Broken Log Pose

by tmb1112

The Straw Hat crew finds themselves with a broken Log Pose on the middle of the Grand Line. They are forced to wander until they come across a strange island with the Kingdom Hearts characters on it. Destiny Islands. Starts at the beginning of Kingdom Hearts One, and right after Alabasta for One Piece.

34. Chapter 34

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or One Piece

BLP 34:

"You say that thing just punched Zoro through the wall? Its fist just flew out of the portal and knocked him out of the fight in one blow?" Usopp sounded skeptical while looking to his right and at Smoker.

Smoker shook his head and puffed out some smoke from his cigar. "That's what I'm telling you. Though, I don't think it was the blow that had him down. Whatever he did to open that void, it wasn't something he could do easily. It, felt like a last resort kind-of thing. Or something he could only do now…"

"Because the darkness is stronger than ever," Usopp theorized while nodding and glancing to his right shoulder. He looked at the body of the man he had slung over his right shoulder who he crooked his right elbow around to keep him there. Usopp had his broadsword in his left hand steady out in front of him defensively to protect from any Heartless that might get past the front lines, though it felt unnecessary at the moment. Sora, Luffy, Beast, Donald, Sanji, and Goofy were easily clearing the hallway ahead of them as they continued through Hollow Bastion.

Tashigi looked oddly at the back of Usopp's head while following closely behind Smoker. "And, it has really been, three years for you?" Tashigi wondered. She had to repeat it again in disbelief. Though she pushed up on the pair of red glasses she had been given by the amazing court magician who heard her complain about losing them. She tried to ignore the fact that he was an inter-dimensional wizard duck and just thanked him for the glasses that matched her prescription. "And you say, ten years for him?" Tashigi looked to the face of the man over Usopp's shoulders that was close to her own. She leaned closer for a moment and examined Roronoa Zoro's unconscious expression. "It is unbelievable. It still feels as if, we were just sailing towards… towards," Tashigi stopped herself.

She rose a hand to her head and stopped for a moment which caused Smoker to stop as well and look back at her. Usopp noticed them stopping and paused himself to not leave them behind. "You alright?" Usopp wondered.

Tashigi's eyes opened huge behind her glasses. She imagined the oceans falling. The sky ripping open. She saw herself flying up towards the sphere of darkness in the sky. Images came pouring back into her mind. Her hand on her forehead lowered down and she covered her mouth with it instead. "Smoker-san. The men?" Tashigi wondered to her Captain who grimaced and tssked with a look away from her. Tashigi gasped painfully into her palm.

"We'll get them back," Smoker said. He looked back to his Sergeant firmly in a way that made her eyes widen even more and her hand to lower.

"H-How?" Tashigi whispered.

"Luffy and Sora," Nami said while walking up past Tashigi's left side. She had a smug look on her face while saying it, glancing at Tashigi's surprised face then towards Smoker who she smirked at as the Marine got frustrated but could not counter Nami's response.

Tashigi heard no immediate counter from her boss and spun back to him in shock. "It's true." Another woman said who stepped up next to them. "The Keyblade is what will restore the worlds…" Robin got quieter and closed her mouth as the Marine woman looked back at her and the two locked eyes. Tashigi gulped then glared harsher at Nico Robin who stopped talking and then slowed down to fall back away from them as the others continued ahead.

Nami looked over her shoulder and slowed down as well to fall back with Robin. "Hey? You alright?" Nami wondered. She glanced down at Robin's chest for a second which Robin lifted a hand to and rubbed like she was sore but not that it was bothering her too badly.

"That's not it," Robin said. She lowered the hand she had lifted to her chest. She frowned for a second while watching Tashigi dart a glare back towards her again then forward at Smoker and Usopp who continued talking in a way that surprised Tashigi by how un-combative her boss was being with the pirate. Robin glanced sideways at Nami who was wondering what the looks the other two women were giving each other were for. "I, admit, I have met Sergeant Tashigi before."

"You did?" Nami wondered.

Robin nodded her head. Nami got a bead of sweat on the side of her face at the grimace Robin tried to mask with a steady expression. "I…" Robin stayed soft. She glanced down at her feet and then up towards Sora who jumped back closer to their group to destroy some Heartless coming closer to them while he was trying to give them all a break. She had never felt as badly about her past actions as much as she did while looking at that boy's face. He trusts us. Sora really, believes in all of us.

"She got in my way," Robin said. Her voice sounded colder than her eyes told Nami she was actually feeling right now. Nami still felt chills though at how Robin described it. "In Alabasta, she caught me while I had the King hostage. I, defeated her, after I incapacitated all her men." The way Robin hesitated on saying 'defeated her' made Nami gulp. Robin looked down at the floor though then back up again and towards Tashigi and specifically her legs. "I snapped her leg. Pointed her own sword at her throat. I, strangled her into unconsciousness… She was quite persistent." Robin sounded like she was complimenting the woman who had forced her to be so brutal in their confrontation.

"Oh," Nami whispered meekly in response to all that. "I, get why she might be a bit hostile." She laughed anxiously while reminding herself just how scary Robin was back with Baroque Works. Nami scratched the back of her head and then darted her own gaze away when Tashigi glanced back towards them again. This is going to be so awkward. I, don't want it to come up later. When Sora's around- Nami frowned that that was actually what bothered her here. She did not know that Robin was actually thinking of the same thing in that moment, fearful of what their young friend might think of them if he heard about something like that. "Maybe," Nami started. Robin looked to her side at her friend who hesitantly glanced back at her. Nami gulped but then flashed a small smile and suggested, "Maybe you should apologize?"

Robin rose an eyebrow back at her comrade. "I mean, if just to make things less awkward moving forward. We do have to work together here. Smoker's been a good teammate lately in these fights but…" Nami trailed off but Robin did lower her eyebrow and nod slowly as she considered that herself.

Robin looked back forward towards Tashigi but did not respond to her friend. She made no promise to do what Nami suggested, but Nami nodded and just looked ahead too as she could see Robin was clearly going to think about it.

"...He went in looking for your heart. I don't know what happened after the darkness shrouded most of the room around the two of you, but you're here now," Smoker admitted. He glared to his left and at the limp man over Usopp's shoulder who had defeated him many times lately. He felt a small sense of gratitude towards that pirate though as he looked back at his Sergeant's awake expression again.

"But how? If my, 'heart,' really was lost, how could he 'find' it? I just don't get that." Tashigi shook her head as it was too much to wrap her head around.

Smoker took a big puff of his cigar then shook his own head in agreement with her confusion. "Beats me," he told her.

"I think," Usopp began. The other two focused on the muscular man in a toga who looked to his side and at his friend he carried through the halls. "Zoro trained with the darkness like he trained with his swords. He got way stronger using it, than probably anyone out here. Found ways to use the darkness that even Maleficent couldn't use I'd bet." Usopp cracked a grin as he talked up his comrade who had done something crazy to have gotten Tashigi her heart back. "Your heart could have been anywhere in the universe. That portal Zoro opened up, he opened it into the weakened Void where the boundaries between worlds are fracturing due to the strengthening darkness. It only works now, as we near the end of times, because of how strong the darkness has become that he was able to use. An infinite universe your heart was lost in, but he figured it out."

"End of times." You say that way too casually, pirate. Smoker thought with a deep grimace. Though since you're smiling as you say it, you really believe Sora and Luffy are about to save this universe from mass-destruction. Fate of the worlds in our hands, and I have to trust Straw Hat Luffy to help stop that. I have a very bad feeling about this. Smoker shook his head again thinking of how screwed they were to be putting their faith in pirates.

Tashigi listened closely to Usopp too and felt unnerved by some of the stuff he said. Her eyes were huge though and focused more on Zoro's bobbing head with each step Usopp took. "And doing that, has him in this state?" She wondered just to clarify.

Usopp nodded his head. He did not look back at the Marine woman himself but shared a similarly confused look to hers. Though I have no idea why he went to such lengths. Zoro, you barely know this woman. She barely knows you, at least. I don't get it. But, Usopp readjusted Zoro on his shoulder then just cracked a smile as he kept walking. But you saved her life. It doesn't make sense to me, but it doesn't have to.

"Back into the elevators we go," Nami sighed while jogging ahead to catch up to the fight at the front. "Hold on, you dummies," Nami scolded while looking around at the different glowing crystals with blue and red sparking lights inside them. "Let's see… We haven't tried going up to that level," she pointed two floors up and across the hall. "And trying the crystal there. The blue for that platform's control is a different shade. My guess is it'll take us right where we're trying to go."

"I trust you, Nami," Luffy said back to his navigator whose reasoning went in one ear and straight out the other. He nodded though because if she was pointing the way, he was going to follow it. "Let's do it!"

"Sounds good," Sora agreed.

"Onwards!" Donald pointed his wand at the same panel.

"Hyuck! Let's get going then." Goofy ran forward with all the others towards the platform Nami pointed to the crystal of. She smiled as she watched the group run forward, though her smile wavered for a second as she looked at Donald and Goofy's backs. Her head shook back and forth and her lips flattened out while she marched after them. She got on the panel before the others back in the group, and she turned her back to the knight and mage who she made sure to glare at before spinning her back to them.

Donald scratched the back of his head. Goofy tilted his own to the side though and leaned around Nami's side. "Gawrsh Nami, I hope you're not still mad at us." Luffy and Sora turned to the animal creatures on their left in confusion as to what Goofy was talking about. Then they looked to Nami and realized that Goofy was not mistaken about anything.

"Waa… we, have a mission-"

"Which was more important than your friends?" Nami wondered harshly down to the duck trying to defend their actions earlier.

"Nami, it's okay," Sora said with a laugh at the woman who frowned back at him for his forgiving attitude. Beast glanced down at the top of Sora's head too in a similar way to how Nami was earlier, but Beast saw Sora's look and just accepted it which the orange-haired woman could not do so easily. Sora lowered his own bright smile at the hurt look on her face and how it scrunched up as he tried to just play it off as in the past now. "I mean it, Nami. I know their mission is more important than anything." Donald and Goofy looked back at Sora and stared in surprise and then with big smiles as Sora looked back at each of them in a forgiving way proving he meant this completely. "It is to me too. The fact that you guys stood by my side, even with all that's at stake," Sora rose his hand up to his heart and curled a fist there that looked strong when he swung it out to the side. "It's how I know we're stronger than ever. Because our friendship is that strong."

"That's right!" Goofy called out as that made sense to him too.

"Huh?" Luffy tilted his head to the side. "Is that how it works?" He rose his hand to his chest and looked down at it wondering what Sora was always going on about.

"Definitely," Donald responded, nodding fast at Luffy. "That was my plan all along actually."

"Oh yeah?" Sora wondered down with a grin and a skeptical look. "You sure had me fooled. 'Sora… qUa-ACk- sorry'" Sora intentionally made his voice crack as he mimicked Donald's quacking, which made the duck quack in a much higher-pitched voice of his own while yelling back at Sora for bringing up that embarrassing moment.

Nami leaned her head back while watching the carefree scene of those in front of her. He, really doesn't seem like he's hurt by it. Is that why he wasn't hurt earlier too? I thought he was just hiding it well, but did you- did you really care about their mission so much that you forgave them for going with Riku? You understood…

I couldn't have done that- I can't! That's why it's harder for me, Sora. Nami did not say anything else while she looked towards the side of the younger boy's face in awe of him in this moment. But, it's because you're like this that you'll be able to forgive Riku in an instant when we find him again. You'll ask for his help in saving Kairi. Because none of that stuff he said, not even attacking you with all the power of darkness, none of that matters.

Not to you. A small smile finally broke on Nami's face. She tried to force it back down as Goofy looked back for a second to see if she was still glowering at him. He eased his head away when she pushed the corners of her lips down to try and glare at him. The soft and hurt look on Goofy's cowering face was too much for her though. "Aw Goofy, I'm a sucker for you." Nami shook her head in frustration but lifted the right corner of her lips back up which made Goofy smile wide and Donald to sigh in relief. As Donald bowed his head while shaking it in a relieved way, Nami leaned her head down right next to Donald's ear, "I don't remember letting you off the hook, Donald." His feathers stood on end and he stood back up straight while staring straight ahead off the platform the others were loading onto now. "For the emotional trauma you caused me earlier, I think you're going to owe me some form of repayment. This is a vast universe with so many different currencies. So many different conversions of debt to put you into…"

Donald gulped and anxiously turned back to the woman who was smirking down at him with a glint in her money-hungry eyes.

