Hiya! A New Pencil returns to the desk!

Due to some feedback in the reviews, I'll try a different approach when it comes to Japanese, and not use the underline for this particular chapter. Let me know how this affects the way you read it, and if enough feedback is received, I may remove the underline altogether in future chapters.

Italics is either thoughts, a flashback, or a song/poem.

I do not own Kingdom Hearts, My Hero Academia, OMORI, or any of its characters.

Chapter 15: U.S.J.: The Corrupted

To be called to action time and again…

That is a warrior's burden

(Play: KH BBS OST - Shaded Truths)

"No, no, no, no…" Sora groaned in frustration, "We need to move, now!"

"Hold on, what the hell is going on?!" Katsuki asked out loud.

"Heartless." Sora growled, "They're here."

"What the heck's a 'Heartless'?" Kirishima asked him.

"Monsters." he answered, "Monsters that will do anything it takes to consume a person's heart. Get caught, and you'll lose your heart, as well as your body."

"Heart? Like they'll tear it out of your chest?!" Mashirao asked in shock.

"Not the physical one," Sora said, scanning the area around him to see who was in trouble, "A different heart. It'd take too long for me to explain."

"You've seen these things before?" Ojiro questioned.

"I have. Many times. It's because of them that I want to be a Hero." Sora explained with a slight hint of anger in his tone, "I know what they're capable of, and I want to make sure they stay down so they don't hurt anybody I care about ever again. That includes you guys."

The way he said it made the three of them silent on further questions. Without saying anything, the four of them began to run towards the exit, but stopped as Sora turned around, seeing more of their classmates in trouble.

"Aw crap." Eijiro grimaced, "They've got everybody surrounded!"

"We've gotta help them!" Sora declared, already scanning the area to see who was the furthest, "Eijiro, Katsuki, we're gonna need to take out the ones near the exit, so stay there and do that so we can get our friends outta here!"

"I don't take orders from you, extra!" Katsuki said.

"Katsuki, think of it like this," Sora explained, "If you clear a path for our friends, they'll be out of your way. Not to mention you'll have these Heartless all to yourself, so you can give them everything you can throw at them. Unlike normal villains, you can blow these bugs up as much as you like."

It took three seconds to process what Sora was saying to him, and when he understood, Bakugo gave him a grin, "Why the hell didn't you just start with that?"

The moment I realized it was one of the only ways you could cooperate, Sora thought, before looking back to the chaos. He saw that Heartless were surrounding something he couldn't see in one of the zones, and realized with horror that it was Toru.

This was bad. The Heartless could easily detect a person's heart, even when the person themselves was hidden from the naked eye. Now that her Quirk was technically rendered useless, Hagakure couldn't defend herself from them unless she had any fighting skills to back herself up.

"Mashirao, come with me! Toru's in trouble!" he exclaimed, "I'm gonna need backup for this."

"Got it, Sora-san!" Ojiro nodded, "But how are we going to get there in time?"

"Grab hold of my hand and don't let go!" Sora told him. As he complied, the two began glowing blue, before in a flash of energy, Sora blasted off towards Toru, with Mashirao hanging onto his hand with his own.

(Silence)

Finally, they arrived in the Landslide Zone, and the two let go of each other's hands, ready to engage the creatures of darkness. Sora looked around and grimaced.

Things had gone south quickly. Multiple Emblem Heartless had already been formed from the bodies of the unconscious Villains, no thanks to the Purebloods that were already there, but these Emblem Heartless were scattering. Sora ignored them and focused his attention on Toru, who was already being pinned down by the Shadows.

They had dogpiled her, and Sora could barely see her invisible form, but her cries of pain due to the Shadows trying to rip out her heart were enough to identify that she was there. With a growl, Sora became a bolt of blue light, spinning around Toru and throwing the Shadows off her, stopping before leaping into the air and destroying every last one of them.

Mashirao was quick to recover his wounded friend, and offered a hand to her, "You okay, Hagakure-san?"

"Yes and no…" she groaned, "Those creatures were able to see me… even when I was invisible… I saw them rip out something from those unconscious villains… and then they came at me…"

"Don't talk. Can you stand?"

"N-no…"

"Hang on." Ojiro then grabbed her arm, lifting her up and putting said arm around his shoulder. Sora landed on the ground with Shooting Star grasped in his hand.

"How's Toru, Mashirao?" Sora looked to them, only to wince: blood was leaking out of some of the scratches on Toru's body, mostly close to her chest, and Sora could tell she was standing awkwardly. Even when she got caught by surprise, she put up a good fight, but she was pretty close to being lost, and had Sora not been fast enough, she would've lost her heart. Thank goodness he hadn't lost all his strength.

"In a lot of pain, but I'll be okay. Ow." Hagakure reassured Sora before wincing from all the injuries, "What were those things?"

"Heartless." Sora told her, "Creatures of darkness that will stop at nothing to consume the hearts of others."

Mashirao felt Toru shiver slightly at the answer, before he saw more darkness converging on their direction, "We've got company!"

(Play: KH 2.5 Remix OST - Vim and Vigor)

The Keyblade wielder looked back to see more Shadows and surprisingly, Earth Cores, appear from the darkness. Gritting his teeth, he got into a stance.

"You guys show up at the worst times," he grunted, before cutting a Shadow in half.

"What should we do?" Mashirao asked.

"Make sure they don't swarm and surround you." Sora told him, "Focus on protecting Toru."

"And you?"

"Make myself their main focus." Sora smiled, before looking towards the Heartless. Pointing his Keyblade at them, he shouted, "Thunder!"

With a flash of yellow from the tip of his weapon, multiple bolts of electricity shocked them, eliminating some of the Shadows, but the Earth Cores remained standing. One of them burrowed into the ground, while the other lunged upwards to try and attack Sora from both sides. Sora acted quickly, leaping upwards and stabbing the first Earth Core through the mouth, and flung it down on the Earth Core emerging from the ground. The two collided, but only the one on top disappeared. It didn't matter though, as Sora struck it down upon landing.

All that remained in front of him were 5 Mega Shadows and 3 Earth Cores. Looking over to check on his other classmates, Sora took note that Mashirao was doing alright, having using his feet to kick a Soldier and bat a Shadow away with his tail, before dodging a swipe from a Neoshadow and standing atop some debris. All while carrying Toru bridal style. Turning back to his own foes, Sora then activated Flowmotion, rushing in with Airstep and taking down two Earth Cores one after another with two consecutive hits.

He used Airstep again to reach the final Earth Core, but this time latched his blade onto the Core, before spinning around and drawing the Mega Shadows inwards. He managed to turn the Earth Core to shreds, but the Mega Shadows were still moving, and before Sora could do anything, they retreated into the ground. Sora watched them crawl away from the battle, a confused look on his face. Where were they going?

"Sora!" His eyes then darted towards Ojiro's voice and saw the Shadows that were suddenly converging on Ojiro. He had managed to whack some into one another using his tail, but he was at a disadvantage due to currently protecting Toru. If more Shadows converged on them, Ojiro would be overrun. Sora's eyes dilated as he targeted the remaining Heartless.

"Meteor Shower!" he declared, spinning Shooting Star around as it fired off 17 star-shaped projectiles all focused on the Shadows that were getting too close to Mashrao, before finishing the rest off with another cast of Thunder.

Sora ran up to the two of them, "Are both of you alright?"

"Yeah. Few of them got me, but I'll live." Ojiro said, shaking a leg, which was revealed to have been clawed at and slightly bleeding, tears in the costume were visible.

"We need to get you both back. It's not safe here." Sora told them, "Go. I'll be right behind you."

"Are you sure?" Hagakure asked.

"I'll make sure they don't follow us. After you two are home free, I'm going to check on the others." Sora reassured her, "Thanks for holding out for us."

Though Hagakure thought that she hadn't put up much of a fight against these creatures, she accepted the thanks with a weak nod, though Sora didn't have to see it to know she was grateful that he and Ojiro were here.

Placing a hand on Mashirao's shoulder, he used Flowmotion to bring the three of them back to the center, where he noticed Ectoplasm clearing the area for them. Sora and Ojiro ran to one of the clones.

"Get her out of here, Mashirao." Sora told his classmate, "Get her someplace safe,"

"Alright. Good luck, Sora." the martial artist nodded, before sprinting off towards the staircase.

However, an Ectoplasm clone stopped Sora from proceeding. "I appreciate the help, young man, but you should follow your classmates and get out of here."

