The gummi ship slows to a halt as it reaches its destination. Namine notifies the two keyblade wielders.
"Okay guys, we're here!" Says Namine. Roxas and Xion look out the cockpit window to get a better look.
"Land of Dragons huh? It's been a while, that's for sure." Says Roxas.
"Yeah. I wonder how Mulan is doing. We did sort of just leave her hanging." Says Xion.
"Mhm. I do feel a bit guilty, but we can catch up with her and apologize once we're there." Says Roxas. Roxas and Xion gather a few potions and ethers before waving goodbye to Namine and descending to the world below. The two arrive at the burned-down village. They begin walking through it for any sight of Mulan when they see a figure in a black cloak. He turns his head a little and sees Roxas and Xion. The man turns away and runs up the mountain.
"Hey!" Roxas shouts, he's about to chase after the cloaked figure when Roxas and Xion hear a familiar voice behind them.
"Roxas! Xion!" Says the voice of Mulan, approaching rapidly.
"Hey, Mulan! Sorry, we don't have time. We have to catch that guy!" Says Xion The two run off, but Mulan follows closely behind.
"I'm following him, too!" says Mulan.
"Great! We can take him down together!" Says Roxas. The three run at high speeds as they attempt to catch the man in the black coat. The voice of Namine rings in Roxas and Xion's minds as they do so.
"Do you two know who that is?" Asks Namine
"No, I can't seem to determine who it could be." Says Xion. "Neither Luxord nor Xigbar would simply run away without saying anything. Xaldin is still likely at Beast's Castle, and neither Saix nor Xemnas would do this trivial work themselves." Xion explains
"The only person would Run away at the sight of us would be Demyx, but we already offed him." Says Roxas. "Could it be another Absent Silhouette?" Asks Roxas.
"No, your battle against Larxene only lasted a couple of seconds in real time." Says Namine. "And you were transported to the world at which they met their demise, but none of the fallen members of Organization Thirteen have died here," says Namine.
"Well whatever, we'll find out soon enough." Says Xion. Communications cut between the three, and Roxas, Xion, and Mulan keep running after the man in the black cloak. Eventually, the three make their way to where they had previously fought Shan-yu and the large army of heartless.
"He got away. . ." Says Mulan, a tad annoyed.
"So how come you're after a member of Organization Thirteen?" asks Roxas.
"Organization Thirteen? What's that?" Asks Mulan.
"A group of people who are gathering the hearts of others. They're the ones who released the heartless upon this world, and every member wears one of those black coats." Xion explains. Mulan has a sudden realization.
"But, you two wore the same black coats when I first met you!" Says Mulan
"Oh, yeah. . . Well, you see Mulan, we're actually runaways." Says Roxas
"We defected from Organization Thirteen a few days before meeting you." Explains Xion.
"I see. . ." says Mulan. "Well, I was tasked with finding a rumored spy in black that lurks in the mountains. I had been up here tracking him for quite a while." Mulan explains. Suddenly, however, her attention turns to the mountain summit. "Look!" She says. Roxas and Xion turn to see a legion of small flying heartless emerging from behind the peak.
"Oh great, this again." Says Roxas. The legion of heartless storm the three heroes, who draw their weapons and prepare for battle, when a large amount of dark fire is spewed from behind them, destroying all the heartless in one fell swoop. The three look behind them to see the man in the black coat.
"Quit sneaking around!" Says Roxas, the three prepare for battle against the mysterious man.
"Quit wasting time and disappear!" Says the mysterious man in a familiar voice.
"Riku!" Roxas says, eyes flaring as he looks at the hooded figure. Riku removes his hood and shows that it really is him, blindfold and all. He materializes his own keyblade, known as Way To The Dawn, and prepares for battle. Riku slashes at the air and shoots a crescent-shaped sword beam of darkness. Xion blocks it with a reflective barrier before retaliating with a blizzard spell. Roxas charges at Riku and their blades clash Mulan attacks from behind but is blocked by a dark barrier, and sent flying back.
