Chapter 3: Passion
Donald and Goofy, dressed in the clothes of commoners, materialized in the place called Traverse Town. It was a fairly large town that was separated into three districts, plus an alleyway. Donald had been there before, mainly because his nephews—Huey, Dewey, and Louie—lived in Traverse Town with their rich Uncle Scrooge McDuck (who was actually a very extended family member). They ran the main item and weapon shop of the town.
His three twin nephews at one time had lived with Donald, however bad blood between them and Donald's explosive temper (along with quite a few humorous events involving everything from serious snowball fights to dangerous chases at the local amusement park) had convinced Donald that they'd be better off living with Scrooge.
Goofy, however, had never been outside of Disney Castle and the surrounding area, so he looked around at the dark town in awe. He looked up at the sky a shiver ran down his elongated spine. "Look, Donald! A star's goin' out!" He said in his slow-sounding voice.
Donald looked up and quacked in surprise. He watched as the star seemed to flicker and then flash brightly. The star disappeared from existence afterwards. Sadly, he said, "Come on. Let's hurry. We need to find that key!"
Goofy nodded… well… goofily and followed Donald across the brick square that led to a junction of shops, restaurants, and houses. Pluto followed closely behind them, his snout near the ground sniffing for something.
Goofy watched as Pluto's nose sniffed more urgently and the yellow dog broke away from Goofy and Donald and into a nearby alley. "Um, Donald… Ya know, I bet'cha that—"
"Aw, what d'ya know, you big palooka?" Donald cut him off before Goofy could finish.
Goofy contemplated this for a few seconds. "What do I know?" He shrugged and whistled for Pluto. "Pluto! Come on, boy!" Without waiting for the dog to come out from the alley, he followed Donald into the market of Traverse Town…
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Sora was sore. Very sore. Every muscle in his body screamed with pain with every single movement that he made. Even his hair seemed to ache with unspoken pain.
He moaned loudly and then he felt something wet slide across his face. Whatever it was, it was wet, sticky, and warm. Very warm. In fact, it felt very relaxing compared to the state he was in right now. But soon whatever it was got more urgent, leaving a thick blanket of what felt like water all over his face.
Finally, Sora's eyes opened slightly and he looked around in a daze. "What a dream…" He said softly, still disorientated from his adventure. His eyes closed again but suddenly he felt something slam into him roughly and his eyes shot open. The first words that escaped his lips were, "It wasn't a dream!"
He looked around and saw some kind of yellow dog, with its tongue hanging loosely from its mouth, standing on all fours right in from of him. Sora's face went slightly green when he realized what the sticky substance was and he immediately got to work cleansing his face from the dog's saliva.
He looked to the dog once more. "Hey, boy… Do you know where we are?" The dog gave him a normal dog-grin and then ran out of the alleyway that Sora was in. "Hey!" Sora cried and ran after him, not noticing the man who hid in the shadows, watching him…
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"So you see, I'm not from this world! I'm lost!" Sora finished explaining to the man named Cid. Cid owned the local accessory shop. He had short blonde hair and stood a good foot taller than Sora. In his mouth was a lit cigarette.
"Well, kid," He said with a puff of smoke. "you've arrived in Traverse Town, which is on the world called Gaia! Lucky you landed here too! Gaia's mostly just forest, desert, and sea. Traverse Town is one of the only cities on the planet! Anywhere else and you might be dead!"
Sora fell silent for a few moments, processing everything he had been told. "So, gramps…"
"Don't call me gramps!"
"Then don't call me kid!"
The two glared at each other a moment longer before laughing together. Cid walked over to Sora and slapped him on the back. "You're all right, kid!"
Sora coughed slightly from the smoke originating from the cigarette and smiled. "Don't call me kid, and I can say the same about you! But if you don't get that thing out of my face…"
Cid burst out laughing and promptly threw the cigarette into a nearby trashcan. "I was running out of cigarette on that one anyway." He said with a chuckle. He sighed however, when he saw yellow flames shoot up from the trashcan. "Not again…" He managed before walking calmly over to a nearby wall and pulling a fire distinguisher off its place and using it to put out the fire caused by the lit cigarette.