"I'm not moving, Ectoplasm-sensei." Sora told him firmly.

"You don't have a say in this." Ectoplasm's tone became strict.

"You haven't dealt with these things before." Sora said, "I have a history with them, and I know how to deal with them and take them out."

"Then explain everything to the principal and let us deal with this."

"Not a chance."

"Ectoplasm-san, let the boy fight," Nezu's voice called out as he ran down the stairs, "He knows what we're dealing with."

"You're serious? He may be talented, but he is not a Pro Hero."

Suddenly, a group of Water Cores and Soldiers appeared. Two of Ectoplasm's clones fell easily to the onslaught, but another two managed to eliminate the Soldiers, leaving only the 7 Water Cores. Without saying anything, Sora immediately sprung into action, using Airstep yet again to eliminate them all in a span of three seconds. He landed back to where Nezu and looked at him, silently asking for permission to fight. The principal understood, and nodded.

"I'll explain Sora's case to the rest of the staff when all this is over, but right now, let him fight." Nezu told Ectoplasm, "He's our best shot at taking them down, since All Might is currently out of action right now."

Ectoplasm looked towards Nezu like he grew two heads, but conceded.

"Okay." he sighed, "I'll keep a path open for anyone you rescue. Don't die on us, young man."

"I won't let you down. That's a promise." Sora said.

He tapped his AR Device to let him scan the huge area: He saw Eijiro running back with Present Mic, Power Loader, Tokoyami, and Koda from the storm zone. He knew the fire zone was secure, as Ojiro was already accounted for, but he looked over there just in case, and saw Cloud there taking Heartless down with relative ease. Yep, definitely secure. The rest of the students must be with Thirteen.

That was what he thought, until his AR Device picked up heat signatures… whatever that meant… on the mountain zone, in the shapes of Momo, Kyoka, Denki, and… Tifa?

It didn't look good when his device detected them, as when he zoomed in on their location, Kaminari wasn't doing much, and Tifa, Momo, and Kyoka were surrounded by stronger Heartless, like Darkballs, Armored Knights, and Flutterings.

In a flash of blue light, Sora was off.

(Play: KH3 OST - The Encounter - Metal Charge)

Tifa punched through a Darkball, disintegrating it, only to find two more in its place. These Heartless had to show up out of nowhere and consume the unconscious villains, thereby making things more difficult for everybody. She turned around to see Momo struggling with a Darkball of her own, holding her rod and trying to shake the Heartless off her arm. Jiro wasn't faring much better, as the two Flutterings she was dealing with were too high up for her amplifiers to reach, and were dancing around in mockery as she tried to focus on them and the Shadows coming and scratching at her legs. The Flutterings themselves had nearly bitten off her Earphone Jacks, so she kept them close in case they tried something like that again.

Suddenly, the Heartless the young women were struggling with disappeared into thin air. They heard a voice, and Tifa couldn't help but smile as the girls' savior appeared.

"Sorry I'm late." Sora told them, "But don't relax. We're not out of these woods just yet."

Kyoka shook her legs, ignoring the scratches on them, and got ready to continue, while Momo shook her arm despite the bite mark on it, which had wisps of darkness lingering, wincing due to the blood that leaked out of the marks.

"Glad to see you here, Sora." Tifa told him in English, "You met up with Cloud yet?"

"Uh-huh. He's just peachy." Sora said.

"So he's doing fine?"

"Same old Cloud as far as I can tell. He's doing his stuff at the fire zone." Sora grinned, before looking around at their enemies, and then looking to Denki, who was still looking dumb. Not good. He would be a liability if he stayed here.

"Kyoka, get Denki out of here." Sora said in Japanese as he turned to Jiro, and though she looked a bit downhearted, she knew these monsters were a lot more than she could currently handle, after seeing that her sound waves didn't affect them that much. She nodded, before heading over to Kaminari.

"Tifa, could you go with them and make sure they don't get hurt?" Sora turned to Tifa, "I'll keep these guys busy."

"Got it." she nodded, before she looked over and walked over, grabbing Denki and lifting him up, putting him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Wait… we're just leaving you here by yourself?" Jiro asked.

"I'll stay back and support him," Momo offered.

"That's… not a good idea," Sora looked worried. Three months before, she had helped him fight the Heartless before, but these other ones now were much stronger, and weren't measly Shadows and Soldiers.

"Leaving you alone isn't either."

Her retort told him that he couldn't stop her even if he tried. Not to mention other than the shallow bite mark she had gotten on her arm from the Darkball, she was pretty much in good shape compared to Kyoka and Denki, the former of which was limping slightly. Sora relented, and the two stood back to back as the Heartless took notice of the Keyblade. Any other Heartless that tried to get to Kyoka and Kaminari were taken out by Tifa, Ectoplasm's clones, or fireballs from Sora.

"This feels familiar." Sora said to Momo in English as the Shadows slunk towards them slowly, "Didn't this happen before?"

"Three months ago, right?" Momo thought aloud, "So?"

"Then this should be a cakewalk." Sora grinned, "Let's take 'em, Momo!"

The Shadows suddenly lunged, and Sora was quick to react, slicing the majority of them with one swipe of Shooting Star. Yaoyorozu knocked away the other Shadows with her rod, but knew that it wouldn't be enough to take them down, considering the last time she used it against them, it only knocked them away and not slain them. She threw it like a spear towards a Fluttering, before creating a broadsword that she used to cut through the remaining Shadows on her side, ducking under a Darkball as it soared past her. Seeing this, Sora turned around and smacked it away as it tried to bite him.

He felt a lot of energy coursing within Shooting Star, and Sora grinned. Time to make use of it.

"Let's go!" he shouted, holding Shooting Star in front of him, before its blade extended and split into two parts, with the blade and handle each becoming a gun-like weapon in each of his hands. His clothes had changed color to become a dark blue and black style, with his pants and sleeves embedded with star patterns.

"Take the ones on the ground! I've got the ones in the air!" Sora told Momo as he aimed his Double Arrowguns at the Flutterings. Momo, though she was surprised that Sora had transformed his Keyblade into a brand new weapon, nodded and lunged towards the Shadows and Soldiers, striking them one after another, though not as easily as Sora had done it. She struck a Soldier and two Shadows down quickly, before blocking an attack from an Armored Knight with her broadsword, before pushing it back and striking it three times, before it disintegrated.

Sora opened fire and launched a barrage of energy bullets towards the surrounding Flutterings and Darkballs. Most of the Flutterings are eviscerated by the onslaught of bullets, but the Darkballs were pesky and moved out of the way while smiling jeeringly. Sora switched the guns from Auto-Fire mode to Manual, and fired off several homing energy bullets that stunned them enough for Sora to switch back to the Kingdom Key and strike some of them out of the sky.

However, there were still too many Heartless, as Sora and Momo were still surrounded. Sora's AR Device could count at least 25 Heartless that were still here.

"Crud… we'll be getting nowhere at this point." Sora said, "If there's more Heartless nearby, we might be in trouble…"

"Wait… can the Heartless be stunned?" Momo asked.

"If you blind them or use something of that sort, yeah. I think these Heartless can be blinded or stunned." Sora said, remembering how one of his techniques could easily do so to lesser Heartless.

"Can you summon something that can attack and reach a large area or at least give us a chance to not get surrounded, like an explosive or smoke bomb?"

"Maybe. Why?"

"I have an idea." she said, as she began to create several items that strangely looked like her in mini versions around her body, "But I'll need you to cover me while I'm making these. Is this okay with you?"

Sora got the cue and switched back to his Double Arrowguns, "Aye, aye, vice rep."

He turned back to the Heartless, opening fire on any that got too close. If they got close to Momo, Sora would cast a barrier around them and block the attack, before knocking the approaching Heartless back with a blast of energy.

"Almost done!" Yaoyarozu called out as Sora blasted away another Armored Knight with a charged blast from both Arrowguns.

"Hurry! I can see more coming!" he replied, seeing at least another 15 Heartless moving in on them through his headset, a mix of Armored Knights and Flutterings. To make matters worse, Sora's Formchange was running out of time. He could only hold this for 20 to 30 seconds normally, and could extend the time with enough stockpiled energy, which he had been doing before Yaoyorozu brought up her idea. Now, he was planning to use the energy stockpiled while he was covering the vice rep of 1-A to Formchange Shooting Star even further, but he wanted to wait for Momo to be ready before he could do so.

