Good afternoon everyone. I'm trying to make sure I'm not going to do a long hiatus again, so here's the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

I don't own Disney and/or Kingdom Hearts.

Mortem belongs to YamiChaos27. Special thanks for helping write this out.
Braxton, Johri, Eini, Armon, and Audra belong to Flautist4ever. Special thanks for helping to write this.

Jason and Aurora are mine.

Chapter 4
MORTEM'S POV

Three months. It's hard to imagine that I've spent this long training, preparing for what was coming. With Madsane now having the ability to bend all of space to his will I was going to be stronger than I ever was before. But I could sense with all the pushing I did, all the torture I inflicted upon myself it wasn't enough.

I didn't feel like I could take on someone with the powers of a god.

"I could construct another machine for you," Leroy said as he rolled up. The little red alien monster was undoubtedly speaking in his language, but I could understand it thanks to some universal law that broke down language barriers. "This should increase your speed by-"

"That's not necessary." Summoning my Keyblade I sliced several trees down. "I've had it with training. I can only do so much and I can sense it's not enough. I need more power and for reasons unknown, I can't access what I sense I'm supposed to have!"

Blinking at me, he continued, "I've been doing everything I can to unlock your hidden abilities, but what that Stark guy suggested could be the reason why some of your memories are locked away. Maybe unlocking them is what will unlock the powers you claim to have."

That was the conclusion we came to since we had been training. I wasn't a fool to not reflect on the experiences of my past, and the leader of the Avengers had brought up some food for thought. At first, I thought his statement only applied to that universe, but the more I had thought about it the more I wondered if that's the reason why I had lost my memories. Something inside me knew I was much stronger than this, but I had not been able to access that power I needed.

And there was the issue of the voice that taunted me from before. Something about it made me uneasy, and this was from someone who had been a prisoner inside a kaiju-sized Unversed he had created from his rival's anger. Deep in my heart, I knew that voice would be back.

But what would happen when it did?

"Leroy, you know that there's only one way I can unlock my memories. And as far as we know that's only going to help the quack's plans. He has a reason for sending me on the wild goose chase, and I don't want to do anything that can help him."

"Not even to possibly gain the power to defeat him?"
Turning to my partner, I spelled it out for him. "Even if I could gain power from using the Seven Hearts of Light I will not because I want to use my power to defeat that mad doctor. I will not rely on the strength of others to defeat my enemies. All victories will come from my heart and my Keyblade."

"I can understand that." The little red guy said as he looked at me. "So which princess are we going after next?"

"I think I'll let my Keyblade decide." Calling Vengeful Chaos to my hand I pointed it ahead and willed it to show me the way I needed to go. As the darkness shot from it a door was opened to a forested area covered with snow. Leroy and I then stepped through, closing the door behind us and ready to resume our mission.

JASON'S POV

YOPE 17, 92 KA…

"Why would we be asked to come back to Radiant Garden so soon?" Aurora asked as we exited the Gummi. The city was still as busy as usual, but it seemed that the repairs had finally been completed. And I had to admit the city was looking beautiful now.

With a shrug, Tifa said, "Who knows? There's only one way to find out." As she was leading us through the city I noticed several people stop to say "good morning" to our mentor. I thought back to when I first met Tifa, and how I thought she was awesome. What did she do that caused the people to love her? She could've taken what she wanted with her strength, but I learned enough to know that wasn't her way.

So how did she earn their respect?

"Where were we supposed to meet them?" Aurora asked. "We weren't exactly told where in the world to meet up."

"If we weren't told to go to the castle then Merlin's house is the safest bet," I told her.

"When I want your opinion I'll ask for it."

"He's right." Tifa came to my rescue. "Since we weren't told to go to the castle we'll be meeting at Merlin's."

"You should've said so."

"I thought I just did."

I had to admit her sass made me chuckle as it left Aurora speechless. Very few had been able to do that. In response, she just tried to slug me though I was able to dodge this time. As we moved through the streets I ended up seeing the familiar roof of Merlin's home tucked away in its little corner, though I noticed some umbrellas were sticking through the roof. Guess he must've had a bad leak the last time it rained.

Tifa was the first to the door, knocking on it while we waited for an answer. As the door opened we were greeted by a familiar ninja. "Hey, you guys made it!"

"Yes we did, Yuffie," Tifa said as she led the two of us inside. "Huh? Wait a moment. Aren't they-"

"Braxton? Johri? Eini? Audra? Armon?" I asked when I saw the familiar faces of my associates. "You guys survived too?"

"Barely," Braxton said. "I'm surprised to see you two are working together."