Xion dashes and attacks from behind but is blocked by a dark barrier as well, Roxas envelopes himself in a red energy and goes into Valor Form, his kingdom key being replaced with Oathkeeper. And with his second keyblade Oblivion in hand, he attempts to disarm Riku, who retaliates by casting a dark firaga spell, shooting tons of dark fire at Roxas, knocking him back far enough for him to turn and attack Xion. Xion engulfs herself in a yellow energy and enters master form, drawing her two keyblades Missing Ache and Pain of Solitude. She blocks an oncoming attack from Riku with a reflective shield, knocking him back, Roxas regains his composure and the two perform a coordinated attack, Xion casting thunder spells with Missing Ache while slashing at Riku with Pain of Solitude, and Roxas Slashes at Riku with Oathkeeper and Oblivion. Riku creates a blast of Darkness and knocks the two back, he charges at Roxas but before he can reach him his blade is met by Mulan's, who stops him in time to save Roxas, Xion and Roxas regain their composure and slash through Roxas in Unison, knocking him away towards the mountain's edge. He regains his composure and gets up. The three stand their ground as Riku stares back at the, or at least as best as he can while he's blindfolded.
"You two have grown stronger since we first met. But you two will have to return to Sora. Whether you like it, or not. . ." Says Riku, as he jumps back and over the cliff. The three run to the edge but they don't see him.
"There he goes again. . ." Says Mulan.
"At least he won't be bothering us for a while," says Roxas. Xion notices something and turns around
"BUT THAT WILL!" Xion yells, grabbing Roxas and Mulan before casting a reflect spell to protect them from the large flying heartless that just crashed right into them before soaring into the sky. Mulan looks on at the heartless, known as a Storm Rider, flies off into the distance and towards the capital.
"It's going towards the capital! We have to hurry!" Says Mulan. Roxas and Xion nod before running down the summit with Mulan towards the capital. Large amounts of heartless attack them as they run down to the capital. They arrive at the imperial square, and to their surprise, everything is fine, and the heartless is nowhere in sight. But they do see what looks like Riku with his hood on entering the imperial castle. They start to run their way to the castle when a group of heartless, made up of bolt towers and assault riders appear blocking their way.
"Get out of our way!" Yells Roxas, Charging right at the assault rider blade first knocking it back. The bolt riders smack Roxas, launching him back before one of the shocks him with incredible amounts of lightning. Xion attempts to rescue him but she's cut off by an assault rider. She fights the assault rider as Roxas looks on. He manages to muster the power to summon his keyblade and block the rest of the oncoming lightning, forming a plasma ball, which he throws back at the attacking bolt tower, killing it instantly. Roxas lands on the ground and attacks the assault rider from behind, Giving Xion the opportunity to strike it with incredible amounts of lightning, obliterating the heartless. With the assault rider down the remaining three bolt towers are taken down with ease.
"To the palace! Hurry!" Exclaims Mulan. Roxas and Xion nod their heads before running off towards the palace gates that they had defended from Shan Yu not too long ago. Roxas and Xion attempt to open the gate, but it's locked. They slam on the door to try and get the attention of anyone behind it, but there's no response. Mulan looks towards the overhanging roof and then to the support pillars.
"Guys, over here!" Says Mulan. The two turn to see Mulan climbing up the support pillar and onto the roof. Roxas and Xion follow suit and join her. Upon making it onto the roof the three climb through a window and onto the wooden support beams above the hallway below. They look down and see a tall man in a black coat walking towards a door opposite the side of the front gate. Roxas, Xion, and Mulan jump down and land on the ground to be level with the man in the coat. Xion notices how he's way taller than Riku, and by process of elimination, she determined who they were facing.
"Xigbar I presume?" asks Xion. The figure turns and removes his hood, revealing this to be the case. Xigbar smirks before speaking.
"Wow, great guess Poppet, good to see Tiger's with you too," says Xigbar in his usual laid-back way of speaking. He snaps his fingers and four nobodies appear surrounding Xion, Roxas, and Mulan. The three draw their weapons as they prepare for battle. Xigbar takes this opportunity and makes a run for the gate, leaving the four nobodies to deal with the heroes.
