Disclaimer: not mine

Finally playing KH3! It seems like storyline wise you only visit each world once unlike in 2, does that make it a short game? I just finished Corona, but an going back to it and toy box to finish exploring them and getting the pics of the Mickey symbol. So far not enjoying the storyline as much as previously, it feels like more cutscenes in the worlds or something? Definitely prefer the gummi ship travel in the previous ones!

Chapter 32

Riku watched Ienzo exam them both, relieved when they appeared just fine. He was wondering about why someone would make both Tron and the MCP, unless… "Ienzo, do you think maybe Ansem programmed Tron and Xehanort did the MCP after he started using Ansem's name? That would explain how one person could make such different programs."

"Hmm, yes, that does make more sense. Although it does not help us find the needed password," he admitted, right as a crash sounded from the study. Sora and Donald scrambled up from where Ienzo had been examining them, the four of them heading out, Ienzo behind them since he had no weapon.

"Goofy!" Donald chided.

"Are you alright?" Sora asked, going over to move the portrait off of him, and then stared up at the wall. "Guys?" he called and they all moved to look.

"Hollow...Main...Security...Tron... Door to...Darkness," Ienzo read, becoming excited. "This is it! But…no password," he sighed.

"Say, fellas, did somebody mention the Door To Darkness?" A familiar

"Your Majesty!" They all cried and then Mickey saw him, eyes going wide as he leapt back, Keyblade appearing, and Riku froze.

"Xehanort!" the King called but then Sora was in front of him, arms wide to protect him.

"Mickey no!" He yelled, right they had worked together and stuff while he slept for a year.

"Sora?"

"It's Riku," Sora answered him quickly and Mickey stared between them, slowly lowering the blade.

"Riku?" the King asked, and he nodded, looking away, ashamed. "Oh gosh, what happened?"

Thankfully, Sora handled the quick explanation so he didn't have to admit to how weak he'd been. If he'd been stronger then he could have banished the Darkness from his heart fully.

"I'm sorry Riku, I didn't know it was you," the King apologised, and Riku nodded, it was only natural for him to attack. He took off his hood as Donald rushed to hug him, Goofy picking up the both of them.

Sora snickered. "Long time no see!"

"Shh!" he hushed Sora, no looking around. "The Organization might be listening!" he warned and Riku frowned, stretching out his senses.

"I can't sense anyone," he offered quietly. He could sense Darkness, he could feel Sora's and…he could even sense Maleficent in her castle.

"You mentioned the Door To Darkness?" The King asked curiously.

"Uh, yes, sir! Ya see, we're lookin' for the secret password," Goofy nodded.

"Password? Oh, I guess you mean like a code," he thought about it. "Well, the Door To Darkness can only be opened by the seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle..."

"Of course..." Ienzo nodded and headed back to the computer room.

"What're you trying to do?" Mickey asked, looking between them.

"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data," Riku offered, shifting nervously when Mickey looked at him.

"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!"

"Maybe. I think Ienzo was more interested in the heart research to try and get Ventus' out of me quicker," Sora shrugged slightly.

"Hey, isn't Tron waiting for you guys?" Goofy asked.

"Don't worry, I'm not goin' anywhere. If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here," Mickey assured them.

"Yeah...we will, too," Sora smiled at him.

"And remember, be careful!" Mickey smirked and Sora rolled his eyes, there was obviously a story there…then again trouble could find Sora anywhere so that wasn't too surprising.

They left the King and headed for the computer room. Riku touched his arm and Sora looked up at him. "Does he know?" he asked, and Sora shook his head. It was getting complicated to remember who did and didn't know about Sora.

"I've input the password," Ienzo told them, "Tron should have access now."

"Be careful in there," Riku told him, and Sora nodded. He wanted to go in with him, but he was needed in case of attack. At least this time Donald was going in with them.

Sora returned to the computer and accessed the transfer system, Riku watching as the three of them vanished. .

"They'll be fine," Leon said and Riku nodded. He knew that, it didn't stop him from worrying.

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Goofy walked over to the computer terminal. "Gawrsh, I wonder where that Tron fellow is?" he asked, looking forward to meeting him.

"Don't touch that!" Donald yelped and Goofy winced as it flashed.

"Huh?"

"Goofy!" Sora yelped before he and Donald vanished.

"Uhh...I didn't do it!" he looked around, worried, but then he vanished too.

They arrived at the game grid, a large area of flat land and high walls. The ground was laced with a blue-lit grid pattern.

"I didn't touch nothin'!" he denied as they glared at him.