"Reluctantly." Aurora deadpanned. "It's because the two of us are training under Tifa that I'm trying to tolerate his existence."

I turned the topic back to something that was on my mind. "How did you guys get here?"

"Well, the Guardians of Light rounded us up when we were located and brought us here," Johri answered. "We've each been to some pretty crazy worlds, and we had to explain to Armon three times the story that other worlds exist and Harthyn was destroyed."

Raising his hand, the blue-haired glitter-covered guy added, "And I just wanted to point out how crazy it was."

"Welcome to my world," I said as I took a seat on some of Merlin's books. "It sounds crazy, but it's all true."

"And this is what happened to you and Clair? You were blown away to another world?"

"Thanks to the Spatial Tremor."

"The Spatial Tremor?"

"The phenomenon that tore us away and started all this," I said as I looked down. "For some reason, I can't help but wonder if the Tesseract played a role in that."

Johri, who had been fiddling with some gummi blocks, clenched her fists into balls. "I told you to get rid of that cube! Its power is not meant for us! Even Fushicho was adamant that it had to go."

"Tell me something I don't know," I said. "Thanks to me Madsane has the greatest source of power known to creation, and can now travel to anywhere he pleases. I know that my cousin and I just gave him the keys to the kingdom, and everything that's happening now is our fault!"

"Hey, that's enough," Tifa told us. "Yes, things are bad, but you're all still alive. Your parents are safe and sound, and we're getting you back together one by one."

Eini looked at her. "And then what? What are we going to do?"

"First all of you need to rest," Aerith said from where she was. "You've all been through a lot, and-"

"We can't. Not yet." I said. "Things are starting to get bad. Madsane's begun to make his move. Some of his followers have been given superpowers and they've already begun assaulting the Land of Dragons."

Leon looked up from where he was. "Really? Then we don't have time to waste. He may target the remaining princesses next."

"Princesses?" Eini asked.

"Princesses of Heart," Cid answered from his console. "Seven ladies who hold the Hearts of Light. Unfortunately, Mortem went and captured a couple of the hearts. Right now we're down to five, and the Guardians of Light are spread out keeping the remaining hearts safe."

"Alice and Belle." I looked down upon remembering how we failed them when we went to their worlds before another thought crossed my mind. "Wait. Why hasn't Mortem gone for the others?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Riku said. "Regardless we should be cautious as he could make a move anytime soon."

"But how is this going to help us with Madsane?" Braxton asked.

"Because Madsane sent Mortem after the hearts as well," Riku explained. "He must have a reason why he wants them, and it can't be good. Therefore we must do what we can to keep Mortem from getting any more hearts."

With a sigh, Audra then asked, "So who are the remaining princesses?"

"Kairi, Jasmine…" I trailed off as I realized I didn't know who the last three were.

"What's the matter? Forgot?" Aurora just looked at me with a triumphant smirk.

"No. It's… I wasn't told who the last three were."

"Anna, Elsa, and Rapunzel." Riku said. "It used to be Cinderella, Snow White, and Aurora." Everyone immediately looked at my rival. "Not her. Someone else from a world Terra called the Enchanted Dominion. From what I was able to learn the entire kingdom was enchanted to sleep until she was awakened by true love's kiss."

Several sets of eyes blinked at that. "True love's kiss?"

"Love is a powerful form of magic," Aerith explained. "Some of the deadliest curses can be broken by a sign of true love."

The ninja then let out a grin. "Usually it involves someone kissing the person they're crushing on."

Armon got this look on his face that I wanted to wipe off, but instead, I listened while Riku continued to explain, "As far as we have been able to tell the roles of those three were fulfilled a few years ago, so the hearts moved on to new hosts. However, four of the previous seven still had a role to play so that's why they still have them. It's possible once their roles have been fulfilled they'll choose new bearers as well."

"This sounds really confusing and complicated," Braxton said.

"News flash: everything out here is confusing," I told him. "These worlds operate on different rules than Harthyn."

"Yeah, I got that the hard way." Turning to Riku, the class president then asked, "I need to get back out there. If we all survived Harthyn's destruction then there's a chance my family did as well. I have to find them and get them to safety. Can you help me?"

"We can ask the others to keep an eye out for them, but it wouldn't be a good idea for you to head out." The Keyblade Master explained. "You haven't been trained for what's out-"

"I don't care! My family could be out there facing lions, Heartless, or Gri knows what. I can't just stay here doing training or whatever when their lives could be in danger. I have to find them!"

"Didn't they disown you though?" Eini asked.

He ended up glaring at her for that. "Like you care. You were more than happy to blow off your folks."

"Take it easy, man. It's not the end of the world. Okay, bad reference. It's already happened-"

"Is all this a joke to you?"

