Riku and Kairi open their eyes as the drowsy feeling that overtook them begins to disappear. They get up and look around, and immediately recognize the place.

"Traverse Town? Again?" says Kairi. The two hear footsteps approaching from behind. Riku looks over his shoulder, and barely makes out the person approaching them, but he immediately recognizes him.

"Joshua," says Riku

"Nice of you two to join us," says Joshua

"What happened?" asks Kairi

"Trouble happened. I was hoping the four of you would help." Joshua responds

"Four? So that means Roxas and Xion are here too?" asks Riku

"Bravo, Riku. That is correct. Though they're still in the other version of this world." Joshua clarifies. "Now, let's get down to the problem. We've got a nasty Deram Eater on our hands. It keeps jumping between worlds. Not only that, it knows how to summon creatures like it, and pretty powerful ones, too." Joshua explains. "The others are on a mission to stop it, but they need help."

"The others? You mean Shiki and Beat?" asks Riku

"That's right. They all found their Game partners. Shiki is over fighting alongside Neku in the other Traverse Town. While Beat and Rhyme are fighting in this imagining of the world. In fact, Roxas and Xion are helping Neku in Shiki right now." says Joshua

"That's nice to hear. Is there anything we can do?" asks Kairi

"Yes actually, the Dream Eater just reappeared in the Fountain Plaza I sent Beat and Rhyme to face it.."

"Alright, we're on it," says Riku as he and Kairi begin to make their way over to the fountain plaza. As they do so, however, Joshua turns to say one last thing.

"There's something else you two need to know."

"Huh? What is it?" asks Kairi

"These two Traverse Towns separated by the Portal. I was under the impression they were parallel worlds, but it looks like I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" asks Riku

"That's where it gets tricky. After You and Roxas left, Shiki crossed the Portal to join Neku. Did you notice Players have a mission timer inscribed on their hands? Well, when she got to the other side, Shiki had more time left on her clock than her partner. And when Rhyme crossed over from the other side, she had less time left."

"So. . . time here flows differently in the two worlds?" asks Kairi "That's not really a big deal. Time flows differently in all worlds." Kairi explains. "For example, our friend Aqua was in a world known as the realm of darkness for ten years in our time, but she barely aged a year," says Kairi.

"Yes, I understand that," says Joshua. "But if these Traverse Towns were parallel worlds, then time would flow the same in both. But it doesn't, ergo they are not parallel worlds."

"So, you mean they're past and future versions of the same world?" Riku asks

"No. Impossible. The worlds are clearly separate- it's not just time that sets them apart. As you Kairi here noted, every world flows at its own pace, which tells me that for all their similarities, these are two distinct worlds."

"Distinct worlds?" asks Kairi

"Yes. . . but this is all conjecture. It's like the same world imagined by two distinct groups of people. What does that tell you? That we're in. . ."

Riku's eyes widen as he connects the dots "A dream. . ."

"Yes. Bravo again, Riku." says Joshua, "In which case non of this may matter one bit to me or my friends. But to you two, as well as Xion and Roxas, I think it might be a vital clue."

Riku thinks for a moment, as he tries think of what it could all mean, but he finds no answer. He chooses to push the thought away for now. He has more pressing matters to deal with "Right. . . Thanks."

"I guess We should start running to the plaza now, right?" Kairi asks

"Wow, I'm starting to run out of Bravos," says Joshua. Kairi and Riku smile, before turning back to the door and taking off.

Kairi and Riku navigate the Backstreets with ease, slashing through any nightmares that get in their way. They reach the alleyway that connects to the Fountain Plaza, and they rush even faster as they hear a commotion nearby. They turn the corner to see Beat and Rhyme facing off against a large nightmare, not as large as the likes of the Wargoyle or Char Clawbster, but still much larger than most nightmares.

"Beat" shouts Riku as he and Kairi join them

"About time, yo!" says Beat

"Rhyme, Beat, what happened to your Dream Eaters?" asks Kairi.

"We don't need them anymore. We have each other now."

"Yeah, I got my partner now yo! And we don't need you!" Beat snaps.

Rhyme says as she turns to her Game partner "Oh, here we go again. Five seconds ago, it was, "Where's Riku? Where's Roxas?" -and now the act?"

"Bwaah! Don't tell them that!" says Beat, unable to hide his embarrassment. Rhyme giggles to herself while the nightmare stares blankly at the four.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Rhyme. Riku, right? Sorry, my partner's acting like a doofus."

"I am not! You always gotta go around and. . . and garnish my reputation!" says Beat. Riku and Kairi also begin to stare blankly as the two bicker like siblings.

"Since when? You burned that bridge all by yourself. Nobody raises their reputation by lowering others." Riku and Kairi can't contain their laughter

"Yo, Riku. You gonna sit there and let her get in my grill?"

Riku tries to calm down while Kairi keeps on laughing "Sorry, it's just. . .you two are cut from the same cloth."

"I know!" says Rhyme cheerfully at the same time as beat says:

"I ain't made of cloth!" the nightmare continues to stare blankly at the four. It's somewhat confused.