"All aboard!" Luffy called out. He slammed his hand over into the crystal that glowed against his palm and moved their platform up to a higher level. He could jump up there himself thanks to not being affected by the electric barriers surrounding the elevator halls, but every time he went on ahead he wound up going to the wrong platform and getting yelled at by his navigator who got him to rejoin the rest of them where they were supposed to be.

The group got off the platform and started jogging around the interior hall around the elevator shaft towards the glowing crystal that Nami called out should lead them closer to their destination. Beast charged forward while roaring out in determination, and Sora spotted this and hardened his own expression before sprinting forward himself and slashing as hard as he could into the powerful Invisible Heartless that appeared on this floor.

"Seems like the Heartless are getting stronger again," Usopp muttered while leaning forward.

"I'll go," Chopper said back to Usopp. He transformed into Heavy Point and then sprinted forward after darting a look to Zoro who Usopp was holding onto and who he wanted to stay safe with the gladiator holding him.

"Careful Chopper," Usopp called ahead to their doctor who was certainly strong in that form, but was also obviously biting off more than he could chew up here. He hasn't used another Rumble Ball for a while. It felt like he could barely control which form he chose after eating a second one in a row. Using a third I bet he has zero control over which Point he goes into.

In the back of the group, Tashigi continued to walk slowly. She darted a glance behind her angrily. Her eyes locked on the other dark-haired woman this far back, but Nico Robin was not lagging behind to try and speak to her or anything. Tashigi's gaze lingered on the woman who had both of her hands up in front of her chest, gripping her shirt tightly. Robin's squinted eyes shifted from pointed up at the ceiling to glaring over at the crystal that Nami was leading them towards. She winced and bowed her head, grabbing her chest tighter still but not making a noise that she knew would slow down the group again.

What is wrong with her? With all of them?! Tashigi spun back around and glared at Zoro's blank face over Usopp's shoulder.

Why did he save me? Roronoa Zoro. The Pirate Hunter, turned pirate. I don't understand why he would go to such lengths…

"I don't like your very being!" I thought he hated the sight of me. Tashigi imagined the frustrated and furious look of the man who had defeated her in combat and started yelling at her after she had called him out on treating her like a weakling for being a woman. I thought, he couldn't stand me. Ten years you were out here in the void. We met once! I was not the strongest swordsman he ever fought. I… I don't understand why, Roronoa Zoro.

"Listen! Your face! It looks exactly like my close friend's who died long ago! On top of that, you started saying the same thing she used to say! Don't imitate, you copy woman!" He was such a rude, arrogant brute! We had nothing to do with each other! So why?! Tashigi's face scrunched up because the screaming voice she heard in her memory got softer. That angered face yelling at her in the rain in Loguetown, shifted in her head into the older face of the unconscious man in front of her, only his eyes were open. What is this memory?

Tashigi flinched and stopped walking herself. She glared through her squinted eyes towards Zoro's face and his eyes that were definitely closed. My heart wasn't here. I shouldn't, remember these things. If I wasn't even conscious but- Tashigi's squinted eyes opened wide. I remember. "Where are you?" I remember hearing him. "Why you? Why, are you here?" Sitting in front of me. Staring at me. I remember, figments. Pieces of memories. Not just what my body remembers either. My heart has memories as well. From after the worlds fell. I can't remember "seeing" anything, but there were things I felt as clearly as if I could see them.

In a dark void, Tashigi saw that face appear flying towards her. And in a memory the same room she finally woke up in, Tashigi remembered a man staggering through the hole in the wall. This memory was so recent. I was, one of these Heartless, she thought. Tashigi looked at the Heartless currently ahead of them fighting against the Keybearers and their allies. He came for me. I know that my very being must confuse him. He hates me, as I hate him! I feel grateful though. Grateful, to a pirate? Tashigi bit down on her bottom lip.

Smoker glanced back and noticed his subordinate's conflicted emotions. I don't get why Roronoa cared either, but I cannot pretend like he did not play a part in saving you. I need to set her straight now though, before this becomes a problem. Smoker grimaced but steadied his own glare forward at the backs of the pirates fighting in front of them. "Don't get used to it, Sergeant. This will come to an end shortly. We will be enemies again soon enough, and hunt for these pirates once again."

Smoker did not hide his voice as he said it. Usopp rolled his eyes exasperatedly and turned his head to the Marine who glared at him for such a look. "You seriously still on about that?" Usopp frowned deeper when he looked into Smoker's eyes and saw an actual hostile glare looking back at him. "Geez, I don't know what else we have to do to prove we're the good guys here."

"You are not the 'good guys,'" Smoker countered the man in a tone questioning how anyone could even possibly consider such a thing to be true. Usopp glared back at him but Smoker continued, "And now I know that Straw Hat having a Keyblade was just a mistake."

Everyone else ahead of Smoker looked back at the Marine too now that the hall had been cleared of Heartless. Tashigi looked at her Captain in confusion for a moment then with wider eyes and spun towards Sora who Smoker was looking at. "He got it by accident. Sora's the real Keyblade wielder. You pirates are just along for the ride."

"Well we've done pretty well at just being 'along for the ride,' haven't we?" Nami retorted back at the Captain.

"You wasted time-"

"Hey," Usopp snapped at Smoker before he could finish that sentence. He turned and glared at the Marine, "I tend to remember that you were the one who let yourself get corrupted by the darkness on Earth." Usopp stepped towards the Marine and glared straight into his face from only two feet away. The two of them stood on equal footing and Usopp glared into the Marine Captain's eyes as he stated, "You created an interference in that tournament with your attempt to kill Luffy, one that could be argued prolonged the tournament-"

"Usopp don't!"

"And made us too late to save Halloween Town," Usopp finished, ignoring Sora to say that in a dark tone to the Marine who pulled his head back at Usopp's declaration. Tashigi gripped the white sword hilt at her side tighter but darted a look up at the side of Smoker's head wondering what the pirate was talking about. Everyone else fell quiet at what Usopp just said that even the long-nosed man felt was too harsh only seconds after saying it. He glanced regretfully towards a frowning Sora, then he shifted his dark but guilty look back to Smoker. He spoke up again softly, "We may have wasted time too, but don't act like you aren't just along for the ride as well. Donald told you to stay behind before and you ignored him, just like we did. Just like we all ignored him on Earth."

"I think the moral of the story is," Sora called out. He put a hand around Donald's head and pulled the duck into his side. "We should always listen to Donald for now on."

Donald oofed and pushed Sora off of him, but he snapped his head up with huge eyes at what Sora said and started nodding rapidly himself. "That's right! That is absolutely right!" Donald exclaimed. "That's what I've been saying this whole time!"

In an instant, Sora lightened the mood. Luffy started laughing after a second and shook his head around while Sora flashed him a smile too. Sora looked down though after everyone else seemed to be distracted from the tense moment that just happened. I mean that too. More than you all think. Donald was right. And, we should have listened. And Smoker's not wrong either. Sora looked down at his right hand and the Keyblade hilt he turned over in it. You're all just along for the ride. Even though Donald said we couldn't bring you… Sora shook his head around to get those thoughts out of his head. Doesn't matter now! They're all here. And we'll do this together.

"Come on!" Sora ran to the next crystal that they were taking too long to reach. "I can feel it, Kairi's not much farther ahead!"

"Belle too," Beast agreed with a low growl.

Usopp finally turned back away from Smoker who he regretted saying some of that to now that they had had a few seconds to cool their heads. Before he could look back and mention that though, the Marine spoke up. "What you say may be true. We will restore the worlds though and I will correct that mistake. Restore Halloween Town. Recover the men I lost in the Deep Jungle. And all of us will return to our world, together. What I said also remains true though." Smoker stepped forward and up onto the platform that he turned around on right next to Sora. "Sora is the Keyblade wielder. You are pirates. We are all helping him for now, but when we return to our world we will go back to being Marines," Smoker said while looking to Tashigi who nodded and ran up to his other side as Sora.

"And you will go back to being pirates," Smoker finished while looking over Sora's head and to Luffy on Sora's other side. Luffy grinned back at him as Smoker said it, and it confirmed the Marine's thoughts more than they already had been. "Pirates are villains. You have a one hundred million Beri bounty, Straw Hat. Roronoa has one too. As soon as we get back-"

"One hundred… million?" Sanji wondered under his breath. "It went up- Wait, Zoro got one too? What about me?" Sanji spun towards Smoker and yelled at him. "Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"No," Smoker replied without looking to the chef who dropped his jaw. Sanji then fell backwards while grabbing at his heart in pain as Tashigi cast him a short glance during his interruption before looking away as if his presence was unimportant.

Luffy was grinning after Smoker brought up his new bounty again. The Marine Captain glared at the man for doing so and growled, "See? You enjoy being hunted. You enjoy, being the bad guy. They are villains, Sora. Don't forget that," Smoker assured the boy who he did not want to see tempted to join Luffy's crew as he feared the boy might be throughout this journey.

Sora shook his head back at Smoker who frowned deeply at the look on Sora's face that made him anxious about the potential for Sora to follow Luffy back on their world. Sora smiled confidently back at the Marine though and countered him, "You're wrong. They are the good guys, and they'll help save the worlds. Just like Zoro will before this is over." Sora glanced at Usopp and the man on his shoulder who still received some dirty looks from those in the group he had been at odds with before now. Smoker grumbled under his breath and opened his mouth, but Sora spun back to him and assured, "You'll see. I promise you, Smoker. You're the one who's wrong here."

Luffy himself lowered his own smile while looking down at the top of Sora's head in more hesitation than the boy had while saying these things about him. Sora sounded so sure of himself, even though Luffy liked what Smoker was saying more than he liked what Sora countered him with. Smoker spotted the look on Straw Hat's face past Sora's overly trusting one. The Marine shook his head but closed his mouth to not counter the boy. His heart is larger than his head. It doesn't make sense to counter him about this for any longer right now though. Since it's the strength of Sora's heart that I am pretty sure the fate of the worlds rests on right now. It's, honestly, reassuring to hear him so blindly confident in Straw Hat helping him.

Smoker could not deny it to himself. Even the hesitant look on the pirate's own face that told him that Luffy felt similarly to how he did, was harder to believe than the trusting look on Sora's face. Maybe it's because you have the Keyblade. Well, it's definitely because you have the Keyblade. But you were given that weapon for a reason. I don't believe you would become a pirate after this all ends. There is a greater destiny in store for you, Sora.

The group gathered on the next platform and it rose up high in the air. It lifted and lifted and stopped on a platform that they had not been to before. When they reached it and the electrical barrier dropped, Heartless did not emerge this time. The landing remained clear. The opening into a shadowy hallway was not blocked. "Come on," Sora ran forward.

Usopp gripped his sword with more strength. He glanced at Zoro's body on his right shoulder and then turned his head towards Robin. "Hey, I'm going to leave him with you in there. Are you sure you're alright to continue?"

"Yes," Robin assured her comrade. "Thank you, Usopp-san."

"Just hold on for a bit longer. The end is just up ahead," Usopp said in a soft voice to her.

"Oi, shouldn't you be up there already?" Nami snapped at the muscular man who spun from Robin to see the navigator crossing her arms and frowning at him. Usopp gulped and nodded fast at the frowning woman before spinning after the rest of the group. Then Usopp jogged forward to catch up with the others in this extremely ominous hallway. Robin glanced sideways towards Nami and gave a small lift of her eyebrows and curl of her lips at the corner at the younger woman who looked away and pretended like Robin was totally wrong about whatever she was thinking. Then the two of them continued after the rest of the group too.

The hall was dark other than the green light coming off of the torches burning up on either wall. Ahead of them the hall opened up into a circular room with those same green torches going around it. The hall was windowless and had no electrical lighting. The green firelight matched the dark green carpet, and it cast that green glow on everything in there. The circular hall ahead had massive ornate doors on the other side of it as the protruding hallway they were heading down.

"Warning, warning, boss fight ahead," Usopp cupped a hand to his mouth and called down the hall to Sora who was rushing in way too recklessly into the obvious boss room.

