man with white hair wearing a long-sleeved yellow and white coat with a light blue necktie, gray pants, black boots, and black and red storage packs along the left shoulder and waist of his jacket. What seemed to be a collapsible boomerang was folded up in a holster attached to the storage packs.

"No, Hope, I'd say we're right on time, and that it looks like we have some guests as well," the second new arrival, a young woman around the same age as the man she had arrived alongside, said. She had long pink hair and wore a full suit of black body armor that left her arms exposed, black leather boots, and a red and white cape. Attached to her back was a red shield and what seemed to be a different model of gunblade than the one used by Leon.

"Heya! Hope, Claire, you're here," said Yuffie with a bright smile. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Roxas, I'd like you to meet Clairé-"

"Lightning, Yuffie. My name is Lightning Farron," Clairé, or rather, Lightning, said with a slight edge to her voice.

"Oh, right. Anyways, this is Lightning Farron, former captain of the Hollow Bastion Guard," Yuffie introduced the woman. "Guy next to her is Hope Esthiem, apprentice to Ansem-"

Whatever Yuffie was about to say next was quickly interrupted by the sound of Sora choking and being smacked on the back by Roxas, evidently having not expected that little bombshell.

"Ansem's apprentice?!" Sora wheezed out once he was able to speak again.

"Former apprentice," Hope said with a certain edge to his voice as he sat down at the table with Lightning. "I left when the experiments into the darkness of heart escalated from 'psychological testing' to 'creating monsters of darkness that could destroy worlds.' But, who might you be?"

"Oh, right. Light, Hope, this is Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Roxas," introduced Yuffie.

"Ah, so you're the Sora kid I've been hearing so much about," Lightning said as she looked at the brunette teen. "I understand we have you to thank for making Hollow Bastion fit for human habitation again, even with that army of Heartless over in Villain's Vale, and these new white creatures that have been springing up."

"Oh! Heh, heh, it was nothing!" Sora said with an embarrassed chuckle.

"So, you defeated Ansem, then? Or rather… the monster who stole his name?" asked Hope.

Sora frowned in confusion, with Donald, Goofy, and Roxas. "Stole his name?" asked Donald in confusion.

"Correct," affirmed Hope as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some papers. "We found this in the castle when we were getting ready to start reconstructing it. This seems to be an excerpt from one of Ansem's journals," Hope said as he placed one of the papers onto the table. "And these are the Ansem Reports my former Master supposedly penned," Hope continued as he placed the rest of the papers on the table. "See any problems?"

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Roxas leaned over the papers and immediately noticed a major issue. "Well, I'll be! The handwritn's different!" said Goofy.

"So, you mean that all the work Donald, Goofy, and I did was just to defeat an imposter?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Bingo. A fake was responsible for everything that happened last year. This paper here," Hope said as he indicated the first paper. "Was undoubtedly written by my former Master, Ansem the Wise. The Ansem Reports on the other hand… they were written by someone else. I have a theory as to who actually wrote them, but until we can get into the basement labs, I can't say for absolute certain. But, so far, my munny's on Xehanort."

Sora involuntarily winced, feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity at the mention of the name "Xehanort," but not in a pleasant or even remotely friendly manner.

"Xehanort?" the spikey haired brunette asked after a moment of silence. "Who's he?"

Lightning sighed. "It was a little more than eleven years ago. These two Keyblade-wielding warriors, one male, one female i, showed up one day and ended up having this huge battle that made the town shake. My fellow guardsmen were in an uproar over it. But, by the time we got to the sight of the battle, the woman had vanished into thin air, and the only thing we could find was a man with white hair who could only remember his name: Xehanort."

Hope nodded. "Ansem took the stranger in and nursed him back to health before taking him on as an apprentice," he explained, a somber expression on his face. "It wasn't long after Xehanort came onboard that we started the research into the darkness of the heart. Xehanort was the first volunteer of the psychological testing, but things escalated tremendously from there. I deemed the experiments to be unethical and beyond dangerous to both this world and its people, so I took my leave. But… it wasn't long after that when Hollow Bastion became overrun by the Heartless, forcing everyone to flee to Traverse Town and the like."

"I see…" Sora said thoughtfully. A few moments of silence passed as the group continued eating before Sora spoke up again.

"There's something that's been bothering me... when we ran into that guy from the Organization… he mentioned that someone gave him the same exact look that me and Roxas gave him, and that Roxas was pulling it off alarmingly well… I guess I'm just wondering… who gave him the same look? Was it that Ven guy people keep mentioning or someone else?" Sora pondered.

