Riku slowly opens his eyes as he finds himself on the cold ground. He pushes himself off the ground and looks around. His eyes widen as he realizes where he is.
"Am I in . . . Traverse Town!?" Riku asks aloud in shock, unsure how he made his way to the world between worlds. He looks down and notices the change in clothes. He wears a pair of jeans and a mostly yellow sleeveless jacket. With a strange symbol on the back, which Riku doesn't notice.
"Xion? Kairi? Roxas?" yells Riku as he looks around. He hears the sound of groaning from the risen platform nearby that leads to the 2nd district. Roxas puts his hand on the guard rail as he awakens. He looks up to see the source of the noise and locks eyes with Riku. He wears his Organization coat as usual, but it's unzipped to reveal the regular clothes underneath, with a strange pattern on his jacket being present. The pattern is made up of Stylized versions of the letter X, which Riku hadn't seen before. He quickly looks back and forth, in search of Kairi and Xion, but they're nowhere to be seen.
Roxas sighs as he leaps over the guard rail and gets on Riku's level."Great. . . looks like they're somewhere else."
Riku looks away from Roxas, the awkwardness of the situation is apparent, yet the two try to avoid talking about it "I can't believe Traverse Town is a sleeping world honestly. I wasn't expecting it, but it kinda makes sense when you think about it."
"So this is Traverse Town. . ." Roxas takes a good look at the realm which houses those whose worlds were lost to darkness.
"So I guess the exam's started. . ." Riku comments. The two stare at a wall, both of them are waiting on the other to do something. They are instead surprised to hear a voice above them
"Wow! Where's your portal?" the two look up to see a blonde boy in a white shirt and black pants above. "It takes something special to jump between grounds without one." says the boy
"Who're you!?" asks Roxas as the two jump back.
"My name is Joshua" Joshua answers
"What do you mean by our portal?" asks Riku
"Are we just skipping past the part where you tell me your name?" asks Joshua
"Riku."
"Roxas." Joshua laughs to himself a little before speaking again.
"Hello there, Riku, Roxas. Portals are like gateways that link up our worlds." Joshua explains. Apparently, the world we're standing in right now. Well, there are two copies of it It's sort of split in half." He explains. "Portals are what let folks like us cross between them."
"There can be two of a world!?" Roxas asks in complete shock.
"The world is as many things as people need it to be. The concept that we all live in the same world, that's just in our heads. Surely you knew?" Joshua asks. Before they can respond Joshua begins talking again. "I'll tell you what, I've got a little errand for you two."
"Sorry, I don't trust you," says Riku before turning around. Roxas for once, finds himself agreeing with Riku.
"Yeah, we just met. Why would we waste our time being errand boys?" asks Roxas, turning and walking in the same direction as Riku.
"Aw, at least hear me out! I'm looking for a girl named Rhyme. She's the key to the portal. And on the other side, who knows who we'll find? Maybe even your friends. . . Kairi and Xion." The two boys instinctively stop as they hear the stranger mention their friends. They quickly turn and face the man.
"You know Kairi and Xion?" asks Riku seriously. Joshua laughs to himself a little.
"Now I have your attention," Joshua says smugly as he jumps off the archway he sat upon. He falls to the ground slowly, or at least, slowly in comparison to how a normal person would fall. "But, unfortunately. I don't know where they are," says Joshua. "If they're not in this version of the world, I can only assume they have to be in the other one. Simple logic." The two think about it for a moment and realize they really don't have a choice.
"Okay, you wanna find Rhyme? You got it. Let's go." says Riku. Joshua motions for them to follow him, and he runs off. They follow closely behind him when they're suddenly attacked by dream eaters. Roxas and Riku materialize their keyblades. And deal with them as best as they can, even if they're weaker than they're used to. Once the dream eaters are slain they quickly catch up with Joshua in the second district
"Why don't they ever attack you?" asks Roxas
"They being Dream Eaters? They won't go after you unless you're a dreamer. Which is funny, because I've got plenty of dreams."