"Huh? How can you tell?" Sora wondered with a look over his shoulder. He turned back forward and then skid on his heels to a stop and drew his Keyblade fast at the sight of the woman stepping forward ahead of him. Wow, nice call Usopp.

That was obvious, Usopp thought with a gulp while jogging up right next to Smoker who he glanced sideways at for a second. Smoker glanced back at him and the two thought of the tense argument they just had downstairs. Both of them immediately put that aside for now, because the two remembered the last time they had faced this woman together. They nodded at the same time and then ran up on the left and right sides of the group already gathering up ahead. Usopp glanced back at Robin who was lagging behind even more than Nami, and he lowered Zoro down to the ground before stepping in front of him and putting both hands onto the hilt of his large sword.

"I'm afraid you're too late," Maleficent taunted the group who finally arrived before her. "Any moment now the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is, unstoppable."

"Oh my God. You are so evil," Usopp remarked. He shook his head back and forth as it was almost comical just how unabashedly malicious she sounded.

"We'll stop it! And you." Sora snapped while getting into a fighting stance with his Keyblade. "After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!"

"'Evil?' But of course!" Maleficent shouted. She swung her arms out to the sides and yelled, "For I am the mistress of ALL EVIL! You really think you can stop ME?!"

Tashigi got sweat all over her face as she finally met the villain her comrades had been talking about. "Smoker-san," Tashigi started while drawing the Wado Ichimonji. "How shall we face her?"

"All together," Smoker replied to his subordinate who frowned but nodded her head with a glance around at all the allies gathered to fight here.

Usopp steadied his blade. Nami ran up to his side and connected her Clima Tact while Chopper transformed into Heavy Point and got up on his other side. Sanji stepped back from next to Luffy, glancing back towards Robin to see if she needed help while sheepishly backing out of the fight against the beautiful (albeit evil) witch in front of them. Nami ground her teeth at the sight of him but shook her head as she did not expect anything else from Sanji here.

Donald rose his wand and Goofy his shield. Tashigi lifted the new weapon that she held back her giddiness from holding because of how famous and powerful the Great Grade Sword was. She took in a deep breath and tried to calm her heart while facing such a powerful and terrifying evil. Not long ago she had been lost in both body and heart, and now she was facing some monster that scared her immensely. She kept Smoker in her peripheral vision though and released her breath slowly to steady her blade.

Sora held up his Keyblade. Luffy punched his right fist into his left hand that he curled around his knuckles to crack them. Maleficent leaned her head backwards and stared further down her nose at the ragtag group in front of her. "You poor, simple FOOLS!" Their fighting stances told her that they really did think that they could stop her. A laughable idea. "Behold my power!" Maleficent threw her arms up in the air. The torches all over the walls flared brighter with their green flames. A flash of purple aura rose up from below her feet like an explosion, and then the ground ripped apart underneath her and lifted a chunk up into the air with her standing on top of it.

"Attack her!"

"Everyone in!"

The fastest fighters sprinted in and leapt up onto the platform she was on. Luffy slammed both fists forward, yelling, "Twin Pistols!" Sora slashed his Keyblade down into her then sideways, back the other way, and up in a finishing combo move. Sora got right into the next combination, while Usopp and Smoker flew down and slammed her with their own sword and fists. Maleficent did not flinch from a single one of their attacks.

"She's protected by some sort of forcefield!"

Maleficent swung her arms up and down while her staff glowed bright green. A flash of purple light came out around her with sparks connecting the woman to the forcefield making their attacks have minimal effect. "Donald! Goofy! Focus on the platform she's standing on!" Sora called back to his friends without pausing as he moved right onto the next combo against Maleficent.

Five Darkballs appeared in the air around the platform and flew in. Smoker spun his head and burst his back out into smoke. "Keep fighting her," Usopp shouted at Luffy while turning and jumping at two other Darkballs than the three that Smoker pushed away.

"Luffy, use the Keyblade! Against her it's the only weapon strong enough," Sora called at his friend who was using his fists and having even less of an effect against Maleficent than he was. Luffy frowned and jumped back from Maleficent but nodded his head. He swung his right arm out behind him and made his Keyblade form at the end of it. "Keyblade Pistol!" Luffy punched forward and slashed Maleficent, then pulled it back to himself and jumped at the woman who he spun his body down at to slash at her over and over with their secret weapon.

"Two Keyblade wielders are more of a nuisance than one," Maleficent stated. Her body shrouded in green and black and purple clouds that swirled around her while Sora and Luffy continued slashing through the darkness. Darkballs emerged out of the mist but were broken apart in seconds just by Sora and Luffy slashing so hard into the woman summoning them out of her own body. "Hahaha- fools! Have a taste of my power- ah!" The platform below Maleficent dropped as the other fighters below it attacked and took down the forcefield Maleficent had around it that doubled as the magic flying it around for her.

"Get her now! While she's down-" Sora spun his head back and forth as Maleficent turned invisible.

"There!" Usopp kicked off the ground towards a moving green wisp.

Smoker turned and shot towards her intangible form as well. "Haven't we played this game- AHhh!" Maleficent's scream rang out through the hall.

Usopp landed past her on one side and Smoker on the other. Maleficent appeared between them, grabbing at her side while hunched forward in pain. "You…" Maleficent glared back at Smoker and then towards the gladiator too who turned his head and gave her just as harsh a glare back. She stood back up straight but could not mask her anger as she sneered, "So, you have gotten a little stronger? So what?!" Maleficent rose her staff and the ground broke apart below her to lift her up on a new platform.

Usopp rubbed his nose proudly then put his hands both back on his sword hilt. "This won't go down like last time, Maleficent. We're stronger now than you are."

"Nonsense!"

"And this time, we're all fighting together!" Sora yelled at Maleficent in agreement with Usopp while charging forward and jumping up onto Maleficent's platform. "Arcanum!" Sora glowed with golden light and slammed his Keyblade down into Maleficent so hard that the force of his swing was visible as it flew off his weapon. He slashed back into her again, and again, back and forth, up and down, then he leapt and slammed down at the end of the 10-swing combo that made Maleficent roar out in fury and slam Sora backwards with a force of green magic flying into his body.

Usopp's jaw dropped as he spun to where Sora flew off that platform only to flip himself around and glide back through the air. He slashed under the platform hard enough to drop it, and Goofy, Luffy, and Donald all ran in and attacked Maleficent again. More Darkballs appeared behind them, and Sanji flew through the air and kicked them, glad that there was something for him to do during this fight. Usopp got a bead of sweat on the side of his face though as he watched Sora swing his Keyblade out to the side and yell, "Genie! And… Wisdom!" Sora leapt up high and flew into the air while his clothes turned bright blue.

Swirling up in the air and curving up to the same height as Sora was a growing blue form that bulged all at once to his full size. "EEYYYOOOO! You call?!" Genie smiled wide back at the others who all gawked at the sight of him.

"Shishi, Genie!" Luffy jumped up in the air and extended a palm towards the giant blue man who high-fived Luffy then flew down and fired magical beams into the witch just like Sora was doing.

I might have gotten a bit stronger with the Haki Smoker's been teaching me, Usopp gulped while watching Sora in awe. But he's kicking her butt!

"ENOUGH!" Maleficent glared past some of her enemies and towards a woman down on one knee at the edge of the battle. Maleficent's hand glowed green and Nico Robin's chest did the same as she let out a scream of pain. "All of you, stop where you are."

Tashigi stopped but her sword shook in her hands as she darted a look over towards the source of the scream then back at Maleficent. Why should I stop for this? Tashigi narrowed her gaze behind her glasses at the evil witch who was panting herself but smirked as the enemies just in front of her backed away slowly.

"Robin! H-Hey! What are you doing to her?!" Luffy yelled angrily at Maleficent.

"Luffy, hold on," Sanji yelled at his captain who stomped towards Maleficent only for the green glow on Robin's chest to get darker.

"Unnng- don't, stop," Robin hissed towards her comrades. "Fight her!"

"The traitor," Maleficent sneered towards the woman who called that out. "You think betraying Jafar has made you one of them, but they do not forgive you. They do not forget what you did. If you save Princess Jasmine, what do you think will happen? Do you think she will thank you?! Are you that pathetic?!"

"Hey! Shut up!" Sora swung a hand out to the side angrily but then grit his teeth more as Genie vanished and his blue clothes turned back to normal. They had been overwhelming Maleficent for a moment there, and the witch had destroyed their momentum in an instant. He darted his gaze back towards Robin though and then to the witch he shouted at, "What are you doing to Robin? Stop hurting her!"

"Yeah! You've been messing with her heart since we got to this world," Chopper shouted at the witch. Robin's ailment had been puzzling him worst of all because as a doctor he hated not being able to find anything wrong with his patient. Seeing that it had all been Maleficent's doing was infuriating to the furry man who puffed steam out of his nose in anger while holding himself back from charging the evil witch.

"That was not all my doing," Maleficent remarked. She chuckled at their confused looks and shook her head while making eye contact with the agonized woman who confusedly rose her gaze back to the witch. There was recognition in Robin's eyes too though that Maleficent noticed. "You know it to be true. I merely exploited your weakness. I did not cause it. The fragmentation of your heart occurred long before me. Before I first saw you in Agrabah, even."

"Robin, what is she talking about?" Luffy shouted. He was holding himself back as best he could, but his right fist was shaking furiously as he really wanted to slam it into Maleficent's face already.

Robin opened her mouth but started coughing up a fit and bowed her whole body over, this time without Maleficent's staff glowing brighter at all. "The closer you get to the door to darkness," Maleficent mocked. "The weaker you become. Whatever the reason for your heart's destruction, you are not whole." Robin's squinted eyes widened more while staring down at the floor below her hunched body. "Even less so than the one who Zoro recovered even," Maleficent did not look towards Tashigi while saying it, but to Zoro himself near Robin who continued to lay still where he had been put down. "That weakling."

"Don't call Zoro weak!" Luffy yelled.

"But he is, now," Maleficent countered. She frowned deeper at the rubberman, "You, pirate, were mistakenly given the Keyblade. Due to that and because you hold your pathetic crew of weaklings in your heart, you managed to keep them out of the darkness. But you are not strong either. None of you are. Weak, insolent wretches," Maleficent taunted her enemies before her. "Yet one of you had promise. Potential. Potential that I could exploit."

Maleficent smirked and Luffy was done holding back. He slammed his hands down on his knees and pumped his legs. "Gear Second," he snarled.

Maleficent flashed with purple light right before Luffy's fist would have hit her. It pressed against the barrier directly in front of Maleficent's un-flinching face. She smirked at the pirate who attacked her out of rage right there. "Maybe another had some promise," she pondered at the sight of all that anger and hate in Luffy's eyes.

"It was you! You took Zoro!" Luffy screamed at her.

"Of course I did," Maleficent mocked him. She flew up in the air and swung both arms to the sides. The wall behind her turned into a pitch black void.

"Everyone look out!" Usopp yelled. "Meteors!"

"WHAT?!" Chopper screamed. Then with Nami they both just yelled out in panic as massive flaming meteors flew out of the darkness that Maleficent summoned them from.

"Destroy them then get back to getting her!" Sora called out. "Donald, use-" Sora winced and pulled his head back as a meteor slammed into the duck and sent him flying across the room. "Goofy! Shield up-" Sora winced again as despite Goofy holding up his shield, the meteor was too strong and knocked him back when it exploded against his defenses. Sora slashed forward into the meteor flying at him and cracked it in half, but the second one behind it made his eyes bulge as he pulled back his Keyblade again, too late.

"Damn witch," Smoker growled while lowering down Tashigi who wobbled on her feet but nodded at Smoker that she was fine so that he would fly back into the action.

Tashigi was gasping for breath and grabbing at her own chest. She looked around the chaotic room though and shook her head of the disbelief from dodging giant dark monsters and meteors everywhere. "Just focus on the witch," she whispered to herself. She rose the Wado and charged forward, then she skid to a stop as two lion-like Defender Heartless appeared in front of her and turned their shield faces on her. "Can't even get close," she hissed in frustration before charging and slashing at the Heartless guards Maleficent put in the way.