"Well, kid, that's one you did not see." He said as he turned around to look at Sora… only to see that his store was empty. "Weird kid…" He said softly as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his lighter and another cigarette.
"Don't play stupid, Cid." A voice cut through the silence of the shop.
Cid jumped and then whipped around to face the man who hid in the shadows. "Darn it, Leon! Don't do that!"
Light glinted off of Leon's weapon as he stepped into the light. He sighed heavily and rested his forehead in his palm. "This isn't good…" He started. Cid just snorted in reply. "How could the Keyblade choose such a weak master?"
Cid just shrugged and puffed out another breath of noxious smoke. "I dunno, but would you get out of my shop? You're scaring the moogle!" He said with a grin as he indicated a small, white, furry creature with what looked like a pompom rising above its head.
Leon just gave Cid and death glare and headed towards the exit. "I need to keep tabs on the kid anyway. He'll liable to get himself killed." With that, he left Cid and his moogle.
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Sora walked around the district, admiring the sight of the dark town. "It's so different than the island… There it's always warm and humid, here it's…" He shivered and realized grimly that he was still wearing his shorts and t-shirt. "Cold…"
He rubbed his bare arms to create some warmth, but Traverse Town, at night anyway, was very cold. Rubbing his arms did not help much.
"I wonder if Riku and Kairi are here somewhere?" He said out loud, looking around some more.
Deciding to try to find any trace of them, he walked around the district some more, finally coming to large door that said 'Second District' on it. He quickly decided that maybe he'd find something in here and he walked into the Second District.
The first thing he noticed was that the Second District had two sections. One was the ground 'floor' where a fountain, many benches, and a small park could be seen. The other section of the district was on a raised platform that surrounded the lower section. Stores, houses, and even a hotel ringed this section, their windows illuminating nearly the entire place.
He began walking along the upper section when a blood curling scream pierced the silence and he felt someone slam into him roughly, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The two rolled down a nearby staircase and onto the brick ground of the lower district.
Sora was about to kick the man off of him when a soft thud was heard. "No, please!" The man cried as the footfalls (that's what the thuds were, Sora realized) got closer. Sora immediately stopped struggling and his hand slowly reached for the 'key' that was strapped to his belt.
Although he couldn't see very well with the man on top of him, he could hear his rasping breaths and he knew that whatever the man was seeing was very dangerous.
Suddenly, the man's body jerked and lifted right off of Sora's body. At first he was relieved to be able to move freely again, but he soon wished that the man was still on top of him. For their was a creature of some sort with a clawed hand inside the man's chest!
The first thing Sora noticed about the creature was the silver helmet that covered its head and plunged its face into shadow. From in the shadows of the helmet, two yellow eyes looked at the man hungrily. It was dressed in what looked like a deep purple jumpsuit and its clawed hands were covered in skintight red gloves. On the creature's chest was some sort of symbol. It was an elongated heart with an X through it.
The creature threw the now dead man to the side and in its hand was what looked like a… ball of light? There was a bright flash and the ball of light disappeared and the creature focused on Sora.
The fourteen year old immediately grabbed his weapon and brought it up to a defensive position. It was just in time too, because the creature wasted no time in leaping at Sora. But when it slammed into the 'key', it was suddenly flung backward and into the brick wall that surrounded the lower section of Second District. It rose to its feet quickly and snarled loudly.
There was a soft whooshing sound and Sora watched in terror as more of the creature rose from the ground. Some were the same as the creature in front of Sora, and others were identical to the ones from his home!
They surrounded Sora now, each one with claws outstretched and yellow eyes staring at him hungrily. The first, a type that Sora had seen on the island, leapt towards Sora, but was immediately destroyed when the key's flat ends became razor sharp again and pierced its black skin.
A second one, one with a helmet, leapt at Sora, but as the boy tried to block, another creature kicked him from behind and he was sent sprawling. The creature that leapt at him sailed over his head, only to land a few feet away.
Sora quickly scrambled to his feet and looked around nervously. The creatures' numbers were growing as more and more rose from the bricks. Some that rose were similar to the creatures that currently surrounded, but others varied in size and shape.