"Alright, it's ready!" Momo said, revealing what she had made.

"What are those?" Sora asked, casting a barrier around them as he did so. They looked odd. Strangely shaped and painted in Momo's image.

"Flash bang grenades, under the guise of dolls. Meant for blinding opponents through a bright light and harming their ears with a loud sound. It can be nullified by closing your eyes and covering your ears," she explained, "I intended to throw them all at once, but I didn't expect reinforcements from the enemy. I'm not sure we can get them all just by throwing them." She looked around uneasily at the Heartless clawing at the barrier, which was now cracking under the strain, "We're trapped."

Sora then recalled a memory involving a team-up with a infamous pirate, and grinned, "Maybe we can get them all."

"How?"

"Wait for my signal, and make a rod. I don't know how fragile those grenades are." Sora said as he gritted his teeth and reinforced the barrier. It began to crack further despites his efforts. Momo created another iron rod in place of her broadsword, feeling a bit more comfortable with her new weapon.

"Sora…!" Yaoyorozu warned, seeing Sora straining as the cracks got bigger.

"When I push them back… throw those things in the air."

"What?!"

"Trust me!"

Momo looked at him as if he were crazy, then noticed the cracks protruding further. Reluctantly, she nodded. Sora mouthed a thanks, before sweeping his arms and forcing the barrier to explode in a blast of energy. "Now!"

Momo threw the flash bang grenades, now pinless, up into the air, and Sora said, "Jump!"

The two leap into the air, Sora switching back to the Kingdom Key. "Now hit them in all directions!"

Sora began to whack them every which way, and Yaoyarozu followed his lead, smacking all the flash grenades in different directions.

"Sora, cover your-!" Momo began, before suddenly, the grenades blew. She had managed to close her eyes and cover her ears, but Sora only closed his eyes, being too slow to cover his ears as he batted away the final grenade.

"ARRRGH!" he shouted in pain, clutching the sides of his AR Device at the reaction of the loud sound, his eyes closed thankfully, but his ears began screaming. It didn't help that there was one last grenade way too close for comfort, so he had batted it away before it blew up, giving him no time to cover his ears.

He collapsed to the ground on his knees away from the group of Heartless, ears ringing in pain. It felt like a thousand Loudmouth Heartless had screamed in his ears. He groaned as he shook his head, taking off the AR Device and rubbing his ears to ease the ringing.

So much for using Magic Launcher. He wouldn't be able to aim properly now with the ringing in his ears.

"Sora? Sora? Can you hear me?" he could barely hear Momo due to the ringing. She had landed and rushed to his side in worry.

"Well… that's a first." Sora groaned, the ringing making it hard to hear his own voice, "Did we get them?"

"All stunned. Why?"

"Great." Sora said, his tone now a frustrated one as he gripped his Kingdom Key, "Let's take these guys out."

"You sure you'll be okay?" Yaoyorozu asked.

"Ask me that after the Heartless are gone." Sora replied.

With that, the two of them eliminated the stunned Heartless before they could recover, but it was clear Sora was still a little clumsy after that barrage of flashbangs. After that, Sora fell on his bottom exhausted.

(Silence)

"Oww…" he said, gently rubbing his ears. Though the pain was mostly gone, the ringing in his ears was still very present, and his head was spinning, preventing him from standing up properly. He might be able to take a hit, but he wasn't used to this particular pain as often as he did Heartless claws.

"Can you hear me better now, Sora?" Momo helped him get steady as he tried standing up again.

"Yeah… headset prevented me from covering my ears though… man…" Sora laughed despite his condition, "I wasn't expecting that."

"I think you'll be able to walk properly after two or three minutes… though with the number of grenades that went off… It might be longer." Momo explained, looking down ashamed, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Least we got all of them." Sora grinned, glancing to his headset, which was now sparking a bit due to the feedback it received. It had muffled some of the sound for him, but it only could do so much. "Sorry, Hiro." he muttered.

"Hero?" Momo asked.

"No. Hiro, with an 'i'. Hiro Hamada. He's a friend I made in the past, and he's really smart." Sora explained, looking at the headset, "He made this for me a while back after I helped him with a little Heartless problem."

"That's nice of him." she said. She watched Sora unsummon the AR Device, seeing it disappear into thin air in sparkles.

"I have to say, that Quirk you have is pretty useful, Sora." she noted, "Do you know where those items go once you've made them disappear?"

"Good question. I never really thought of that," Sora admitted, "I just think about it and it comes. It does make carrying things a lot easier."

In actuality, Sora knew that it went down one of the pockets of his outfit. There was a lot more to it that he had realized compared to his old outfit from his second journey.

"I'm sure it does." she nodded as she put his arm over her shoulder, and the two walked down the mountain. Thankfully Tifa had made things easier for them on the way down, so it was a quiet walk down the mountain.

"Don't you want to get something for that arm?" Sora asked her, looking at her right arm, which still had marks on them, as well as traces of darkness left from the Heartless that had bitten her. It had stopped bleeding, but the traces of red were still there on her arm. If she was hurting from it, she was doing a pretty good job of not showing it.

"Oh. I probably should." she noted, wincing as she was about to concentrate her Quirk around her exposed thigh while ignoring the bitter stinging the bite held. But before she could, she noticed Sora offering her a small jar filled with mysterious liquid.

"Here." he said, "Drink it."

"I hate to be rude… but what is in this mixture? It's definitely different from the liquids I've seen." she asked, "Is it drinkable?"

"It's not poisonous, but if you don't wanna drink it…" Sora then tossed it into the air, and it burst. Moments after, Yaoyorozu felt the stinging in her arm disappear, and she looked over to her arm, gasping in surprise as the bite marks no longer misty with dark aura, however the marks were still there.

"Feeling better?" Sora asked.

"Yes…" Yaoyorozu said, "But what was that?"

"A little something Mogway cooked up."

"Mogway?"

"He's with the Support Team. I'll explain later." Sora chuckled, as they continued their descent. "I'm still a bit woozy, but the ringing in my ear's gone,"

"That's surprising." She was impressed. He was recovering fast from the loud noise compared to most others, but it was clear he still had trouble walking as they slowly walked down the mountain.

"Say…" Sora said as they were walking, "What should we have called that?"

"Called what?"

"That crazy stunt we pulled off back there?"

"Oh!" she said in realization. Now that he brought it up, it was a sort of improvised team attack, "Huh… Good question."

"How about 'Ear and Eye Disaster?'" Sora suggested.

"That doesn't sound very heroic." she responded, though not unkindly.

"That's my ears talking." Sora pointed to his hapless ears.

"Was… that a joke?" she asked innocently.

"...Yes?" he nodded slowly. Did she just take that literally?

"Also, I've been meaning to ask." Yaoyorozu remembered, "Your Keyblade looks different, and it could transform, too. You never told me you had more than one in your arsenal."

"Oh!" Sora said, "You mean Shooting Star?"

"'Shooting Star'?"

"Yeah. That's the name of that Keyblade. The one you saw me have the first time we met is called the Kingdom Key," Sora told her, "I actually did have it, but the charm that helped me summon it was lost. It was the one you gave back to me."

"Huh?" Momo looked at him surprised, then thought back to when she saw his Keyblade. Now that he mentioned it... the charm was visible on the keychain hanging from the handle of Sora's weapon. That's when it clicked, "I see... so that charm that looked like a falling star was your Support Item?"

"In a sense," Sora nodded, "And the special part about it can transform, unlike my original Keyblade,"

"Into those guns, right?"

"Yep. It's a new ability I discovered recently before we met." Sora explained, "I call it Formchange, but I'm still trying to get a grasp of it."

"I see. So how long can you hold that transformed weapon for?"

"Not long. Maybe 15 to 20 seconds at best. Formchanges need stockpiled energy from my Keyblade in order to work, and I can only get that energy by beating down enemies."

"Then that means that when you have enough energy, you can use it to transform your weapon like you did back there, is that right?"

"That's pretty much the gist of it." Sora said, "It's not around for long, but it does help me out of binds like that one back there."

"It certainly did."

After a few moments, when they reached the bottom, Sora said, "I can walk now. Thanks." She released him, and he laughed, "That was something."

"I suppose it was." she nodded, "Let's-"

(Play: KH 1.5 Remix OST - Shrouding Dark Cloud)

But before she could say more, Sora looked up in shock.