"Welcome to the game grid," a voice announced.

"Game grid?" Sora asked warily.

"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games. Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win? Well," the voice chuckled, "no one wins."

"We're not gonna play your games!" Donald yelled.

"You have no choice."

"Well then, get on with it!" Sora snapped.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"I really owe you one. With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want," Tron explained as he worked at the terminal.

"What Ansem would want," Sora agreed. "Listen, Tron. We didn't get the password from Ansem. We just sort of found it, back in the User world. By accident. And one more thing...Ansem, well it's complicated but the real Ansem's been missing a long time and someone else was using his name too, that one's our enemy."

"Well, actually...he's my enemy, too," Tron admitted.

"What do you mean?"

"Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customised it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So that makes him my User," he explained and they nodded. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. If there are two people using the name, that makes more sense. One of them modified me and the other brought back the MCP."

"Makes sense to me," Sora agreed as Tron stood up.

"Now go, before the MCP starts acting up again! Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed directly through my User's terminal. I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while."

"Access channel?" Sora asked in confusion. They'd been teaching him more about computers and thanks to a vampires mental abilities he understood more than he used to, but he still had a long way to go.

Tron chuckled, "I knew you'd ask." He pressed a button on the terminal. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected."

Grid beams appeared around Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

"You...my friends...are the new password," Tron smiled at them.

"Thanks Tron! Take care!" Sora called as he began to vanish, it was a very strange sensation.

"You too! And give my best to the Users!" he called back.

"Well, that's that!" Sora grinned.

"Look," Leon pointed at the monitor Ienzo was standing beside.

There were small moving sprites of themselves on the screen with the words 'Thank You!' typed underneath.

"Tron...hang in there," Sora murmured.

"So, where do we start?" Leon looked to Ienzo

"Now that we have access, the DTD," Ienzo answered, moving to the keyboard.

"The King's checking the situation in town. He'll be back soon, so don't worry," Leon told them, moving to lean against the wall as Ienzo worked.

"It's asking for a password," Ienzo called out, frowning.

"That's easy. It's..." Goofy grinned.

"Sora!"

"Donald!"

"Goofy!"

As they called their names, Ienzo typed them in. "That's...to the point," Ienzo admitted.

"Well?" Sora leant in, feeling Riku move closer.

"That did it. We're in," Ienzo told them.

"I have to go into town. Need to see what that last shakeup did," Leon moved towards the door.

"Hmm," Ienzo was staring at the screen.

"What is it?" Riku asked him even as Sora moved to lean against him.

"Something has corrupted much of the data," the scientist admitted.

"So there's nothing we can use?"

"I will attempt to fix the issues," Ienzo assured them even as an image appeared on the screen.

"Who's that?" Riku asked.

"Master Ansem!" Ienzo stared at the screen.

"Ansem the Wise!" the King's voice called from the doorway.

"So if the one we fought's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?" Goofy asked.

"Well, that's just what I'm tryin' to figure out. Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help. Ya know, I came close to finding him once..." Mickey trailed off. "Ienzo, do you know?"

"No, I was only told that he betrayed and abandoned us, by Xehanort, well, he was Xemnas by then. I know he was very amused to hear his Heartless was using our Master's name."

Before anything else could be said, a huge explosion knocked Mickey off balance. Sora held his own, reaching to steady Riku, even as Ienzo grabbed the console. Donald and Goofy ended up sprawled on the ground in a heap.

"Outside!" Sora called, head tilted to the side, using his better hearing to track the sounds.

"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" Mickey announced, turning and running from the room, but he stopped in the doorway. "Donald, Goofy, stay and protect Ienzo!" he ordered and they saluted.

Sora and Riku ran from the room as well, worried about the town.

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

They emerged on the bailey and stared in horror at the valley full of Heartless and Nobodies.

"We can't let them reach the town!" Riku yelled, and they nodded, rushing down the path only to find it blocked.

"Demyx," Sora stated, staring at the blond Nobody.

"Hey, you guys are looking lively," the Nobody grinned. "Whoa! Hey, didn't you kill him?" he looked between Sora and Riku in confusion.

"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld? How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?" Sora crossed his arms. "I bet you can't even fight," he taunted, that fight had been very easy after all.

Demyx actually wagged a finger at him. "You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance." As the three of them readied their weapons, Demyx turned around, looking worried. "I told them they were sending the wrong guy..." he whined.

"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," Mickey murmured, looking up at Riku who'd had the least exposure to them..

"Right…no hearts!" he nodded.