One of them, a huge one with a round belly and stubby arms and legs charged at him and crushed him against the wall. Sora cried out in pain and fell to the ground, exhausted, when the creature pulled away.
He slowly raised his head and terror gripped him when he saw the group of creatures advancing toward him. Each one of their eyes stared at him hungrily and a few had mouths rowed with teeth open. With his back against the wall, Sora had no chance to run and he knew that there was no way he could beat all of these creatures! His weapon was very affective against them, but the sheer number of creatures would surely overwhelm him!
It's over… He though grimly as he saw the first creature leap at him, a cry of hunger erupting from its dark mouth…
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Donald, Goofy, and Pluto walked down a dark alley, on the constant lookout for the strange beings known as Heartless. "Gawrsh… This place is spooky." Goofy said nervously while keeping his Knight's Shield at a defensive position.
Donald quacked and glared at him. "Aw, phooey. I'm not scared!" He lied.
Meanwhile, a woman with brown hair and who had on a red dress that reached her ankles, walked up quietly behind the trio. She calmly tapped Donald on the shoulder.
Donald quacked loudly and jumped onto Goofy's back in fear. "Goofy, help me!" He quacked into Goofy's ears.
Goofy just whipped around, ending up throwing Donald onto the cold bricks of the ground, and faced the girl. "Who are you?" He asked dubiously, ignoring Donald who was now quacking and muttering angrily.
The girl didn't answer the question. Instead, she just asked a question of her own: "Did the King send you?"
Goofy opened his mouth to reply but then he closed it, not knowing whether or not to answer truthfully. He looked towards Donald who was looking at him as well.
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Leon, known as Squall Leonhart by his closest of friends, burst the doors to the Second District open and leapt off the raised section of the district and hacked through hordes of Heartless with his gunblade in hand.
He began moving himself towards Sora who had his back to the wall. Suddenly a large and fat Heartless blocked his path. It was commonly known as a Large Body. It charged at him, it's huge belly outward. Leon simply smirked, raised his gunblade, and shot off a blast of energy the Large Body's way. It fell in a heap and slid across the ground, taking out quite a few Heartless with it, finally stopping a few feet away from Leon. Then it disappeared in a puff of black smoke, leaving the path to Sora wide open.
Leon quickly ran through the opening of Heartless and grabbed the boy right before a Heartless commonly known as a Soldier killed him with its razor sharp claws.
"What? Hey!" Sora cried as Leon literally threw him onto the raised platform of the district and then flung himself over the brick wall. Not wasting any time talking to Sora, he grabbed the boy by his shirt, lifted him off the ground and started running towards the entrance of the First District, the only place where Heartless didn't roam thanks to Leon and his friends' efforts to keep them at bay.
He ran through the doors, dropped Sora, and started closing the large double doors. On the other side, Heartless was rising and charging at Leon and Sora. But he managed to slam the doors shut and lock them before the hordes could overwhelm him.
"You're real stupid, kid." He said softly without turning around to face Sora. "Taking on that many Heartless… how foolish are you?"
He could feel Sora's glare and he smirked when Sora spoke. "Hey! I could have taken them!"
"They would have kept coming in endless amounts. Never stopping."
"Who are you?" Sora asked, ignoring Leon's words.
Leon whipped around to face him, his long brown hair flying in all directions and then settling back into its place. "And they'll come after you. Endless amounts, all hungry for one thing—your heart. Know why? It's because of that." He gestured at the key. "The Keyblade… But why…?" He got a contemplating look on his face. "Why would it choose an inexperienced kid like you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora demanded, getting aggravated by the man's cryptic words and insults.
Leon looked at him, annoyance flashing in his icy blue eyes. "Never mind." He started. "Let me see that Keyblade."
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Yuffie Kisaragi sighed heavily at Leon's bluntness. "You never did get it, you big oaf…" She whispered to herself from her perch on top of Cid's shop. "He's not about to be bullied around." She thought about going down there and interrupting the upcoming fight before it even began, but she decided to see just how experienced this Sora actually was!