Luffy was flying back towards Maleficent with steam pouring off of him. She commented at the persistent pirate, "I used Zoro for my purposes. I used the one thing that he held onto to keep him from falling to the darkness. The one thing that made him strong." Maleficent turned her body to the side and Luffy flipped over out of control as his punch flew past the woman way too fast. She smacked her staff down into him and set his shirt aflame so Luffy had to roll around on the ground to put it out when he landed. "Hahaha! It was easy to manipulate him when I had a man with such singular focus that everything else was meaningless to him! At least, until we found her."

Maleficent's eyes glared back down to the woman facing her Defenders. Tashigi darted a look over their heads but back down fast as these were incredibly strong monsters she was battling on her own here. Sanji shot over and kicked them in the sides to help out Tashigi, though he darted an anxious look up towards Maleficent himself as the witch continued shouting. "He was my strongest pawn. So strong, that he became powerful enough with the darkness that he found what he was looking for. An impossible desire, but his heart drew in something that he associated with his purpose."

"It was not his true goal to find her," Maleficent said. She sounded impressed even as she stared down at Tashigi whose mere presence here was unimaginable to her only months before. "She was not even the one he truly cared about. But in his heart he had associated that woman he called the 'copycat' with another. And so his heart located her. His heart had become so powerful through the controlled use of darkness that the Heartless rewarded him with her body. Delivered it straight to him. As if asking: 'Is this who you're looking for?'"

Maleficent's voice got lower and sounded jealous even in her sneer. "Such incredible power… His power in the darkness had become subconscious. It brought her to him, and he became distracted from my goals, and from his own! Weaker, in the mind. However, he had been a loyal subordinate for years. I knew better than to try and keep my subordinates from their own goals, no matter how foolhardy they may be. After all, we are all selfish creatures. We all have our own reasons for doing what we do. Both sides do."

She commented that while turned and glaring down at the pirate who held off for a second because he was too confused by what Maleficent was saying but did want to hear it. "I may be evil, but we are all selfish. All after our own desires. I simply understand the power of the Heartless, and that will make me victorious in my ambitions, and you- FAILURES!"

Maleficent swung her arms down and then rose them up looking to struggle as she did. Cracks broke all over the hall's floor. Long thorny vines shot up out of the cracks and whipped around in the air. More Heartless emerged from dark spheres including Invisibles this time that picked targets and flew towards them. Donald and Goofy were just getting back up on their feet when they were rushed by two Invisibles each.

"That still doesn't explain," Usopp shouted while slashing the tip of a vine off that just shot at him. He spun around and parried a sword of an Invisible then leapt backwards into a backflip to dodge the face-shield of a Defender that got slammed at him. The Invisible turned into a will-o-wisp and flew after him, cutting him off from charging straight at Maleficent and her new platform that she floated too high above them on that Sora could only slash at the bottom of it on his attempts to hit her. Usopp parried and then slashed at the Invisible this time while yelling out at the witch, "How it is that you pulled Zoro from time in the first place! How you managed to get him on your side, when our world only just fell!"

"Are you asking for his sake, or your own?" Maleficent mocked the pirate smugly after just shouting about how they were all selfish.

"For his," Usopp snapped. "Those three years I spent out here… nn-" Usopp's arms bent back as the powerful Invisible pushed against him. He planted his feet down hard though and grinned while slashing out and knocking the Heartless' sword away so hard that he managed to cut through its body and in half so it burst into dark bubbles. "I may have been separated from my friends, but I used that time to get strong. Make more friends. I don't regret how I spent those years!" Usopp pointed his sword at Maleficent then pulled it down to his side and sprinted forward, jumping up and slashing at the platform again with Sora and dropping it out of the air this time.

They jumped on top of the platform as did Luffy who finished off a pair of Invisibles on his own. They all attacked the woman who was covered in a light protective shield but was definitely feeling their blows even if they could only tell from the occasional wince coming from the witch. Maleficent ground her teeth then slammed her staff down and pulsed out her protective field to push them away. She summoned more meteors from behind her, but even her pattern in summoning them was becoming more predictable and the group managed to dodge more of the falling flaming rocks than last time.

"Ten years ago," Maleficent snarled to her opponents. "I needed assistance with the princess' hearts. Aid in controlling the Heartless. Pete was, and still is, weak compared to the kind of assistance I needed."

Who the hell is Pete? Usopp thought but kept his mouth shut for a moment as she was answering him.

"A pesky keybearer in the past foiled my plans. Allying with my worst enemy, Prince Phillip. They defeated me and stopped me from capturing the princess. I needed help. Needed allies of my own." Sora slowed for a second and opened his eyes wider as Maleficent mentioned past keybearers. It was a question for later though as he darted a glance back towards Zoro himself then angrily at Maleficent again. "The power of darkness exceeds everything else. You do not yet understand the true might of darkness."

"We have a pretty good idea," Usopp snapped back at her.

"And it's not as strong as you think," Sora called out.

"Oh but it is," Maleficent countered him. Her smug and knowing look made Sora's smile lower back down. She cackled and shook her head while glaring back towards Luffy instead. "Monkey D. Luffy, you hate me so much that I wonder if I should have grabbed you instead. But alas, I picked Zoro." A green glow surrounded Maleficent's face. A dark cloud shrouded her body and rose her higher up so she could glare down at all her enemies. "'Picked' is a strong word though. As you see, I delved into the darkness in search of an ally. Not knowing myself just how powerful the darkness was until I descended so deep that I transcended the barriers of not only space… but time itself. It was not my magic that allowed me to grab Zoro, but the darkness' ability to transcend time that handed me a lost soul."

"What are you, talking about?" Usopp muttered in confusion as his own theory on what had happened was proving less correct than he thought it to be up until this second. "You took him!"

"I searched the darkness and felt a pulse of such pain and negative emotions that I went towards it. Not knowing where in space or time I was. I found your world as it collapsed into the void. You may hate me, gladiator, but you got accidentally sucked in when I attempted to grab onto a powerful darkness I felt fading as it fell from that world. Zoro could see that you were being pulled along, and he pushed you from my grasp and freed you. Even in that pitch black abyss, he pushed you out of it and you landed in the Coliseum instead. At another time entirely."

Usopp's massive eyes shook at the explanation Maleficent gave him that had been on his mind for years. "That was… Zoro?" Usopp looked back himself to the prone man he felt he owed so much now that he knew he had been saved from 7 more years lost in space thanks to Zoro's help. Zoro, that you were even conscious when we fell through that darkness… No wonder. You were so strong that she could feel you across space and time. Damn it! Thank you!

"So wait," Nami started as she was putting this together in her head. "Why- why did Zoro go to the Realm of Darkness?" She didn't mean to pull him back in time? That was just an accident, it sounds like. Or at least like she didn't even know. But- "You sent him there?!"

"He needed to understand that the world he had once known was lost. That those who he held so dear, who I witnessed him trying to save as we returned to my world, were no more. To my credit, you were not. I searched when we returned from that darkness. You were nowhere to be found anywhere across the cosmos. Although, that was because I had unknowingly jumped through time twice in my descent into that great darkness. I did not return there often. Even on that short trip alone, I could feel where my own limits were before I started to lose control."

"You sent Zoro to the Realm of Darkness, so that he would lose hope?" Sora asked. His voice was pained and he stared up in shock and growing anger at the woman who could say such things so nonchalantly. "You just left him there?!"

"Loneliness is a powerful thing. Sooner or later, I knew that he would beg me to take him from that place. I did not save him for free-"

"You didn't save him at all!" Sora yelled.

"Yeah! Luffy would have found us all anyway," Nami shouted. "You didn't help him. You just… you're just a monster."

"Perhaps," Maleficent replied with a coy smile at them all. "But when the Keyhole is complete, I will use the darkness to control all worlds. Every single world will be mine to conquer! The Queen of ALL! A monster, you call me? What do I care what you think? For I shall be the ruler of the universe. A GOD! Ruling through darkness and EVIL!"

Usopp dropped his jaw. I didn't think she could sound any more evil-er. That's insane!

"Not gonna happen!" Sora yelled up at her.

"I'm gonna kick your ass!" Luffy roared. He flew towards Maleficent with his right arm blowing up massive in front of his body. Tashigi dropped her jaw even more than she just did at Maleficent's evil declaration, at the sight of Straw Hat's right arm blowing up like a balloon until it was twenty times the size of his body.

Nico Robin held both hands away from her chest for a second and tried to cross her arms while glaring towards Maleficent. If I could just, take her staff, Robin thought. She gasped for breath though and swung both hands back to her chest and grabbed it in agony. This pain is excruciating. This is what I deserve. The others managed to keep their hearts. Was mine so weak? So worthless that it cracked apart? Tears filled Robin's eyes as despair bubbled over in her chest. What do I have to complain about? A little bit of pain? While, Zoro-san, Robin turned her head slightly to the left and glanced back at the man whose time since their world destroyed sounded a thousand times worse than her own. Robin froze and tensed up with her eyes growing wide, as she stared at the open eyes of the man laying prone behind her.

Zoro stared up at the ceiling of the dark room. Sounds like Usopp was right. All this time, I knew she was evil. I've known her plans and went along with them. I suppose this is what I deserve. Kidnapping princesses? How low could I get? His fists curled a bit at his sides but loosened just as quickly. I don't feel angry at her. Just myself. I still made those choices. Putting blame on her now would be cheap. It would be dishonest. No one ever forced me to do her bidding. I gave in. Succumbed to my own darkness. My own loneliness. My despair. I… didn't even find Kuina.

She's right. It had nothing to do with Kuina's heart. Maleficent could tell the whole time. It was the darkness in my own. Manifesting in a desire to have Kuina tell me that it was all worth it. That the evil I had become was fine, because at least it meant I was getting stronger. I brought the copycat here because her heart was actually out there. She fell to the darkness. Unlike Kuina, who died. Kuina died when she was a child. The darkness can do a lot. Transcend space and time. But bringing back my dead childhood friend was a, it was a fool's errand. I should have been able to tell. But I needed justification. Vindication.

I saw Maleficent getting so close to this goal and I tried not to make the choice. That's what a coward does. Ignoring their problems. I made the choice, to try and get someone else to make that choice for me. It was desperation that sent me so deep into the darkness looking for her heart. I'm weak now. Not in mind like Maleficent thinks, but physically. I can just barely move. It drained me. Made me useless. And I didn't even save her. All that I did for Maleficent at least I was still making those choices. But if I'm so quick to switch sides, then that means I've known for a long time that what I was doing was against my code. Breaking my honor. I disgraced that sword. Disgraced my training. I really, fully, lost to the darkness.

"Nice hit, Luffy!" Usopp called forward to his captain.

"Keep them off us, Sanji!" Sora called back to the chef who saw three Invisibles diving down towards Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

Sora ignored those Heartless swooping at him and just threw his Keyblade forward towards Maleficent. He left himself unguarded, and Sanji grit his teeth but sped up as much as he could before kicking off the ground with his smoking leg and extending it with a bright red glow around his right foot. "Diable Jambe!"

"Whoa!" Donald looked up over his head in amazement at the flaming kick that hit one Invisible but slammed it straight into the other two and knocked all three away.

"All together, Donald!" Goofy called at his comrade who he ran forward past to rush at Maleficent.

"Oh- yeah! WawawaWAA!" Donald swung his wand up in the air and called Thunder down on Maleficent.

"My power! You can't- stand… against my power!" Maleficent swung her staff to the side and it glowed bright. She created endless Heartless more powerful than any all around them to attack her enemies. Still, the fools rushed at her and attacked with more strength than ever.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!"

"White Blow!"

"IAI!" Tashigi drew the Wado Ichimonji and put it back in its sheath while landing on the other side of a Darkball that slashed in half before it could fly at Sora and stop him from attacking Maleficent.

"Fire! Blizzard! And… Thunder!" Sora called out several magic attacks before swooping down in a glide straight into a combo of physical blows. "You get her other side, Luffy!" Sora shouted.

"…Gattling Gun!"

"Lazarbeam Hero Slash!"

"We've got her on the ropes!"

"HAA! Haha- You think, you can… AHH!" Maleficent's taunt cut off as more bolts of lightning and rubbery fists smashed into her. A shield slammed into her side and knocked her into another extending fist but with a column of smoke pushing it instead of a rubber arm this time. A sword slashed below her and knocked her into a blue staff that slammed into the side of her head. More Heartless emerged on all sides of her, and her eyes grew huge as every single one of them exploded into puffs of darkness as a half dozen fighters flew through the Heartless and continued their attacks on to her.