"But they're definitely attacking us. . . So that makes us dreamers?" asks Roxas
"Every human being is a dreamer." Joshua states. "I had a friend once who said he never dreamed of anything, but it turned out that his were the most powerful dreams of all," Joshua mentions offhand. "You two sort of remind me of him." Joshua turns and looks at the two, who look back at Joshua. "Here, let's give your dreams shape," says Joshua handing over a synthesis recipe from seemingly nowhere, as well as some materials. "In this world, they take form as Dream Eaters, Which can become great allies." The two boys look at the synthesis recipe skeptically. Neither of them have any experience with this sort of thing. But they follow the instructions anyway, putting the Troubling Figment and Rampant Figment in one of their spare potions, before putting it in the ground. For a second, there's nothing, but the potion glows before exploding in a flash of light. Roxas and Riku shield their eyes while Joshua stares blankly at where the potion once stood. Once Riku and Roxas open their eyes they find a colorful bat flying in their faces.
"This is a Komory Bat. It's weak, but it'll make you stronger." Joshua reassures them. "Why not give it a name?" Roxas and Riku have a hard time deciding on a name when Riku brings up a peculiar idea.
"How about Isa?" asks Riku, Roxas is taken aback by this suggestion
"Isa!? Where'd you hear that name from?" as Roxas, Riku looks stunned at Roxas's sudden mix of emotions. Well, more mixed than they usually are when he's around Riku.
"It's short of Isamu."
"Oh. . . I see," Roxas says before explaining where he knew that name. "Before he was a nobody, Saix was an apprentice of Ansem, or, Xehanort I guess. He and Axel were known as Isa and Lea back then." Roxas explains.
"I see . . . then how about Flynn?" Roxas thinks for a moment, before nodding in agreement. The two look at their new friend, even if they have to share it with someone they're not on good terms with. Before they can even talk though, they hear a voice rushing from the first district door. A boy comes by, and yells at Joshua
"I got you now Joshua! Once I take you down, yo, me and Rhyme is goin' back where we belong!" he shouts. The boy wears a white tank top, over a red tank top. He has a black beanie on over his blonde hair, with a skull symbol on it, he dawns a necklace made of chain, which has a metal skull on the end. Joshua sighs as he turns to face the boy in front of them
"Beat. How many times do we have to go over this? You've been tricked by that rogue in the black coat."
"What? Black coats?" the two boys step back stunned as they hear about a new foe that dawns a black coat.
"I'm telling you, you've made a friend of our enemy." Beat is having none of this
"Just can it, aight? Your inverse psychiatry ain't gonna work!" Beat raises his hand as he summons a few dream eaters. The dream eaters charge, but instead of attacking Joshua, they attack Riku and Roxas. "What! Man, not cool!" Joshua laughs a little at this attempt on his life. The two take out Beat's dream eaters with ease, thanks to their new friend Flynn. Beat groans as he witnesses another failure "You know what? Forget it. This is stale, yo." beat says, calmly for once. Joshua climbs up beside him.
"Playing the tough guy 24/7? I'd be worn out too."
"I just. . . wanna protect the one person who matters. . ." Beat admits.
"I know the feeling. . ." says Riku
"Same. . ." Roxas adds on. For the first time in a while, there seems to be no animosity in the air. Before the two can speak again, however, they're drowned by the sudden sensation of drowsiness. They collapse, unable to stay awake a moment longer.
". . . yo, are they okay?" asks Beat
"They'll be fine," Joshua says as he laughs to himself.
Roxas and Riku stir as they regain consciousness sometime later.
"Ugh. . . what happened?" ask Roxas, looking down on the cold floor he lays on. "Did we. . . fall asleep?"
"I think so. . ." says Roxas as he tries to shake the drowsy feeling from his eyes. He looks up where Joshua and Beat were, only to see they're gone. "Where are Joshua and Beat?" asks Roxas as he looks around.