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Sora's eyes narrowed. "What? No way! You aren't getting this!" He brought the Keyblade into a defensive position and he steeled himself for a fight.
The man sighed heavily and rested his hand on his forehead in exasperation. "All right." He spoke. "Have it your way." He brought himself into a familiar gunblade stance and readied himself for battle.
Sora and Leon just stared at each other for a long time. The Keyblade seemed to radiate inner strength while Leon's gunblade just was strong in every which way! Sora knew that he was in for the battle of his lifetime.
Suddenly, Leon sprang forward bringing the gunblade down in a wicked slash that should have caused Sora to crumble under normal circumstances. However, with the power of the Keyblade running through him, he blocked the blow, but not without some serious effort.
Sora's brow furled with concentration as Leon pressed on with the gunblade, weakening Sora's defensive. He knew that if he didn't do something soon, he was doomed! Deciding not to forgo the battle of strength, he jumped back, just barely dodging the gunblade as it slid free of the Keyblade and momentum carried it to the brick walkway, which caused white sparks to flash.
"Let your guard down." He said with a wry smile before spinning around and trying for a horizontal slash to Leon's hip. But the only thing the Keyblade smashed against was the gunblade as Leon effortlessly blocked the attack.
"Wrong." The older man said a look of serene strength on his face. This time, he was the one to jump back. "You are too inexperienced to know the difference between letting your guard down and luring an enemy into a trap."
Sora scowled at him. "Hey! I've trained for sword fighting half my life! I am not inexperienced!" He leapt at Leon and found that the gunblade once again was protecting the man from any harm.
"You are letting yourself be controlled by your emotions. You'll end up impaled on my gunblade if you aren't careful." Leon suddenly threw Sora back onto his backside. The Keyblade flew out of his hand and clattered on the ground ten feet away.
He jumped at the chance and the gunblade sliced through the air on its descent upon Sora. Leon figured that this was it, but he did not expect to find the Keyblade blocking his attacks. Yet, in a flash, it appeared in Sora's hand, just in the nick of time, and the gunblade crashed against it, causing sparks to light up their faces.
Leon stepped back and smirked. "It rushes to its master's aid. It is a remarkable weapon indeed. But why would it choose you…?"
Sora stood up and glared at Leon. "What are you talking about?!" Leon just gave him a deadly glare and got into a defensive stance. "Come, Keyblade Master, show me why it chose you."
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A dark entity flew high above Traverse Town looking down at the two who fought. Each of them had a strong heart. And although their fight seemed to just be one of brute strength and speed, the entity knew that it went deeper than that. It was a battle of heart. The strongest heart would win for sure.
But the entity did not care for their hearts at the moment. No, their hearts, which would usually catch the attention of it and every one of its brothers, did not seem to concern it one bit. Its focus was on the Blade. The horrible Blade that was used to slay so many of its brothers. The entity was afraid of the Blade. And because of that fear, it would destroy the master of the Blade. Without a master, the Blade would be nothing more than a piece of metal. Yes, the master would die indeed.
And so the entity began to descend upon the two fighters. But before it could fully solidify (for at the moment, it had no physical form) and reach them, the Blade's radiance disappeared and the entity was left confused…
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Sora rushed forward with inhuman speed and the Keyblade crashed against the gunblade roughly, causing Leon's arms to quiver. So, this is the power of the Keyblade! I knew that he was holding back! He thought to himself as he forced Sora back a few steps.
Meanwhile, Sora was utterly confused as to what had changed inside of him. All of a sudden, his speed, strength, and stamina had all risen to impossible levels and he was left with power unlike anything he had ever experienced before!
He rushed forward again, a blur of color, but once again he was denied by the gunblade. Whoever this man actually was, he had the experience of a warrior. Probably trained in fighting like this from birth… Sora thought wryly as it finally dawned on him what kind of warrior he was up against.
He unleashed upon the man a combo of slashes and jabs that not even Riku could have blocked. This man blocked everyone except for the last. The last one he simply dodged. Sora felt the flat side of the gunblade hit him on the side and he stumbled slightly, only regaining his balance once the man was safely out of range for attacks.
