Sword Art Kingdom III

by Jacob Pendra-Huth

After so many years of waiting, the next chapter of SAK, with the final battle awaiting the trio of Keyblade wielders, Sora, Asuna and Kirito. With swarms of enemies coming from all sides, the heroes must not only gather the Guardians of Light, but also the Lost Princesses of Hearts, all the while doing their best not to let the enemy win, in any world, in any dimension.

4. Twilight Town! Reunions, Old & New!

Just to let you know, if you hadn't done so, you might wanna look at the following Sword Art Kingdom: Final Mix chapters before reading this:

"There & Back! Saitama Keyblade Wielders!"

"Kayaba's Diary! A Coded Heart!"

"Sleeping Knight 'Yuuki' Awakens!"

There are some parts of this chapter that will not make sense if you had not read these chapters yet. So do so before reading this. Otherwise, enjoy this chapter!

---

Mysterious Tower

"I see... You could not regain your strength."

Those were the first words Yen Sid said to the six heroes. They had just returned back to him after their excursion in Olympus, and informed him of what they had went through there. However, they ended by saying that although they tried, Sora did not have his power returned to normal.

"Aw, no biggie. I still learned a lot." Sora pointed out.

"I think you're missing the point, Sora..." Asuna retorted, "Our goal was for you to regain the power of waking. It's necessary to regain for the final fight." Sora looked at her, then realized she was right.

"It can't be gone forever." Goofy stated, "Maybe somethin'll trigger it real soon."

"Like what exactly?" Sora questioned.

"I know! How 'bout a bonk to the head?" Donald suggested, getting an angry look from Sora.

"Maybe a sudden event that comes across our path'll help Sora regain that power?" Kirito assumed.

"Kirito, it's not the virtual world." Asuna sighed, "You sound like triggering Sora's power is like an event quest."

"It was just hopeful thoughts..." the black swordsman muttered.

"Perhaps it could be something that is as simple as that." Yen Sid noted, getting surprised looks from the group.

"You think so, too?!" Kirito questioned.

"Whenever you are in need, Sora, magic happens." Yen Sid pointed out, "That is your greatest strength. I can say the same for the two of you, as well." He looked to Kirito and Asuna, who looked to one another. They couldn't deny what he said. After all, there have been many moments in their lives, especially when around Sora, that miracles seem to produce themselves for them when it was necessary.

"You make it sound like an accident." Sora moaned, finding Yen Sid's words disparaging.

"Don't take it personally." Asuna told him, patting his shoulder.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door behind them, and they all looked around. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out, "We're back, Master!" Suddenly, the door opened, and in came in two people they knew well; King Mickey, and Sora's best friend, Riku. The only difference between between when they saw them last, and now, was that they new garments.

King Mickey's garments were slightly different from his last, but he sported a black open-zipper jacket with plaid-patterns on the bottom, a black shirt underneath, red pants with the same pattern on the bottom of each pants-leg, a black belt with a silver buckle, and yellow and grey shoes with gray laces and black soles.

Riku's hair looked like it went through a haircut, shorter than before. Apart from that, he wore a black, hooded jacket that he keeps unzipped, with short sleeves, gold buttons, and a checkered pattern at the hem, and a white, V-neck shirt underneath. He also wears blue cropped trousers that are hemmed with the same checkered pattern as the jacket, black glovelettes on each hand, and black high-top boots.

"Hey!" Yui greeted them, while the others looked happy at the sight of two familiar friends.

"Oh, wow! You guys are all here!" Mickey noticed, seeing the six heroes.

"We were here before, but you didn't wait for us!" Sora noted.

"Not everyone follows to your clock, Sora." Kirito retorted.

"Your Majesty!" Donald and Goofy raced up to Mickey, knocking over Sora and Kirito in their excitement. Asuna and Yui winced at the sight of the two boys being pushed over.

"Hey there, fellas." Mickey greeted his two buddies, "So, what've you six been up to?"

Sora got back up, and tried to get between Donald and Goofy to explain, "We were vis-." He was cut off by Donald shoving him back to the ground behind them again, as he started to explain, "We went to Olympus to visit Hercules!"

"And to figure out how to get all of Sora's lost powers back." Goofy finished.

"But unfortunately, we weren't able to accomplish that goal." Yui sighed as Kirito and Asuna helped Sora to his feet again.

"Oh... what a shame." Mickey replied, "But, honestly..."

"...we didn't fare any better." Riku followed up.

"Did you manage to find any clues to where my sister is?" Asuna asked, walking up to the two, "Yen Sid did say that you guys were looking for Aqua and Recon in the Realm of Darkness. Please, tell me you at least found a clue to her whereabouts." Her voice expressed her anxiousness on seeing her sister once again. It was on her mind quite a bit. Unfortunately, based on the sad expressions between Riku and Mickey, they gave signs that they did find clues, but unfortunately, it was not the best news. Asuna looked sadly down, worried for Aqua and Recon, as was everyone else.

"Come on! Can I finally say something?" Sora argued angrily, feeling like he was being pushed away by his comrades before he could speak his mind.

"We know Master Aqua made it as far as the beach that Sora, Kirito, Asuna and I once visited." Riku informed, looking to Asuna, "It was the same one you said you saw Aqua last when your Wayfinder took you to her, right?" Asuna nodded in response to this, looking down at the said white Wayfinder, and grasping it with her fingers.

"Unfortunately, that's where her trail ended." Riku continued, "What's more, we discovered that Recon seemed to have made contact with her, and might've followed her to where she vanished to."

This bit of news surprised the group as Kirito asked, "So Recon is with Aqua? You positive about that?" Riku nodded in confirmation.

"But all traces of both of them vanished into the great abyss...beneath the Realm of Darkness." Mickey explained.

"They're gone?" Donald asked sadly.

"No. Sora and Leafa were dragged into the abyss during their exams. And Kirito, Asuna and I went after them." Riku reminded them, "So, I think if we find someone who was really close to Aqua, and they make the dive, they could reach her down there."

"Then what about me?" Asuna asked, "I'm Aqua's sister, and she has a piece of my soul within her. I left that behind before we parted. I know I can reach her." The team looked to her, maybe seeing some merits in her chance to rescue Aqua.

"Unfortunately, that's far too risky." said another familiar voice. The team turned around to Yen Sid, and saw the glowing crystal ball shining, revealing a holographic image of Mistress Gretinal, having just appeared moments ago.

"What do you mean?" Asuna demanded, "Why can't I go dive in to save her?!"

"While you and Kirito had gone down to rescue Leafa in the abyss, you had stronger contact to her, and were more connected to her." Gretinal explained, "Unfortunately, while you are connected by blood and soul, we have no way of knowing if that is truly strong enough to go rescue her, especially when you don't have any lasting memories of your time together. Not to mention you were much stronger when you did make the previous dive. Plus, we cannot be sure WHERE in the abyss Aqua is at." Asuna wanted to argue, but really didn't have any good counterargument. As of right now, they lacked information, and she lacked the strength like she did before.

"But, if not mama, then who else?" Yui asked.

"What about Ventus? Or Terra?" Kirito suggested.

Mickey shook his head sadly, then said, "Ventus is hidden...and Aqua's the only one who knows where. Plus, nobody's seen Terra in ages. Aqua was the last."

"So Aqua...she's gonna be the key to find all three..." Riku summed up, "And as for Recon, Leafa would've been the best bet to rescuing him."

"Unfortunately, she is like Sora, and did not make it far in her exam." Gretinal noted, "Hence, she lost the power of awakening, and most of her strength. She is currently training with Kairi and Lea...I mean Axel, in improving herself and her power of bonding."

"Yes. Their teacher, Master Eraqus, could been another possibility to save Aqua, had Master Xehanort not mercilessly struck him down." Yen Sid added, closing his eyes in disappointment.

"No..." Asuna spoke up, and she drew the attention of everyone in the room, "...I'm gonna be the one to save Aqua. If she's the key to finding Terra and Ventus, then someone needs to save her, first."

"But, I already told you—." Gretinal started again.

"I'm gonna get stronger." Asuna stopped her, giving a determined glare, "Sora, Kirito and I...all of us...we're gonna get stronger. I may not have many memories of my sister and I together, but I want to make some. And I will make sure that I improve my self, both in body, heart, and soul so that when the time is right, I'll go to the Realm of Darkness, and save my sister, and Recon. I swear it."

Everyone looked at her, hearing the determination in her words. It was something that made them believe she had the potential to save her sister. It was something that also made Kirito proud of his girlfriend, and wanted to support her in her goal.

Meanwhile, Sora had his eyes closed, feeling his heart. There was something, or someone, inside of him, that wanted to speak their mind. Someone who wanted to save a person close to him. The voice of someone close to Aqua suddenly bursted from Sora's mouth as he determinately declared, "I'll save Aqua AND Recon. I'll save them both!"

The team looked to him in surprise at the sudden declaration. "You can't!" Donald retorted.

"But Sora, that's gonna be super hard since you don't have the power of waking." Goofy nodded.

"Not to mention it is like mama said; You're not strong enough to go and save her." Yui added.

Sora's determined face suddenly became a bit surprised as he looked to the group. "Sorry... I have no idea why that just popped out." Kirito and Asuna looked to one another, confused for a second, then they smiled and huffed a chuckle. It was just a guess, but it must've been Sora's heart speaking up for itself, wanting to be the kind heart it was.