Maleficent was hit by six of them at once. She flew backwards from the most powerful blows and landed on her back only to roll farther all the way to the wall just in front of the steps that curved out away from her on either side leading to the tall double doors. Maleficent pushed up on the ground, gasping for breath, one of her hands moving to her chest and grabbing it in pain. "No…" she whispered. She lifted her head and stared in front of her at the pathetic fools who were panting too but looked much stronger than she could continue to stand against. "It can't be. You-" Maleficent stopped herself. Anger plastered over her expression, but the fighters in front of her did not look afraid.

A swirling black portal opened behind the witch. Purple swirls came off of it and pulled past her sides as she stepped backwards into it. "Hey! Wait-" Luffy yelled while stepping towards her.

"Luffy! We're going after her anyway," Sora called at his friend who looked to Sora then frowned and lowered his fist while Maleficent vanished in front of them. Sora let out a long deep breath then dropped his Keyblade that fizzled away into particles of light.

Luffy's Keyblade vanished at the same time, and Luffy darted his eyes to his hand for a second before looking back to Sora who noticed that happen as well in surprise. "Happens sometimes," Luffy said. Sora looked up and Luffy cracked a small smile while scratching the back of his head. "Though it kind of makes sense now," he added. Luffy never understood why it was his Keyblade would appear at random times, but watching it vanish from Sora's hand and his own doing the same made it pretty obvious when they now knew more about how he got it in the first place.

"That you understand anything about this," Nami muttered at her captain while walking up to Usopp. She looked towards Luffy but then smiled back at the gladiator in front of her who flashed her a smile too in an accomplished way at how they defeated Maleficent.

"You alright?" Usopp wondered to her, putting a hand out on the side of her left arm and checking her over to see how she fared during the fight. He had been focused on Maleficent and barely had any time to focus on Nami throughout it.

"Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." Nami smiled more at him then looked back over her shoulder towards members of their crew who were not doing so well. Chopper had already run up to Robin's side and was checking her out, though Robin shook her head at the furry doctor and struggled back up onto her feet. "Robin, is it still… Damn that Maleficent." Chopper spun around and shook his hoof-fists angrily.

"I don't think, it's her," Robin replied hoarsely towards her orange-haired comrade. "However, we are getting close to that door." She glanced towards Luffy and Sora. "And once they seal the keyhole, maybe…"

"That'll be what fixes your heart!" Sora exclaimed.

"That's not…" Robin started in a low voice. I just meant, that it would cause less pain. I do not believe our proximity to the door to darkness is actually what caused my fractured heart. "You do not yet know what lies beyond the door." Robin felt chills run down her spine. Her eyes snapped to the floor. He was talking about the door in that cave, right? The door he said connected the world… Robin spotted something on the floor ahead of her near where Maleficent stepped backwards into the portal.

Robin started forward and she reached down when she neared the piece of paper she spotted. "Is that…" Donald began.

"Another of Ansem's Reports," Sora mentioned while stepping closer to Robin and looking at it himself. "Oh yeah. The others did say that Maleficent should have most of them. Looks like she dropped one." Sora looked away rather than reading the report as he spotted Tashigi panting with her hands down on his knees. "Hey! Ms. Sergeant Tashigi," Sora jogged towards her and pulled his Keyblade back out. "Cure! You doing alright?" Sora wondered after casting some healing magic over the woman.

Tashigi stood back up straight and nodded at the boy. "Thank you," she told him. She kept panting though after saying it. "I don't believe, it was just that fight that has taken it out of me," she admitted after a second. Tashigi blew some air out and put her hands on her hips while taking in some huge breaths of air. She rose a hand to her chest and put it over her rapidly beating heart. "It still feels, strange."

"Well next fight, stay back a little," Sora suggested to her. She looked back at the boy in surprise and Sora gave her a supportive smile, "We'll handle it and give you some more time to recover. Don't worry."

Tashigi opened her mouth to respond, but a gruff voice spoke up behind her first. "That's a good idea, Sora." Tashigi spun around to Smoker who gave her a stern look. "If you're not one hundred percent, Sergeant, you should have said something."

"Smoker-san, I can fight. It will not be a problem." Tashigi assured him, then looked at Sora and gave him a similar look that made Sora hold up his hands defensively and back off from the Marine woman.

"Let's keep going to the next room, everyone," Donald shouted back at the fighters who looked towards the duck. "Follow me!" He yelled.

"Well, I did say we should listen to Donald," Sora sounded more hesitant as he saw Donald's cocky expression while he shouted at all of them. "Might have gone a bit to his head…" Sora laughed and looked at Goofy who chuckled with him then started for the stairs up to the giant double doors.

"Hold on a second, Sora," Nami called up to the boy and his animal companions.

Beast growled and glanced back too from already up at those doors. He was waiting for them all before continuing, but he wanted to chase after Maleficent from the second she retreated through her portal. "Belle's close," he growled under his breath, his body twitching closer to the doors he was going to burst through at any second.

"Sanji, help Robin to the next room," Nami told the chef who saluted her proudly then ran to Robin who shook her head at him but sighed and allowed him to take her arm to assist her. "Usopp, do you have Zoro?"

"Sure," Usopp replied.

"Let him get up himself," Smoker growled over. Usopp looked back in surprise at Smoker, but the Marine glared past Usopp to the man laying on his back who the long-nosed pirate refaced himself. "He's been conscious for a while now. Give up on the act, Roronoa."

Zoro sat up and Usopp jumped in surprise that Smoker was right. Nami bared her teeth that turned razor sharp though at how calmly Zoro just sat up like he was getting up from a nap. "You idiot! We could have used your help-" Nami started storming towards him but Zoro turned her way and she froze. One look at his face and the dark cold expression on it made Nami freeze in place and suddenly remember how he had appeared in Bikini Bottom. The first time she saw him, so dark, turning Plankton into some sort of Heartless monster.

Zoro tried to make his expression look less hostile as he watched Nami step back from him and Usopp step forward to get closer to her. Luffy looked towards his old crewmate too and lifted a smile for a second at the sight of Zoro awake, but the green-haired man did not share his smile which made Luffy lower his own. Zoro glanced Luffy's way then back to Usopp and Nami. He shifted his gaze over towards Sanji, Robin, and Chopper, then at the Marines, then up towards Sora and the animal-like companions up near the doors to the next room. His gaze lingered on those doors while he stayed seated where he was. "I gave my word to follow Maleficent when she freed me from the Realm of Darkness."

Zoro closed his eyes. He put his hands down on the ground and tried not to let his arms shake as he pushed down and got to one foot, then up on his other. "You may have saved me from losing my heart," Zoro opened his eyes and looked back up at his crewmates who he remembered putting their hands on his back and protecting him from a total corruption of his heart. "But, I cannot just turn on her."

"Maleficent dragged you to that Realm in the first place-" Usopp stepped towards Zoro and started.

"Maybe," Zoro interrupted him. "But that's not the point," he said that darkly but intensely while staring into Usopp's eyes. The long-nosed man just got more confused though now that he knew Zoro had heard what Maleficent said. "It doesn't free me from my promise. Though, it does keep me from going back to her right now. I choose not to go receive new orders… like I am already ignoring her last ones, ones I won't follow." Zoro scrunched his face while saying this aloud. It's hard not just turning on her. That's not- I can't do that though.

"I will not betray her entirely, despite how much I may hate her now," Zoro stated. "It just does not feel right to attack her."

"After everything she's done to you!" Nami yelled at the stubborn swordsman. "You don't owe her anything-"

"It does not feel right nonetheless," Zoro growled at the loud woman in front of him. "Any more than it felt right to cut Luffy down, despite how many times she told me to." Zoro turned to Luffy while saying it. His old captain opened his eyes wider but slowly nodded back at Zoro upon hearing that. That explanation shut down the discussion for everyone else too.

Nami shook her head in annoyance but spun away from Zoro. As much as she was annoyed at whatever sense of honor this was that kept Zoro from fighting Maleficent with them, It was that same honor that kept him from killing us all this time.

Long before we would have ever reached this place, Smoker admitted to himself too. He could have stopped us. His honor prevented him from attacking Straw Hat, because he must have already had doubts that Mugiwara ever actually abandoned him. Maleficent may have sent him to the Realm of Darkness, but she also grabbed him from a collapsing world and potentially saved his life. Is that how he thinks of it?

Smoker grunted and looked away. He's weak right now anyway. He may believe what he's saying, but he's worse off than Tashigi after what he did downstairs.

Nami shook her head around then started for the stairs up to the next room. "Let's go everyone! Kairi's up ahead!" Nami thought of the cute young girl who she met back on the Destiny Islands. "We're going to save her!"

"ALRIGHT!" Sanji roared in agreement.

Robin leaned her head away from Sanji's due to how loud he was. She brought her right hand up to her chest and gripped it in pain that made the man spin back to her in such pain of his own just to see her like this. "Robin-chan, do you need-"

"I am fine," she hissed. Robin shrugged off Sanji's help when they reached the bottom of the stairs. "I'll make it up on my own. You go ahead." Robin glared at him and made Sanji lean back away from her. He backed off though at her intense stare and finally turned and headed up the stairs first. He wondered if she was just frustrated by her own weakness and if he was making it worse by coddling her so much. He worried though, and he looked back once to watch Robin grab a railing that she used to struggle up the stairs on her own.

"I don't get it," Nami muttered while looking back herself with Usopp and Chopper just past Sanji. "Maleficent thought it was just because Luffy held us all so dear to him that our hearts responded to one another, right?"

"Yeah," Usopp replied. He nodded and added, "And it's because Luffy and Sora's hearts are attached. I know what you're saying though. If all of us made it out of the world but held onto our hearts, why didn't Robin?"

"Maybe because she was so new to the crew," Chopper started slowly. "Maybe, Luffy only partly considered her our nakama?" Chopper felt sad while suggesting it but thought it was worth mentioning.

"Hmm," Nami hummed and nodded after a second as it could be. "I don't know though," Nami whispered. "Once Luffy let her on the crew, I feel like that's all it takes for him. After that, she was one of us."

"Yeah," Usopp muttered more in agreement with that than what Chopper said which just sounded weird to him.

"I would have kept her in my heart strong enough to link her to us anyway," Sanji snapped.

"Sure, lover boy," Usopp shook his head and looked back ahead of them. "We'll help her soon enough though." He continued and made Sanji close his mouth as Usopp said something he could get behind despite Usopp's last sarcastic comment.

I know the true reason, Robin thought while glancing up the steps towards her comrades who had been theorizing about her damaged heart. Why it is only me, and none of you.

I know why it is that Nico Robin's heart is more broken than the rest. Tashigi followed after the group heading up the stairs. Her Captain moved faster than her and approached the front of the group where he would be fighting at after just ordering her to take the rear. She had frowned as she thought he was telling her because of Sora calling out how tired she felt, but she obeyed her superior's orders. She was in the back now though right behind the woman slowest of all of their group, other than Roronoa Zoro who she felt anxious about looking back at as he walked behind her.

Tashigi's eyes currently locked on Nico Robin's head though. It is because she is not a good person. Or- not that any of the pirates are, but she is the worst.

I am scum, Robin squinted her eyes closed. One hand tightly grasped at her heart while the other struggled to hold onto the railing she was using to drag her body up the stairs. I- I had so many excuses. Excused my actions, for so long- But when I see Sora look at me with those eyes. Telling me that he knows I'll help him save the worlds like, like the innocent child he is! Robin's eyes squinted shut even harder. She imagined the streets of the desert city of Alubarna, stopping for a moment as she dragged along King Nefertari Cobra. Robin had paused and looked to her right down a street covered in bodies where the rebels and soldiers had been fighting, and she could hear the cries of a baby inside of one of the houses where she imagined the citizens cowering inside of.

Her head turned slightly to the side and she looked back at the younger woman behind her. Robin's shaking squinted eyes locked on Tashigi's face that she pictured covered in terror as she held the girl's own sword up to her throat. She could feel her extra arms that she made come out of Tashigi's body, and felt Tashigi's neck squeezing in her hands. "I'm… sorry," Robin whispered painfully at the younger woman who froze on the steps just behind Nico Robin with her own eyes growing huge.

Robin had tears in her eyes. Her left hand squeezed tighter than ever on her chest that filled with more pain every step closer to the next room she took. "For our, previous encounter," Robin whispered to Tashigi. The water held back in her eyes but Tashigi could see how wet they were. Robin did not feel she had the right to shed tears no matter how much pain she was in at the moment. It was all pain of the heart too, and regret was one of the strongest emotions swelling within her right now. "I thought, I needed to…"

Robin cut herself off. Tashigi stepped closer, listening for some reason that Robin could give her for her previous actions. She frowned darkly herself though as Robin stopped making any excuse which Tashigi realized she would have considered just an excuse anyway. Robin shook her head, "It, doesn't matter now."

"My reasons aside," Robin whispered. She looked forward and forced her legs to take another step each. "My actions in the service of Crocodile, were beyond what I could justify, by telling myself that it was: 'What I needed to do to survive.'" Robin hissed the words out and bowed her head to use her shoulder to wipe her eyes while no longer facing Tashigi to let that woman see it. "Which is how, I tried to live after Ohara-"

Tashigi shook her own head as she listened to the regretful and pained voice of the woman in front of her. "Nico Robin," Tashigi started. She thought back on what her men told her about the pirate when she came across this woman during the war in Alabasta. "Who… who are you?" Tashigi frowned and tried to keep a stern glare as she watched this woman who she had heard horrible things about, and fully believed those rumors after meeting the terrible person herself. "What you needed to do to survive? That's an excuse! Pirates play the victims. You destroyed 6 warships when-"

"When I was 8 years old?" Robin asked, the right corner of her lips lifting up as she asked the question skeptically and then gasped out in pain again. Her hand squeezed into her chest while she bit down in sheer agony at the stabbing feeling in her heart. Her eyes clenched shut and she could see an island burning in her head. "Ahh-" Robin gasped out again while Tashigi stopped behind her and stared with wide eyes at the woman who scoffed that she believed such a thing. "A lie," Robin hissed. Her head shook back and forth, "All government lies, pinned on a child- whose life was forfeit from that moment onwards."

"Why? Why would they…" Tashigi leaned her head back while hearing those pained words come from the woman before her. That doesn't make sense! But, does it make any more sense that a little girl could destroy so many Marine warships?

"To hide, their secrets," Robin whispered. The last time my heart hurt this much, Robin groaned in agony. Thinking back on it now only intensified the pain she was feeling though. The closer to the door she got, the stronger that pain in her heart was getting. "We… knew too much. So they called in, a Buster Call. All because we could read… ah- AH-" Robin had to move her other hand from the railing to grab her chest with.

"Nico Robin!" Tashigi ran forward and caught the older woman by her arms. Robin looked about to collapse, and those at the top of the stairs spun and looked back at them where they were only two-thirds of the way up.

"I'm fine!" Robin yelled. Her eyes were closed but she shouted it to those at the top who started calling down and even turning back to come help her. "We need, to keep going," Robin opened her agonized eyes and seethed that up to the group who leaned back at her expression but then nodded at how serious she looked to be too.

"Robin," Luffy whispered. He had already been looking down those stairs before everyone else spun. And he kept looking down after Sora and Donald started pushing the doors open and calling out that they were moving forward. Luffy put a hand up to his own chest and squeezed in pain that he felt that had been too intense that it confused him because he did not feel like he should be sad right now. What's going on?

Tashigi whispered softly to the woman she helped up the stairs by holding Robin's left arm over her shoulders. "What do you mean? What 'Buster Call?' Nico Robin-"

"It doesn't matter," Robin hissed. She shook her head back and forth to try and clear her head of the darkest thoughts that were all creeping in. "It doesn't excuse, what I did… Who I was, before I joined Luffy." Robin lifted her head and then her squinted and pained eyes grew wide as she saw the man she just mentioned looking back down at her. Robin forced up a smile while Tashigi looked up herself and spotted the Straw Hat captain waiting and staring back worriedly for his crewmate.

"Thanks, Marine girl," Luffy said softly. Tashigi stared at the pirate in surprise, but Luffy had seen Tashigi catch his nakama and felt like he needed to say it. "Don't worry, Robin," Luffy started to the older woman whose forced smile lowered down a bit as Luffy stared at her too seriously that she could tell he saw straight through it. "I'm going to fix this. Somehow," Luffy spun around and ran into the next room full of determination. He had no idea how exactly he was going to do what he just said, but he intended to keep that promise.

Maleficent doesn't know any better than you all do, Zoro thought while watching Robin from behind her and Tashigi. She abused the fact that Robin's heart is damaged, but I'm as lost here as the rest. Even with all my time steeped in darkness, so much is still so confusing. Maleficent didn't know I would survive even without her help. I would have though, because Luffy was tied to Sora. And we were all tied to Luffy's heart. That makes sense. The Keyblade wields strange enough powers that it can keep us whole even after our world fell. And, Maleficent might have found me before Luffy fell from our world, before my heart could link to his in the darkness.

Luffy's heart was strong because he believed he would find the crew, and so he did. Just like the Beast believed he would find Belle, and so it arrived here. The heart is that strong. Even without the Keyblade's help- but, the Beast was connected to the heart of a Princess of Heart. That is the variable. What about the Marines? Zoro's eyes lingered on the back of Tashigi's head, and that woman glanced backwards then quickly averted her gaze when they locked eyes for a split second. It's her, Zoro realized with his own eyes growing slightly wider for a second.

Smoker, and all the other Marines who made it from their ship, it's because they were tied to the copycat's heart… And she was tied to mine. I don't know why. She fell to darkness and my desire to get Kuina back, or my need to be the strongest even, caught her. And that was after Luffy finally fell into space. When the link between his heart and my own reattached. Linking Sora's to Luffy's, to mine, to the copycat, to all the Marines who were with her and cared about her. Is Sora's heart really that strong? Zoro wondered. He curled the left corner of his lips up the smallest amount, If I accept that the power of the heart is more powerful than the darkness even, then of course it's that strong. Sora's friends gave his heart power. And so, the links between their hearts, the hearts of people who care for each other, are the strongest links there are…

That makes sense, right? Zoro cocked his head to the side and shrugged his shoulders. All my time in the darkness, and this stuff still sounds crazy sometimes. Most of the time.

The group moved through the doors into the next hall. A cool breeze hit them when the doors opened up. The roof of this room was missing. Either the new hall they had entered was intentionally designed with an open-air concept, or something had ripped the ceiling off of this place. A glance up made it appear like the latter option was more plausible. They were at the top of the castle. The walls around them stretched up high and then got jagged at the top of the room before the missing roof. Roots came through the ground and ran up the cracked and overgrown walls.

The group entered into the next room and spotted a witch in her black robe with some rips in it staggering away from them. "Didn't get far did she?" Usopp said, gripping his sword and lifting it back up in front of him.

"Ah- hah, gah- ah, ahn-" Maleficent gasped and moaned as she fled from the group who defeated her in the last room.

A swirling purple and black portal opened up on Maleficent's right side while she kept going past it. "Do you need some help?" A voice asked, deep and insincere.

Sora stumbled then sped up even more at the sight that surprised everyone else looking towards the portal too. Riku had stepped out through it, back in the black and red tight armor of darkness that he had adorned while fighting Sora back on the first floor. In his right hand was a weapon that a few of them snapped their attentions to as well with much more unnerved looks at the sight of it. Nami felt sweat cover her face and she stopped running entirely at the look of the key-shape that Riku's weapon had.

The dark red hilt and black blade that ended in a sharp point sent shivers up Nami's back. Smoker's eyes locked on the weapon as well that was unmistakably a Keyblade. "What gives?" Sanji muttered under his breath as he stared towards that dark weapon that Riku was holding while leaning towards Maleficent.

"Riku!" Sora called out.

His friend turned his head and looked back across the hall to where Sora ran out in front of the others with only Luffy directly at his side. Luffy glared at Maleficent who he wanted to shout at about Robin's condition, but his eyes snapped finally to the weapon that Riku was holding too which he finally recognized.

"Is that-" Donald quacked just behind Luffy on his left.

"Yes." Riku held up the blade that all his enemies were staring at. "A Keyblade." He stood between them and Maleficent who could not run any longer and turned with her apprentice standing between her and those who could finish her off. She stayed hunched over and grabbing at her chest in pain, but she smirked that he had come to her aid. Riku continued to those staring towards him uneasily, "But unlike yours, this Keyblade holds the power to unlock people's hearts."

"Does his voice sound weird to you?" Usopp whispered while tilting his head back, getting a seriously ominous feeling about this.

"That's not what he sounds like normally?" Tashigi wondered, feeling even worse now than when Maleficent was shouting her own evil taunts in the last room.

"Riku," Sora whispered, stepping towards his friend who was confusing him with this.

Riku held his arms out to the sides though and lifted his Keyblade. "Allow me to demonstrate." He spun and stabbed, "Behold!" Riku shoved the point of his blade through Maleficent's chest. Everyone staring his way dropped their jaws as Riku stabbed Maleficent in such a sudden blow.

"AH!" She screamed in pain. Her chest erupted in a black and purple sphere that violently grew in size. Sparks came off of the tip of Riku's Keyblade while Maleficent's entire body started shaking.

"Now, open your heart. Surrender it to the darkness!" Riku yelled while the entire room around them started shaking. Pressure pushed down on everyone's heads while they gawked at Riku who smiled ear-to-ear. That silver-haired menace shouted at the woman he had stabbed, "Become darkness itself!" Then he ripped his Keyblade from her heart and stepped backwards, already fading as the dark portal re-emerged around him.

The portal vanished and Riku disappeared with it. The room was still trembling though and everyone readied themselves while staring towards Maleficent whose pained look was replacing with something much worse. Zoro stumbled to his side and then dropped onto his butt while looking past the others in front of him and towards the woman he had followed for years now. That power. I've never felt her, feel like this!

"This is it," Maleficent began. She looked down at her hands while her body glowed with a bright green light. "This power!" She smiled in an insane way while curling her hands into fists. "Hahaha ha, haa! Darkness… The TRUE, DARKNESS!" Green flames engulfed her entire body and spread out away from her before shooting up in an enormous pillar taller than the walls around them.

Inside of those green flames was a core pitch-black pillar of darkness that grew even thicker to shroud the woman hidden inside it. Then, a massive black claw reached out of the flames. It slammed down on the ground. Another claw slammed down next to it. A body emerged from the flames, and a long neck at the top of it, ending with the head of the massive dragon with green flames spilling out of its open jaw.

"A DRAGON?!" Nami, Luffy, Chopper, Donald, Sora, Usopp, Sanji, and Tashigi all screamed.

"Ulp," Goofy gulped audibly.

"Well, that's not good," Smoker muttered.

Tashigi lowered Nico Robin down to the ground just in front of the outstretched legs of the man behind her. Tashigi snapped a dark glare back towards Zoro who leaned his head away at the angry Marine woman's look. "Enjoy your rest," Tashigi snapped at him. She scoffed and humphed then looked away from the man who refused to fight with them and looked like he was still going to sit this one out even when their opponent had turned into a giant dragon in front of them.

"What is Riku doing?" Sora whispered.

"Think about that later, Sora," Nami snapped at the kid. "We need to get out of-"

"No!" Sora yelled without looking back at her.

"We're fighting her-" Luffy started to agree with Sora.

"RRAaaaa- ROOAA!" The dragon form of Maleficent in front of them swung its long neck around and breathed out a huge flamethrower of green flames that ignited the walls. Her head snapped down and she dragged that fire breath across the floor towards her enemies.

"Scatter!" Usopp grabbed Nami and leapt up in the air to dodge.

Smoker flew into the air himself and shot towards the dragon's face. "White Blow!" He punched a fist into her head with a pillar of smoke pushing out behind it. The fist was full of Haki, and it felt like throwing a pebble at a brick wall as the massive dragon did not even flinch in the slightest. "Just what kind of power did Riku awaken in her?"

"She was already so strong!" Nami exclaimed in panic. "We can't-"

"We have to, Nami," Usopp countered the woman he put down. "Try to make some rain, at least. To help fight these flames."

"…Fine. FINE!" She yelled at the long-nosed man who angered her with the calm tone he pulled out despite how insane this was. "When did you become so brave-"

"Brave? Oh I am shitting myself, Nami," Usopp countered to the woman behind him who opened her eyes huge then noticed the shaking sword in Usopp's hands past the broad back she had stared at in amazement for a second there. "But if we don't do this, we can't save Kairi. We can't save Robin. Or the worlds. I can't, protect you." Usopp sprinted forward and charged straight at one of Maleficent's dragon legs that he was going to slash to do as much damage as he could.

"You idiot," Nami whispered after a few seconds. She detached pieces of her Clima Tact and started spinning them around. "It's because you're so afraid, that it makes you brave." Nami gulped and then steadied her own look despite the insane fact that there was a dragon breathing fire all around her. It would just make you stupid if you weren't afraid right now. The fact that we're so terrified and fighting anyway makes us brave! Though, it is easier for me, knowing that I have you to protect me. All of you, Nami added to herself. She watched as Luffy flew at Maleficent's head with his arms turning massive again, while Sora arced up higher and higher in the air while using a combination he shouted out as 'Ragnarok' before using the aerial combo.

"RAAA!" Beast charged in and jumped up at Maleficent's back. He swung a claw, but Maleficent's long tail whipped around and smacked Beast across the room and into a wall before he could hit her.

"She's gotten even stronger now. And she's back fully healed it looks like too," Sora called out.

"Well that's just great," Smoker growled. He became fully made of Smoke and filled up the air around Maleficent's swinging head. "Attack her blind spots!"

Usopp ran in again after jumping back when green fireballs shot towards him as if they were heat-seeking. He went for the slash, and then he dropped his jaw as Maleficent jumped up in the air twenty meters high. Her head fully rose up out of Smoker's Smoke, and then she dropped back through and disbursed the Marine while stomping on the ground so hard that shockwaves slammed into the pirate who just barely avoided getting stomped on.

Goofy was thrown backwards just like Usopp was. Donald swung his wand up in the air and called Thunder down on Maleficent's back. Then a green fireball slammed into his side and he dropped to the ground with his head bowed. "After one hit?" Sanji snapped, partly angry at Donald for falling like that but also just snapping that in concern as he knew the duck was strong.

"Donald! Last hi-potion!" Chopper shouted at the court mage.

"Take my last Ether too," Sora called out to the duck who got up when the green light showered down on him. I need more MP. Or, unlimited Magic. "Going back into Wisdom Form!" Sora yelled as he spotted Nami diving for cover and Tashigi stumbling as the room shook from Maleficent jumping and stomping down again. Maleficent was stomping over and over while turning in a circle, each step making shockwaves that hurt her enemies who fell over and flew back away from her.

Sora flashed with bright white light. Wisdom. Intelligence. Power. Rage- what? Oh no. "RAAA!" Sora roared.

Sanji spun his head and gawked at the sight of the kid who emerged from his white light shrouded in a pitch black veil. "It's alright, Sergeant," Smoker yelled at his comrade who pushed back on her hands to get farther from Sora's scary form. Tashigi gulped while darting a look at Smoker, but she spun back to Sora who did not attack her to instead rush at Maleficent. "He might look like a Heartless in that form," Smoker started to the woman he reformed his upper body next to. "But although he can't use magic, and he seems to lose a bit of himself, he's still in there. And it makes him much stronger-"

Maleficent rose her front right claw and slammed it into Sora's body while he was slashing his claws over and over into her neck. Sora shot past Beast who was just getting up himself, and Sora slammed into the same crater Beast had just made in the wall. Nami spun her head and looked towards Sora whose dark head lifted up a little then bobbed and dropped down with his chin resting to his chest. She gulped but kept swinging her Clima Tact pieces around.

Her eyes darted to her right and she watched as Usopp got hit by a claw and sent flying past Luffy who called out his name. "Hey ugly! Blizzard! Blizzard Blizzard Blizzard!" Luffy figured the ice magic was a good counter to the fiery dragon, but he stopped and just tossed his Keyblade to the side as he ran out of MP- not that the attacks were doing much anyway. She's too strong. Gear Second and Gear Third aren't enough. Not, separately at least, Luffy balled his fists tightly at his sides.

"Healer down!" Smoker yelled while spinning his head from where Donald just rolled back to.

"No potions here!"

"Straw Hat-"

"Out of mana!"

"AHHH!"

Nami gulped but pointed a piece of her Clima Tact up, "R-Rain, Tempo-"

Maleficent flapped her wings down and jumped through the cloud Nami was forming. She blew apart the cloud in an instant while spinning three hundred and sixty degrees. Her tail whipped around and due to being covered in darkness, it connected with Smoker and knocked him back through the room into the hall they had just been in that they left the doors open to. Nami was hit by the shockwave of Maleficent landing back down, getting thrown backwards herself and screaming out in pain as she hit the ground on her back.

"Gear Second, and Gear Third!"

Maleficent's huge dragon head turned to the right. "JET GIGANTO STAMP!" Luffy's left foot slammed into the side of Maleficent's head so fast that the dragon stumbled and slammed into a wall that cracked even worse. The roots going through it burst into green flames as Maleficent roared out fire and spun to Luffy who got hit by some flames but still punched towards her anyway through them. "JET GIGANTO PISTOL!"

Maleficent leaned forward into the massive fist that pressed harder and harder into her chest. Her teeth bared and a green glow moved up from her chest to her throat to her mouth. "RROAAAAARR!"

"AHH!" Luffy flew backwards when he was hit by her attack.

"She's, too strong," Usopp gasped out while struggling onto his hands and knees.

"No," Chopper whispered. Usopp turned his head to the left and watched the small creature who he had seen thrown back in Heavy Point before after doing no damage at all to the dragon, just like Chopper felt like he had not helped at all in any of the last fights. "I won't let her hurt you all anymore," Chopper yelled. He ran forward in his small form while pulling out another Rumble Ball. "Doctorine, I'm sorry. But," he tossed it in his mouth and chomped down. "I won't, let her, hurt them… ANY- RRRAAAAAAAAAA!" Chopper screamed out in a high-pitched voice but one as terrifying as Maleficent's roaring.

Everyone spun to the small creature whose shoulders buffed out. Muscles bulged all over his body. His fur grew out longer. His legs extended out below him. Chopper's horns grew and grew while the rest of his body turned massive as well. Sora's dark shading faded off of him. His head lifted up and he gawked, just as much as Beast was gawking ahead of him while questioning his own name. "Is that, Chopper?" Sora wondered in disbelief at the sight of the monster that appeared in the hall.

"ROOOA-" Maleficent started to blow fire from her mouth while roaring at that furry monster. Its left hand smacked her in the side of the head, and the dragon stumbled into and through the side wall that collapsed down on top of her.

"AARRAAAAAHHHH!" Monster Chopper screamed.

"Yeah Chopper!" Usopp cheered up at the crazy powerful ally who just joined the fray. "Why didn't you do this sooner? Huh? Hey… Chopper?" Usopp took a step back as the giant's head turned sideways and its blank eyes glared down at him. Those eyes had no recognition in them at all. "Oh, so this is why you didn't eat the third Rumble Ball sooner, yeah? That makes sense- AHH!" Usopp dove for cover with both arms thrown over the top of his head as Monster Chopper swung down a giant hand at him.

"Chopper stop!" Nami screamed at the monster.

Chopper glared around at all of them, and then right when they were worried he was going to keep attacking, two huge black claws snapped up out of the rubble and dug into Chopper's chest. Chopper roared while stumbling backwards, and Maleficent screamed out herself while flapping her wings and slamming her massive body into his.

She pulled her head back and then slammed forward and blew out green flames while slashing a claw up at Chopper's chin. Chopper pulled back his right arm and then swept it in front of him into Maleficent's side. The entire room around them shook. More cracks ran up the walls. One of those cracks destroyed too much of the foundation holding the wall together. A piece of the wall fell, and a dark-haired woman on her knees down below lifted her gaze from her furry comrade she was concerned about, to the huge chunk of building falling towards her. Sanji spun and yelled out Robin's name, too far from her to reach in that moment as he had gone to Tashigi's side instead to help her up after she collapsed from a combination of her own fatigue and Maleficent's attacks.

Swwsh

The wall chunk falling for Robin's head sliced in half. The wall's halves fell to either side of her. Sanji let out a breath of relief but still grumbled under his breath at who saved her. Robin turned her head and looked behind her to a man holding a black sword in his hand. He was sitting up behind her with his back resting against the wall. His eyes were closed and he appeared exhausted. Yet slicing that chunk of wall was child's play to the man who simply lowered his sword back down and then tilted his head back on the wall again.

"Chopper! It's okay!" Sora yelled up at the giant monster's back. His voice got lower as he stomped forward behind his comrade, "You gave me time to recover." The tip of Sora's Keyblade glowed green, so Donald managed to get up to his feet on Maleficent's other side. "You've allowed us to get back in this fight! You did great, Chopper!"

"I don't think he can hear you, Sora!" Usopp yelled.

"I'll make him hear me!" Sora yelled back while jumping up and grabbing onto tufts of Chopper's fur. He threw himself up by those tufts and leapt all the way to land on Chopper's right shoulder. "Chopper?!" Sora yelled for Chopper's ear. Sora looked down at Chopper's chest and saw the brown fur there looking very red. "Oh no- Cure!" Sora called out. "No, I'm out. Donald! Cure Chopper!"

"Are you crazy?!" Donald yelled back at Sora.

Sora jumped off Chopper's shoulder just in time to dodge the furry doctor's own massive hand that smacked where he was just standing. "Just do it!" Sora yelled.

"WACK!" Donald exclaimed in frustration, but he did wave his wand around and heal Chopper's wounds, to a degree.

The monster form of their doctor was panting heavily, and that did not stop after his bloody wounds got a bit shallower. "It's taking it out of him," Smoker noticed. "So while he's still up and fighting," he rose his voice louder, "keep his attention locked on Maleficent!"

"Already on it!" Sora called out. He glided in front of Chopper's face intentionally after jumping off his shoulder, then he fell with style around Maleficent's long neck which made Chopper's next arm swing fly straight at the target that Sora's attacks on their own were doing much less against.

"Shishishi, nice Sora!" Luffy called up. "Now," Luffy took in a deep breath and then another. I can do this. I have to! Luffy grabbed his knees again and pumped down on them to return to Gear Second. It took way more out of me, but everyone's going all out.

We could really use the shitty swordsman's help, Sanji bit down and held his tongue. Not like I'm doing any more than him in this fight either though. All Zoro had done is protect Robin, just as Sanji had only been able to try protecting his comrades without actually being able to fight the female dragon witch. "Aha!" Sanji spun as he spotted Heartless appear near him and Tashigi who spun towards them as well.

"Not again," Tashigi muttered. She shook her head clear then sprinted towards the Heartless that were targeting Captain Smoker who flew back towards Maleficent himself to attack her. "Over here!" Tashigi yelled at the enemies trying to get in her Captain's way.

Zoro opened one eye up and shifted his attention from the fight that he was sensing out with his eyes closed. He stared towards the woman who had his Wado Ichimonji in her hands and was slashing it back and forth masterfully through the smaller Heartless emerging just from Maleficent's dark presence nearby. She uses it as if she knows the weapon. As if it belongs to her… Why am I still thinking about this? About her? I should get Kuina's sword back. It is not hers to wield. Even if, she fights with it like it is.

"Luffy!" Sora yelled in concern towards his pirate friend who was using his two advanced Gears at the same time again. I've seen how much that wears you out. Everyone's putting their alls in though. This is no time to hold back! "Go for it!" Sora cheered him on, gliding back towards Maleficent himself and attacking around her neck to keep the witch occupied while Luffy prepared his attacks.

"Hey! Evil witch dragon lady!" Luffy screamed. Sora grimaced as he was trying to distract her and Luffy was not using that to his advantage. Sora's eyes widened though and he started gliding away from Maleficent, only to have to spin and cross his Keyblade in front of his body as a weak protection against three fireballs that tracked him and collided just after he got his guard up. Sora dropped out of the air but flipped onto his feet and shook off the pain from those blows. He fired some more magical attacks towards the dragon, but she had turned towards Luffy herself now as he leapt up high in the air.

His body was steaming and his skin red. "You messed with Zoro's head! You messed with his heart! And you, pulled him and Usopp out of time…" Luffy sounded confused even as he shouted it, but he did know that he was angry. His face had twisted in that anger to match the furious tone of his voice. Luffy bit down on his thumbs, and he blew as much air as he could into them.

Luffy filled up his arms even more. Maleficent jumped up in the air and swung her tail at him-

Smoker flew in the way and wrapped around the tail as best as he could get his Smoke to. He slowed down the tail, and then Beast and Goofy collided with Maleficent's legs to take more of the force out of her swing. Two giant arms wrapped around the tail as it was pushing through the rest of Smoker's body and making the Marine spin out while reforming into a human. Monster Chopper roared while swinging down that tail and smashing Maleficent into the ground. "RRROOAAA- AHH!" Chopper screamed as Maleficent snapped her head up towards him and breathed out a flamethrower of green flames directly into his chest.

Chopper stumbled backwards while letting go of the witch's tail. "Chopper!" Luffy screamed out even angrier. He threw both of his massive arms back behind him. Then, the pirate captain winced. He coughed, and blood splashed out of his lips.

Sora had just lifted up his Keyblade like Donald rose and waved his wand. A green fireball hit Donald a second later and knocked him backwards into a Darkball that smashed down into his back before Sanji could kick it away. Sanji then staggered backwards and had to leap back from three Invisibles swooping down and slashing at him, one getting too close and catching him in his right leg. Sora looked towards where Chopper had fallen backwards. Some green light just glowed on his chest differently than the green flames, but Sora grit his teeth as he had to make a tough decision. Sorry, Chopper. Sora focused on Luffy instead while casting his Cure magic. Donald's will have to be enough for Chopper. "DO IT! LUFFY!"

Luffy's arms stopped shaking so much. His pained eyes narrowed ahead of him at the raising head of the dragon lifting before him. Maleficent pulled her neck back, green light coming up from her chest to her throat, to her mouth…

"Gum Gum… JET- GIGANTO… BAZOOOKKKAAAAA!"

Luffy's massive hands were in front of his body in the next instant. They slammed into Maleficent's head before she could fire out any flames. An explosion of green fire went off in her mouth instead. Luffy's fists knocked her back off her claws. "HAAAAA!" Luffy pushed harder and harder into the attack. He threw Maleficent off the ground and backwards so hard that she flipped over entirely, falling onto her wings and on her back. Her neck writhed around, her claws thrashing in the air.

"Is she not done, after all of that?" Nami gasped out in disbelief.

"Her stomach is exposed," Usopp staggered forward, dragging his sword on the ground behind him due to how bloodied his arms were. "Ah, hah, let's hit her now!" Usopp rose his sword with all his strength and rushed forward. "Attack her weak spot!"

"All at once!" Smoker was still falling from where he reformed in the air, but he twisted his body and punched two White Blows down full of Haki towards Maleficent's upper chest.

Smoker's fists approached. Usopp lifted his sword and bent his legs. Luffy was glaring down with his entire expression violently shaking as his arms shrank, stunned that Maleficent was still moving even after that attack. "Guys!" Sora called out. Smoker pulled his punches. Usopp unbent his knees, and Luffy lifted the right corner of his lips up as Maleficent's head dropped down to the ground. She stopped kicking.

The dragon had fallen and it tilted to the side with its claws no longer thrashing about. Maleficent stopped moving and for a second they all felt relief at the sight. Then, green flames erupted around her massive body and forced them all backwards. "Luffy- Usopp!" Nami called to her comrade who looked up and then ran and jumped, catching Luffy softer than the pirate looked like he was about to smash into the ground. Luffy had blood coming down the corners of his lips, but he still looked at Usopp worriedly as Usopp buckled at the right knee and dropped to the floor himself after catching his captain.

Sanji lowered his leg down as the Heartless in front of him all sizzled and faded away into nothing. He turned his head with a regretful look towards the dragoness whose body was engulfed in fire and was shrinking down inside it. Black flames burned inside of the green ones and emitted a terrible dark feeling that made the chef feel even worse as he watched her burn. Smoker stepped backwards and just in front of Tashigi who had dropped to a knee as well and was holding both hands on the hilt of the Wado that she had stabbed into the ground to steady herself and keep from falling over.

Sora backed up in front of Donald, Beast, and Goofy. Their heads turned back and forth and watched as the vines and thorns that covered the room were igniting into the same flames and burning away. It told them that all of that damage and the overgrowth had been due to Maleficent's magic as well. Nami nervously stepped up behind Sora as the huge flames in the middle of the room started dying down. She tilted her head to the side and looked to where the dragon's body had been.

Everyone stared towards that spot and saw what was left of the woman. Only her black cloak remained. If one could even consider it a "cloak" at all, as a closer inspection made it appear more like a puddle of darkness on the ground. Zoro reached his right hand up the wall next to him and dragged up just enough to lift to one foot. He stared towards the middle of the floor on top of the carved design the original architects had made in it. Zoro stared towards where Maleficent had finally faded away, and he felt weight lifting off of his shoulders. Whatever debt I ever owed her is over. Free. I am, released from that oath. Finally, I'm free.

"Oi, Chopper," Luffy called over towards a shrinking furry creature laying on his back. Chopper's chest was moving but he appeared unconscious as he shrank back down into his small form. Luffy glanced up at the last of the vines over Chopper's head that finally fully burned away. Then he looked back down at Chopper and smiled, "Good work, Chopper."

Luffy froze and his smile he rose while calling that to his knocked out crewmate vanished in an instant. His head turned back around. Everyone looking down towards that patch of black on the floor heard approaching footsteps and lifted their gazes up towards the silver-haired boy walking towards them. Riku stepped straight forward into the middle of the room. His eyes were pointed down at the darkness in the middle of the floor that he walked up to and then on top of. "How ironic."

He stood in the middle of the dark puddle that remained of Maleficent. "She was just another puppet after all."

"What?" Donald quacked towards him.

Zoro's moment of relief and reprieve shattered like glass. Wait… His head slowly rose up and his gaze shifted to Riku's face.

Riku looked up towards Sora and responded to Donald behind him, "The Heartless were using Maleficent from the beginning. She failed to notice the darkness in her heart eating away at her." Riku lifted his right foot then pressed it down harder on the dark patch and smeared it around. "A fitting end for such a fool."

That voice! Zoro's heart rate spiked. He heard something strange about Riku's voice but it was the tone that matched it that made him hear another echoing in his head. "Did she leave you here? Everyone's always abandoning you. Next time she comes… accept it. Take her hand… Step into the darkness. Accept it, and you will be free." It wasn't my own thoughts? No one else was there! I thought I was going mad! Thought I was just convincing myself- It was that voice I heard! Who… who is that? Who the hell is that?!

A purple flare of energy ripped through the air behind Riku. The portal opened effortlessly, and the boy still adorned in a tight black and red armor of darkness stepped backwards and faded away into it.

"Well… that was creepy," Usopp muttered. A bead of sweat formed on the side of his face and dripped down it to his chin. "I thought," he started in a low voice. "I thought once we beat Maleficent, this would be over."

Usopp turned as did Luffy who was panting and wheezing for breath. They looked towards Sora who half-heartedly lifted a hand towards the portal but it had disappeared already. Sora stepped forward towards the dark smear on the ground. He looked down at it then lifted his head and stared towards the exit of the room ahead of him. Sora glanced behind him and around at all the others, many of whom had collapsed or were down on their knees at least. "Maleficent is defeated," Sora whispered. "But, Riku's still using the darkness. He… he must have a reason. He's got to."

"Sora, why would he-" Nami began behind him.

"It must be Kairi," Sora responded while lifting his right hand up in front of his chest. He held it over his heart and continued, "I don't know why Riku's acting like he is. He has a Keyblade now though. And he hasn't given up on using the darkness to get what he wants. I don't know what lies ahead, but I'm going to knock some sense into him."

"Not alone you're not," Donald snapped at Sora who looked back at him.

"We're in this together, Sora," Goofy agreed and nodded his head.

"All for one-" Smoker started while stepping towards the kid.

"And one-"

"Don't you say it," Smoker growled towards Luffy who he did not want finishing that quote for him.

Luffy stuck his tongue out at Smoker though and then finished, "For all."

Smoker grit his teeth but shook his head and looked back to Sora who smiled at him for saying that. Sora then looked towards Luffy though and lowered his smile a bit at how much more beat up Luffy looked. "Cure," Sora lifted his Keyblade and blasted Luffy with some healing magic.

"I keep healing them," Donald quacked but shook his head at Sora who looked back at him. "It's not that they're too injured to keep fighting."

"We've been going nonstop since we landed," Nami said while stepping closer to Sora herself. She looked towards where Usopp struggled up onto both feet and then steadied his captain as well. Sanji lifted up Chopper who he put over one shoulder then went running back towards Robin who was coughing painfully back where she had been for the entire fight.

Zoro looked back down at Robin himself when Sanji approached them. "Robin-chan, does it still hurt? Damn, I thought… ch, I thought it was Maleficent's doing," Sanji muttered and glared up at Zoro to see if he knew anything.

Zoro shook his head back though after meeting Sanji's eyes for a second. Sanji pulled his own head back and got a much more nervous look in his eyes at the bead of sweat he saw on Zoro's face. "What's wrong with you?" Sanji muttered at the swordsman while he only helped Robin to her feet.

"It's…" Zoro started in a low voice.

Robin glanced back and to the side at the man next to her who she had noticed react strangely when Riku was speaking just now. Robin's own heart beat had spiked when she listened to that boy speaking as well. She trembled when Sanji picked her up, and Sanji grimaced while looking from her to Zoro, then to Chopper who was barely moving at all on his shoulder. A glance towards Usopp and Luffy told him they were barely doing any better, and Smoker had to turn back to check on Tashigi who told her Captain that she was fine but visibly needed to use her sword to keep herself on her feet.

The fatigue had set in for most everyone fighting their way across a world and up the castle. Sora stepped forward though while narrowing his eyes at the next door. "Kairi's just up ahead. I can't stop now." Beast growled in agreement and stepped right up on Sora's side.

"We are with you, Sora," Nami assured the boy who glanced back at her again. All of the Straw Hats moved forward behind her. Sora even spotted Zoro back to both feet and staggering forward, albeit slower than the rest of Luffy's crew. Nami smiled while looking into Sora's eyes, "We've gotten this far." She looked back for confirmation and got it from the looks on her comrades' faces. "No way we're turning back now."

Luffy's right eye was half-closed, but he closed both of them and just smiled and nodded to agree with Nami's sentiment without needing to waste any breath. Usopp chuckled and shrugged his shoulders up. "I got nowhere else to be," he said and grinned at their friend and comrade.

"Saving 7 princesses is my dream," Sanji told Sora as he walked up to the boy. He was not looking at Sora though but past him as determinedly as Sora had appeared himself.

"Thought your dream was All Blue?" Nami muttered under her breath.

"I will, assist, however I can," Robin told Sora between ragged breaths.

"You just take it easy, Robin. We'll close the Keyhole and, that's sure to fix you up too," Sora told Robin with a quick glance to Luffy who had the other Keyblade and could help him close it.

"However we are to fix the worlds," Smoker said while walking forward with Tashigi slowly coming up behind him. She glanced to her side at the only other person that far back with her, then she quickly looked away from Roronoa who glanced sideways at her. Smoker stared into Sora's eyes after walking up to the boy. "I am sure it is up ahead. Let's go."

"Alright," Sora spun around and rose up his Keyblade. He started sprinting forward, and he spoke aloud as he ran, "Kairi, I'm on my way."

---

A/N Hope you enjoyed! Maleficent is defeated, but the fight isn't over yet. Riku's sounding quite ominous. Kairi and Belle still need to be saved. We hear from Maleficent directly this chapter how it is she managed to pull Zoro and Usopp back from their collapsing world. Zoro refused to fight against her despite hearing that, not that he would have been much help in his state. The others managed to take her down though. But in the process, Chopper used a Third Rumble Ball, Luffy had to use Gear Second and Gear Third at the same time- multiple times, and everyone really went all out to stop her. The group is fatigued heading into the final rooms of Hollow Bastion. What awaits them inside? Will Robin's fractured heart be able to be saved? What is causing that damage anyway? Still more mysteries to reveal and fights to be had. So thanks for reading, and look forward to the next chapter coming soon!