"Braxton, chill out," I told him. "We'll find your family and bring them back here. There's no need to snap at Eini."

"Says the guy who was almost eaten by a monster."

Aurora let out a sigh at that. "Oh, how much better things would've been if he had been digested."

I shot a glare at her but shook my head. "No. Fighting among ourselves isn't going to help anything. It's not going to help you get your family back and it's not going to help stop Madsane."

"Since when did you stop caring about starting a fight?"

"Not sure. Either when I almost learned what a crab's stomach looks like on the inside, or when Mortem gave me this." I pointed to my facial scar when I said that.

Tifa then broke up the fight. "I know all of you are scared and worried, but we're not going to get anywhere at this rate. We're all alive now, and that is what's important. If you truly want to help your loved ones, then the best thing you can do is stay calm and think this through." With a sigh, she added, "Right now we need to rest and think about what we're going to do."

We then heard a loud growl. At first, I thought it was a monster, but then I realized it was Armon's stomach. "My bad. Guess I'm a little hungry. I haven't eaten a decent meal for a few months."

"Well, we should fix that," Yuffie said as she headed for the door. "Who's in the mood for pizza?"

"What's pizza?" Several voices asked.

"You're kidding!" Cid turned around. "You kids never had pizza? What kind of backwater world did you grow up on?"

The thought made my mouth water. "You guys are going to love it. It's delish."

"Delish?"

"A word I picked up on. It's really good."

My rival then scoffed. "I know I'm going to hate it then."

As we sat around in the pizza joint, everyone stood there looking at the food like they were unsure of what to make of it. I remembered when I first saw the triangular slice, covered with melted cheese and other toppings. It had been a challenge to convince myself to eat this before, and now I can't imagine ever having gone without it.

"What is this?" Armon held up a slice, eyes growing concerned with how it sagged. "You can't possibly consider something like this as good food." His jaw dropped when he saw Yuffie scarf down a slice without any consideration. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"Just try it. It's good. I swear." I told them as I ate a slice with pepperoni toppings. I didn't know where pepperoni came from, but I gave thanks to Gri for leading people to find it.

Eini poked hers with a napkin tied around her finger. "The only time I see food so limp is when it goes into the garbage."

Aurora just sat there watching me eat the food like it was nothing. I don't know what revolted her more, the pizza or the fact that I could eat it without losing it. Finally, she let out a huff and took a huge bite out of a slice. Her contempt was then changed to one of surprise as her taste buds registered the flavors. "Phardu, this is good!"

"Told you." Yuffie grinned. "Don't blow off pizza until you try it."

With a shrug, Eini said, "Well, if it doesn't look like something my parents would serve then I guess down the hatch it goes." Picking up her slice she took a tiny bit from it only for her eyes to widen. Without a second thought, she wolfed down the rest of her slice and reached for another ignoring the fact that she still had some sauce on the corners of her mouth.

Even Armon's eyes widened at that.

Still, everyone having some of the pizza convinced the others that this stuff was okay to eat. Soon we were all enjoying the food, and laughing at the stories of some of the adventures we had. I couldn't believe some of the things they went through while we had been separated, and they reminded me of when I had been starting.

Great. Now that got me thinking of Clair. She was still out there somewhere, and I had no way of knowing if she was okay or not. I knew the Guardians hadn't been able to find her because someone would've said something by now. I wanted to go and find her, but Madsane had to be stopped before he damaged any other worlds. After what he sent the Neo-Thirteen to do in the Land of Dragons…

"Hey. Don't worry. We'll find her." Tifa promised me. "The best thing you can do right now is train and get stronger."

I noticed Aurora seemed to pause at that. Was it just me or did she seem to look concerned or thoughtful? Then it was all gone and she asked, "How are we going to pay for this?"

"It's on us," Leon reassured us.

"You're so generous," Braxton told them as he finished a slice. "But why? What do you get out of all this?"

"Do you need a reason to help someone?" Aerith asked. "We used to be in your shoes. Our world fell to darkness before, and was twisted into a haunted shell called Hollow Bastion that was ruled over by Maleficent."

Johri blinked at that. "Maleficent?"

"An evil witch who's been causing trouble for some time." The ninja frowned. "No matter how many times she's killed she always seems to come right back. I just wish that she'd stay dead."

"She sounds dangerous," Audra noted. "Have you faced her before Jason?"

"No," I said.

That was when we were rejoined by Scrooge. "Ah, I see you've been enjoying the pizza my restaurant provides."

"Wait. You own this place?" Eini asked.

"Well, of course. A good businessman knows how to make a profit from anything."

"I need to open a place like this."