"Hey! Do you mind! I could use some help here!" says a female voice nearby. Riku and Roxas turn around to see a girl with pink hair and a hat running from some nightmares. They materialize their keyblades and chase after her. They follow her into the 1st district and find her surrounded near the center square. They leap forward and slash through them with ease, while their bat buddy Flynn uses his magic to increase their speed and stamina. With his help, the two manage to take down the nightmares with relative ease.
The girl takes a deep breath. Now that they've taken out the nightmares and everyone's not busy running around, they get a better look at the girl they saved. She has long pink hair that curls into spikes near the end. Her white hat has blue stripes that run along the top. Her yellow jacket covers her crop-top, and the colors compliment her skirt and boots quite well.
The girl takes a deep breath. "Thanks. You really saved me there. I'm Shiki, how about you?"
"Riku."
"Roxas"
"Thanks, Riku, Roxas." she smiles.
"No problem," says Riku as he turns to walk away.
This seems to frustrate Shiki a little "Hey! That's it? You chat up a girl and then just say, "No problem," and walk off?
"He's probably just worried about what his girlfriend would think." Roxas jokes
"I'm bad at this. . . Sorry," says Riku to Shiki, before turning to Roxas. "And I'm not, unlike you Namine actually does trust me." the two glare at each other before Riku turns his attention back to Shiki. "Look, it's dangerous out here. You should probably go home," he suggests
"If it's dangerous, how can you just leave me here?" Shiki says as she looks at a stuffed toy that resembles a black cat. "Aren't you supposed to be knights in shining armor?" she teases
"Kn-knights? You've got the wrong idea." Roxas says backing away
"Omigosh, I was so just kidding," Shiki says in a disgruntled tone. "Do you go out much?" she asks. Riku sighs and crosses his arms
"I grew up on an island all my life with like six friends before being nearly alone for an entire year," says Riku
"I was raised in a cult for a year before leaving with my girlfriend and we've only just now gotten a normal life," says Roxas. Shiki gives them a confused look, unable to tell if the two are joking are being completely serious.
"You two remind me of this guy I know." she laughs a little. "Well, good thing we met."
"Yeah, great." Riku comments. Before beginning to walk off, and Roxas begrudgingly follows him.
"Hey! Where are you two going?" asks Shiki, quickly jogging to catch up with them
"We're trying to find Beat and Joshua," says Roxas as they enter the Traverse Town back streets. They navigate the alleys of the back streets, slaying any nightmares that get in their way, before finding and climbing up a large set of stairs, which leads them to the fountain plaza, and then the fourth district. They look around the streets and hang out spots of the fourth district but find no one. With nowhere else to look, they make their way to the fifth district.
"Over there!" says Shiki, before running towards some stairs next to the large building in front of them.
"Hey! We should stick together!" yells Riku, as he and Roxas chase after her. They hear a cry in front of them as they get closer to the stairs.
"Great. . . you can't expect us to-" says Roxas, but when they turn the corner, they no longer see Shiki, instead they see a man in a black coat, the same ones worn by those in the organization. The only sign of Shiki was her stuffed cat which lay at the man's feet. The man steps on and crushes the doll with his boot, before kicking it away.
"How did you get here?" asks the man as he looks at Roxas "By choice? or by chance?" The man begins walking down the stairs, approaching the two. "You cannot control what you're not aware of." The two-step back as they materialize their keyblades. "This wakeless sleep will be your prison . . . to wander forever."
"What do you mean?" asks Riku as they get ever so closer to the pool of water behind them.
"Riku! Roxas! don'chu listen to that punk!" Yells a familiar voice nearby. They turn to see Beat standing near the bridge, with Shiki behind him. "Shiki's gonna be fine! She told me whassup. Hoodie here set this whole thing up, yo. He promised to send Shiki back to our world, with Riku and a girl named Kairi being the cost of the travel." he yells. Shiki looks away guiltily. "Yo, this is seriously one half-baked excuse for a mission. Betchu ain't even a Reaper," he says angrily.
