An image of an older man was displayed on screen of the D.T.D, the Hollow Main Security System.
"The Replica that Even was working on for Roxas was stolen," a young man with long bangs lamented.
The former Number VI paced back and forth. He remembered the large stacks of papers on Even's desk. He always kept such detailed paper notes. As a researcher, he was never satisfied until he'd written everything down. And he never did listen to anyone's advice to go digital. He would have been no help with the Datascape.
"He always handled the technological side of our research. And I'm certainly nowhere close his equal in that regard." He sighed deeply. "If only he had been here..."
His eyes drifted back to the computer monitor. The older man wore a white lab coat and a red scarf.
I wonder how many memories remain from the time when I was a child. I think about that when I reflect on hearts and memories.
My childhood memories are extremely hazy. I don't remember my parents very well at all.
However, my time spent in this radiant garden is beautiful and vivid, and I still have clear memories of it to this day. That's why I couldn't forgive the betrayal. But that betrayal was a fabrication.
Now, I simply live to make amends for what I've done.
Ienzo penned a page in his Report entitled, "Ansem Code Conspectus":
These are difficult quandaries, but as I work through my master's data, I find myself remembering the taste of ice cream. When I was a boy, he would bring me some when we took walks together. There will be time to regret my betrayal later. For now, my focus must be on restoring Roxas and proving my master had good intentions.
Ansem the Wise was eating an ice cream today, too. He had a small fridge under his big desk, and kept a lot of sea-salt ice cream in it. He ate two to three ice creams a day, while thinking of things he could write in his research reports.
Knock, knock.
"Yes, come in."
In the door walked a scowling scientist, and a small boy staring at his feet.
"Ah, Even. What is the matter here?" Ansem inquired.
"It's the boy," Even immediately spat. He then held up a sheet of paper. "As his tutor, I am simply at a loss. He got this calculation wrong, even after I explained it to him three times prior."
Ansem breathed an inaudible sigh. A spectacle of this sort was becoming increasingly common.
"I know he is extraordinarily bright, but he always has his head in the clouds! If he is to follow in Your Lordship's footsteps, I insist he be more serious about his academics."
Ienzo's gaze never lifted from its spot on the floor.
"Don't give me that pitiful look!" Even's slightly shrill voice became louder. "If you stopped wandering around outside all the time and actually listened to me, then I wouldn't have to scold you like this!"
Ienzo wore no expression on his face and he muttered not a single word in his own defense.
Back when his parents were alive, Ansem remembered him as a rather chatty boy; so precocious and curious about the world around him. Now, he was almost mute.
"Even," Ansem softly pleaded. "He needs to do more than study. He needs to be a child." The sage-king then stood up from his seat. "I have an idea. Why don't we go out out for ice cream?"
Ienzo's head perked up for first time.
Even then heaved a very audible sigh. "You are spoiling him, Sire."
"A boy his age needs to be out and about." Ansem, wearing a gentle smile, held out hand. "Here. Come with me."
Ienzo slowly reached out and clasped his mentor's hand.
Now hand in hand, the pair walked outside. Ienzo was quickly taken in by all the sights, smells, and sounds. Houses. Flowers. Fountains. It was a delight for the senses.
"Ah, look. Aeleus and Dilan have done a fantastic job maintaining the garden," Ansem beamed. "The flowers are a way for me to share my love with the citizens."
A small girl was picking a few of them, with her grandma observing nearby. They seemed so happy. So full of light.
Ienzo still hadn't uttered a peep nor cracked a smile.
"Try not to think too poorly of Even. Ruling a kingdom keeps me so busy. So, I was the one who asked him to look after you."
Ienzo jerked his hand away and refused to meet Ansem's gaze.
Ansem only clasped the boy's hand more tightly. "I want you to know, I care for you as my own son. I promise we will do this more often."
Ienzo slowly lifted his head and nodded, looking at Ansem directly. His gaze was serene and intelligent beyond his years.
The two finished their stroll around the beautiful garden paradise, then arrived back at the castle.