"Aw, I think he was just tryin' to confuse ya," Goofy said dismissively.

"Could be… but if it's who I think it was under that hood, that might not be it," Roxas said. "I don't know what it is, but whenever I was around the second-in-command of the Organization, I got this vibe that he knew a lot more than he let on, like even more than the leader of the Organization did, and he was kinda reveling in that knowledge…"

"Hmm…" Sora hummed before giving a chuckle. "Goofy's right. There's only one of me," Sora said as he pulled out his membership card. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member-"

Sora quickly stopped short when his membership card was suddenly yanked out of his hand and began floating in midair, surrounded by magic sparkles. The very next moment, Kingdom Key appeared in Sora's hand as Oathkeeper and Oblivion appeared in both of Roxas'.

"What's this?" asked Leon, curiosity in his voice.

"Fascinating…" said Hope thoughtfully.

"Gawrsh, ya think…?" Goofy asked thoughtfully as everyone present stared at the floating card in awe.

"Only one way to find out," said Roxas before realizing a small issue. "Uh…which one do I use?"

"Just use both if you can't decide," Sora suggested as his and Roxas' surroundings changed into a massive void that was made up of a cloudy, yet still bright sky, with the only other object there being Sora's glowing membership card. That same card suddenly shot a beam of light high into the air, before it dispersed into the shape of a keyhole that seemed to lead to a passageway of some kind. Without even thinking about it, Roxas and Sora leapt back a short distance and aimed their Keyblades at the Keyhole that had appeared before firing a beam of light straight into the Keyhole, with Roxas's appearing slightly bigger than Sora's due to the fact he was using both of his Keyblades. When the beams connected, a faint ringing sound reached their ears, beneath which they could have sworn that they heard a lock being opened, just as their surroundings had returned to normal.

"Was that actually…" Roxas started to say, hardly believing his eyes in regards to what had just happened, despite being part of the experience himself.

"Ohh… now I get it," said Sora. "That must've been one of the gates that Yen Sid talked about."

"Oh boy!" Donald cheered in excitement, while Goofy could only grin widely.

"Sorry to battle and run, Leon, but other worlds are calling!" Sora said, smiling brightly.

Leon nodded in understanding. "I know I probably don't need to tell you this since you've got a former member on your team now, but that Organization XIII… they look tough. Be careful out there," the man cautioned, causing Lightning and Hope to look at one another then at the rest of the Restoration Committee in confusion.

The group nodded as Sora gave a quick wave to say goodbye for now, before Roxas leveled a challenging look at Leon.

"Hey, next time we get the chance, what do you say to a little one-on-one," the blonde asked the man.

Before Leon could respond, Lightning spoke up. "Line forms behind me and your brother, kiddo," she said, causing Sora to turn back towards the rose haired woman. "I wanna see what the little hero who saved Hollow Bastion is really made of when we get the chance."

"Technically, we're junior heroes, a-hyuck," said Goofy.

Lightning gave the group an amused smile. "Is that what Phil told you? Look, that satyr might say otherwise, but in my book, only a true hero could have stopped the fake Ansem and saved the worlds from the Heartless. A junior hero would probably be lying dead in a gutter on whatever's left of some godforsaken world. Trust me, you guys are heroes," Lightning said, causing Sora, Donald, and Goofy to rub the back of their necks in embarrassment. "That being said… you up for a one-on-one match against me when there's a chance?"

Sora smirked at Lightning. "All right, you're on. But, we've really gotta get going, see you guys later!"

And with that, Sora activated the button for the Gummi Ship's teleporter. Once all four occupants were safely aboard the Gummi Ship, Sora manned the flight controls and took them all rocketing away from Hollow Bastion.

And thus concludes the chapter! Yes, I know I said we'd be starting the Land of Dragons in this chapter, but after giving it some thought, I decided that this was a good stopping point. Plus, that means I'll be able to squeeze in more of the Land of Dragons in the next chapter. Plus, I'll be putting a new poll on my profile on fanfiction, asking this: should Sora become the Thirteenth Seeker of Darkness, with Roxas taking Sora's place as one of the Seven Guardians of Light? I personally think it'd be fun to explore all the weird monkey wrenches it throws into both the Seven Guardians' AND the Thirteen Seekers' plans. Also, votes in the reviews don't count. You need to actually VOTE on the poll.

In any case, if you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, and review, and I'll see you guys next time as we truly kick off the Land of Dragons arc!