The hooded figure looks over at the two, then back at Roxas and Riku, He puts his hand to his hood, and pulls it back, revealing his face. The man isn't so much a man, but a boy, around the same age as Riku and Roxas. He has tanned skin, as well as silver hair, and yellow eyes.
"Alright, who are you?" asks Riku. The boy merely laughs as he raises his arms to the air. Creating a large orb of darkness above. The orb explodes and reveals a flying nightmare, with the face of a monkey, but the claws and teeth of a monster, known as a Hockomonkey. The nightmare rises into the air before dashing into the roof of the nearby building, crashing through the glass ceiling, and entering the building. The boy in front of Riku and Roxas opens a corridor of darkness and jumps in.
"Wait!" shouts Roxas as he slashes at the corridor, but it closes before Roxas can reach the dark portal. Shiki walks towards the two.
"Riku. . . Roxas. . . I'm sorry." she says as she looks at her reflection in the water. Riku grabs her stuffed animal off of the ground and tosses it to her. She catches it and wipes at the spot where the man stepped on it, before looking back at the two,
"It's alright," Riku says, before turning to Beat. "Beat, watch her," says Riku, before he and Roxas run into the building the nightmare entered. As they enter the building they look around, only to suddenly dodge out of the way of a massive fireball. They get back up and see the Hackomonkey flying around the building as it waves its hands, shooting fireballs at the two. Riku and Roxas dash around the arena as they try and dodge the magic attacks. Roxas is cornered when a fireball is sent his way. He looks around and dashes at the railing. He jumps on as he grinds on the rails, and suddenly feels a burst of energy surge within him. He jumped off the rail as he glowed with a strange energy. He lands on a wall feet first before jumping back at the Nightmare and stabs at the nightmare, before pulling out his keyblade and slashing downwards, cutting the Hackomonkey and pushing it back as Roxas lands on the ground.
The Hackomonkey tries to swipe at Roxas, but it's distracted by a fire spell cast by Riku from behind. The creature slashes at Riku with its claws but Riku jumps back and lands on a wall feet-first. He mimics Roxas's movements and feels a surge of energy as he dashes from wall to wall, slashing at the nightmare whenever possible. The Hackomonkey grounds as it disappears in a flash, leaving only its hands behind. The hands uproot trees from the ground and slam them at Riku and Roxas, who manage to dodge the attacks thanks to their newly learned technique. The two make quick work of the hands, casting fire and thunder spells from far away, then dashing in to slash them with their keyblades.
Upon all hands disappearing the Hackomonkey returns in a flash of light. It lets out a loud roar as it slashes the two with its massive hands. Riku and Roxas are sent into a wall, before falling to the ground. They try to get up but are hit with two massive fireballs. They've separated thanks to the blast.
the Hackomonkey approaches Roxas as the two try and get on their feet. Riku looks up as he sees the Hackomonkey raise its hand, preparing to finish off Roxas when suddenly, it's hit by a thunder spell. Riku is confused, but then he sees it. He blended in so well due to the Hackomonkey's colorful body, but Flynn had been flying around and helping out whenever it could. Flynn flies towards Riku and wraps its wings around itself before dashing into Riku and disappearing. Riku feels a strange sensation as coming from his back before he's lifted into the air. He looks over his shoulder to see two bat wings protruding from his back. That's when he realizes, he's flying. Riku smirks as he dashes at the Hackomonkey, weaving around its attacks as he slashes the nightmare's body.
"What!? That's not fair! Why the hell do you get bat wings!?" Yells Roxas.
"I'm just that cool," Riku jokes, before rising into the air. He suddenly dashes at high speeds and stabs right through the nightmare. He quickly pulls a 180 and stabs through the hackomonkey again, and again, until finally he flies back and throws his keyblade at the Hackomonkey. The keyblade pierces its body and flies right through, before dematerializing. The creature shrieks as it rises into the air, before going limp and quiet. It gathers into a ball of light before exploding into little pieces. Roxas floats to the ground before his wings disappear and Flynn reemerges. Riku walks up to Roxas and offers him a hand. Riku glares before putting his hands to the ground and pushing himself back onto his feet, before walking towards the exit.