As he was walking down the hallway, Ansem looked down at Ienzo munching his ice cream. That is how a child should be. He left out a soft laugh.
Ienzo suddenly stopped and stared at the backs of two other men walking by.
Ansem the Wise came to a halt behind them as well and turned to look at Braig and Xehanort.
The day was ending, and everyone took a seat on the bridge with chocolate Popsicles in their hands. The sun sank down below the horizon as they watched.
"Was that awesome…or was that totally awesome?!" Fred gushed as he bounced around excitedly. Wasabi stood to one side, watching in disbelief.
"Yeah, I was pretty good," Donald crowed.
"Your magic was amazing. Do you think I could study it sometime?" Honey Lemon asked him.
"Why not?"
"You just made Donald's day," said Goofy.
A short distance away from the others, Sora sat with Hiro, Go Go, and Baymax on the highest part of the bridge. They all had ice cream, too—well, except for the robot.
"My brother wanted to help people. Now, we try to do the same," said Hiro softly, almost to himself.
"Your brother?" Sora asked.
"Yeah, Tadashi. There was a fire, and now he's gone. But he always wanted to make a difference. He cared about people. That's why he worked so hard to create Baymax."
"I'm sorry." Whenever someone told Sora about something painful or sad, he couldn't help but feel a bit of their sadness himself.
But there was a strength underneath the grief when Hiro said, "He's still here. In Baymax. In all of us."
"Tadashi—he lives on in your hearts." Sora looked over at Hiro, who looked downward.
"Yeah. Right. He will always be a part of us in some way," Hiro said, finally raising his head again.
"And when you're not strong enough, he'll make up the difference." Sora joined him in looking up at the red sky of the sunset.
Suddenly, the sound of a familiar bell popped into Sora's mind, and it was soon followed by a memory of eating Popsicles with someone else beside him. Only the flavor was sea salt, not chocolate. Wait, was it really a memory? Or was it a feeling—a precious emotion that belonged to someone else sleeping somewhere?
The ones beside him were Hayner, Pence, and Olette.
"Sora. You okay?"
Hiro's voice brought Sora back to the present.
What am I feeling? What am I remembering…? We watched the sunset together that day, and…
"Yeah. Fine," Sora replied, feeling a presence deep within him. He placed a hand on his chest and turned his eyes back to the setting sun.
Yeah, this has to be his memory.
"I'm with you," Sora whispered into the sunset.
"We're not supposed to sit up here, Hayner," Olette chided as she made her way up the stairs of Twilight Town's station tower.
Pence couldn't help but agree. "Yeah, why'd you come up here instead of the usual spot?"
Hayner could only shrug his shoulders, and he plopped down on the ledge. "I dunno. It just seemed like a cool place, I guess. I mean check out this view. It's even better than Sunset Hill."
The view was indeed something else. The whole town was visible, bathed in red light.
Olette and Pence ate the ice cream bars they had brought with them. But Hayner wasn't eating one this time.
This struck Pence as odd. "Not in the mood for ice cream today? You sure you're not sick?"
Hayner just shrugged. He couldn't get his mind off the photograph Sora showed him. A best friend we've never met...
Olette noticed something else out of the ordinary. Hayner was staring at something in his hand, and it wasn't the usual ice cream. "You still have one of those trophy gems, Hayner?"
Pence then noticed it, too. "Oh, yeah. I didn't know you were holding onto it all this time."
Hayner proudly held the crystal up to the light of the setting sun. It shone, refracting the red beams. "Yeah. Sora kept the blue one. So, I kept the orange one to remember him by. We don't see him very often, but every time I look at it, I think of him. It's the proof of our friendship."
Ever since Sora came to visit again, Hayner would constantly stare at the gem. Sometimes he'd even be unable to sleep.
Then Pence laughed. "Aww, I guess you do have a soft side."
Olette laughed, too.
Hayner's beet red face contorted into a scowl. "Sh-shut up!"
Pence laughed again. "Hey, come on now. Don't be so touchy. I had the same idea." He took the green gem out of his pocket. "See?"
"Wow, me too." Olette plucked her pouch from her pocket and took the yellow gem out of it. "I have it right here."