"Well, it was pretty convincing." Mickey chuckled.

"Yeah. Better not let us down." Riku told him and Asuna.

"Hey, don't leave me out of this!" Kirito butted in, "I want to save Aqua and Recon, too. Plus, I gotta return Terra's soul back to where it belongs. It's helped us all this time, even awaking Asuna and I's power to the Keyblade. It should only be right for me to return it."

"We get it. No need to make a big argument out of it." Donald retorted.

"You're acting like you want to have an excuse that is important as the rest of ours, Kirito." Asuna chuckled, "Makes you sound really childish."

"Er...did I really sound like that?" He asked, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Everyone else chuckled at his reaction.

Yen Sid and Gretinal watched the group silently, then Gretinal smiled as she stated, "Those children will be alright. I believe they are capable of delivering more than we can imagine."

"Very true." Yen Sid agreed, getting the attention of the group of heroes, "But Sora will need to focus on regaining the lost power of waking. And Kirito and Asuna are more than capable of helping Sora achieve this, while they improve themselves to go and save Aqua and Recon." Kirito and Asuna stood on either side of Sora, with Kirito nudging Sora with his shoulder, as if to say 'we got your back'.

"Fortunately, I have just the thing to help them improve the three of you, as well as Donald, Goofy and Yui, in the endeavors ahead." Gretinal told them, "Unfortunately, I still need to do a bit of investigating before I tell you what it is."

"Mickey and Riku, I recall that Master Aqua journeyed to many worlds, and connected with others who could be the link we need." Yen Sid informed the pair.

"Good plan, sir." Mickey agreed, "Riku and I will retrace her steps and see if we can find any sort of clues, but first..." he and Riku stepped towards Yen Sid as he continued, "We got hit pretty hard in the Realm of Darkness. My Keyblade is damaged, and the Heartless broke Riku's clean in half."

"I didn't think that was possible!" Asuna realized, looking to Riku, who shrugged the matter off.

"So, we're gonna need to get replacements before we can continue." Mickey finished.

"In that case, rendezvous with Kairi, Leafa and Lea." Yen Sid told the pair, "They are continuing their training under the tutelage of the wizard Merlin."

"Along with my three assistants, Dreamcast, Saturn, and Drive." Gretinal added.

"Yes, sir and ma'am." Mickey responded, bowing to the pair.

"Also, I would like you to deliver these for me." Yen Sid told them, waving a hand forward, revealing two suitcases.

"Are they..." Mickey realized.

"Yes, they are the same as the ones I gave you." Yen Sid responded, "Special vestments to shield Kairi and Lea from the darkness."

"I gave them the Gretinal approval of fashion." the Keyblade Mistress said with a thumbs up, "I also gave Leafa her own set of special attire to wear."

"We got 'em." Mickey understood, with he and Riku taking each suitcase in their hands.

Sora looked longingly at the suitcases as he whined, "What? No fair! What about my outfit, Master?!"

"Sora, don't bug him like that." Donald scolded him, "It's inconsiderate!"

"Besides, I rather like your old look." Kirito admitted.

"You only say that because it's mostly black." Asuna retorted, causing Kirito to feign ignorance.

"Settle down." Yen Sid told them, "I have new clothes for you, too, Sora. A gift from the good fairies." He waved a hand forward, summoning a new suitcase, containing Sora's new garments.

(Insert 'Sora's Theme 2.5 ver.')

The young boy looked excitedly as he cheered, "I knew you'd come through for me. Thanks!" He raced up to grab his suitcase, while Donald, thinking he might get new garments, looked down in disgruntlement.

"Great for you, Sora!" Yui congratulated him, as he carried the suitcase in both hands.

"Those are no ordinary garments, Sora." Yen Sid informed him, "Like before, they have very special powers, so it took extra time to prepare them."

"Right. I'm sure you noticed, but Sora is able to wield different kinds of powers, compared to Kirito and Asuna. Sora, you have the power of performing techniques through 'Attractions', as well as tap into Keyblades to allow them to transform. Whereas Kirito and Asuna, as well as Yui, are able to utilize the power of Soul Burst, which gives them the power of Soul Pacts merged with them to utilize all forms of weapons, techniques, and powers. Those powers each wield can merge together to unleash infinite possibilities." Sora looked to Kirito and Asuna, all of them showing signs of them ready to discover all the powers they could unleash against their opponents.

"In addition, there is a gift from Chip, Dale and Kayaba with your garments." Yen Sid told them.

"Cool... Okay!" Sora answered, shouldering his suitcase like it was his Keyblade.

"Happy now?" Riku asked him, who responded with a 'yep'.

"Now, you are all ready to proceed." Yen Sid told the group, the rest of the team joining Sora, Riku and Mickey's side.

"Hey, wait! Don't forget about me!" shouted a small voice that was awfully familiar to Sora's team. It was Jiminy Cricket, hopping onto Yen Sid's desk and racing towards his friends.

"Jiminy!" the six heroes greeted him with joy.

"Every journey worth goin' on needs a cricket to keep track of it." Jiminy told the group, "And I can't let ya start this one without ol' Jiminy Cricket by your side."

"The whole team's back!" Goofy declared.

"With the seven of us together, nothing can stop us!" Yui cheered.

"Yeah!" Sora, Donald, Kirito and Asuna all responded one at a time.

"Good." Yen Sid spoke up, "Now, to mark the beginning of a new journey, I wish for you to have this, Sora." With a wave of his hand, he produced something in Sora's free hand. It looked like a shield-shaped charm of sorts, with a silver rim and a magenta face, along with a familiar symbol on the face.

(Insert 'Dearly Beloved KHIII ver.')

"Okay?" Sora muttered, kinda confused.

"Wait..." Asuna examined the emblem, "Isn't that the Dream Eater Spirit emblem?"

"You're right!" Kirito realized, looking at it.

"That is a Heartbinder." Yen Sid explained, "Think of it as a good luck charm made just for you. You have a gift, Sora, for connecting with others, and this makes that gift stronger." Sora nodded in understanding, pocketing the charm.

"It's time to go!" Mickey told the others. The nine of them stood together, in a line in front of Yen Sid's table, and at attention. They bowed to the two Masters, though Sora, Asuna, Kirito, Donald, Goofy and Yui all listened closely to the two Masters, for something that they'd hope to hear them whisper. Sure enough, and as one, the two said the words. "May your heart be your guiding key."

"See?" Goofy whispered to the others.

"Mistress Gretinal said it, too!" Yui added in a hush voice. The others couldn't believe they never heard either one of them say it. However, Goofy did have better hearing than the others.

---

(Insert 'Adamas Amalee ver.', TV version)

Music intro

(Rushing through black darkness, glittering shards of light pass by. As music starts, the three main Keyblades suddenly shoot forward like shooting stars, circling around from a distance, then crossing one another, shining brightly, forming the logo of the series.)

I'm trying to understand it but it's making me numb

(Left half of Sora's serious face, the other half hidden by the teeth of his Kingdom Key.)

This swirl of karma leaving such a bitter taste on my tongue

(Right half of Asuna's determined face, the other half hidden by the Lambent Light's teeth.)

'Cause I know the pain and sorrow, it has only begun

(The upper half of Kirito's face, with glaring eyes, the lower half hidden by the Elucidator's teeth.)

Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa, Who-o-oa

(Flashing through the faces of each hero; Donald, Goofy, Yui, Mickey, Riku, Leafa, Kairi, Axel, and Kayaba.)

Now I'm surrounded by my enemies, but luck's on my side

(In the dusty fields of the Keyblade Graveyard, the camera pans around the circle of the six main heroes as they ready their weapons.)

So I shatter through the walls and change the course of the tide

(In the same field, the camera pans the opposite way around the six other heroes as they ready their weapons.)

Can't stop this surging fate like a volcano set to break, Take a breath until you're set to

(Allies of the multiple worlds they will or have visited pan across the screen, finally ending with the silhouettes of the four Lost Princesses of heart, with the one in the center opening her hands to reveal a bright light.)

face that voice of fear. That god of death that's always looking down on you

(Philia stands on a lone green hill, staring at a card with the picture of Castle Oblivion on it. She feels a hand behind her, and looks to see Flair and Hinata standing behind her, giving assuring smiles, with Tinkerbell coming out of her pocket, and Samson giving a thumbs up.)

"Do you believe yourself?" I won't stop til I've won

(Maleficent and Dr. Temna stand together, with Pete and Tears next to them, and a swarm of Heartless and shadowed foes ready to strike.)

A glimpse of that bright future that's just begun!

(Xehanort's maliciously smirking face appears, as he and fifteen others float together in a circle. Screen splits in half as half of Heartless Oberon and Gouxus take the screen, their eyes shining from yellow to violet.)

Shining like a diamond, The emotions in your heart reflect like crystal

(The six heroes team up together, taking down Heartless, Nobodies and Unversed that come across their path with their weapons, skills and magic.)

As we vow an oath that will ignite your light and mine - And we will rise!

(A Demon Tower nearly falls on top of the six, but they get away, with Kirito, Asuna and Sora in the air, performing Soul Bursts and Keyblade transformation, creating Cloud's Buster Sword, Asuna's SAO Lambent Light, and Sora's twin guns, unleashing a sword beam, ice spears, and magic shots as one.)