Xion immediately casts a reflect spell as the four nobodies shoot at them in unison, their lasers are reflected back at them and stun them long enough for Mulan and Roxas to take out one of the nobodies. The three remaining nobodies shoot at Xion, who knocks the lasers away with her keyblade, Roxas sees a laser fly through the air and gets an idea. He jumps off a wall in front of a laser and parries it. The laser turns and hits a nobody straight in the head, killing it instantly. Xion and Mulan strike another nobody down as the final one shoots at Xion. Roxas jumps in front of her and knocks the laser back at the nobody, hitting it in the chest, Xion turns and casts a blizzard spell, finishing off the last nobody.
"If that wasn't Riku. . . Then where did he go?" Asks Roxas, but he puts that thought to the side as Mulan runs to the throne room to check on Shang and the emperor. Roxas and Xion join her.
"Your Excellency! Shang! Something terrible has happened!" Mulan exclaims. "We saw a large beast fly from the mountains and toward the city!"
"Ahh. SO it is as the young man said. . ." Says the emperor. "You see, a young stranger visited us not long ago." The emperor explained. "The Captain fought the visitor, but he was swiftly defeated by the stranger's strange power."
"To my dishonor. . ." Shang notes.
"That young man was the one in black that I have heard whispers about I presume." the emperor says.
"Was his name Riku?" asks Xion, noting how the emperor described him as a young man rather than. . . whatever you'd call Xigbar.
"He didn't offer his name. He was rather rude. But he wore a black blindfold and had silver hair." explained the emperor.
"Well, that sounds like Riku. . ." Says Roxas.
"But why would he come here?" asks Mulan. Xion thinks for a moment, but before she can answer the question the ground shakes ferociously as a loud booming sound is heard outside. Roxas, Xion, and Mulan quickly hurry outside to see what the sound was, though they already have a vague idea of what it might be. They push open the large gates. And upon opening them, the large dragon-like heartless, the Storm Rider lands in front of it. Xion quickly casts a blizzard spell, knocking it back enough for the three to get out of the palace and close the gate behind them. The Storm Rider takes to skies and flies above the courtyard outside the palace, Roxas, Xion, and Mulan follow, and prepare for battle.
The Heartless swoops down and charges at the three. They dodge out of the way and Xion gets an idea, chasing after the heartless while still low to the ground, she catches up to it and grabs onto its hooked tail, climbing on top of it. Roxas and Mulan follow suit and join her. They swipe away at the two metallic spikes attached to the heartless's back. The spikes crack and then shatter as the three swipe at it with their blades. The Heartless roars in agony before shaking the three off of it. They land on the ground unharmed and lightning strikes the remaining spike on the heartless's back. Large balls of plasma appear beside the heartless, before shooting streaks of lightning at the heroes. The three manage to dodge the first wave of attacks, but Roxas and Mulan are sent flying back by the second wave, while Xion barely reflects the lightning in time to protect herself. She looks back at Roxas, before turning to the Storm Rider with fire burning in her eyes as she looks at the beast.
The storm rider creates small tornados and throws them at Xion, but that backfires as she uses the strong winds to soar into the skies. She takes out the other spike as Roxas and Mulan get up from off the ground. The heartless writhes in pain before falling to the ground, giving the three an opportunity to attack the heartless with everything they have. They slash away at the heartless before its eyes open and roars, launching the three back, before it takes to the skies once again. It swoops down and charges at the three, as it approaches the ground it spins its body, making it impossible to grab onto, and launching the three attackers back. Before flying to the skies yet again. As quickly as it flew to the skies it once again falls to the ground though, landing on the bridge between the courtyard entrance and the castle gates. Walls of darkness force Mulan, Xion, and Roxas into a small area, before the heartless shoots a massive, unavoidable beam of thunder at the three. Xion attempts to block it with a reflect spell, but it's too strong and it breaks through the barrier. The three are knocked back and collapse. Xion's eyes close as she's unable to stand. This could not be how their journey ends.