"Look out!" Sora shouted, grabbing her arm and pulling her away, and when she turned around, she saw why: A large, axe-like weapon had landed on the spot they were just in. Had Sora not moved, they'd have been crushed. Though the attack had missed, the impact had still knocked both of them away a good distance.

She then saw the source of the axe, which belonged to a Heartless that was pretty big, at least twice her height, and looked bulky, save for the legs, and the shoulders making up most of the main body. Needless to say, it was pretty intimidating as it let out a silent, but potent, roar.

"Darn… A Rock Troll…" she heard Sora mutter.

"How big of a threat is that?" she asked him.

"Really bad as we are right now. We've gotta move! Fast!"

"You don't have to!"

A black blur rushed in and knocked the Rock Troll on its rear. When it landed next to Sora and Momo, they saw to their surprise that it was Tifa.

"Tifa?!" Sora said shocked.

"Nice seeing you again." she grinned.

"Are Jiro and Kaminari alright?" Momo asked her.

"They're fine. I was just about to head back for both of you until you showed up at the base of the mountain." Tifa explained, "Then that rock thing tried to ambush you, so here we are."

The Rock Troll looked furious at the new arrival for forcing it on its bum, and roared at them in challenge.

"Looks like it wants to pick a fight." Tifa noted.

"If it wants one," Sora switched from his Kingdom Key to Hero's Origin, a determined expression on his face, "Let's give it one."

"Not in that state, you are." Tifa countered, noticing the ruffled clothing Sora had on and the large and still visible bite mark that Momo had on her arm, "Let me handle this. You two head back and recover. Ectoplasm should be there waiting for you."

"You sure?" Sora asked.

"Yep. And don't worry about me. Cloud should be on his way soon to back me up."

"Got it." Sora nodded, dismissing his weapon and looking to Momo, "Let's move."

"Right."

As the two raced back to the entrance, Tifa turned around to face the Rock Troll. "Alright, ugly," she said, "Let's spar."

The Rock Troll roared as it raised its weapon arm, while Tifa braced for the battle to come as she rolled away from the ax and spun around.

She had gotten that lucky hit earlier due to it being distracted by the two students, but now that the Rock Troll's eyes were on her, she knew that simple punches and kicks wouldn't even stagger it. Going for the legs was her best bet.

"Here goes." she muttered, as she lowered her stance and changed.

Meanwhile, Sora and Momo had finally made it to the central plaza, seeing Kirishima, Bakugo, and the rest of the staff already there waiting. Cloud was also there, seemingly having just arrived moments after Sora and Momo.

"That should be everyone," Ectoplasm confirmed as Sora and Yaoyarozu stopped in front of him.

"Where's Tifa?" Cloud asked Sora in English.

"Fighting a Rock Troll near the base of the mountain. She could use some help." Sora explained.

"Figures…" he muttered, "Thanks for the heads up."

In a burst of speed, Cloud was gone from the spot he was in before anybody could make any objections. Sora sighed good-naturedly, before looking back to Ectoplasm, speaking in Japanese, "The Heartless are gone, right?"

"Almost." was the reply, "Aside from that monster you were talking about, U.S.J. is secured."

Though Momo and Eijiro sighed in relief (Bakugo simply scoffed since there were no more enemies to fight), Sora remained unconvinced. The Heartless can be tricky when they want to be.

"I'm going back." he said, determined.

"Young man, you can't-!" Ectoplasm started, but suddenly, a massive dark dome appeared. Sora quickly reacted and cast Aero, blowing the others away as he was swallowed by the darkness.

"No!" Kirishima shouted in shock.

Nezu quickly reacted, looking over to Ectoplasm, "Get the rest of the students to safety. Present Mic and Power Loader stay here. we need to get our student out of that dome."

Reluctantly, Ectoplasm obeyed, signaling for Momo, Eijiro, and Katsuki to head for the exit.

Sora wasn't the only one trapped in the dark dome. While she was fighting, Tifa suddenly noticed the dome appearing, and the Rock Troll took advantage of that opening, swinging its weapon horizontally and hitting the brawler at the midsection.

She hissed in pain as she was sent flying into the vicinity of the dome, but before she could collide with solid ground, she felt someone grab her body, using their own as a shield as they tumbled to the floor and separated once they rolled to a stop.

"...What… the hell?" a familiar voice scolded between breaths. She turned around and saw Cloud next to her on the ground, panting as he got himself up.

"Nice catch," she smiled, taking his hand and found herself back on her feet.

"I rest my case. You're crazy." he sighed.

"So are you, Cloud Strife." she retorted, "Suck it up."

"Whatever you say." he grumbled, clearly not wanting to aggravate Tifa further after she used his full name. They turned around to face the Rock Troll, which had lumbered its way towards them.

"Good to go?" Cloud asked, unsheathing the Buster Sword.

"You know it!" was her reply.

The Rock Troll raised its arm, swinging it down to the duo, but they dashed out of reach, getting on both sides of it.

Cloud swung his blade through the Rock Troll's side, leaving a deep cut that poured out darkness from the Heartless. It roared and swung its weapon towards the ex-SOLDIER, who blocked it with his own while getting pushed back. Taking advantage, Tifa ducked low and landed a sweeping kick, knocking the Heartless on its rear.

"My turn!" Cloud said as he brought his blade to his front, holding it in two hands, "Climhazzard!" He rushed in, stabbing the Heartless in its gut, before using his strength to lift himself into the air, and the Rock Troll along with him. He landed on the ground, looking away from the Troll as it hit the ground hard.

It was all but dead, as it got back up and placed its weapon on its face, creating a mask that acted as armor. "That's gonna be a problem." Cloud grimaced.

"Then leave the mask to me." Tifa said, "Cover me as best you can."

"I plan to." Cloud said, before raising his left hand as red flames enveloped it.

(Silence)

Back with Sora, he had noticed that Power Loader, Present Mic, and Nezu were trying to break through to get to him, and he himself was bashing the dome with his weapon, to no avail.

"It's… pointless… to resist…"

A voice made Sora turn around, and saw to his shock that a large shadow encompassed the center of the plaza, swallowing the fountain whole.

"Did you… really think...?"

Sora took a step back as something emerged from within. An arm, then a hand, pushed itself up, before the rest of the body emerged. First the head, the torso, and the legs, all appeared and climbed out of the shadow it had come from.

"We'd let you off… that easily?"

(Play: KH 1.5 Remix OST - Destiny's Force)

Sora growled as he recognized what was in front of him. Standing tall and proud, and looming over the Keyblade wielder, was the Dark Follower that he had faced only three months before. It looked just about the same, except that Sora noticed the red outline on its hands and hair was less prominent.

It had slipped through his fingers before. He wasn't planning on making the same mistake this time.

He started off by casting Fire and Blizzard towards the left hand, both of which made an impact with the Heartless. It, however, ignored that, lowering its fist into a portal of darkness, before pulling an orb of darkness out that it held in one hand, while gripping said hand with the other. Sora knew better than to jump in and interrupt, as the Dark Follower released the sphere into the sky.

Dark orbs began to rain onto the battlefield as Sora watched. He dodged one orb before running towards the Dark Follower, who was now conjuring dark energy into its hand, before raising it high with the intent to slam it to the ground.

Sora had to bat away two orbs before he saw the hand go down. He was too slow to dodge the shockwave as it sent him flying away, tumbling to where the fountain once was. He grimaced in pain before he got back up on his feet as the Heartless turned to face him.

Rats. It's faster than before… What changed? Sora thought. He avoided more of the smaller spheres, before running up to the Dark Follower, trying to close the distance fast before it could react. In response, the Dark Follower then raised its hand and did something Sora never saw a Heartless do: It snapped its fingers.

At that, he saw Mega Shadow Heartless appear from nowhere and instantly surround him. Sora gripped Hero's Origin and began to take them down with relative ease. They had been a huge pain when he first obtained the Keyblade, especially the large variant of Shadow, but at least in this burnt-out state, he could easily manage them unlike before.

It wasn't long before the last Mega Shadow was cut down, giving Sora enough energy to Formchange once again. He drew Hero's Origin back, where it split apart in the middle, where the edges of the blade became lightning bolts, while the blade, with the tip being an image of the Greek God of Thunder, condensed and became a metal shield, which spun around as the lightning bolts gave it more detail, forming a cloud-like design around the left and right side of the shield.

This was Sora's Counter Shield, which was displayed once before during the Entrance Exam, and a Formchange associated with his new Guardian Form.