So many times I've gotten back on my feet to make it to this moment

(A group of dark energy orbs shoots down the trio from a cliff above, hitting them into the ground. The attack comes from Xehanort, Heartless Oberon, and Gouxus.)

It's time our prayer that's waiting in the dark. Is set free so light the spark and let it shine!

(Sora, Asuna and Kirito get back up on their feet, shaking off their injuries, and raising their Keyblades as they charge forward, beams of sunlight shining upon each of them as they all take a leap at the Organization XVI, with their friends, the other heroes, including Roxas, Xion, Recon, Terra, Aqua and Ven, joining them from behind.)

Song ends.

---

Moments later, the six heroes, now adding in Jiminy Cricket into their ranks, were back on the Swiftline, and flying through space aimlessly. Sora was just getting dressed into his new garments, using the sleeping quarters setting in the magically-transforming room, which Gretinal called the 'Switch Chamber'. The others waited until he finally came out of the room, wearing his new garments gifted to him.

They were sleeker than his previous attire, consisting of a black and red-lining hoodie jacket with grey pockets, six golden buttons, and grey stripes on the sleeves, a black V-neck shirt with white lining underneath. His shorts were similar to his old look, only less baggy, with armor sidings held by red straps. His shoes were also like his old ones, with blue straps and no zippers. He no longer wore gloves, but gauntlets, which had a similar look to his jacket, and they exposed the palm of his hands. And as usual, he wore his crown necklace on him.

"Well, what did you guys think?" Sora asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"Looks great!" Goofy answered.

"Red and black, huh? That does work for you." Asuna stated, looking to Kirito, "I'm sure you're satisfied with his new look."

"Why am I being singled out?!" Kirito questioned her, "I only said that Sora's old look was a great look. And I'll admit this new look is even cooler."

"Thanks!" Sora thanked them, looking at his new look, "It's definitely a cooler look than what I had before. And it feels just as comfortable to move around in. Can't wait to bust this out in a battle."

"Maybe we can use the training room feature in the Switch Chamber?" Kirito suggested, "I wouldn't mind sparring with you. Plus, I wanna test out our new powers."

"Yeah. Along with my new Keyblade!" Sora added, producing a new Keyblade he got from Hercules. It was called 'Hero's Origin'. The blade consists of a series of thunderbolts topped by Zeus, who's arm and thunderbolt formed the teeth. The handle consists of the clouds and columns of Olympu, topped with the symbol of the gods. On the end of a thick black chain was the medallion, the Olympus Stone, which they remembered from their first adventure together to that world.

"I wanna know what kind of thing I can unlock from this new Keyblade." Sora stated, looking at his new weapon, "Wanna test it out, Kirito?"

"That sounds—!" Kirito began, but Asuna cut him off by declaring, "FIRST, we need to actually have a path to go, and I would appreciate it if you guys had any thoughts on where we might go next."

The two boys realized that might be a good idea for them, so they paused to think about it. Unfortunately, they didn't have any clue. "Oh, come on! Would you get serious?!" Donald demanded to them.

"Give me a break!" Sora rebutted, "I told you. These things take time!"

"We're repeating the same thing as last time, aren't we?" Kirito noticed, getting a sense of deja vu.

"Gawrsh, is it just me, or is this starting to be a routine?" Goofy asked.

"A bad one, no doubt." Yui followed, as Asuna sighed and wondered what their next plan of action was.

Suddenly, there was music playing, like a ringtone to a phone (a ringtone version of Sora's Theme). It seemed to be emanating from Sora himself, who was confused as to what it was.

"It's comin' from you, Sora!" Jiminy pointed out. Sora looked into his pockets, and pulled something out. It looked like a sort of small tablet, with a thick black, red and gold rim around it, with Mickey's emblem on the bottom part, and on the upper back part of it, there was a gold crown design. On the screen of the tablet was a picture of a phone ringing, with a green and red button on the bottom corners.

"What's this?" Sora asked, confused.

"Obviously, you never had a smartphone before, have you?" Kirito asked.

"Smartphone?" Sora echoed, confused.

"You use it like this." Kirito told him, walking over, and pressing the green button, answering the call. The screen shifted, and they could see one of their chipmunk mechanics, standing on the desk in Mickey's study room back in Disney Castle

"Hooray! He picked up." The chipmunk cheered.

"Huh? Dale?!" Sora asked, surprised.

"Hey, Chipper, I finally got him!" Dale called out to one side, "Hurry up, Chip!"

A second later, Chip skidded to a halt in front of the screen. "Well! It's about time."

"Chip?" Sora asked, surprised to see him as well.

"Ya gotta answer the phone, Sora, or we can't give ya updates." Dale told him, "We got lots and LOTS of important stuff we want to tell ya!"

"That's why we asked Master Yen Sid to make sure you got this Gummiphone Kayaba made for ya." Chip followed up.

"So Kayaba made this?" Kirito asked, "Well, I guess it's child's play compared to the Nerve Gear to build a smartphone. So we'd be able to stay in touch with you at all times."

"Not necessarily." said a familiar voice, and the Gummiphone on the other end started to shift around, and suddenly, Kayaba's face appeared. He was the same adult face as they remembered him, wearing a red and white-trimmed lab coat, and a medallion pinned on the left part of his chest, with Mickey's emblem on it.

"It was a lot more complicated than you think, especially with the trans-dimensional communication. Trying to create a strong an accurate frequency like that was no easy feat. Plus, I had to make sure that there was enough data to have it function like a standard smartphone, such as taking pictures and such. And then there was the constant energy supply I had to create."

"Speak of the devil..." Kirito muttered, "It's good to see your still inventing stuff like this."

"It's good to see you, too, Kirito." Kayaba greeted, as Chip and Dale hopped on each of his shoulders, "As well as you, Asuna." The former second-in-command to him nodded off-screen in response to this greeting.

"Oh! You finally finished it." Jiminy realized, "Say, with this Gummiphone, we can talk to each other across worlds."

"Like Gretinal's crystal ball?" Asuna asked, looking at the spot where the orb appeared the last time.

"Exactly. In fact, I might even try writing my journal on it." Jiminy added.

"Wow! Sounds like it's pretty handy, guys!" Sora understood, "So what's so important?"

"This! Back when you guys quested through the Sleeping Worlds, Riku recovered some secret research data that Ansem the Wise hid inside you, Sora." Chip explained.

"Ansem's Code!" Dale dubbed.

"That's correct." Kayaba followed up, "That is why Chip, Dale and I have been working as hard as we could in trying to sort it out. Unfortunately, I needed some extra help..."

Suddenly, the screen switched to a new person, in a new place. The person on-screen was a young man with blue eyes and short, grayish-blue hair, with long bangs covering the right side of his face. He wore a blue researcher's attire, and a purple neckerchief. Based on the background, he seemed to be in Ansem's hidden computer room in Radiant Garden.

"The data has been encrypted, so we've only deciphered some of it." He followed up Kayaba's information.

The team looked surprised at the sight of the brand new face, as Kirito asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh... I guess we've never met before. Though as for Sora and his friends, I guess we haven't spoken since the castle. Though, even then, I never really showed myself to you then. I'm Ienzo. Aeleus is here, too."

He looked behind him, and saw a muscular man with short, messy hazel hair, which stuck out in the back, and blue eyes. He wore black, soldier-like attire. The man, Aeleus, looked behind him, seeing Sora on the phone screen, and looked away with a sort of guilty look.

"Aeleus, whatever's between you and Roxas, it's in the past." Ienzo told him.

He paused, then said, "...Maybe so, but those memories are still fresh in my mind..." With that, he walked away.

Ienzo sighed, then turned back to the Gummiphone as he continued, "Sora, the reason we're here is because you and your friends defeated our Nobodies, thereby 'recompleting' us. We cast off our hearts by choice, make no mistake, but we didn't know that Xemnas, or rather, Xehanort, was deceiving us."

"Huh? Xemnas?!" Sora gasped, shocked to hear Ienzo knew him.

"That means you were a member of the former Organization XIII!" Yui realized, getting glares from both Donald and Goofy.

"Not anymore. Xemnas and Xehanort have no hold over us now." Ienzo assured them, "We're just students of the heart, exactly the same as we were before all of this began."

"Yeah, right!" Donald scoffed.

"Hold on. He might be right." Asuna retorted, We actually met two of the Organization members back in our world, now as whole people again. Their names were Yasu and Nariko, also known as Myde and Elenar. But when they were Nobodies, they were called 'Demyx' and 'Larxene'. I'm sure you remember one of those names, Sora."

"Oh, yeah!" Sora recalled, remembering Demyx from both Hercules's world, and at Radiant Garden. "He's from your world?!" Sora asked, looking to Kirito, who nodded in answering.

"And now that I think about it, Axel's on our side now." Goofy added. Donald didn't look like he could trust him.

"Don't worry. Ienzo is a really nice person." Said a voice that widened Kirito's eyes in shock. Ienzo's Gummiphone was taken from him, and on the screen was a familiar, dark-haired girl with dark blue eyes. It was Sachi, a close friend to Kirito, and a member of the Moonlit Black Cats. Her attire was a similar researcher's attire like Ienzo, white, with a light blue neckerchief, and a light blue beret with a gold pin and two blue ribbons trailing off to one side.

"S-Sachi!" Kirito gasped, now getting everyone to look over Sora's shoulder at the screen, "How..."