"So, why is that called a gunblade?" Sora asked, suddenly interested in the weapon that the man held. He didn't answer, but only looked coolly at Sora.
"Aw, come on. You engaged me in a big fight for no good reason at all! I deserve at least one answer!" Sora whined still keeping his guard up.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Would you like a demonstration?" He replied equally as coolly as his face portrayed. Before Sora could answer, he raised the gunblade up, the tip of the weapon aiming at Sora's face, and suddenly there was a bright flash. For Sora, the world around him disappeared and everything went black…
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"You could have killed him!" Yuffie scolded him as she jumped down from the accessory shop and onto the ground behind Leon.
Leon didn't even turn to look at her; instead he walked over to Sora and pulled the Keyblade out of his hand. "Things are worse than we thought... A lot worse." He said watching with interest as the razor sharp edges of the Keyblade disappeared, leaving the squared ends.
"Aw… he did all right against you!" Yuffie stated, already knowing the next words that would escape Leon's lips.
"I went easy on him."
"I went easy on him." Yuffie said at the same time, earning a glare from Leon.
"Don't do that." He said coldly before hefting Sora over his shoulders and walking towards the Second District and the hotel inside it.
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"Hey! You did really well against him! You could have beaten him if he didn't cheat like that!"
"Kairi?"
"Next time, watch out for that cheap shot. No pun intended. I'm sure you'll beat him next time, Sora! And who knows? Maybe one day you'll be able to beat Riku too!"
"Kairi, is that really you?"
"Oh, and next time take a hint! It was called a gunblade! What'd you think it would do? Fertilize your garden?"
"Wha…?"
"It's time for you to wake up. Talk to you later, Sora!"
"Wait, Kairi! Don't leave!"
"Come on, you lazy bum. Wake up!" Sora's eyes opened slowly and in his blurred vision, he saw Kairi standing in front of him, hands on her hips and with a grin on her face. "You okay?" She asked a little worried.
"I guess…" Sora said, rubbing his head. His vision was still very blurry.
"If you want to know, those creatures that attacked you back there are after the Keyblade. But in reality, it's your heart they want! You have the heart of a Keyblade master and—"
"I'm so glad you're all right, Kairi!" Sora said, cutting her off.
"Kairi? Who's Kairi?" She asked, her face becoming more worried. Sora blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, quite confused at the moment. When he looked at her again, the image of Kairi had been replaced with the image of a teenage girl, probably a little taller than him. She had black hair and deep blue eyes. On her head, she wore a white headband that kept her black locks from falling down over her eyes. She also wore a green tube top with straps to hold it in place. A yellow scarf adorned her neck. Her arms were half covered by her long gloves that had the fingers cut out. And her last article of visible clothing was the extremely short shorts that she wore.
"I'm Yuffie. The great ninja Yuffie!" She stated with a grin. Sora just scratched his head. She sighed exasperatingly and looked behind her. "I think you overdid it, Squall!"
Squall? Sora wondered. Suddenly, the man he had battled in the First District came into view. "That's Leon." He replied coldly, not bothering to even look at the two.
Sora's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak, but Yuffie, knowing what he was about to ask, spoke first. "We had to get the Keyblade away from you to shake those Heartless. They track you because of it."
Leon picked up the Keyblade and held it level with his eyes. Suddenly, in a flash of light, it disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Sora's hand. Sighing, he spoke. "It's the only way to conceal your heart from them. But it won't work for long. They'll find you… The Keyblade Master… It's still hard to believe that it would choose you of all people."
"Hey!"
"But I suppose beggar's can't be choosers."
"Why don't you start making some sense?! What's going on around here?" Sora demanded, his face becoming red with frustration. Leon just looked at him and opened his mouth to speak.
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"Okay, so you know that there are many more worlds than just your world and this one, right?" The woman named Aerith asked.
Donald quacked and then nodded. "But they're supposed to be a secret!" Goofy added, his hands covering his mouth like he was sinning just by talking of them.
"They've been a secret because the worlds were never connected. Until now. When the Heartless came, everything changed…"
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"The Heartless?" Sora asked, rubbing his scalp.
"The ones who attacked you, remember?" Yuffie stated.