For the cherry on top, Sora's clothes had changed color and design, now yellow and filled with checkered diamond patterns. But just as quickly as it appeared, Sora immediately switched back to the Kingdom Key.

I'm going to have to save my Counter Shield for a time when I have no choice but to defend. Sora thought, It's not very good when it comes to directly attacking, especially against a single opponent.

He grimaced as he looked up, ready to take on the Dark Follower again. This time, it exposed its heart-shaped hole in its torso, but this time, began to charge up the energy within the dark orb it was creating.

Sora saw this as an opportunity, deciding to rush in and whack away at the exposed hands while it was charging its blast. He would be an idiot for trying to attack the dark energy sphere at its core, considering last time he did that nearly killed him as well as his enemy due to it blowing up in his face.

Sora managed to cripple the left arm, and was halfway through the right arm before he saw the Dark Follower release the sphere of energy into the air. Then, though Sora expected it to home in on him, it slowly began to descend to the ground.

This was bad. Regardless if that sphere hit the ground or not, it would do devastating damage to everything around the U.S.J., regardless of it being within an enclosed space. Gritting his teeth, Sora switched targets, switching back to Counter Shield and moving as fast as he could to intercept the blast.

He made it towards the center, and raised his shield, blocking the attack before it reached the ground. The weight of the attack pushed him back down to earth, but he had managed to stop it from making impact with the ground.

Now to absorb the energy, if I can… Sora thought, allowing the Counter Shield to slowly absorb and stockpile the dark energy, converting it into energy that Sora would use to counter accordingly. He turned back to make sure the Dark Follower wasn't trying anything, only to find to his dismay that it was. It was now slamming its hand back into another pool of darkness, but instead of a dark orb, the Heartless pulled out a sphere full of Shadows, almost similar to the core of a Demon Tide!

Sora had to act fast. Using all the strength he had, he pushed the energy ball back into the air, where it stayed for a few moments, before he switched back to the Kingdom Key and batted the sphere in mid air towards the Dark Follower. In response, the Heartless flung the sphere of Shadows towards the energy sphere it had created. The two collided, and the energy ball, now weakened due to Sora absorbing some of the energy within, exploded upon impact, taking the sphere of Shadows with it.

Sora couldn't see a thing due to the explosion, wishing that he had his AR Device on now, but managed to wipe away the smoke to face his opponent.

Only to be met with an approaching giant fist.

Sora was only barely able to whip out the Counter Shield in time to counter the attack with a large golden fist of his own protruding from the shield, made of the stockpiled energy from the Dark Follower's giant sphere. The two fists collided, creating a shockwave that sent some of the trees inside the dome flying away and leaving imprints on the walls of said dome.

The Hero of Light and the Heartless were locked in a stalemate as each tried to overpower the other. The fists were shaking as they tried to push against the force currently opposing it. Sora took a step forward, only to hear something crack.

He looked up, seeing to his shock that the golden fist he conjured was cracking under the strain as the Dark Follower put more power into its own attack. Sora tried to keep the fist around for as long as he could, but he only delayed the inevitable, as the Dark Follower managed to actually shatter the golden fist, knocking Sora off balance.

The Keyblade wielder had no time to react as the Dark Follower grabbed him with its left hand, before flinging him into the sky with frightening speed. Sora was sent flying as he noticed its right fist raised and pulsing with darkness. He got his Counter Shield up to defend himself, but as the fist hit it, the force of the attack and the lack of ground Sora had sent him back to the ground, where he recoiled from the slam and was sent back into the air.

He cried out in pain as he was slammed into the ground and back into the air. This type of Heartless was unlike any he had faced before. It was faster, stronger… and smarter. But there had to be a way to defeat it!

He looked back to it while still in the air, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw dark energy flowing within the heart-shaped hole once again. He braced himself with Counter Shield again in hopes of minimizing the damage.

Only to find the Dark Follower firing a literal beam of darkness to his shield, sending him away from the center as the laser pushed him out of the dome and forced him to crash into the Mountain Zone. Hard.

(Silence)

Sora fell from the crater he made due to crashing to the ground on his back. Every muscle in him was screaming in pain from the impact. He managed to get back up on his feet, only to collapse on his knees. He found to his shock that blood was dripping from the point of impact, and specifically from his back.

Again? he thought, What's going on? It's the same situation again… my power isn't all lost… but my body feels… weaker than before… why?

It wasn't right. His body could react and attack very quickly due to experience… but why was he hurting so much from these attacks? He hadn't lost all his powers this time around… what changed?

He stumbled back to his feet, and attempted to walk back, only for exhaustion and pain to finally overtake him.

The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the hole that Nomu flew out of, where he saw the blue sky and a bright light shining down on him.

The sun?

...

"HA!"

Tifa landed a solid kick to the Rock Troll's face, finally breaking the mask of the Rock Troll. It had taken some time, but they had managed to break through its defenses and knock it off balance, allowing them to attack.

"You're mine!" she shouted as she lowered her stance, before running up to the dazed Rock Troll before landing a devastating Somersault Kick which knocked it down on its rear. "You're up, Cloud!"

"Of all the times! Especially when I'm out of Magic!" he grumbled as he ran towards the stunned Heartless, before coursing energy into the blade, making it glow red, before he spun around and jumped with the blade held high, ready to swing it down on the monster.

"Infinity's End!" he shouted, slamming his weapon down and slicing the Heartless clean in half. It let out one final scream before it dissipated, a pink heart floating away as he did so.

"That takes care of that," Cloud said, before looking to Tifa, "Now we gotta head back."

"I guess that's our next problem." Tifa looked around at the dark dome they were in, "What do we do about this?"

It was at that moment they saw a dark purple laser of energy blast past them, out the dome, and into the Mountain Zone. And they could barely see what had crashed into it before hearing a roar coming from the source of the dark blast.

"What?!" Cloud swung his head around to see what was roaring.

(Play: FF 7 Remake OST - A Trap is Sprung)

It was a Heartless. A giant one at that. It was starting to lumber over to where the blast had collided with the mountain, and Cloud could only guess who it was after.

"Tifa, come on! We need to slow that thing down!" he told her, "If it reaches the kid before he recovers, we're in big trouble!"

"Serious?" she asked.

"Positive. Remember, the kid's weapon is the only thing that can really take these bastards down." Cloud reached inside a pocket of his before pulling out a bottle of ether for himself and a Hi-Potion for Tifa. He downed his ether in one go before looking to Tifa, "Let's move!"

"Right! Get its attention! I'll aim for its legs!"

Cloud began to sprint towards the monster, before leaping into the air aiming for the head. To Cloud's surprise, the Heartless responded by raising a hand to intercept him. He responded quickly by casting Firaga at its approaching hand, forcing it to reel it back in pain.

Cloud landed on its shoulder, stabbing his Buster Sword into it, before dragging it along as he ran across the side of the Heartless's right arm. It shrieked in pain in response and tried to swat Cloud away with its other hand, but the SOLDIER was quick to move away, pulling the Buster Sword out and swinging it, slicing the incoming hand clean off.

It shrieked again as the hand disappears into wisps of darkness. As the Heartless tried to grab Cloud in the air with its remaining hand, it suddenly staggered as a powerful force knocked its right leg down to a knee. It looked down to see Tifa having landed a divekick on its leg, forcing it down on one knee. This allowed the brawler to leap up on said knee and hop onto its heart-shaped void, before jumping up between its arm and its face.

Using the arm as a foothold, she propelled herself towards the Heartless's face, delivering a punch to it before somersaulting over its head. She was bracing for an impact, but Cloud was there to keep her from hitting the ground hard again.

"Great. We have its attention. Now what?" Cloud asked, as the Heartless turned its attention to the duo.

"Like you said, without Sora, there's no way we can take it down for good. Especially with a Heartless this size." Tifa told him, "So the best course of action is to hold out until he comes about."

As much as Cloud hated the idea, he saw no other options. He and Tifa looked back up to where the Dark Follower was looking at the stub where its hand once was, before, to their shock, in a surge of darkness, the hand returned, good as new.

Dammit, kid. You better be still kicking, he thought as he gripped his Buster Sword.

(Silence)

"I knew I'd find you snoozing down here…"

Sora opened his eyes at the voice, lifting his head up to look for its source. He was in the same white void that he was in 3 months before, when those apparitions of Donald and Goofy had come to help him.

However, in that void, he found no one, despite hearing that familiar voice.

Am I dreaming? he thought, before he lowered his head.