"It's great to see you guys, again." Sachi greeted, "And not greeting you as an Oshawott, if I may add." Before this, the last time they ever met her, she had transformed into a creature called an Oshawott, when her heart had somehow traveled to another world when she slept to save it from destruction.

"But, what are you doing with him?!" Sora asked, incredulously.

"Ienzo gave me a job to be his research assistant." Sachi explained, "In fact, all the members of the Moonlit Black Cats were given jobs here, whether to help out as researchers, or guards to Ansem's castle."

"That's incredible news!" Kirito said with amazement, "I hope it's not too much for you."

"Not at all. It's pretty amazing research to look into." Sachi stated, "Besides, my friends and I were former members of a computer club before we joined SAO. Consider it a step up from where we were before."

Kirito looked at her happy face for a moment, then smiled as he stated, "Well, I'm really glad for you, Sachi. I'm so happy to see you have regained a new way of life for yourself." Sachi smiled sweetly at Kirito's words to her.

"Excuse me, but can I continue speaking to them, Sachi?" Ienzo spoke up.

"Oh, right! Sorry, sir!" Sachi apologized, and handed Ienzo back the phone.

"Please. I told you there was no need for formalities, and just call me 'Ienzo'." The researcher told her, and he turned to Sora and the other others on the phone, "But back to what I was saying. We have friends we want to bring back to this world, just the same as you. To do that, we have to work together. In that spirit, we found some intriguing data in the bit of code we deciphered."

"Is it about me?" Sora asked.

"Yes. In order to piece your memories back together, our teacher, Ansem the Wise, took a close look at your heart. And what he found... is that your heart doesn't belong just to you."

This startling bit of new shocked most of the team as they gasped, "It doesn't?!" Sora was the only one who didn't seem surprised by this.

"Sora, you're not surprised by this?" Yui asked.

"Yeah. Honestly, I suspected as much." Sora admitted, "There's another heart inside mine. I think it's Roxas's. Just like Naminé is still inside Kairi's."

Kirito and Asuna looked to one another. While they never truly met Roxas, they did meet Naminé once before. She was not only the person who brought Leafa and Recon to the other dimension during the first adventure, but was the one who unlocked Leafa's ability to use the Keyblade, and gave them more info on why DiZ, or Ansem the Wise, sent them to that dimension in the first place.

"Interesting... Well, no one knows your heart better than you." Ienzo noted, with Sachi still by his side, "To be honest, we still have a plethora of questions on our side, but the idea has merit. It's incredible enough that you and your Nobody are able to coexist. If you share a heart, no wonder someone as remarkable as you caught Ansem the Wise's eye."

"Honestly, I was quite startled when we first learned about this, Sora." Sachi added, "Then again, there have been numerous things I never even imagined possible until I was shown the research on them here. But I'm willing to try and learn as much as I can, and do everything to investigate your hypothesis."

"Okay. We're counting on you guys." Kirito told her and Ienzo.

"We'll be in touch." Ienzo finished, and the screen flashed back to Kayaba, Chip and Dale.

"And there you have it." Kayaba told the group, "We'll make sure to call you if we need to update you on anything. Do not forget that we, those at Radiant Garden, King Mickey, and everyone else are never far away."

"And Jiminy, would ya do us a favor?" Chip requested, "Teach Sora how to use the Gummiphone."

"Leave it to me." Jiminy answered.

"We'll teach Sora how to use this, too, since were so use to it in our world." Asuna added.

"One more thing." Dale added, "Since we'll be busy with helping Kayaba on cracking the code, we're not sure if we can work full-time on keeping an eye on your Gummi Ship. Fortunately, we ended up discovering a couple of strangers who are able to help us out."

The screen shifted, now showing the Gummi hanger underneath Disney Castle. On screen was a young boy with an odd, triangular face, a pointed nose, spiky orange hair, and large, deep blue eyes. He wore similar clothing attire as the chipmunks, only made for his side.

"Hey, you must Sora." He greeted.

"A kid?" Goofy asked.

"Who're you?" Sora asked him.

"I'm Phineas. The person behind me is my brother, Ferb." He pulled himself to one side to show a kid with a tall, rectangular head, a big nose, and leafy-green hair that altogether made his face look F-shaped. His eyes did seem to look like one eye was bigger than the other. He also wore the same attire as the chipmunks. He was carrying a cart of Gummi Blocks, but paused to wave at the people on the screen.

"Chip, Dale and Kayaba found us after we ended up creating a machine to send us to another dimension." Phineas explained, "We ended up trapped here, and until we can recreate a new transporter, we decided to help out by being repairmen for your ship."

"I see..." Kirito understood, finding it disbelieving they were even able to create a dimensional transporter at their age.

"Well, we're glad to have you guys help us out, when we need it." Yui told them.

"We'll be countin' on ya." Goofy added.

"Thanks. These Gummi Blocks are pretty impressive things." Phineas pointed out, looking back to see Ferb with an emptied cart, "In fact, Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today. Better get on it! I'll keep in touch!" With that, the screen shifted back to Kayaba and the chipmunks.

"Do you think they can handle it?" Donald asked.

"They may not look it, but they have incredible talent for building inventions." Chip stated, "I bet they could make something none of us could imagine!"

"But that's all we have for you, right now." Kayaba told them, "I'm sure the seven of you can figure out where to go from here. Take care." With that, the screen went black.

There was a lot to take in for the team at the moment. Not just the new Gummiphone, but what they learned from Ienzo and Sachi, Kayaba, Chip and Dale, not to mention the new kids who became their repairmen for their Gummi Ship. However, there was one thing that Sora was dead set on at the moment.

"I have to find Roxas and save him." He decided, "The others are following Aqua's heart, so I'll follow Roxas's heart!"

The team nodded in agreement at his choice. Asuna looked down at her Wayfinder, and grabbed ahold of it. 'Hang on sis.' She mentally told her, 'I'll get stronger, and then I'll come and save you, just like I promised!'

"Trust the guidance that your heart gives ya, Sora." Goofy told him, 'That's what Master Yen Sid said."

"So do you know our next destination, Sora?" Yui asked, walking down to the control panel with Donald.

"Oh, that's easy!" Sora answered, producing his Keyblade, and pointing it forward, the tip of it shining, "Next stop: Twilight Town!"

"Roger!" Yui answered, and she steered the Gummi ship towards their next destination. They entered through a produced gate made by Sora, and appeared into open space, surrounded by floating rocks and debris. It was the ocean between worlds.

"I've already discovered the location of where Twilight Town is at!" Donald told the team.

"Coordinates received." Yui responded, "I'll try to make our way there as safely as possible!"

"It's fun to see our daughter be so professional like this." Asuna chuckled, sitting at her chair. Kirito nodded in agreement at this. He was pretty proud to see how far Yui had grown since the start of this adventure over a year ago.

---

In another world, there existed a large, mechanical fortress. Inside one of the deeper parts of this fortress, there exists a large lab. In it was a machine that was topped with a large, glass globe, which had swirling dark energy within it, like several rings of dark-colored data.

Maleficent, Pete and the young woman from Hercules's world all stood back as a man approached the machine, carrying a large ball of dark energy, obtained by Maleficent and Pete. The man was slightly above middle-aged, with black, curly hair that leaned forward, a short beard and a pointed nose. He wore a black and gold-trimmed trench coat, with a dark red and gold-buttoned shirt underneath, a pink ascot, black pants, and black boots with gold bolt head-like decorations on them.

"Now with this Dark Data, we can finally be one step closer to achieving our goal..." the man stated, pressing a button, causing a hole to open in the machine. He placed the Dark Data into the hole, which then went underneath and into the glass-like globe, becoming part of the swirling energy.

"As for this..." he pulled out the Pandora's Box Pete and Maleficent discovered from before, "...I'll have to extract the dark energy from it, and convert it into data. But all in all, I'd say the three of you did well."

"I'm so happy to hear you praise me, daddy~!" the young lady stated in a girly tone, "Do I get to have a reward for my hard work?"

"That, you shall have, my dear daughter." The man replied, walking back and placing a hand on the young lady's shoulder, "Why don't you go an finally 'introduce' yourself to that band of misfit heroes?"

"Really? I'm allowed to do that?" She asked, excitedly, "Ooh, I can't wait to say hello, as well as snuff out their sorry little Lights."

"Don't go and kill them off just yet." He told her, "We cannot gain darkness without their light, after all. We still need them around a little longer."

"Yes, daddy." She sighed, before turning away, and running off, creating a Corridor of Darkness to go through.

"She acts so differently when it's that guy..." Pete muttered, watching her leave.

"As for the two of you..." the man continued, speaking to Maleficent and Pete, "Need I remind the two of you about the bargain we made. I don't need you to constantly go and search for this 'black box', without making some sort of effort on gathering data."

"Why you—." Pete growled, feeling like the man was ignoring the fact that they got the Pandora's Box for him. However, Maleficent snapped, "Be quiet, fool!" Pete shut himself up.

Maleficent then turned to the man, and asked, "Will you not even tell me what it is you hope to achieve with this device of yours, Tenma?"

"You needn't worry about the details." the man known as Tenma answered, looking up at his machine, "All you need to know is that when we gather enough Dark Data from the hearts of all beings, the door to our deepest desires will be revealed before us!"

He turned to Maleficent and Pete, "And you will be on the forefront of getting whatever it is you desire, my dear. After all, you are the Mistress of All Evil. I have seen the results you can deliver. And unlike that man who betrayed you, I will never go back on my word."