Hayner was astonished at the coincidence. He began staring out at the horizon, lost in thought. "Hey, Olette."
"Hm?"
"Remember that pouch Sora had? The one that looked just like yours?"
"Mm-hmm. There was a gem in the pouch. Just like the ones in this trophy."
Hayner squinted his eyes. He held his gem up again, this time intensely focusing.
Olette saw him concentrating and held hers up too, then Pence did the same. The Twilight Town kids were quiet, gazing at their crystals in the last of the sunlight.
"Just two days to go. You and I have to make the finals! And then, no matter who wins, the four of us can split the prize."
"Okay, you're on."
"You two are gonna clean up!"
"Go get 'em!"
"It's a promise."
"I remember!" Hayner immediately sprung onto his feet. "I remember Roxas, you guys!"
"You guys made a promise to win the tournament and split the prize."
Hayner was shocked to hear that Pence was recalling the same memory.
Olette nodded, too. "Right... Roxas won the tournament and the trophy. We came up here to celebrate, then we each took a crystal."
"Hey, do you guys remember?" Pence asked. "Weird stuff was happening with Roxas. That's when we started investigating the Seven Wonders of Twilight Town."
"Yeah, he was acting really weird," Hayner replied quietly. "He was spacing out all the time. Said he saw the ghost train. But there was nothing there. Then he wanted to go that haunted mansion. I really didn't want to, so I blew him off. But...that was the last time I ever spoke to him."
"Hayner..." Olette said sadly.
Hayner held his gem up one more time and looked out at the sunset.
"Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?" Pence said out of nowhere.
"I sure hope so," Olette replied, as if she'd been wondering the same.
"Huh?" Hayner was mystified. "Where did that come from?"
"Oh, um, you know… Just thinking out loud." Pence bit into his ice cream bar.
"Well, I doubt we can be together forever," Hayner said. "But isn't that what growing up's all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other. Right?"
He felt a new sense of determination well up in his chest.
Roxas! I'll find you! Then we'll all go to the beach together! I promise!
"Roxas!" He shouted, then darted off downstairs.
"H-Hayner! Where are you going!?"
"Wait for us!"
Pence and Olette got up to chase after him.
The fight in San Fransokyo continued for some time, and just as Sora, Donald, and Goofy began to run out of steam, the strange mass finally fell still. The Big Hero 6 team eyed the Darkubes uneasily, waiting to see what came next. After a moment, the Darkubes crumbled apart, revealing the core inside—a cube-shaped Heartless.
Sora dispatched it with a swing of his Keyblade, and the red chip came flying out.
Hiro tried to run over to pick up the chip, but someone else beat him to it—the Riku in black.
"Oh, this isn't for you. At least not until we're done." Before the others could reach him, he leaped away from them.
"Riku… Is it you? Why do you look like that?" Sora asked.
"Looks are deceiving, but the heart? You know that it's me," Riku replied.
"I know Riku wouldn't do this. Not without a good reason."
"A reason? When did that matter? We've been trying to one-up each other since we were kids."
"What…?" was the only response Sora could muster.
Donald and Goofy stepped in front of their friend protectively.
"Don't listen to him, Sora!"
"The coat means he's with Organization XIII! And that means he's not really Riku."
"Smarter than you look," snorted Riku—or Dark Riku, rather.
"We defeated Ansem and Xehanort—every last one of 'em. But they still all came back anyway, right? So, maybe this 'Riku' came back, too, from the time when Ansem possessed him," Goofy hypothesized.
He had a point. Ansem and all the others they'd defeated had returned. And Riku did say that he saw a version of himself in a black robe, while he was in the Sleeping Worlds. So, it appeared that Riku really was a member of the New Organization XIII.
Sora turned back to Riku.
"Yeah, from the past!" shouted Donald.
"Unlike a certain wizard you know, I had to play by the rules to travel through time. Which meant leaving my body behind."
"I know about this…" Sora recalled the words Young Xehanort had spoken during their encounter in the dream world.