"Where have you been?" Aurora asked our chauffeur. "I noticed you've been absent this whole time."

The elder duck just smiled in response. "Oh, I've been taking care of some business transactions, having modifications made to the Gummi."

"You can modify those things?" Johri asked with noticeable interest.

"Aye, lass. That's why they're used to build vessels."

She looked like she wanted to learn about it, so Cid spoke up. "You wanna know more about Gummi blocks? Talk to me later. I can get you started on the basics."

"So what's the plan?" Aurora asked, "or were you going to stay here?"

"Oh, we're going to head back out there." The aspiring politician said. "If all of us are here then my family must've survived as well. I have to get back out to these other worlds and find them."

"And do you plan on blinking out from world to world to do that?"

"If that's what it takes."

"I think we might have an alternative," Scrooge said. "It will require some magic and… spending…"

"I'll cover the costs," I told my friend. "You know that for whatever reasons when the Heartless are destroyed they drop Munny. And I've been accumulating a good share of Munny from those things."

The rich girl rose an eyebrow. "Munny?"

"Not like money. Okay, maybe a little, but it's strange. It seems to change to match whatever the currency of a world is. Pretty convenient."

"And you get more by fighting monsters?"

"Yeah. Why?"

I swear her eyes lit up. "Guys, I found a career for me while out here. From this point on I am going to be Eini Atrisk, Heartless Slayer!"

"Do you even have a weapon?" Aurora deadpanned. "You won't do much good without one."

Why was she smiling like that? "Check this out." To my surprise, the sides of her legs popped open, and outshot a pair of sticks! Grabbing them, she slammed them together and fused them into one decent-sized staff. Spinning it around, she brought it before her in a dramatic pose. "Well? Will this do?"

I was silent for several minutes. "What?! When did you become a cyborg?!" It was just now that I noticed the gap between Eini's shorts and her boots was no longer flesh, but metal. How did I not see that before?

"It's a bit of a long story. I can tell you about it tonight."

The next day, we all gathered in the Gummi ship to see what it was that Scrooge had suggested before, one that cost me quite a bit of Munny. I didn't really see any changes to the ship, even on the inside. I thought Scrooge would've installed more seats or something. "So? What was it that you needed much of my hard-earned funds for?"

"You're standing on it." The old duck's words caused me to look down to see a large multicolored circle with enough spaces for about thirteen people to stand together comfortably. "An idea of Merlin and Ienzo in case a large group traveled to other worlds. This Squad Selector will allow for a smaller number to be selected from that group to avoid attracting unwanted attention."

"Looks like something for a flashy game," Armon said. "I like it."

"This will keep us from sending seven to eight people down to a world at a time." Tifa nodded. "Quite brilliant."

"Uh, guys? I'm not going." Johri said. As we all looked at her, she explained herself. "I can't explain it, but I don't think we're supposed to be traveling the same path together. For the moment some of us need to walk the same path, but you two need to make a different journey than the rest of us. So I'm going to stay here in Radiant Garden and learn how to work with these Gummi blocks until I can build a ship for us."

"I understand," Aerith said. "Still, I think it might be best if I go with you. Since Eini has chosen to wield a staff it would be best if I showed her how to use it. Also, I can teach you the basics of magic if you want."

Her red eyes widened. "Learn how to use magic? Of course, I want to learn how to do that! Though I hope I can help fix some of your fashion sense along the way."

"What's wrong with it?"

"It's a little plain."

For some reason Aerith's expression at that got us all laughing. It was good that everyone had taken the time to find a weapon for them to use because they were going to need it. I just hope they could learn to master them before things got too intense for them. "But what about the committee, Aerith?"

The cetra looked at me. "Leon and Yuffie can handle things while I'm gone. It's pretty peaceful here now, and if things get out of hand the palace guards can always lend a hand. And there's always the chance that Cloud will find his way back."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Who's Cloud?"

"Someone I think you'll like."

"Well then. I think it's time we set sail." Braxton said. "All aboard the… what's the name of this vessel?"

Several of us looked at each other. "We never really discussed a name," I admitted. "We just referred to it as the Gummi."

"That's it. Before we go, we're settling on a name for this vessel." Eini said. "Name options now."

And there we go. We got a little team up right here. Also, if any of you have name ideas for the Gummi, feel free to leave them in your reviews.

When I saw that Tifa's place in Final Fantasy 7 remake served pizza, I thought I should write a scene that introduced the people of Harthyn to pizza because that does not exist there. *gasp*. Yes, I said it. Pizza doesn't exist on Harthyn. But who's to say someone won't introduce it when this is all over?

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, and I'll try to not be too long with the next chapter.