Maleficent huffed, then turned and walked away from Tenma, with Pete looking between the two, the following his Mistress. Tenma watched them leave, his face smirking maliciously as he said, "Good luck."

Within the shadows, four figures were watching them leave silently. These were the Enforcers for Tenma. One was a blue-skinned woman, holding a gun in her hand. Then there was a black-hooded figure, his face hiding behind a white, reaper-like mask. A girl-like figure on all fours, growling like a beast as a propellor spun from her tail. Finally, a white ghost, with a large gem embedded into a crown. All of them were waiting for their moment to step out and obtain their desires.

---

Twilight Town

The six heroes finally arrived at the central part of Twilight Town. They first arrived at the train station, standing right underneath the clock tower, before descending down the hill towards the place.

"It almost felt like yesterday since we were back here." Kirito noted, looking about.

"It does feel like that, since we went to a different version of this town during our Mark of Mastery." Asuna recalled, looking back on when they visited the Sleeping World version of this place. She remembered Madoka, Homura, Kyubey, and all the others who were here. It made her wonder what they were doing right now, and if things were alright between them.

"Gawrsh, we forgot to fill Master Yen Sid in on what happened." Goofy realized, "Should we go back?"

"Typical Sora." Donald scolded him.

"You mean about Maleficent and Xigbar?" Sora asked, "No, the others have already got enough on their plates as it is. Why go stressing them out?"

"Wait, Maleficent?" Kirito questioned, giving a surprised look at Sora, as were Asuna and Yui, "Was she there, too?"

"Oh...guess I forgot to tell you guys." Sora chuckled in embarrassment, "But yeah. Both Pete and Maleficent were at Thebes. I think Pete said they were looking for a black box."

"A black box?" Asuna echoed, confused.

"Doesn't matter, though." Sora continued, 'The six of us know how to handle a couple of old adversaries, right?"

"Yeah, I guess..." Donald haphazardly agreed.

"I wonder what might be in that black box they mentioned?" Yui asked, looking up at the sky.

"Come on, we're talking about Pete." Sora brushed off the topic, "That means it's probably no big deal."

"Sora, you should be more serious about this." Kirito told him off, "I get he wasn't as big of a worry before, but Olympus already showed us how much more dangerous things have gotten in this adventure. We need to be on our toes and be wary about what everyone is doing."

"Kirito?" Asuna tugged on his sleeve, pointing ahead as Sora took off, seeing the trams are still about.

"He clearly is not taking any of this seriously..." Donald sighed.

"But this is Sora, after all." Goofy chuckled, racing after him, with Goofy and Yui following behind.

"I swear, he never grows up, after all this time." Kirito pointed out, shaking his head at Sora's attitude, but smiled as he continued, "But then again, that is what makes Sora the kind of person he is."

Asuna nodded in agreement, watching as Donald pointed out that Sora was getting too excited over seeing the trams still about, despite it not being that long since they had been here.

"Maybe you're feelin' what Roxas feels cause he misses home." Goofy told Sora as the couple joined the others.

"Actually, I ran into Roxas in the Sleeping Worlds." Sora recalled, thinking back on his exams, "It was like...seeing into his heart for the first time."

"And he was in the datascape, too." Donald added.

"Uh-huh. It was a test to see if your data version was ready to face the hurt that ya carry inside." Goofy explained.

"Oh, yeah. Kayaba wrote a full letter to us." Kirito recalled, thinking back on the long letter he got via email from the former commander.

"Was I ready?" Sora asked, looking at his hands, "I know hurt. When I lost Riku and Kairi, and later when I lost the Keyblade, and you guys had to go on without me like that... Having no one to turn to was the worst kind of hurt. But that just shows how much you mean to me. Carrying around a little hurt can't be all that bad. Hurting is part of caring."

There was a pause as they contemplated what Sora said. Just seconds ago, he was acting ignorant to the troubles the enemies might bring them. Now, he was really showing his maturity by accepting the pain because it was part of the love in his heart. Sora really did have a strong and caring heart on him.

"He sounds like Data-Sora did." Donald whispered to Goofy.

"Of course. Any Sora's still Sora." He answered.

"I know the feeling of pain when losing someone I cared about." Kirito understood, "Back in SAO, when I lost Sachi and the Moonlit Black Cats, it hurt a lot because she meant a lot to me. The only difference was that I ended up getting dragged down by my pain, and chose to be a solo player for a long time."

"But fortunately, I was there to pick you up, and help you out when you were as dark as the clothes you wore then." Asuna recalled, "I supported you, just like how you supported me when I was starting out in the game." She wrapped her fingers around Kirito's, smiling at him.

"So wait..." Sora started to realize something, "If Roxas feels something, then we're in the right place. Roxas, I'm gonna find you!"

Suddenly, Sora swore someone just spoke to him. "Do you seek our liege?" The voice seemed to echo into his head, startling him. He stared blankly ahead, wondering what that was.

"Is something the matter, Sora?" Yui asked. Sora didn't respond, at first. However, something did appear behind them. The familiar white figure with a certain emblem on their heads.

"Nobodies!" Goofy growled, producing his shield to confront the Dusk Nobodies that appeared.

"Good thing we're experts at this!" Donald declared, readying his staff.

The team went to work, taking on the slippery Nobodies. "It's always a bad feeling if Nobodies are in a world." Kirito grimaced, slashing down one Nobody before blocking another one's hand stab.

"No joke. If Nobodies are here, then Organization members aren't too far behind." Asuna added, freezing a couple Dusks with Blizzard.

Sora took down another Dusk, then noticed a laser was pointing at his forehead. "Look out!" Goofy shouted, getting in front of Sora with his shield, and blocking a shot that was strong enough to cause him to topple away. "Goofy!" Sora cried out to his friend.

"Snipers!" Yui called out, seeing a couple more Nobodies, who held crossbows.

"Why you...!" Sora growled, pulling out his new Heartbinder Yen Sid gave him, "Time to see if I can punish you with this!" He held the charm to his chest as he shined brightly. "As one! Link: Meow Wow Balloon!"

Suddenly, from ahead of him, a Meow Wow Dream Eater Spirit suddenly appeared in a puff of pink smoke, bouncing to Sora, and licked his face. "Good to see you again, buddy!" Sora greeted him, "Okay, let's do this!" He held out Meow Wow as he spun him around, then saddled right on top of him.

"Guys, back off!" He called to his friends, and they moved out of the way as Meow Wow did a 'Tornado Pounce', spinning in the air as it inflated itself, before slamming to the ground with a shockwave that knocked Dusks out of the way. He did this three more times, with Meow Wow getting bigger and bigger with every attack. Then, they unleashed 'Deflate Dash', where Meow Wow exhaled all the air it gathered, flying all over the place, slamming into Nobodies, and even catching the Snipers off-guard with the random attack. Sora and Meow Wow performed this same system again; Tornado Pounce a few times, then Deflate Dash to knock more Nobodies out.

"Okay, buddy. Let's finish this!" Sora told the Meow Wow, who suddenly inflated to an enormous size, like a balloon being over-inflated. Then suddenly, it popped, unleashing a puff of smoke, followed by Dream Eater Spirits of every single kind bouncing all about, knocking out any remaining Dusks and Snipers in the vicinity, before they vanished.

"That was odd, but effective." Kirito noted, "Then again, we know the strength of Dream Eaters first-hand."

Asuna chuckled as she saw Sora get up, laughing at the exciting ride he had. "That's true. It seemed like a really fun move to use."

"Hey! We still have a few more stragglers!" Donald shouted, as he, Goofy and Yui were dealing with some leftover Dusks.

"Sorry!" Asuna realized, going to their rescue.

"Goofy, let's take 'em out in one shot!" Kirito shouted.

"My shield's ready!" Goofy replied, and the two performed 'Goofy Bombardment', Goofy pushing both of them into the air, before Kirito hurled Goofy back to the ground, creating a shockwave impact that destroyed the remaining Dusks.

As soon as they knew the coast was clear, they gathered together, putting their weapons away. "Well, that was unexpected." Yui muttered.

"But nostalgic." Goofy retorted, "Weren't Nobodies the first things we all fought together against?"

"Yeah. That was shortly after we first met you guys." Kirito recalled, looking to the clock tower, where the battle took place, "Sure felt a long time ago..."

Asuna looked to the same direction, before looking to Sora, who's brows were furrowed in thought. "Is something wrong, Sora?" She asked.

"Just confused..." Sora answered, "What was that voice? I know I heard it."

"Voice? What voice?" Asuna asked.

"That voice that spoke, before those Nobodies appeared." Sora responded, "Didn't you hear it?" Asuna shook her head at this.

"You sure it wasn't the wind? Or somethin' else?" Goofy suggested.

"I'm pretty sure..." Sora answered, trying to figure this out. What was that voice? And what did they mean by 'Do you seek our liege'?

Suddenly, a male voice shouted, "Where'd they come from?!" From down the street.

"Get the ice cream later!" Shouted a girl's voice after.

"What? Hold up!" Another male voice followed.

"I'll hold them off!" A third male voice barked, "Get our leader!"

"I'm on it!" Cried out a young girl's voice.

"See? Voices." Sora told the team, who looked towards the direction they came from. Suddenly, Sora realized, "New ones?!", turning around to where everyone was looking. Tearing up the path, and coming around the corner, were four familiar characters.