"That is Xehanort reduced to just a heart—the being you and your friends called 'Ansem.'"
Dark Riku picked up where Sora's memory left off.
"Xehanort's heart left his body in order to voyage back through time. He needed to tell his younger self of the great plans he had in store." He was likely referring to the man in the brown robe. "There in the past, his heart stayed and waited out the years until you and I came along. Xehanort's heart possessed me and became Ansem, the first adversary you faced."
They had encountered the brown-robed man on that stormy night—the outset of their first adventure. He was the one who had led Riku astray so he could claim his body.
"The rest of him, the piece he left behind, took the name Xemnas and created the first Organization. It was all a part of a larger plan to bring Xehanort into contact with the right hearts—enough of them to form the real Organization XIII. They could come from anywhere, any when…just as long as he had the right vessels at hand to place their hearts in."
Xemnas was Xehanort's Nobody. A shell missing a heart, yet somehow still holding on to a mind.
There was one part Sora still didn't understand, though. "Vessels?" he asked. And why does he need the "right ones"?
Donald and Goofy turned back toward Sora and said the answer at the same time. "Replicas!"
"That's right. The Replica Program was a success. We are as real as people."
"Then pack up and leave! What are you still doing here?" Sora asked in bewilderment.
"To see if we can re-create a heart from data."
"What?"
That was the same plan the king and Riku had proposed for bringing back Roxas.
Dark Riku laughed as if he had read their minds. "Sorry, did we steal your idea?" He glanced at the chip in his hand, then over at Baymax. "That walking balloon over there has a 'heart.' At least that's the nonsense I'm supposed to believe."
Sora disagreed. "There are hearts all around us. You only have to see them for them to become real." A heart can grow anywhere—even in a robot.
Meanwhile, in Twilight Town, a dark portal opened near the old mansion in the forest outside of town. The first person to step out was a stately middle-aged man with a beard, and the other a younger man with long gray hair—Ansem the Wise and Ansem, Seeker of Darkness. Both wore black coats.
Hayner was the one to spot them.
"It's about time!" Pence exclaimed.
Hayner hurriedly clapped a hand over his friend's mouth. "Heeey, shut it!"
"Do you recall those experiments of the heart you bade me cease? Among the test subjects was a boy. He had lost his memory, just as I had. But…you can reconstruct memories. You did with Sora."
Ansem remained unperturbed. "What is your question?"
"Where did you put the boy?" Xehanort asked accusingly.
"What boy?"
"Very well. If you won't tell me here…"
The two men passed through the gate of the mansion.
Ansem the Wise looked up to the second floor at the window of what had once been Naminé's room. She had spent all her time drawing in there.
"What now?" pressed the younger man.
"Please. I have created enough victims," the elder Ansem replied.
"Yes, you have. All the children sacrificed in the name of your research…"
It was true. Many subjects were sacrificed during those hideous experiments, including children. It was the reckless actions of his apprentices, merely based on his own experiments, and yet he couldn't help but feel the blame lay entirely with him. After all, he was the one who had begun those foolish experiments in the first place.
Ansem the Wise regretted his shameful past, but ultimately, it was irreversible. He remembered another victim. A small child. A girl whose heart was pure light. He shook his head quietly. "The girl. Her disappearance was why I put a stop to the research."
But the false Ansem had no sympathy for the pain of his former mentor. "And that makes you honorable? You used Roxas and Naminé and threw them away. I doubt there's a merciful bone in your body."
It was true. Naminé was the Nobody of that same little girl. And Ansem had no sympathy for her.
"Roxas and Naminé… If there is any reason that I still draw breath, it is to atone for what I did to them."
And that was exactly the reaction Xehanort was hoping for. Ansem alone had the knowledge to recreate Roxas's heart from data. If Roxas was going to be brought back, Ansem's help was needed. And if Xehanort could exploit his guilt, so be it.
"...So make things right."
Pence, Hayner, and Olette had been listening in on the exchange from their hiding place behind the gate. They noticed that the two men were wearing the same black robe as the red-haired man who kidnapped Kairi.
"He said 'Roxas,'" Pence whispered to his friends.