Demyx turned back around. "Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad..."

"Axel's proof of that," Sora agreed, briefly stunning him.

"Axel?" Demyx hesitated before calling his sitar. He spun it around, pointing at them with a smirk on his face. "Dance, water! Dance!"

The three of them moved apart and Sora started things by sending a thunder spell at the Nobody, making him yelp. Against three experienced fighters, Demyx didn't last long at all before slumping to the ground.

"Aw... booed again," he mumbled and then stated in devastation as his sitar vanished. He looked up at them with real fear in his eyes. "No way!" he reached out a hand for help.

"Demyx!" Axel yelled as he ran down the stairs. He slid across the wet ground and grabbed Demyx's hand, shocking the blond. He glanced at Sora who hesitated but nodded, sending a powerful cure spell at the Nobody, who crumpled into Axel's arms but didn't fade away like the others had.

"Get him to Merlin's," Sora ordered, and Axel nodded, picking him up and retreating. Merlin could restrain him if needed. Sora didn't think Demyx was a bad guy and maybe if given the option he'd stay out of the fighting at least.

Kairi leapt down the stairs and grinned at them, Sora yanking her in for a quick kiss, making her laugh before she moved to Riku's side.

Mickey smiled at the three and then walked ahead. A Surveillance Robot Heartless was fighting a Dusk on the ledge above. It shot out a beam, which missed the Dusk and sent debris in all directions.

Sora glanced up and noticed a large rock heading straight for Mickey. He didn't even hesitate. "Look out!" he yelled, pushing the King out of the way, the rock hitting him in the head, sending him flying into the side of the cliff where he crumpled.

"No..." Mickey ran over as fast as he could, but Riku beat them all due to his much longer legs.

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Riku dropped to his knees, fighting down the urge to panic, a blow like that couldn't kill a vampire…it couldn't! He carefully reached out, gathering Sora in his arms even as he dug out a potion, grateful healing magic still worked on him. "Sora? Come on wake up," he pleaded, as Kairi dropped to the ground beside him.

"Sora…? Oh no…Sora," Mickey whispered. He made a fist and looked toward their objective. "They'll pay for this." He whipped off his cloak, summoned his Keyblade, and ran ahead.

"Your Majesty!" Riku called but he was gone. "Come on Sora, before the King gets himself in trouble," he shook him, and was relieved when Sora groaned, eyes fluttering.

"'ku?" he mumbled.

"Yeah, you took a nasty hit to the head." He ran his hand through Sora's hair but no fresh blood appeared on his hand, thankfully. "Can you fight?"

"Riku no, he should go back to Merlin's," Kairi argued but Sora was already stumbling to his feet. She sighed and gave him an Elixir, glaring till he downed it.

"Where's Mickey?" Sora asked, thankfully now sounding completely alert.

"I think he thought you were…well. He ran on ahead," Riku told him.

"He what? Come on, we gotta find him!" Sora told them, taking off.

"Sora wait!" Kairi yelled.

Riku grabbed her hand and ran, pulling her along. Sora was a lot faster than any of them, they couldn't let him get too far ahead.

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"Mickey!" Sora yelled, flipping over a heartless, slashing down with his Keyblade. He went back to back with the King inside the fissure, clearing it out.

"Sora?" Mickey stared at him with wide eyes and then Sora nearly fell as the King slammed into him.

He laughed and picked him up to hug. "I'm okay, takes more than a bump to the head to take me out," he promised.

"Gosh Sora, you really scared me," he admitted, and Sora hugged him tighter.

"Sorry," he put the King down.

"I'm just glad you're okay."

"Sora!" Riku called as he ran around the corner, Kairi on his back.

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Mickey had to fight down the instinctive reaction to that voice. Though no version of Xehanort would allow a Princess of Heart to ride around on his back. He hoped that whatever had been done to Riku to give him that appearance could be undone and soon. He'd gone through so much since their home had fallen to Darkness, he didn't deserve to look like the enemy. Although, the magical clothing helped differentiate him from them as well.

"Let's go!" He called after giving them all a minute to catch their breath. They nodded and they headed deeper onto the Great Maw. They found tons of Heartless, just standing around. "Huh?"

"What's with them?" Sora asked warily.

Kairi pointed up the cliff. "Look!"

A man in a black cloak appeared, taking off his hood to reveal a man who look too similar to Riku's current form for comfort.

"Xehanort," Riku snarled, summoning Soul Eater.

"Ah, the failure," Xehanort smirked.