One was a boy with burnt orange eyes and short, light brown hair, a short, black vest with red and black plaid patterns on the bottom, and silver buttons, worn over a white sleeveless shirt with a black marker skull and crossbones on the bottom-left part, baggy blue jeans, and shoes that matched his vest. He also wore a wooden cross pendant around his neck, and purple scarf on his right arm, with a yellow emblem that was hard to recognize with him pumping his arms.

The second was a girl with dark brown hair that draped her shoulders, green eyes, and wore a black and red-lined, sleeveless dress, red-checkered pants with blue and yellow lines, red socks, dark blue and black shoes with red laces, a bracelet, and a red gem-embedded necklace. She also wore a purple scarf with a yellow emblem on her left arm.

The third was a stout boy with dark brown hair sticking over a dark blue headband, light brown eyes, a black and white shirt shirt striped sleeves and a crude picture of a dog with bones, and the words 'DOG STREET' written above them. He also wore black pants, white sneakers with black soles and yellow, orange and red stripes on the sides, and a purple scarf wrapped around his collar, just like the others, only the emblem was recognizable on his; a heart with wings in front of a sunset.

The fourth was the shortest member, and the only thing that could be seen on his shadowed face was his yellow eyes. His top was hidden by a tan, tattered wizard's hat with a crooked top, a brown band near the bottom, a zipper mouth, and two green 'eyes'. He had on a light blue coat, secured by tan strings and yellow buttons, large white cuffs with brown frills, the same purple scarf sticking out of one of his pockets, green pants held by a brown leather belt with a silver buckle, brown and tan-stripped slipper shoes, and brown gloves.

"Huh? Hayner? Pence! Olette!" Sora noticed three of the figures.

"And that fourth one, if I remember, is Vivi!" Yui also recalled.

Suddenly, there was a painful-sounding grunt, and someone was sent flying into the wall. It was a young man with blue hair and blue eyes, wearing a blue and white-trimmed, long-sleeved coat with brown leather plating stitched to the bottom, blue jean pants, a leather belt with a silver buckle and a grey scabbard attached, brown boots with black soles and laces, brown gloves, and the purple scarf the others wore was underneath his left shoulder. He also carried a short sword with a grey metal hilt and guard, though it clattered to the ground after his attack.

"Diavel!" Kirito shouted, recognizing the character.

Just as they wondered what was it that attacked them, the heroes got their answer. A swarm of Shadow Heartless was tearing down the streets after the group. And it wasn't just a dozen, but maybe hundreds, acting like a tidal wave than anything.

(Insert KHIII OST 'Wave of Darkness')

"What is THAT?!" Goofy exclaimed as they saw the swarm approaching.

Hayner suddenly recognized the group, and called out, "Hey, Sora! Kirito! Asuna!" As they ran passed them, he added, "Hello, goodbye!"

"Go! We got this!" Sora told them, readying his Keyblade again.

The swarm of Shadows suddenly rose up in the air like a spiraling snake, and started forming a ring high above, with the head of it floating in the middle of it all

"I've never seen anything like this!" Asuna gasped, while Yui was busy analyzing the group.

Kirito made a side route as he raced towards Diavel, who rose to his feet, injured by the attack. "Hang in there, Diavel!" He shouted to the young man.

"Kirito!" He suddenly noticed, "Boy, are we glad to see you again. And at just the right moment."

"We can take it from here." Kirito assured him, looking to the swarm, "Get out of here!"

"Right." He answered, racing away, looking back at Kirito as he added, "I'll send some extra backup for you guys!"

"Wait, what?!" Kirito exclaimed, wondering what kind of backup was he gonna get, but he noticed the swarm was making a move, and chose to focus on it.

The swarm started weaving around the buildings, coming after Sora and Asuna, who went to either side, avoiding the head-on collision with it. Sora then started slashing the front of the swarm, which was encased in a black ball of dark energy. Asuna unleashed jabs from her Keyblade at the head, too, before it took off into the air, swirling about once more.

"Yui, you got any idea what we're dealing with here?" Kirito asked, racing towards his daughter, who was avoiding the fight till she analyzed the Heartless.

"From what I can gather, there is a massive amount of Shadow Heartless forming together into that, merging their dark energy into an even stronger form, one that is far more threatening than anything we encountered so far." Yui placed her scanner away as she looked up at the Heartless swarm with fear, "However, the form does have a name to it; Demon Tide."

"Demon Tide..." Kirito echoed, watching Donald shoot fireballs up at it, before running away as it dove down at him. It slammed into Donald, causing him to crash into a pile of crates, before falling onto his back, unconscious.

"Donald!" Sora cried out, racing to his buddy's side as Kirito decided to take action. He wall-ran up the building as the Demon Tide turned around and came at Donald and Sora, who pulled the former out of the way to avoid getting hit. Kirito then reached the top, and leapt off, flipping forward as the Demon Tide came at him, and he clashed his Keyblade straight into it. The collision caused an explosion of light and darkness, but Kirito was sent straight into the building, gagging from getting the wind knocked outta him. He fell to the ground, his Keyblade clattering to one side.

"Kirito!" Asuna cried out as she and Yui came to his side. He pulled himself up on his hands and knees, grimacing in pain from the attack.

"That was...not a good idea..." he moaned.

"Look out!" Sora called out, seeing the Demon Tide rise up and dive down at the trio. He whipped his Keyblade to one side, and felt the potential his Keyblade could unleash. "Counter Shield!" He shouted, and his Keyblade transformed before everyone's eyes. The medallion suddenly became larger, as the pillar pieces of the Keyblade formed around it. Other pieces then decorated the top and bottom, and all of a sudden, Sora's Keyblade became a shield.

He appeared above the trio, raising his shield high as he took the hit head on. However, as the weapon he used was made for, the Counter Shield was able to nullify the damage by a great margin. It caused the swarm to part and reform away from the team.

"Nice goin', Sora!" Goofy cheered.

Sora landed on the ground in front of Kirito, Asuna and Yui, who noticed that lightning bolts were sticking out of the shield, while it glowed blue.

"Try this!" Sora shouted, aiming his shield at the Heartless, and producing large magical arms and fists to rapidly punch the Demon Tide, causing it to get pummeled.

"This is a completely new power Sora's unleashing!" Asuna noticed, as Kirito used a potion to heal himself.

"This must be what Gretinal was saying when he said he could tap into the power of Keyblade to make it transform." Kirito understood, "His powers are way more incredible!"

The Demon Tide was slowing down, giving Sora the opportunity he needed as he threw the shield at the head, caught up to his weapon, and unleashed spinning attacks, before ending with raising his shield high, and summoning a ring of orbs that rained down thunderbolts around him.

"We can't let's Sora have all the fun!" Kirito stated, "Let's give that thing a good walloping!"

"You got it!" Asuna answered, racing alongside him as the two, Yui, and Goofy all went to join Sora in his fight.

The Demon Tide suddenly picked up speed, and Sora ended up missing a swing at it. It curved around and tried to attack Sora while he was stuck in the air, but he raised his shield, and blocked the attack. This did send Sora down to the ground, where he skidded to a halt.

Asuna unleashed Water spells, while Yui sent tornados flying from her fan, striking the stream of Shadows with it. Unfortunately, this was not doing the amount of damage they wanted, as it turned and came at the two.

Kirito and Goofy charged in, with Goofy trying to hold back the collision with his shield, only giving enough time for the two girls to evade before getting sent flying by the attack. Kirito leapt over the bashing attack, and started running on top of the Demon Tide, striking and slicing down any Shadows that made up it.

The Demon Tide suddenly climbed up into the air, and Kirito ended up getting flipped off of it. The thing was about to curve around attack him.

"Kirito!" Asuna shouted, leaping up next to him as they both placed up defense positions with their blades. The defense failed, and the two were sent crashing into the ground, injured by the attack.

"Mama! Papa!" Yui cried, about to race to them.

"Look out!" Sora called out, using a dodge roll to grab Yui and pull her out of harms way as the Demon Tide nearly hit her. The Heartless climbed up and curved around, aiming its' sights, once again, on Kirito and Asuna, who were struggling to rise to their hands and knees. It dove down at them at speeds Sora knew he couldn't match to help them. Donald and Goofy were too injured to move. Asuna saw the attack coming, and raised her Keyblade for a bit of defense.

"Not on my watch, you don't!" A voiced could be heard from nearby. A brilliant blue light could be seen shining from her sword as she dashed forward. She suddenly appeared in front of Asuna and Kirito, unleashing a Slant Sword Skill, countering the dash from the Demon Tide. A clash of darkness and blue light could be seen as Asuna's eye shrunk. While she wore different clothing, she could easily recognize the long, purple hair, flowing behind, along with the sight of her pointed Imp ears. Her voice, and her sword, added to this mixture, told her who this person was.

The Demon Tide was pushed back, and it rose into the air, while the young girl who saved Asuna and Kirito, stood there, her red eyes focused on her opponent, and a smile forming on her face. "Don't get in the way of my reunion with someone who's like a sister to me! I've been waiting for her to return for a while." It was Yuuki Konno, the last leader of the Sleeping Knights, and the greatest swordswoman in ALO.