"Yeah," Hayner replied with a nod.
"That man needs us," said Olette, and with that the three friends went into action.
Meanwhile, the conversation continued. "When you took that girl, and sent her from our world, what is it that you expected would happen?" Ansem the Wise asked the Heartless who had taken his name.
Xehanort thought back to his past. "The child held the power of a Princess of Heart. You knew something, and that…is why you stopped the experiments."
Ansem the Wise shook his head at the accusation. "You are completely deluded, Xehanort."
I only stopped the experiments because people had begun disappearing. Children. When she disappeared, I feared that you may have been involved.
Xehanort-Ansem seized Ansem the Wise by the shoulder and began to force him toward the mansion.
"Yoo-hoo! 'Scuse meee!" Pence jumped out and yelled.
"Who are you?" asked Xehanort-Ansem, turning back angrily.
Trying to buy time, Pence said, "Oh, well, I'm looking for a friend who used to live here."
"No one lives here. Begone," the Heartless snapped.
"But, sir…"
"No, no, no! Not one more step. Get out!"
When Xehanort-Ansem took a few steps toward Pence, Olette used the opening to hurry over to Ansem the Wise and take his hand. "This way!" She took off running around the side of the mansion with him in tow.
Xehanort-Ansem spun around as he noticed the deception.
Now it was Hayner's turn to jump in—with a flying kick. "Hey, loser!"
But just before the attack connected, a strange dark figure appeared from the evil Ansem's back and caught the boy by the foot.
"…or not!"
"Hayner!" Pence called out to his friend, who now dangled helplessly in the air.
The creature hurled Hayner toward the perimeter wall, but at the last moment, he was saved by…
"The squiggly things?"
Properly speaking, they were Dusks, low-ranking Nobodies. They lowered Hayner to the ground, then positioned themselves around Xehanort-Ansem and his guardian.
"They…protected me."
"Hayner! Get a move on!"
"Oh… Okay!"
Pence and Hayner made a quick escape through the gate.
"I serve the Organization. This is treason," Xehanort-Ansem said softly, his mouth twisting into a smirk.
We serve our liege.
"Hmph. I see what is happening. Have it your way, then."
And with that, the Nobodies threw themselves at the Seeker of Darkness and his guardian.
The kids' ploy for time worked perfectly. Olette came running with Ansem the Wise into an underground passage. Hayner and Pence joined them shortly after.
"Are you guys okay?" Olette asked with concern.
Gasping for breath, the two boys flashed her relieved smiles.
"Yeah, I think."
"Nobody knows the twists and turns of Twilight Town better than us."
"You are Roxas's friends," a surprised Ansem the Wise said.
"That's right," Hayner replied. "So you know him, too?"
"Oh yes. Quite well," Ansem affirmed.
"Pay dirt. Guess it was worth staking out the old mansion after all, because this guy here is what I call a lead." Pence pulled a photo of Roxas and the three of them out of a pocket.
"That's the only proof we have that Roxas was our friend." Olette smiled as she looked at the photo.
"Tell us about him. We wanna know him better," Hayner said eagerly. "How did he become friends with us in the other Twilight Town?"
Before he could answer, the white creatures from earlier arrived in the tunnel.
"Ahh!" Olette ducked behind Hayner, clinging to his arm.
"Are they on our side or what?" a confused Hayner questioned.
Ansem remembered the Dusks all too well. "I see. These Nobodies. They are loyal to Roxas. It is safe again."
The trio of kids exchanged a confused glance with each other.
Inside the mansion, Ansem stared at the transporter to the alternate Twilight Town. "I was the one who built the simulated town and placed Roxas inside."
Pence wasn't expecting to hear that. "So, this was your computer!?"
"Yes. It was created using the memories of those who lived in the real version. Including yours."
The trio listened in astonishment.
"You said you 'placed' Roxas in there, right? So, he came from the real world. And he met the data versions of us in that town?" Olette asked, unable to hide her curiosity.