Only to find a familiar redhead staring back at him with a mischievous grin.

"AAHHHH!" he bolted up, and hissed due to the pain it gave his back. When it ceased, he turned around to look at who was there with him in the void as she laughed.

(Play: KH 3 OST - Baymax Rebooted)

"Gotcha again!" she smiled. Sora could only look at her dumbfoundedly as she extended her hand to help him up.

"What are you doing down there, Sora?" the redhead asked. He couldn't believe it. Same short, red hair… same pink and black dress… and that radiant smile that always made his heart flutter inside. He didn't care if this was an apparition. He knew in his heart that somehow, someway, she was standing there, talking to him.

"Kairi…" he said in shock, "How-?"

She giggled, "How am I showing up to you here? I thought it was obvious."

Sora recalled a memory of a time on the islands, "The paopu fruit…?"

"May~be. Perhaps the legend was true after all. We truly are connected to one another, aren't we?" she teased as Sora took her hand and got himself back on his feet, before her face morphed into one of concern, "But seriously… what are you doing, Sora? No offense, but you look like you dove head-first into the wet sand back home."

"What do you think?" Sora laughed dryly, "I was taking a nap."

"Didn't seem like it to me." she said sadly, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm just having a hard time with a big Heartless." Sora admitted, "Doesn't help that I'm not as strong as I used to be."

"Oh…" she nodded, "But you are okay, right?"

"Yeah, I can handle it. I just, well… needed to take a breather," Sora said sheepishly.

"...So you're not okay."

"I didn't-"

"Please don't lie. I can see it. Your eyes, at least." she gazed at him, "You're unsure if you can win this fight. You're scared that you might fail like you did back then."

"...I…" he began, before falling silent.

"Please, just listen," she told him, though not unkindly, "Do you remember what I told you when we met up again in the Keyblade Graveyard, when you were drifting towards the light?"

Sora smiled as he remembered meeting up with Kairi after using the power of waking to rescue his friends. She was there, waiting patiently, and with a smile on her face, before leading Sora back to the light.

"Uh-huh. You were the one who kept me from fading." he recalled.

"And all I did was believe that you wouldn't." she nodded, "I knew you'd pull through even when it got bleak, and you did."

She smiled at him, "I believed in you then, and I believe in you now."

"...I know that." he smiled, before looking up, "But… "

"It's alright, Sora," she said, "You're gonna do just fine, wherever you are. You can beat that jerk and show it what for. Just know that we believe in you, and that we'll always be there with you no matter where we are, and don't give in. Besides, you still have a promise to keep right?"

"Yeah. You're right." Sora chuckled, "So… I know you're not really here… but you are going to help me regardless, right?"

Kairi giggled as she put her hands behind her back, "Perhaps."

Then, she did something Sora did not expect: she walked over to him, moved her head a bit close to Sora's own, and simply pressed her lips on his cheek before moving back in one quick motion.

"...Wha-? I- Huh?" was all he could stutter. His face had turned a brilliant shade of red at the contact and his heart was beating rapidly, threatening to come out of his chest and fly away. Kairi had just… kissed him? A part of him wanted to start jumping for joy while another wanted to cover his head in embarrassment and shame. He wasn't sure if he was dreaming as she laughed and took a step back.

"Consider that a thank you for all the times you've rescued me. And a promise that we'll meet again on much better terms when I become strong enough to fight alongside you." she smiled sweetly. Her face was also red, but not to the degree that Sora's face was currently. "Till then, Sora… keep kicking butt out there, okay?"

Sora looked at her in awe, before smacking his face with both his hands and laughed good-naturedly, "Consider it done."

His laugh became a small chuckle, before he ran over and gave Kairi a hug, a stray tear coming down his eye, "Thanks, Kai…"

"You're welcome." Her voice was all he heard as the void disappeared around him, taking his dearest friend with it as the void turned back into the mountain zone. He didn't mind as Kairi's form disappeared and left him alone once again.

"I feel strong with you, Kairi." he remembered saying to her when she brought him back. And he had meant it.

He knew that even now, despite not being there in person, she still believed in him, and was with him in spirit, just like Donald and Goofy were. That was all he needed to keep on fighting.

(Play: KH 3 OST - Link to All - San Fransokyo ver.)

Suddenly, he felt very warm, not just on the outside, but inside, too, where his heart was. It gave him strength to slowly get back to his feet, despite the pain in his back. He also felt something in his pocket glow, and he looked to his Keyblade, which was now the Kingdom Key again, but this time… it was glowing white.

It's so warm… It almost feels like Kairi's light is right next to me. he thought, as he looked around the Mountain Zone in hopes of finding a trace of the redhead he cherished as a dear friend. But there was no sign of her. Sora sighed, but kept up that smile. Thanks to the Princess of Heart, he finally remembered.

He raised his Keyblade up to the sky, and shouted, "Heal!"

At once, a single bell appeared and sprinkled down dust that covered Sora, and like magic, the dust settled and made his body feel lighter than ever.

He finally remembered how to use the power of healing.

His body now rejuvenated by the warm light he was now feeling combined with his newly reobtained Cure spell, Sora got to his feet, and looked back towards the dome. "Time for some payback," he grinned.

(Silence)

Cloud leapt away from another punch, before casting Firaga at the Dark Follower, only for it to be blocked by its other hand. He looked back to Tifa, who had used Final Heaven again to eliminate a horde of Neoshadows. He scowled as he looked over to the edge of the dome to where the entrance was, where the majority of the staff, minus All Might, were still trying to break through, to no avail.

If Sora was taking this long to recover, then this monster really was trouble.

Just then, a brilliant light shined from the Mountain Zone, before it became a bullet, ramming into and crashing through the dark dome with ease, leaving a hole where it collided.

"Over here!" a voice shouted as the light collided with the Dark Follower's head, staggering it and causing it to actually collapse on the ground. The light landed right next to Cloud, and when it dissipated, it turned out to be Sora himself, Keyblade in hand.

He wasn't looking 100%, though. His costume was ruffled, and the back of said costume had a rough hole exposing his skin and a red spot on his back. His arms were slightly burned due to the heat from the dark energy blast that sent him flying moments before, and his right gauntlet looked like it had been through hell and back.

But unlike the Kingdom Key, this Keyblade was different. Cloud had seen it only a couple of times, but he could tell what it was. It was a very delicate and fragile-looking weapon, with the blade consisting of two small poles connected to the handle, and the teeth of the blade looking similar to the Japanese kanji for "light", and the handle guards were the shape of angel's wings. To top it off, the keychain at the end was remarkably similar to the charm Sora treasured.

This was Oathkeeper, a Keyblade that represented Sora's connection with his close friend Kairi. He hadn't used this weapon since his second journey, and boy was he glad it came to him now, considering its light-based properties. Sora then looked back to Cloud.

"You okay?" he asked, lending a hand.

"Peachy." he replied gruffly, taking it. Tifa ran up to both of them, looking to Sora concerned.

"We're doing fine, but what about you, Sora?" she asked, "You took a huge hit back there, not to mention you crashed into the mountain."

"No worries, Tifa," Sora smiled, "Just got a pep talk from a dear friend,"

"I see." Tifa returned the smile.

(Play: FF7 Remake OST - Let the Battles Begin! - Break Through - Timestamp 5:08)

Just then, they heard a roar of fury. The Dark Follower was back on its feet, and it was not happy to see Sora back up and ready for more. It leered at the trio standing there, before plunging its hand to the ground.

Shadows of various sizes and Neoshadows began to appear from the dark pool, surrounding the trio as they stood back to back. Cloud simply looked up to the giant Heartless.

"Someone's mad." he commented.

"Too bad for him, then," Sora grinned, "There's a lot more where that came from."

The three otherworldly heroes turned to face their foes. Sora had Oathkeeper on his shoulder, Tifa eyed their numbers with fists clenched, and Cloud gripped the Buster Sword once more, ready to settle things.

"Both of you ready?" Cloud asked.

"Always!" Tifa got into a fighting stance.

"You bet!" Sora grinned, pointing Oathkeeper at the Heartless.

"Good." Cloud said as he got back into stance, "Let's mosey!"

The Dark Follower raised an arm, gathering dark energy within it, but the three fighters were already moving.

"We'll deal with the Heartless's hands! Take out the small fry and then go for the head!" Cloud told Sora, before clearing a path for himself and Tifa with a slash of crescent-shaped energy.