Like before, she wore a long red and yellow-striped ribbon as a headband on her hair. Her attire composed of a purple duster sweater over a red and purple-trimmed sleeveless dress, with a colored version of the heart, wing and sunset emblem that was on all the scarves the other guys had, and a magenta and yellow-trimmed belt with a silver buckle. She wore black leggings underneath her dress, purple boots that go up to her knees, red arm warmers, and purple glovelettes with purple and yellow-striped cuffs. The sword she carried was very similar to the sword she once carried in ALO, with a more rounded hilt.

"Y-Yuuki..." Asuna muttered, rising to her feet.

Yuuki turned and smiled up at Asuna's face, saying, "It's so great to see you again, Asuna! You too, Kirito." Kirito, who also got to his feet, was just as stunned at seeing her standing before them.

"Yuuki... Is that really..." Asuna started, finding it disbelieving that she was really there, and for good reasons.

"Wait, do they know her?" Sora asked, "Why are they so petrified?"

"I am quite shocked, myself." Yui stated, her face not as stunned as her parents, but still surprised, "I all logical senses, she shouldn't be alive."

"Wait... WHAT?!" Sora exclaimed, finding it stunning. Was she suppose to be dead?

"Yuuki!" Vivi was tearing up the street towards her, with a staff in his hands.

"Right. We'd better have a proper reunion AFTER we take that thing out." Yuuki realized, looking up at the Demon Tide. She readied her blade, and smirked as she declared, "I've been waiting for a moment like this to test my skills out. Vivi, back me up!"

"R-Right." Vivi answered, nervously.

Yuuki charged forward as the Demon Tide went down at her. Asuna and Kirito panicked, but Yuuki effortlessly dodged to one side, unleashing a string of slashes with her sword, taking out several of the Shadows in the Tide. It rose up over Kirito and Asuna, circled around, and came back at Yuuki again. She didn't even need to turn to face it again, but instead performed a backflip, flipping over the Demon Tide and landing on the stream itself. She started unleashing more slashes at the head of the Demon Tide, before it climbed and caused Yuuki to fall back to the ground, landing on her feet.

She looked up to see the Demon Tide fall down at her, ready to take her out. "Vivi, now!" She called out, pushing herself backwards from the center point of collision.

"Stop!" Vivi shouted, raising his staff, and performing a Stop spell. The spell worked, freezing the head of the Demon Tide in place. "Finish it, Yuuki!" Vivi cried out to her.

Yuuki smiled and nodded, pulling back her blade, as it emanated a purple, powerful aura. Asuna gasped, recognizing the stance she held. With a roar, Yuuki began stabbing five strikes down one angle, before unleashing five more strikes down the other angle, forming an X with ten stabs.

'As impossible as it may seem, it really is her!' Asuna told herself, 'After all, that's her Original Sword Skill. The 11-hit combo move... Mother's Rosario!' At Asuna's final thoughts, Yuuki sent her blade stabbing in the dead center of the X, creating an explosion of energy. A second later, the Stop spell ceased, and the Demon Tide felt the full damage of the attack, and it was enough to send it flying a good distance away from Yuuki.

The Demon Tide paused as it recovered itself, but saw that it was unable to beat a powerful opponent like Yuuki. It spiraled high into the air, before flying off into the distance, vanishing from sight. As it left, four balls of magic energy fell from its' stream, flying down to Kirito, Asuna, Sora, and the awaking Donald.

"Are these...?" Kirito realized.

"More magic for us to learn!" Donald realized, "That's the power of Cure!" The four orbs of magic went into each of them, and they could feel a familiar magic returning to them. They could now magically heal themselves again.

Asuna wasn't bothering to appreciate this returning power. She approached Yuuki as she magically placed her sword away. She turned to Asuna, seeing her still disbelieving face. After a moment, Yuuki smiled and said, "Jeez, Asuna. Stop looking like you've seen a ghost."

"It...it really is you."Asuna muttered, her eyes starting to form tears, "You're really our Yuuki, aren't you?"

"Yep..." she answered, understanding Asuna's surprise, "I gave you my Mother's Rosario, didn't I?"

With this final fact, Asuna believed, without a doubt, this was in fact, Yuuki. Unable to hold back her tears, she dashed forward, and pulled Yuuki into a hug, bawling into her shoulder. "Yuuki! You're alive! Yuuki!" she cried, her joy gushing out like a bursting dam from seeing her again.

Yuuki, slightly startled at Asuna's powerful emotions, began to soften as she felt Asuna's tight embrace, and could smell the scent of the sun off of her. She smiled as she returned the embrace, saying, "Yeah, I'm alive. It's so great to see ya again, Asuna. And...I missed ya so much, as well." Tears formed in her eyes as she sniffled, hearing Asuna's cries in her ears.

Behind them, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Kirito and Yui all recovered and got back together again, watching the reunion with happiness. Hayner, Pence, Olette, Vivi, and Diavel all joined together to watch the scene as well. After knowing Yuuki's backstory, they could understand Asuna's feelings. Sora, Donald and Goofy, on the other hand, had no clue.

"Isn't Yuuki one of the fellers who was revived before?" Goofy asked, "Why hasn't Asuna seen her before this?"

"Because Yuuki didn't die in SAO." Kirito answered, "She actually died a little over a year ago, due to her real body suffering from an illness she had since she was born. So we're pretty stunned to see her alive and well."

"And she's even in her avatar form from Alfheim Online." Yui added, "I wonder how this is possible?"

"We were pretty surprised to see her, too." Pence spoke up, getting the heroes attention to see the five approach them, "She suddenly appeared as a ghost in the digital Twilight Town, but when we brought her over, she became a whole person again."

"She showed up in the digital Twilight Town?" Sora asked, surprised.

"I wonder...how did her data end up getting transferred and reconstructed in Twilight Town?" Kirito questioned, looking to see Yuuki pull herself away from Asuna, trying to stop the tears from her eyes, "And even if we knew the answer to that, there are still some things I don't understand, like is her heart and mind fully restored? Does she have the same exact memories as the Yuuki we know?"

"Hey, don't act like I'm some sort of digital copy!" Yuuki called out, overhearing what Kirito was saying, "It's all me, heart and whatnot! I haven't lost a single bit of my memory. I can tell you my life story, if you don't believe me."

"N-No, I don't need to hear it. I believe it's you." Kirito retorted, "I mean, Asuna, Leafa, Recon and I came here, leaving our old bodies behind to be real people. I shouldn't question yours."

"But...that still doesn't explain how you're actually alive in the first place." Asuna added, finally calming herself down, "I mean, I am really, REALLY happy you are alive. But your real body died, and I watched you die in my arms in ALO."

"I...still don't know what happened, either." Yuuki admitted, "Someone told me that so many hearts wished for me to be alive again, that I just ended up being reborn. But that sounds pretty crazy to me."

Asuna hiccuped a chuckle as she finally dried her tears, and replied, "Believe me, Kirito and I have seen crazier miracles. But even so, this is one that I am so happy to see come true." Yuuki gave a cheeky grin and nodded in response to this comment.

"So anyways..." Hayner continued, turning to Sora and the others, "Thanks for helpin' us out there, guys."

"Yeah." Sora responded, "Hayner, Pence, Olette, Diavel. It's been ages!"

"What? It hasn't been THAT long." Hayner retorted.

"Ya see?" Donald sighed, seeing a repeat of Sora's time misunderstanding.

"Donald! Goofy! Yui! How are ya?" Olette greeted the three 'sidekicks'.

"We're good!" Donald answered.

"Howdy there, Olette." Goofy greeted her.

"Nice to see you again." Yui bowed to her, looking to Vivi, "I don't think we've met officially before."

"Oh, yeah! I'm Vivi." The hidden-faced girl greeted her.

"Weren't you part of Seifer's gang?" Sora asked, recalling the last time he met her.

"Not anymore..." Vivi replied, kind of saddened by this.

"Seifer, Rai and Fuu all left Twilight Town a while ago." Hayner explained, "Seifer wanted to find a way to get stronger to beat Yuuki in Struggle, since she kept whooping his butt." He seemed pretty smug at this as he watched Yuuki and Asuna come back to them.

"Setzer also left town, after having a string of losses to Yuuki." Diavel added, "He said he was planning to try his hands on gambling the next town over."

"Sounds like you've been causing people to leave town." Asuna stated, looking to her dear friend.

"It's not like I do it on purpose." Yuuki mumbled, acting like the innocent victim, then asking, "Why don't you introduce me to your new friends? I recognize Kirito and Yui, though I can see they both got new wardrobes. So did you."

"I could say the same about you, Yuuki." Asuna told her, "You look more like a civilian than a fairy warrior." Yuuki placed her hands on her hips, proudly showing her new look to her big sis. "Anyways, these are our three friends, Sora, Donald and Goofy." They all said their hellos to Yuuki.

"Oh, so YOU'RE Sora." Yuuki understood, "Hayner and the others wouldn't stop talking about how crazy things get when you guys are around."

"R-Really?" Sora asked, trying to feign ignorance to the trouble they bring.

"So if you guys are here, does this mean that weird stuff is going down again?" Pence asked.

"You kidding, Pence?" Hayner got in his face, "When have we ever seen a tornado of shadowy blobs before? This is not 'weird'..." He had a look of triumph as he declared, "This is under-precedented."

"Hmm, I guess it is." Pence agreed, "The creatures from the last time were bright white. These things must be new. Man, I can't wait to get to sleuthin'."

'If they only knew how common they were to us...' Kirito and Sora mentally stated.