"Beat looks and talks like a punk, but there's a heart of gold in there somewhere."

"Yeah. He's come through for me, so I know what you mean," says Riku. the nightmare begins to shake its head subtly as the four continue to ignore it.

"There, see? I'm a-" Beat cuts himself off "Rhyme! You didn't just call me a punk again!" Rhyme slowly begins to laugh as Kairi laughs even harder. Finally, the nightmare has had enough of this joy. It squawks loudly as it opens a book in one of its wings

"All right, now we ruffled its feathers," says Kairi as she quickly calms down. Riku and Kairi materialize their keyblades while Rhyme and Beat stretch their arms and prepare to clash with the beast.

"You two ready?" asks Riku

"Yeah!" beat and Rhyme exclaim simultaneously. Lighting strikes the ground around the nightmare, creating glyphs on the floor where it struck. From the glyphs emerge multiple weaker nightmares. The nightmare, known as the Spellican turns and dashes into the alley.

"Me and Rhyme got things here," says Beat

"You two go after that thing!" says Rhyme

"Right!" Says Riku as he and Kairi dash into the alleyway after the nightmare. More small, weak nightmares appear before them but they make use of the nearby walls to get past them with flowmotion. They chase the Spellican into the backstreets, jumping off the center bridge with flowmotion to close the distance as possible. As they reach a relatively tight section of the backstreets, the Spellican flies high into the air and creates more nightmares. Riku and Kairi stop as an entire stampede of Tricerotop-like nightmares come charging at them.

Almost on instinct, Riku and Kairi jump back. The two aim their keyblades and cast spells of light and darkness, destroying the stampede instantly. As they're about to chase after the Spellican, they hear the voice of Joshua behind them. They turn around and look up to see Joshua standing on a raised platform.

"Riku! Kairi! Go to the third district. We're going to pin it between both worlds!"

"Got it!" says Riku, before the two keyblade bearers run, beginning to follow the nightmare yet again. They follow Joshua's plan to a tee. Using Flowmotion, they chase the Spellican through the first district, forcing it to fly through the second. The creature takes a sharp turn around a corner and just as planned, it enters the third district. The nightmare flies as fast as possible towards the door looping back to the first district, but Kairi, using Flowmotion, cuts it off. Riku catches up to her, and stands by her side, completely blocking out the only exit.

The creature turns to look at the exit to the second district, only to see beat and Rhyme close the door behind them as they enter.

"This is my street, yo!" he shouts

"You gotta play by the rules," says Rhyme, teasing the Spellican. The nightmare Squawks loudly before turning around and creates a portal.

"What!?" shouts Beat

"Hey!" Rhyme yells. Riku and Kairi quickly try to slash at the nightmare, but it's no use, as it's already disappeared into the other version of Traverse Town.

"Roxas. . .Xion. . . you got this," says Riku as Rhyme and Beat climb the stairs down their level.

"This is so tired, yo. Every time we chase him down. . ." Beat Laments

"Don't worry Beat. We have friends on the other side. They'll take care of things from here." says Kairi

"Yeah, well, I still don't like it," says Beat

"You know, you are such a good listener, Beat." the four turn to look to the voice, as they expected, it's Joshua. His shoes lightly touch the ground as he finishes floating down from the roof of the nearby building. "You're like a sponge, really."

Beat laughs a little at this. "Me? I'm not a sponge. I'm just me." Rhyme giggles at Beat's response.

"You mean "Daisukenojo Bito"?" Joshua teases.

Beat practically jumps back "Hey! Don't use my full name!"

"That's a weird name." Riku remarks.

"Hey!" yells Beat. The group laughs together as they can't help but feel happy. If everything goes well. Beat, Rhyme, Neku, Shiki, Joshua, all of them. Soon, they'll get to go home. The group turns as a light shines along the side of a building, taking the shape of a keyhole.

"Guess that's our cue," says Kairi. The two keyblade wielders begin to walk towards the keyhole, preparing to leave this world behind.

"Hey, Kairi, Riku- thanks," says Rhyme

"Yeah, stay cool. We'll catch up with you soon." Beat says.

"Mm-hmm. Say hi to Xion. And Roxas too!" says Rhyme.

"Sure thing!" says Kairi as she smiles at the two.

Joshua looks at the two with a serious face. "Riku. Kairi. Remember what I said earlier. Be careful. If this really is a dream, It will lie to you. It'll try everything it can to make you think it's real."

"Got it," says Riku

"What? I don't got it," says Beat, confused as ever.

"You would break your head on this one." Joshua dismisses. The five of them have one last good laugh together, before finally saying farewell. Riku and Kairi raise their keyblades and take aim at the keyhole. Beams of light shoot from the blades and pierce the keyhole, causing it to shine brightly. Joshua, Rhyme, and Beat shield their eyes as the keyhole shines brighter and brighter. Riku and Kairi feel a familiar drowsy feeling returning to them, and they can not stand any longer. They collapse as they fall to slumber once more, and once the light dims down, only Joshua, and the players of the Game, remain.