"You could at least thank me you know?" says Riku. "I did just save your life." Roxas sighs as he looks at Riku over his shoulder.
". . . fine, I guess this does make up for the first time you tried to kill me. . . Thanks," says Roxas, though it doesn't exactly sound like he means it. Riku sighs and follows him, while Flynn flies behind them.
The two exit the building to see light from the explosion raining from above. Beat and Shiki turn around as they see light-blue apparitions of people appear behind them, everyone experiences sudden shock as they see the people before them.
"What's this?" asks Shiki. The blue apparitions resemble that of a boy with orange hair, a short girl in orange and white clothes, wearing a beanie similar to that of Beat, and two girls, Xion and Kairi.
"What are we seeing-" Asks Roxas, confused as he reaches out towards Xion, he can almost touch her, Roxas pulls his hand away though when Beat starts talking.
"This is so messed up man!" he says as he looks at the girl in front of him. He wipes away some tears from his eyes as he bends down on one need to be on her level. "She's right here in front of me and. . . I can't reach her!" He reaches out to grab hold of the girl but his hands phase right through her. Riku looks at the boy, and smiles.
"If your hearts are connected, you'll reach her," he reassures him. Beat looks down to the ground, then back at the girl in front of him.
"Rhyme. . ." Shiki looks over at beat, then at the boy in orange hair in front of her.
"Neku. . ." the apparitions fade away, the two stand there and silently, unsure of what to do next. Riku and Roxas are about to say something when a sudden feeling of drowsiness washes over them. Shiki and beat look over as the two collapse. They manage to catch them before they hit the ground.
"What's wrong!? Are they alright!?" asks Shiki
"I don't know yo, This happened earlier too." They gently put them to the ground as Flynn flies above.
"At least they have someone to keep them safe while they sleep," says Shiki, reassuring herself more than anyone.
Sometime later. Roxas and Riku stir, they get up from off the ground, and look around, only to notice the apparitions of Xion and Kairi have reappeared. They seem to be waking up from a slumber as well. They look around and are shocked to see the two. They stare at each other, wondering if this is just another apparition, or if they're really seeing them in real-time. But before they can do anything they hear a voice in front of them.
"In their world, something happened that brought their existence to an end," says Joshua, who stands before them. "To keep them from fading altogether, I gathered up the very last remnants of their dreams and looked for a place to give them refuge. It was then this world appeared to answer my call, and Rhyme's dreams allowed us to reach it. Here, I thought they might have a chance. That the pieces of their dreams could make them whole again." Joshua walks away and leans over a railing as he looks into the pool of water below. "Imagine my surprise when I realized dreams take bodily form in this world. It struck me- by linking their dream pieces back together, maybe I could make them exist again. Maybe I could give them another chance."
"It can't be that simple. . . " Riku thinks aloud, Xion and Kairi almost jump hearing him talk, not expecting the apparitions they see to make noise. Joshua laughs though,
"Well, why can't it?" asks Joshua."By ourselves, we're no one. It's when other people look at us and see someone, that's the moment we each start to exist. All they needed was for someone to see them, connect with them. And you four were a big part of making it happen." The four look at each other, then back at Joshua.
"Joshua, just . . . who are you?" the four ask simultaneously. Joshua laughs a little at their curiosity
"Let's say. . . a friend," he says with a smile. Suddenly, from his back sprout two large angelic wings. He flaps them as he rises into the air before looking up, and flying towards the heavens.
"Woah. . ." says Xion as she sees the man slowly disappear into the sky. Then, however, their attention is turned to the building in front of them. A light glows in the shape of a keyhole. The four look at each other once more, and nod. They materialize their keyblades and point them at the keyhole. Beams of light shoot forth from their keyblades. The beams pierce the keyhole and a bright light glows as it does so. The four close their eyes as they're blinded by the light, and fall to slumber once more.