"Got it!" Sora said, before looking at the Dark Follower. It slammed its hand to the ground, creating a pool of darkness from which more Shadows and Neoshadows began to emerge from the pool. "Bring it on!" Sora said, turning his attention to the smaller fry. Since Oathkeeper was lighter than most other Keyblades in his current arsenal, he could move much faster, and he was planning to use that to his advantage.

In a flash of white, Oathkeeper slashed through each and every Mega and Neoshadow without much issue as Sora became a blur of speed. Though it looked like a pretty fragile weapon, its performance in battle proved otherwise, as Sora cleaved through two Neoshadows with relative ease.

On the outside, he wore a serious face, while on the inside, he was really excited. Not due to the thrill of the fight, but it was the fact that he could access more of his own power, even if it was just a slight boost.

To make things even more surprising, Sora felt energy stockpiling into Oathkeeper with every strike. That could only mean that Oathkeeper could Formchange as well. But he would need more energy to do so. He turned to the remaining Neoshadows and got into a stance. Perhaps they'd be a place to start.

Meanwhile, Cloud and Tifa had gone for the left hand of the Dark Follower. Using Cloud's sword as a foothold, Tifa leapt up high as he swung and grabbed hold of the Dark Follower's arm. The Heartless responded by lifting its right arm back up from where it was on the ground in an attempt to swat the brawler, but Cloud was already on the move, and with one slash of an energized Buster Sword, he cut the Dark Follower's hand clean off.

It shrieked in pain, staggering back, before Cloud landed back on the ground and looked back to Tifa, who had leapt from her perch on the Heartless's arm and was now on its shoulder. From there, Tifa began to hop on the balls of her feet, before rushing in and unleashing a flurry of strikes all over the Dark Follower, before leaping off its forehead and back onto its arm, before falling back to the ground, rolling to her feet.

The Dark Follower staggered from Tifa's assault, before it looked back to its stub, dark energy flowing around it and made the fallen hand return good as new, only to shriek again as its left hand was cut off. It turned to the source, but instead of Cloud, it was Sora who had cut through it.

Just what I needed! he thought, as he felt the stockpiled energy reach a peak, Let's see what it can do!

"Give me strength!" he called out, light exploding out of him as he released the energy. Cloud and Tifa covered their eyes as Sora began to transform.

When the light subsided, Sora found that while Oathkeeper hadn't changed form, his clothing definitely did. Instead of their black, gray, and red outlines, his clothing, gauntlets, and shoes were now white and gray, and looking down, Sora saw Oathkeeper's teeth patterned on his pants.

Strange. Now that he thought about it, Oathkeeper's teeth looked similar to-

"Kid, move!" Cloud's voice made him jump, and just in time for him to roll away from the Dark Follower's right fist. Only… he didn't roll from what Cloud was seeing. From his point of view, Sora literally turned into a trail of light energy as he dodged the attack, before reappearing a second later.

Sora apparently didn't notice that, as he looked back up to the Dark Follower, which now had another cluster of Shadows in its grip. It didn't hesitate to fling it down on the Keyblade wielder, and Sora responded by leaping towards it to intercept it. Using memories that didn't belong to him, Sora had an idea on how to take it out.

"Black Hole!" He spun in midair, before slamming the Keyblade down into the sphere of Shadows, before swinging it outward, summoning pillars of light that dispelled the Shadows easily, before focusing his sights on the Dark Follower again. Its left hand had regenerated, but Cloud had responded by slicing off not just the right hand, but the entire length of the arm.

It roared and furiously swung at the SOLDIER, who had no choice but to block the punch with his sword due to still being in midair. The fist slammed into the blade, sending Cloud back to the ground, the impact rupturing the ground beneath him. He coughed out blood due to the recoil, but quickly got back to his feet, despite the pain he was feeling. The Dark Follower raised a hand to finish him off.

However, it failed to notice that Tifa had gone under its nose, now sprinting towards its legs. With all the strength she had left, she focused her chi and rocketed towards the legs, ramming her fist into one of them.

It worked, as the Dark Follower now was down on one knee. Having had enough, it began to concentrate energy into its hollow torso. Sora knew already that a blast like that shouldn't hit the ground, and as the Dark Follower released it, the Keyblade Wielder reared Oathkeeper back.

"How's this?!" He charged towards the dark orb with Oathkeeper spinning in front of him. It collided with the blast of energy, and after a few seconds of struggle, pushed through and obliterated the dark energy with his light.

Now Sora was hovering in the air, staring directly at the weakened Dark Follower. He had to end this quickly before it could regenerate further.

"I was thinking the same thing!"

Kairi's voice caused him to look to his left, and sure enough, there she was. But just like Donald and Goofy, she was simply sparkling. It wasn't really her in person.

But regardless of it not being the true Kairi, it was a welcoming sight.

"Ready for this, Kairi?" he asked.

"Let's do it!" she nodded.

The two clasped their right and left hands together, before they spread their free hands out, summoning a pair of wings on their backs, one on Sora's right, the other on Kairi's left. United together, they flew towards the Dark Follower, spinning around as the wings cut the Heartless's face, showering it with multiple feathers, before the two flew up and dismissed their wings, and the feathers that made them split off and became orbs of brilliant light.

"Light of One Heart!" Sora and Kairi shouted in unison as they soared downwards towards their foe, the light orbs following suit and raining a barrage of light onto the Dark Follower. It roared in pain as orb after orb pelted its head, shoulders and back, causing it to lose balance as the weight of the attacks became too much.

With a massive crash, the Dark Follower was defeated.

(Play: KH 1.5 Remix OST - Kairi III)

As Sora and Kairi landed, the Dark Follower collapsed in a heap. Sora looked back to Kairi and noticed she was glowing more prominently.

"Aw man. Looks like my time's up. And just after one attack too..." she puffed her cheeks in frustration, before looking at Sora, "Even so, I'm glad to see you're doing okay. Even if it is for a few moments."

"Same with you, Kairi." he smiled, before adding, "Say, once you guys find me, you mind if you, me, and Riku go off to travel to new worlds together like we planned all those years ago? Except this time we don't use a raft."

"I'd love that. Just don't doze off beforehand, got it, lazy bum? We might just leave you behind while you're snoozing." Kairi teased, making Sora pout.

"Hey! I don't doze off all the time!"

She laughed, making Sora smile. Despite that little jab, he always liked seeing her laugh. It made his heart flutter again with that funny feeling. Love, was it? After a couple seconds, she stopped laughing, and the two gazed into each other's eyes.

After what seemed like ages to Sora, Kairi finally made a move, taking Sora's hands into her own as she said, "Sora… don't ever change."

His smile faltered just a bit, but Kairi didn't seem to notice, and he nodded as he recomposed himself, "I'll do my best."

"Good. Take care of yourself, okay?" she asked.

"It's a promise," he said, as Kairi soon disappeared in the same manner Donald and Goofy had three months before. He watched the light particles disappear off into the distance, out through the hole Nomu had created on the ceiling.

Cloud and Tifa ran up to him, the former looking out of breath. "You alright?" Tifa asked Sora.

"Yeah. I'll be okay," Sora answered, not even noticing a stray tear falling from his eye.

"Curse… you…"

(Play: KH 3 OST - Dive into the Heart -Destati- (Third Inception) Timestamp - 5:45)

The distorted voice made Sora turn his head, with Cloud and Tifa following his gaze. The Dark Follower had lifted its head, staring daggers at the Keyblade Wielder.

"This… isn't over…" Sora heard the distorted voice say, which sounded like it belonged to the Heartless. This was definitely new.

"We will… meet again…"

As it said that, a large pool of darkness erupted from underneath the Dark Follower. It took him a few seconds to realize that the Dark Follower was trying to escape.

"No! I won't let you…!" Sora began to run, only for his chest to suddenly start hurting as he fell to his knees, gripping his chest in pain. What?! What's… happening?

"Sora!" Cloud and Tifa rushed over to the Key Bearer, looking back at the Dark Follower. Cloud pointed the Buster Sword towards it in warning, while Tifa tended to Sora.

Sora himself, while being supported by the brawler, looked back to the Dark Follower, which was converging into the inky pool as it looked back at him. He could only watch while gritting his teeth as the Heartless slowly disappeared into the inky abyss.

"Do not think you are pure… because of how close you stand to light..." the voice warned.

With that, the Dark Follower finally disappeared, as well as the dome around them.