"I can remember many things attacking me… including Leon." Sora said while glaring at the older man. Yuffie stifled a laugh.
"Enough." Leon said sternly and then continued with the explanation. "The Heartless are those without hearts."
"Wow, I would have never guessed."
Leon glared at Sora and continued coolly. "The darkness in hearts—that's what attracts them…" Yuffie smiled and at the same time as Leon said (in her best imitation Leon-voice), "And there is darkness in every heart." Leon snorted roughly and gave her a glare that could have frozen the spine of anybody. She just smiled sweetly at him and winked.
Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Hey… Have you ever heard of a guy named Ansem?"
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"An-sem?" Goofy asked, pronouncing the word slowly.
"He was studying the Heartless. He recorded all of his findings in a very detailed report." Aerith said softly, as if saddened by something.
"Gawrsh… can we see it?" Goofy asked, scratching his head.
"No. Ansem hid it somewhere." The brunette answered.
"Hid it?" Donald inquired.
"On some world. I don't know which."
"Maybe the King went to find 'em!" Goofy cried loudly, causing Donald to glare at him and Aerith to laugh softly.
"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly."
Goofy looked at Donald. "We've got to find him quick!"
Donald nodded but then sighed. "First we must find that 'key'!"
"That's right, the Keyblade." Aerith stated.
Donald saw Pluto scratching at the door that led to the next room over and he rolled his eyes. "Goofy, do something to keep that dog busy!"
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"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade. That's why they'll keep coming after you no matter what." Leon said uncaringly.
"I didn't ask for this!" Sora said angrily. He was suddenly homesick for his life back at Destiny Islands.
"The Keyblade chooses its master. And it chose you!" Yuffie said in reply.
"So tough luck." Leon finished earning another glare from Sora.
"How did all this happen…?" Sora wondered aloud. "I remember being in my room and…" His eyes widened and he shot up from his sitting position on the bed. "Wait a minute! What happened to my home? My island! Mom! Riku!" And then a bit softer, "Kairi…"
"You know what? I really don't know." Leon said, not bothering to look at Sora. In truth, he knew exactly what had happened, but he decided against mentioning it at the moment.
Sora began pacing around the room in distress. He began muttering to himself about how he'd find his friends and would force them to go back to the island with him. He felt Leon's eyes burning into his back and he turned to look at him. "What?"
"You'd better prepare yourself. The Heartless will find us soon."
"Prepare myself?" Sora wondered aloud, wondering what he had gotten himself into.
"To fight for your life. Do you think you can handle it?"
Sora opened his mouth to reply, but Yuffie's cut him off. "Leon! Look!" They whipped around to look at Yuffie and found that a Heartless, one that Leon called a Soldier had risen from the ground. Sora was willing to bet that more would be coming soon.
"Yuffie, go!" Leon yelled while pointing at the door that led into the adjoining room. She nodded and ran towards it.
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When Goofy had no luck getting Pluto away from the door, Donald quacked in frustration and walked over to the yellow dog. "Now listen here, you stupid dog. If you don't stop with the distractions, I'll—" Suddenly Pluto jumped away from the door. However, before Donald could ponder the reason why, the door flew open quickly and flattened Donald against the wall.
"Yuffie?" Aerith asked when she burst into the room.
"The Heartless are attacking!" Yuffie cried as she ran past Aerith and out of the room. Aerith quickly followed, forgetting all about Donald or Goofy.
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Leon looked at Sora, silently telling him that they would have to fight their way out. "Sora! Are you ready?"
Sora looked at the Soldier and watched as its yellow eyes focused on the Keyblade, which now glowed and was razor sharp. "Ready as I'll ever be!" He said, not really feeling ready.
"Then let's go!" Leon yelled before slamming the gunblade into the Heartless, sending it crashing through the window and out into the alleyway below. Before Sora could say anything, Leon jumped out the shattered window, following the Heartless.
Sora now found that he was alone. He watched in fear as more Heartless began springing up from the ground, soon surrounding him. "Now or never…" He said quietly. Then with the superhuman speed that the Keyblade supplied him with, he ran forward and jumped out of the window and into battle…