"I'll help ya!" A familiar high-pitched voice says. From seemingly out of nowhere the King and keyblade master, Mickey Mouse drops from the skies. He materializes his keyblade and shoots pearls of light at the heartless. Severely injuring the heartless, before gathering a large amount of light to his location. The heartless summons lightning from the skies to strike Mickey, but he dodges thanks to his incredible speed. Mickey separates his light into two pieces and sends them to Roxas and Xion, before jumping away from the heartless and making his escape.
Roxas and Xion open their eyes with sudden energy and ready their weapons. Xion quickly heals Mulan back to fighting strength and the three charge at the heartless. The walls of darkness disappear as the heartless flies into the air, dropping bombs that explode upon contact. Xion pulls Roxas and Mulan close as she casts a reflect spell strong enough to protect them from the blast. The heartless swoops to the ground and attempts the knock them down yet again, but Roxas charges at it and slides on the ground to be below the heartless, has slashes multiple times as hard as he can at the heartless's back, knocking it surprisingly high into the air. The heartless lands on the ground behind Roxas and the three attack it with everything they have The heartless roars yet again as it soars to the sky. The walls of darkness are erected yet again as it shoots a laser. Roxas boosts Xion into the air. Once she's high enough she casts a strong magnet spell, pulling Mulan and Roxas up to her level and away from the laser. The three fall to the ground as the laser disappear and strike the heartless with their blades
The walls disappear and the heartless soars to the skies yet again, it shoots many tornados but Roxas and Xion use them yet again to get upon the heartless's back. They destroy the spikes on its back with ease and the heartless falls to the ground. Roxas Hacks and slashes at the Heartless's horns before one of the cracks and is obliterated into many pieces, the other one is destroyed shortly after and the heartless begins to awaken. Xion looks at Roxas with a familiar flare in her eyes. Roxas smirks and recognizes what she wants. She jumps into the air and Roxas allows her to use his keyblade like a platform. As she lands he pushes her high into the air as the Heartless roars and shakes Roxas off it. Xion shoots many ice projectiles before throwing her keyblade at the heartless. The blizzard spells slam into the heartless's head, freezing it before the keyblade shatters the ice and pierces the Heartless's skull.
The heartless Roars in agony before falling to the ground below. The heartless disappears in wisps of black smoke, as a massive heart emerges from its body and disappears into the sky. Roxas doesn't focus on that though, as he's more focused on Xion, He jumps into the air and catches her before landing on the ground. He lets her go and makes sure she's alright.
"Don't worry, I'm alright." Says Xion reassuringly. Roxas smiles and nods before the two are distracted by Mulan, who motions them to follow her to the palace. To which they choose to do so.
"Thanks to you three, China is safe from those creatures yet again." Says the emperor. He praises them for their bravery and Roxas and Xion are about to leave but the emperor does one more thing. "By the way. I believe you two forgot these before your sudden disappearance." the emperor says as he reveals two medals He hands them to Shang who delivers the medals to Roxas and Xion. The two smile as they are awarded the medals.
"Thank you, your excellency!" The two say. They are excused and they leave the palace. They stare into the sky their keyblades in one hand, their medals around their necks, and their other hand intertwined with the others. The two look at each other, and then back at the sky. They raise their keyblades and disappear in a flash of light. The two reappear in the gummi ship and Namine awaits them. She looks at the two and smiles.
"I'm glad you're both okay. I was worried that you two would. . ." she trails off, choosing to not finish the sentence.
"I don't plan on dying again any time soon," says Roxas, before looking at Xion. "and I definitely don't plan on anything happening to you." Xion smiles and giggles.
"I don't plan anything happening to you either. . ." Xion says. The two stare into each other's eyes before Namine snaps them back to reality.
"Hey! Earth to Roxas and Xion!" Roxas and Xion's faces turn a pink color as they quickly look back at Namine, giggling. "Are you guys ready to go?" She asks. Roxas and Xion nod before taking their seats. "Alright. We're off to Halloween town!" says Namine. The gummi ship blasts off as they make their way to the frightening world.