Ansem felt he owed the kids an explanation. "That town was created using Roxas's own memories in Organization XIII as the foundation. He often visited Twilight Town and observed you three from afar. He was envious of the friendship you shared. He longed to have that type of bond. That is why, in the data world, you four were the best of friends."
All three of the Twilight Town kids felt their hearts sink.
"He...wanted to live like us?" Olette muttered softly.
Hayner clenched the orange gem tightly in his fist. "Roxas..."
Pence remembered what the man said earlier in front of the mansion. He wanted to atone. "Well, ya know, Sora is trying to bring him back. We're trying to help him. Maybe you can, too."
Hayner pointed at the transporter. "Here. This transporter is how we can get to the other Twilight Town. Let's go!"
I protected the program, Ansem thought.
After Axel opened the way, Sora arrived in The World That Never Was. Shortly after, Ansem took the Kingdom Hearts Decoder, and followed him. But in his shame over what he had done to Roxas, he protected the transporter to the digital town so no one could ever step foot there again.
Pence then remembered. "Oh yeah. Ienzo connected this terminal to his and changed the privileges to the transporter. Should we call him first?"
Ansem couldn't believe what he heard. "Ienzo?"
Hayner responded enthusiastically, "Yeah, he said that the data in that town would help Roxas."
Ansem sat down in the seat in front of the terminal. He began to type, but hesitated. His memory was still just a bit hazy.
"The password is...oh yeah. 'Sea-salt ice cream'," Pence reminded him.
Sea-salt...ice cream...
Ansem remembered now. He chose that as his password because those memories were his most precious.
Little Ienzo. "Those precious memories you shared are real. Your hearts are connected to Roxas's. And with that, he can be saved." He now wore a proud smile.
Hayner, Pence, and Olette were confused at the sudden shift in his demeanor.
"Children, it is time for me to return home to Ienzo. I will do everything in my power to help him bring Roxas back."
Olette seemed satisfied with that. "I guess we'll just have to believe in him." She turned to her friends. "Well, I guess we should head back, guys."
"Let's ask Mr. McDuck for more work. We're gonna need some cash to go to the beach. Also, don't forget the pretzels. Gotta buy four now."
Pence tilted his head for a moment when Hayner said 'four,' but he soon figured it out. "Ohh. I get it."
The fourth pretzel had to be for Roxas. "He's thinking ahead." Olette smiled at Pence.
Hayner lifted a hand to wave. "Thanks for your help, uh..."
"Ansem." He smiled as he fully remembered everything from his past. He sat at computer, and hit a few strokes on the keyboard.
Then he stepped inside the transporter.
The trio waved as he disappeared under a beam of light.
Meanwhile, in Ansem the Wise's laboratory, also in Radiant Garden, Ienzo stood deep in thought before a screen, as he often was.
"We've come a long way toward reconstructing Roxas's heart. But a vessel… Without that…" he said to himself, his eyes closed.
Suddenly, there was a loud whirring noise.
Startled, Ienzo spun around just as a man's form digitized before him.
The man stepped out of the gateway.
It was—
"Master Ansem!" Ienzo gasped.
"Ah, well met, little Ienzo," Ansem the Wise said with a gentle smile as he slowly stepped into the lab.
Dilan and Aeleus burst into the room, alarmed by all the commotion.
Ienzo's eyes drifted to the floor, and his shoulders trembled. "They told me you'd gone mad. That you'd abandoned us. I was just a little boy, but I should have known better. I am truly, deeply sorry."
Ansem the Wise quietly placed his hands on Ienzo's shoulders, then lifted the boy's face so he could see his eyes. "I think what matters is that you recognize the mistake. Peace, Ienzo."
Ienzo, Dilan, and Aeleus listened in silence. Then Ienzo looked up.
"It was I who was consumed by hatred—who failed you in my obligations as your mentor. Forgive me."
Ienzo smiled, and even Dilan and Aeleus began to tear up.
"My dear master. You are safe."
Ansem turned around at yet another voice. "Even, is that you?"
Even slowly took a step forward. "I have been waiting for this. For you see, I, too, wish to atone."
As Even got closer, Ansem could see the tears in his eyes.