(Play: KH BBS OST - Destiny's Union)

Sora silently berated himself for letting the Heartless escape again. It was very powerful, much more than most Heartless he had seen. Not only because of its power. It was because it grew stronger after their last encounter.

It adapted.

Sora had rarely seen any Heartless do such a thing. What even caused it to be able to fight like that?

He needed to figure out, before more people got hurt.

But right now, his chest was hurting, as well as his arms and right hand. Pretty much every muscle in his body was screaming in exhaustion.

First it was his ears getting accidentally assaulted by Momo's stun grenades, then getting blasted face-first by the Dark Follower's laser of death, then subsequently crashing back into the mountain zone so hard he lost consciousness for a brief moment, and now the pain in his chest, which had thankfully lessened, if ever so slightly.

However, exhaustion from using that joint attack with Kairi was finally catching up to him. He was running on fumes to ensure he was conscious.

I overdid it, didn't I? he thought dully.

"Come on, kid. Let's get you outta here." Cloud said as he helped Tifa in supporting Sora, "Can you walk?"

He winced, "I dunno… don't think so."

"Kay. Let's get you back to the staff. They'll take it from here."

"Couldn't you just-?"

"Outta magic, kid."

"Ah…" was all Sora said before he lost consciousness again.

Cloud looked at Tifa, who only smiled, "Looks like you were right. He is a lucky one,"

"See? I can be correct sometimes."

"That's true. Oh," she looked to his mouth, which had traces of blood coming out of it, "You should get that fixed up soon."

"...Probably." Cloud merely rubbed the blood off.

With that, he lifted Sora over his shoulder, before he and Tifa went back to the staff, who were simply stunned at what they had witnessed. The dome had gotten translucent once Sora had broken through and made a hole in it to rejoin the fight, so they could see the rest of the battle in detail.

"Okay… who the hell are these people?" Vlad King asked in Japanese.

"And their Quirks. The lady's seems simple enough, but the other two are different."

"Principal Nezu," Ectoplasm looked towards Nezu, "You said you would explain Sora's case to the staff."

"I will. But now isn't the time for that. It's better to hear it from the boy himself," Nezu explained, "But right now, he needs medical attention. We should get him to Recovery Girl. It's the least we can do considering what he, Cloud, and Tifa have done for us today."

As he finished, Cloud, Sora, and Tifa were in front of them.

"I'll take him," Midnight told Cloud, and he complied, giving her the exhausted boy.

"Thanks," was all Cloud said. Midnight nodded, but gave him a wink, much to his confusion. Sora, who had gained a little bit of consciousness, was trying to say something to her, but Midnight shushed him.

"Save your strength, young man. You're gonna be alright," she told him.

"He really is something else." Present Mic commented.

"That's the Keyblade's chosen for you," Cloud told him, "He's a lucky kid."

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you two?" Cementoss asked the duo, "We haven't seen you before at all. Are you both Pros?"

"You can say that." Tifa said, "We'll explain later once Sora's fully recovered."

With that, all of the staff members, including Cloud and Tifa, walked out of the USJ. Cloud simply lagged behind to make sure nobody was planning on ambushing them. He turned around as he got to the exit…

(Silence)

Only to gasp in shock as a single black feather drifted down in front of him. His breathing became faster. He couldn't be here… could he?

"Cloud?"

(Resume: KH BBS OST - Destiny's Union)

Tifa's voice made him snap out of his funk, and he turned around to find her standing and waiting for him.

"Sorry. I'm on my way," Cloud said, looking back again before jogging towards his friend. The feather had disappeared. Was it all his imagination?

The police arrived on the scene minutes later, and apprehended Nomu, who had finally crashed down to earth after All Might's huge display of power. There was no need to go back and look for other villains in other zones, as when police went in, there were no survivors when those strange monsters attacked.

Little did they know… this was only the beginning.

And that's the end of Chapter 15! The Heartless came and went, and for Sora, he's regained a bit more of his lost power, and with a little help from a dear friend, a keychain to boot. That's right folks, Oathkeeper has returned! For those confused on why Sora was surprised about Oathkeeper having the ability to Formchange, my headcanon is that he never received those Keychains throughout the course of 3 and Re:Mind, as obtaining those blades were only part of the post game and DLC.

Not to mention... *wolf-whistle* Kairi actually had the courage to kiss him this chapter. Like I said before in Wolf's chapter 3 review, Sora isn't gonna be paired with anyone in MHA. Kairi's already taken that spot in his heart. It's not a kiss to the lips, but it'll have to do for now. But for now, rejoice, SoKai fans, for this ship on this fic has begun to set sail!

Onto Reviews!

PUBLISH: Yes. In the eyes of someone who has no idea who Sora is, I would say that he's crazy for claiming to be an alien. And I'd agree. Bakugo would admire Cloud's straightforward action in Chapter 14, but even he wasn't expecting an attack so brutal. Nevertheless, I don't think Cloud would feel the same for Katsuki...

Phantommore: Yep. Sora's there to make sure the rating doesn't go from Teen to Mature. Jokes aside, yeah. Without the current laws of this world, Cloud would've killed him and be done with it. Unfortunately, killing Shigaraki would look very bad on his track record here in the world of MHA, so Sora had no choice but to step in before Cloud crossed the line.

blueassassin996: How ironic... the future Symbol of Fear now experiencing a brand new fear... in the form of one of the planet's greatest threats.

Shadow Tiger24: That would be putting it one way, but if you think about it in FF7 terms... it means something else entirely. And just to correct you, no offense, but Sora wasn't the one who saw Sephiroth, though the glare Cloud was giving Tomura made Sora remind him of the fallen angel.

Guest: Mwahahaha...

Guest: Thank you so much, Guest, and you stay safe too!

Guest: I understand your concern, and yes, I will openly admit that writing it this way is a bit easier. This is technically my first story, after all. However, just because an MC is super overpowered, doesn't mean that they have no more room to grow as a person. For example, Sora here isn't at full power anyways, and we aren't sure he's completely okay mentally after that trauma train of a Keyblade War in KH3 and Re:Mind, so he has to learn how to regain that lost strength, outer and inner. It's only a matter of when. But yeah, now that you mention it, older characters that get sent to another world like BNHA don't have to necessarily join the class. They could just employ as a staff member or a librarian, or not join in the main story at all, and watch it all happen from the sidelines while their own story unfurls. I think there are other stories like that you can explore if you want to. It's definitely a lot more creative than what I currently have.

Engineer4Ever: Sigh... if only. But alas, Cloud ain't part of the military in this world, though he would have a very high chance of getting in that way. But as you'll see later, he needs to keep a low profile.

The OC Maniac: Yes! I'm glad someone remembered that Cloud was imbued with JENOVA cells no thanks to the freak of nature known as Hojo, just like Sephiroth was and the rest of the SOLDIERs in Shinra's employ. Yes, you could say that Jenova's cells did help intimidate Tomura, although we also know how bad the cells can be for Cloud, despite it giving him superhuman abilities. Considering how Cloud called Hojo a "son of a bitch," I'd say he'd be outright furious with how others were being experimented on just as he had been. He may be a bit of an edgelord, but he's got a good heart.

Neonfox: *Plays 'Ave Maria' while the poor dude gets destroyed in one of the worst ways possible.*

PittBullBytes: Well... I employed your suggestion here. How do you think it looks?

XxSoulMasterXx: Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely look into it after this.

Terkoish: Well, to put it shortly, the Cloud and Tifa we see are their FF7 counterparts, but their personalities are a mix of FF7 and FF7 Remake. They still are the same Cloud and Tifa we know from KH1 and KH2.

MK: Surprised you there, didn't I? Yes, it is a bit concerning, but keep in mind Riku also was able to emit darkness at 15 years old, the same age as Bakugo. Though the latter's isn't enough to summon the Heartless, I wouldn't say he's out of the woods just yet. And going to your disagreement with Sora thinking that Izuku could help, keep in mind this is merely what SORA thinks. We may have many of the details regarding the connection between Izuku and Katsuki, but Sora does not, so he's pretty much clutching at straws for the moment. He did say that MAYBE Izuku could be to Katsuki what he was to Riku. It wasn't an absolute thought.

What are your thoughts for this chapter? I'm glad if you liked it, and I'm sorry for not meeting expectations if you didn't.

And for once, this pencil is going to be put down for a while, because this is now the LONGEST chapter I've made.

Thanks for reading my story, and until our paths cross again!

(Silence)