Mickey summoned his Keyblade and ran up the cliff.

"Let's go!" he heard Sora call as he ran.

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Heartless quickly surrounded them, Sora's Keyblade appearing with a flash of light. "Move it!"

"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Riku called, moving to stand at his back

"Right!" Kairi agreed, standing with them, magic surging through her. She let lose an air spell and Sora sent dark fire into it, leaving them to watch it rip through the heartless in shock.

"Never use that combo in a confined space!" Riku yelled, and they nodded.

They began to fight the remainder, having to split up as Sora took to the air. He provided cover and took out the floating ones while they handed the ones on the ground. Once they had it cleared he landed on the cliffs and they ran after him, stopping to catch their breath once they caught up.

"Where's the King?" Riku asked once he had his breath back. His legs may be longer in his current form, but it was still easier to run as himself, he was a lot lighter.

"There he is!" Sora pointed to a clearing up ahead. "C'mon!"

Xehanort's Nobody stood facing Maleficent's dark castle, Mickey standing behind him.

"Your Majesty!" Kairi called.

"Xehanort!" Mickey yelled at the Nobody ahead.

"How long has it been since I abandoned that name..." it was very creepy how much he and Riku sounded alike now, although Riku usually tried to pitch his voice higher, more like his own.

"How do we help Riku?" Sora demanded.

"How should I know how to fix a failure?" he asked in a monotone, and then began to disappear.

"Stop!" Mickey ran up and jumped into the portal afterward.

"Donald and Goofy are gonna kill me," Sora cringed.

"You have done well in defeating the Heartless," a voice said and they spun to find a man with blue hair, from Axel's descriptions it had to be Saïx. "Are you angry? Do you hate us? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless." Saïx snapped his fingers and several Armoured Knight Heartless appeared behind him. He looked toward the sky. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade releases those hearts," he held up his hands. "They gather in Darkness, masterless and free...until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."

"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?" A familiar voice demanded, and Maleficent was there, glaring at the Nobody. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!"

"Maleficent, no! No more Heartless!" Sora yelled as he realised what she was about to do.

"I do not take orders from you!" She raised her staff and Soldier Heartless surrounded Saïx.

"Fool..." Saïx snapped his fingers and Nobodies appeared, taking down the Heartless. The Nobodies then turned their attention to Sora.

"Oh no!" he readied himself to fight but even vampire stamina had a limit and he was nearing his.

Maleficent appeared between Sora and the Nobodies. She glowed with a green aura and spread her arms out. A wall of flame blocked her from Sora. "While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them, forever!"

"Maleficent..."

"Do not misunderstand me," she snapped, and Sora blinked but nodded, understanding what she wasn't saying. The Organisation were making a big mistake if they thought she could be taken out so easily. The Dusks overtook Maleficent and she was pulled down beneath their weight.

"Maleficent!" Sora yelled to keep them from realising.

"Leave! Now!"

"I don't take orders from you!" He snapped back, fighting down a grin. He felt Riku grab his arm, saw Maleficent look at Riku over his shoulder, her expression softening slightly.

"Sora! C'mon!"

The flames died down and Maleficent was gone.

"Now then. Where did we leave off?" Saïx snapped his fingers and the Nobodies disappeared, Heartless taking their place.

"Which side are you guys on anyway?" Sora growled.

"The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest." Saïx flicked out a hand toward Sora, and the Heartless attacked. Sora knocked them away, releasing hearts into the air, and Saïx smiled. "Yes, Sora! Extract more hearts!" Saïx vanished and the hearts were sent to Kingdom Hearts.

"No! The hearts!" They were still surrounded by Heartless. An Armoured Knight slammed its saber down at Sora, who blocked with his Keyblade. "Maybe everything we've done... Maybe it was all for nothing. What am I supposed to do if I can't use the Keyblade!?"

His answer was Soul Eater slashing through the Knight….and no heart was released.

"Not even you can take these numbers now!" Maleficent's voice was heard and then there was a great flash of light.

,,,,,,,,

Leon and Cloud saw the light from the outskirts of town.

"Sora! Riku! Kairi!" Leon called in concern.

"Relax. Those three aren't going down that easily," Cloud smirked and then began to walk off. "The Keyblade's chosen one... He's a lucky kid."

The light turned into a long beam shooting into the sky.

"See you soon," Leon whispered, looking up, and then went to return to town. He froze and swore, great, he was going to have to tell the others they were gone. No way was Cloud going to stick around long enough to do it, the coward. They better come back quick to pick the others up.

TBC…