"We're already done with the school project, silly." Olette told the two boys, then to the six heroes, "Whatever's going on, you wouldn't be here unless you had a good reason."

"Speaking of which, what is it you're here for?" Diavel asked.

"Well, actually, we're looking for Roxas." Sora answered.

"Roxas?" Olette echoed, looking to Pence and Olette.

"That's funny..." Hayner mumbled, "I don't know any Roxas, but the name sounds familiar."

"I don't know anyone named Roxas..." Diavel muttered, looking to Vivi, "Have you heard about him?"

"No...but it kinda sounds familiar..." Vivi answered, looking very puzzled.

"Maybe we bumped into him somewhere?" Pence assumed.

"Uh, that's one way to put it." Donald muttered, looking to Goofy.

"Actually, he mighta been friends with another version of ya." Goofy dug into his back pocket, and pulled out a photo. It was the same photo that was given to the team a long time ago, shortly after Maleficent, for some reason, saved the team from the Organization's ploy to use their Keyblades to gather hearts. It showed a picture of Hayner, Pence, Olette, and Roxas, all gathered together at the front gate to the mansion.

Goofy handed this photograph to Hayner's gang, who looked at it. "This photograph..." Olette muttered.

"Yeah. We've got the same one." Pence realized, pulling out a photograph. It was nearly the same picture taken, with one thing missing; Roxas. He was not part of their photo.

"Oh yeah! The other Twilight Town!" Hayner suddenly realized, looking at the two photos.

"You mean, the one you guys found me in?" Yuuki asked, walking around to examine the photos.

"It's like one of those 'spot the differences' puzzles...except really easy." Pence compared, "I guess in that town, we're friends with this 'Roxas' person."

After a moment of looking, Hayner declared, "Sora, let us help you track Roxas down."

"Really?" Sora asked, excitedly.

"Sure, he seems like a pretty cool guy." Hayner answered, looking at the photo.

"Wait a minute!" Yuuki stopped them, getting in the middle of the group, "If we are to do this job, we'd better do it right..." She looked to Sora with a smile as she asked, "So you're 'requesting' help from us to find Roxas, right?"

"Um... sure?" He answered, looking a bit confused.

"Good! Then consider your job request accepted by the Twilight Knights." Yuuki declared, putting her hands on her hips.

"The Twilight Knights?" Asuna echoed, looking to Yuuki and her friends.

"Sure. It's a guild Yuuki founded for us." Olette explained.

"You made a guild here?" Yui asked, surprised.

"A guild?" Sora echoed, looking to Kirito for explanation.

"Basically, a group who work together to complete quests and jobs." He explained, "Back in ALO, there were plenty of guilds out there. Yuuki was the leader of the group of friends called the Sleeping Knights."

"Wow..." Sora muttered, looking intrigued. He wondered if there was any way for them to form a guild together. He then asked, "Were you part of any guilds?"

"Well, I was part of the Moonlit Black Cats in SAO before...well, after that I ended up a solo player." Kirito explained, "Then I was forcibly part of the guild Asuna was second-in-command to, Knights of the Blood Oath. In ALO, my friends and I aren't an official guild, but we do hang together and work together like one. It just seemed a bit of a hassle to become one."

"So, as for how you'll pay for our help..." Yuuki's words drew the attention of the team.

"Payment?" Donald asked.

"Sure. We gotta save up money for stuff like snacks, and going to the beach." Pence explained.

"Not to mention paying out rent." Diavel added.

"I'm...not sure how much Munny we have." Asuna muttered, pulling out her purse.

"We're not going to pay THEM so we can find Roxas!" Hayner argued with Yuuki.

"Hold your horses. I'm not gonna pay anything too steep." She assured him, walking over to Asuna and placing her hands around Asuna's arm, "I wanna spend time with Asuna, just the two of us. That's payment enough."

Asuna smiled and gave a good laugh, then said, "Sure. That's payment enough for us, right guys?"

"Sure!" "You deserve it." Sora and Kirito answered.

"Great! The folks around town are starting to come out now that threat is over." Yuuki explained, looking to see the citizens were doing just that, "Why don't you ask them?"

"Yeah. I mean, if alternate-us knew Roxas, then maybe alternate other folks did, too." Pence assumed.

"Mm-hmm. Sora, you three should go to the place in the photo." Olette told Sora and the gang, "It's the old mansion. The five of us'll cover places in town."

"Thanks." Sora replied, then suddenly realized, "Oh yeah! I got this phone thingy that takes pictures. Want to snap a photo while we're all here?" He pulled out the Gummiphone as he finished.

"Sure!" "That's a great idea!" "I wanna be in a photo!" Hayner, Pence and Vivi all responded, respectively.

"Wait, who's gonna actually take the picture?" Kirito asked, "It doesn't have a timed photo setting on this, does it?"

"Huh?" Sora looked confused.

Kirito took the phone and looked at the camera functions. "No timer photo... Guess I have something to complain to Kayaba." he muttered.

"One of us'll have to be the photographer." Diavel pointed out, "Should we draw straws and see?"

After a couple minutes, the choice was made. Donald held the phone, Goofy stood next to him, while the others stood together. Asuna and Yuuki stood together in the center of the group, with Sora next to Asuna, and Hayner next to Yuuki. Kirito, Diavel, and Pence were by Sora's side, while Yui, Vivi and Olette stood by Hayner's side.

"Why do I have to do it?!" Donald demanded angrily.

"Hey, tough luck. You drew the short straw." Sora reminded him.

"It's okay." Goofy assured him, "I'm sittin' outta the photo with ya, Donald."

"Then YOU take the photograph!" Donald squawked, placing the Gummiphone in Goofy's hands, before stomping over to the team and standing in front of Yuuki and Asuna.

The two looked down at him, then Yuuki stated, "You got some new n' interesting friends, Asuna."

"That I do." Asuna sighed, shaking her head at Donald's selfishness. She then place her hand around Yuuki, while she did the same, and the two held peace symbols in front of them, exactly like how they did when they had the photo in victory of defeating the 27th Floor boss.

"Everybody smile! A-hyuck!" Goofy chortled, and he snapped the photo of the group.

Everyone came around as Yuuki took the Gummiphone, and saw their picture. Everyone made noises of amazement and joy as Pence stated, "Wow, that came out great!"

"It's a pretty good look for us!" Diavel added.

"Oh! A lucky emblem." Olette noticed, and she pointed out something behind her, Yui and Hayner. There was a divot on the wall that had a large circle, and two smaller circles, forming a familiar face.

"Lucky emblem?" Sora echoed, confused.

"Oh, yeah, they are HUGE right now." Olette explained, "Supposedly, these things are hidden all over town. And if you get a picture of them, they'll bring you good luck." Sora, Donald, Goofy and Yui were all made sounds of interest from this.

"Have you found any?" Kirito asked, looking to Hayner, Pence and Diavel. They all shook their heads at this.

"I found a couple." Vivi stated, "I can show you them when you have the time."

"Please! I would love to find them!" Yui stated eagerly, "In fact, I could've sworn I saw a couple in Olympus."

"You know, it kinda looks familiar..." Asuna noted, examining the lucky emblem, "Doesn't it look like...?"

"You're right! I see it too." Goofy noticed.

"Is it the King?" Donald asked.

"Thought so." Asuna muttered, "Wonder if he's the one who placed them there?"

"Who are you talking about?" Yuuki asked her

"I'll tell you later."

"Good luck, because they're not all this easy to find." Olette warned them.

"Okay, we'd better start asking around." Hayner told the team, looking to Sora, "You start by checking out the old mansion. We'll catch up."

"I wanna take Asuna to my place." Yuuki added, "I wanna show her what I've been doing."

"You have a home?" Asuna asked.

"Sure! It's a small apartment, and it's above our Usual Place." Yuuki explained, taking Asuna by the hand and pulling her along, "Come on, I'll show ya!"

"Okay, slow down!" Asuna told her, getting dragged along by her dear friend, then to the others, she called out, "I'll catch up with you guys, okay?!"

"Take your time." Kirito answered, waving her and Yuuki off.

"Let's start investigating." Diavel told them, and the Twilight Knight members dispersed.

"I wanna check out the theatre!" Vivi called out as she raced with Hayner.

"You just wanna watch another show there." He accused her, to which she whimpered a moan, showing how true he was.

"Let's head out to the mansion." Goofy told the team, "If I remember correctly, the mansion is just past the woods."

"Wonder if that hole in the wall is still there?" Kirito asked, "Let's go and find out!" The five remaining members of the team went out to find a path towards the mansion where it all started for the six of them, and where Roxas's summer vacation ended.

Up above, on top of the Moogle-owned store, a Corridor of Darkness opened up, and out stepped the lavender-haired young lady. She was on one of the metal smokestacks, which had a lucky emblem on it. She stepped directly on top of the emblem as she smirked and watched the heroes all take their leave. "Now, to make my introduction to them..." she told herself, prepared to summon her weapon as the Corridor closed behind her.

She suddenly stopped, and sniffed the air. She looked to the direction of the smell, and saw a large bistro nearby. She looked between it and the disappearing heroes, then shrugged as she stated, "Eh, I guess a cup of tea wouldn't hurt. I haven't had a good cup in a while..." She dropped down from the rooftop, and towards the bistro.

---

Next Time on Sword Art Kingdom III

The Light and Darkness Within Twilight!