-Chapter 1: Sora's Return

Maybe it was just because the castle and the surrounding areas were almost done being fixed, but Sora noticed as soon as he landed on the ex-Hollow Bastion, the atmosphere was much cleaner. The streets had no Heartless, the people were smiling a lot more. All the old shops Sora had bought things from were now double or triple their original size. It seemed that Radiant Garden, as it had come to be known, was restored.

"Sora! You're back!" an exasperated voice called out to him from behind. To his surprise, it was Rikku, but his size. The blonde-haired girl tackled him to the ground somewhat affectionately.

"Whoa! What happened?" As Sora recollected, the last time he was here, Rikku, Yuna, and Paine were all little winged fairy-looking things that could fit in Sora's hand.

"Oh, nothing..." She was already scheming again. She eyed Sora up and down, seeing all the glamorous Keychains he had obtained.

"Uhh...you're weirding me out." He backed up a few steps and bumped into someone.

"Oh, hey! Sorry, didn't see you there," he said to the tall, dark-haired black mage.

"Is she giving you a problem?" she said. Lulu, who had traveled with Yuna, Rikku, and Paine, was originally the reason they became so small: she placed a curse on them for leaving her behind in a destroyed city.

"No...not at all. We go back a ways," Sora replied.

"Oh, really, now..."

"Yeah, a while back, these guys were on the Restoration Committee."

"Well, in any case. The name's Lulu. Let me know if they do give you any trouble."

"Uhh...nice to meet you..." Sora felt like he was being stalked.

They had actually done a nice job on the town, as Sora saw it. Even people like Cloud were helping out to fix the bailey and everything leading up to the castle. Sora was really busy sightseeing when out of nowhere, the world suddenly went black.

That's when Sora saw him again. Axel.

"Hey! You! You're back!" he exclaimed. The darkness had a dreary echo to it.

"Shh. Keep it down. We don't want Xemnas to hear," he said. Axel was quite the person. One minute, he'd be a protagonist, fighting for good and alongside his friends. The next, he'd be double-crossing people, sending up pillars of flames, and throwing his giant spiked chakrams at people. He no longer wore his coat: instead, he wore a coat reminiscent of the one Xemnas wore to the grave.

"What do you mean...?"

"Sora! Do you know what happens when a Nobody finds its heart inside a Heartless?"

"No. I've never seen it before."

"Well, here's the deal. They become what's known as a Chaser. C-H-A-S-E-R. Got it? They're soldier-lookin' things in silver, gold, and black. They chase Keyblades. For what reason, we still don't know."

"Are you saying..."

"Nobodies don't exist, so they can't be killed. But at the same time, if a Heartless is killed, it releases its hearts. Luckily, my heart was in Kingdom Hearts, so I found it again."

"Are you saying that Xemnas is a Chaser?"

"Became. That's why when Riku turned back into Riku, he got back his Keyblade."

"So wait. You're saying that Xehanort's Heartless left Riku at will, claimed back his heart, and fused with Xemnas?"

"Precisely. And he's powerful. The only way to get rid of him is to destroy his heart."

"So, does that mean that I eliminated the entire Organization for nothing?"

"Nah, at least they stayed outta our way long enough to beat Xemnas."

Sora, still confused, took out his Keyblade. "How do we get out of here?"

"Well, seeing as you're dressed for the occasion..." Sora suddenly realized that he was wearing an Organization coat.

"Whoa! Where'd this come from?"

"Don't ask me. Maybe you'll find out from the King."

"Speaking of which...you don't think the letter was a fake, do you?"

"No, he had a reason to bring you back."

The conversation abruptly ended when a light shined in Sora's eyes.

"Sora! Wake up!" a scared Yuffie yelled in his face.

"...huh?" Sora opened his eyes. Once again, he was in Radiant Garden, but he was in death-defying pain, laying on a bed.

"Guys, he's conscious!" Yuffie had the loudest, most obnoxious voice Sora had ever heard. He tried to lift his left hand to signal her to keep it down, but he couldn't move an inch.

"You took quite the beating." Leon leaned over to Sora with a glass bottle in his hand, signaling Sora to drink it.

"What...happened?"

"I think he's got amnesia," yet another voice said, but in a lower tone than the others. It was Cid.

"No...I remember being shrouded in darkness, and talking to Axel...and this coat..."

"You don't think he's become a Nobody again, do you?" This voice came from the corner of the room. It was Aerith, as far as Sora recognized.

"Nah, I feel intact. I just..." Sora finally lifted up off the bed, and looked around. Then, he looked back at himself. The coat was still there.

Something hit him over the back of the head. Sora recognized it was Donald's wand. "You should be ashamed of yourself, going alone like that! You almost gave us a heart attack!" he exclaimed.

"No, no, he did exactly as I ordered." Almost everyone Sora had ever known was right here in the room. King Mickey seemed to have entered just minutes before, silently, as though just spying on what was being said.

"Gawrsh, what's goin' on in here?" Goofy walked through the door.

"Wait! Where's Riku? And Kairi!"

"That's what we've been trying to tell you. The island's gone again." Leon was an extremely aloof character. He had the unique ability to tell the truth and act like it was nothing.

"No...all because of me..." Sora nearly burst into tears.

"We've got much more to worry about right now. Like the fleeting swarms of Chasers we've got."

Sora's fists clenched tight, his Keyblade in one hand and a mysterious chain in the other. His eyes burned with rage. "Come on, then...let's make them pay."

Leon tried to stop him, but Sora forcefully pushed him out of the way, and walked through the door. The chain in his hand suddenly became gigantic and developed spikes, blades, and hooks. As Sora looked on at the world devoured by Chasers, he swung the chain at them wildly, hooking them to within his reach so he could slash them, or just continuously mauling them to death with the deadly chain.

No one could do a thing but watch their friend turn into a furious killing machine. No one...so it seemed.

---Excuse me for having a sick sense of humor, but I had to make Sora into a killing machine.--- Reviews please! Email: