AHHHHH OK SO Let's talk about why this chapter took so incredibly long! First of all, IT FINALLY HAPPENED, OUR BOY IS FINALLY IN SMASH BROS AND I COULDN'T BE ANY HAPPIER ABOUT IT (but seriously tho I'm SO hype ya'll can't even BELIEVE, I screamed when I watched that reveal, especially when I saw that KEYBLADE). Anyway outside of that I've also been working on editing earlier chapters (those edits/rewrites are almost done actually! And they've made the earlier half of the story so much better, I highly encourage you to check them out once they're done!) And finally, I was in the process of getting a new job for most of last month (which I did get the job, very excited to be starting it soon!), so that kind of distracted me from writing. But now I'm back with a chapter that is... a doozy (my plans for it changed completely when I was halfway through writing it, believing it or not). Honestly I love how it turned out and I hope you will too! So I'll finally shut up and leave you do it! Enjoy!


Chapter 50: Not What He Seems

QMTF FP WLO TYTE, EPFBEAF EHH WDVYORE
HZOVWUSIQK ISS DLRH ELSSU HIOP MLYORE

"Oh! There you are, Sora!" Mabel cheerily explains as Sora emerges from the Mystery Shack. She's taken a seat on the edge of the porch, watching as Dipper paces around the yard, clearly much more anxious than his sister is by far.

Sora finds he can easily relate to that anxiety, though he refuses to let it show. Just as he refuses to let either of them know about the source of those unpleasant feelings, hidden just out of sight within the shade of his pocket. So he does his best to ignore the weight of the tiny glass globe, instead throwing on as casual of a tone as he can as he looks between the twins. "Um… what's going on?"

"We can't find Grunkle Stan or Grunkle Ford," Mabel explains, surprisingly calm. "I think they just went out to buy us some surprise ice cream, but Dipper's being all paranoid-what else is new-and thinks they've been grunkle-napped."

"For the last time, Mabel, I'm not being paranoid," Dipper scowls over at her, exasperated. "It's just weird that they're not back by now. The sun's already gone down and while I know Stan isn't the most… responsible guy in the world, I at least figured Great Uncle Ford wouldn't leave two kids home alone at night without any kind of explanation."

"Didn't Grunkle Ford build a huge doomsday portal in the basement?" Mabel inquires, catching a concerned look of confusion from Sora.

"...Point taken, but still," Dipper notes tersely. "We'd better go find them before any more of those monsters or that creep in the black coat show up again."

"Aw, Stan and Ford could take 'em, easy," Mabel hops to her feet, her tone brazenly confident. "Grunkle Ford's got all those cool laser guns and Grunkle Stan could totally punch their heads off, just like he did to those zombies a few weeks back!"

"Um, actually, Dipper has a point," Sora speaks up, frowning. "You guys should probably go and try to find your uncles. Better safe than sorry when there's Nobodies running around."

"Wait… you're not coming with us?" Dipper asks, both him and Mabel turning to Sora with looks of mutual worry.

"Oh, uh… I would, but…" Sora hesitates, rushing to come up with some kind of excuse. Preferably one that doesn't involve the item he'd just stolen out of their basement only mere moments ago. "I-I have to run an errand-a really important errand. Your uncles can't be that far, so… you guys will be ok on your own, right?"

"Uh, didn't you just tell us it's dangerous for us to go alone with those monsters here?" Dipper counters, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah!" Mabel agrees intently. "If we run into some, then who's gonna beat them with a giant key for us? I know I don't have a giant key, do you, bro-bro?"

"I can't say that I do," Dipper manages a small smirk at this, one that widens into a genuine smile when he turns back to Sora. "We'd really appreciate it if you helped us out, Sora. But of course, it's up to you."

No, it's not, Sora thinks as he lets out a long, tired sigh. Nothing is anymore…

"Ok," he says, much to the twins' shared relief. "I… guess I can make some time to stick with you guys a little while longer." A little while longer before he can give the heirloom back to Bill, before he can get the reward he so desperately craves. Before he can finally be free.

And really, after waiting this long for that freedom, certainly he can afford to wait just a little while more.

"Thanks, Sora!" Mabel exclaims warmly, bounding ahead to join her brother. "See, Dipper? I told you we could trust him!"

"Seeing as how he's the only person we know who can actually get rid of those monsters, it's not like we really have too much of a choice…" Dipper says, though he wears a smile all the same. "But… I guess you weren't wrong. This time, anyway."

Sora swallows hard when he overhears this, the sizable knot of guilt already settled in his stomach tightening to an almost oppressive degree. Whatever trust either of the twins might have for something is something he knows he hasn't earned, something he definitely doesn't deserve after what he's just done. As he trails a few paces behind them, his hand drifts down to his pocket, to the heirloom, to reveal his crimes and come clean like he knows he should. And yet… at the same time, he knows he can't. Not when this is perhaps the last and only chance he has at turning the tide, at undoing what's been done, at saving his own life. Certainly, if Dipper and Mabel knew just what he's up against, if they knew everything he's already lost and still stands to lose, then they'd understand the lengths he's taking to finally stop it all… wouldn't they?

"Hey, Sora?" Mabel pipes up, pulling him out of his fretful thoughts as they venture back into the woods. The dark path ahead is only sparsely illuminated by the flashlight Dipper had grabbed back at the shack, though that light does little to chase away the oddly ominous aura the forest carries at night. Or at least, an aura that's even more ominous than the one that had filled it during the day. "I've been wanting to ask you for awhile now: what's that Key thing that Xamnams guy wants you to get so badly?"

"Oh yeah, I was wondering about that too," Dipper glances back at the older boy. "Is it the same key you fought those monsters with, or is it something different?"

"Oh, um, yeah, it's different," Sora nods, more than happy for the distraction this kind of conversation can serve his troubled mind. "It's a special kind of Key that's one out of thirteen that my-I-I mean his master has been looking for. And if they get their hands on it first… let's just say something really… bad could happen."

"Wait, so that guy isn't actually your boss?" Mabel asks.

No, of course he's not, Sora thinks, though the words refuse to leave his mouth. A small burst of pain constricts around his heart, one that feels far too familiar to the point that he doesn't even think twice about where it could be coming from. That same pain bars him from saying what he really wants to, though this time, it doesn't force him to say something else against his will. What he's able to get out instead is still far from anything substantial though. "Uh… w-well, he's my… I-I, uh… It's-"

"Let me guess," Dipper cuts in knowingly. "It's something else that's 'complicated', isn't it?"

The most Sora can do is glumly nod, rubbing his arm as he glances away from the twins. Mabel's quick to fill in the newfound silence, however, with a small coo of curious fascination. "Ooo, Sora, you're such a complex guy!" she grins, a smile that turns a touch coy as she twirls a lock of her hair playfully. "Ya know I've always had a thing for men of mystery."

Naturally, Sora still isn't quite sure of how to respond to the younger girl's persistent brand of "unique" flirting. Fortunately, he doesn't have to as Dipper dryly interrupts. "What, you mean like that 'mysterious' guy you dated who turned out to be a bunch of gnomes stacked on top of each other?" he asks, flashing his sister a bit of a teasing smirk.

"Yeesh, I accidentally go out with some creepy gnomes one time and suddenly I never hear the end of it," Mabel huffs, rolling her eyes. "At least I didn't spend the entire summer desperately crushing on someone who's waaaay too old for me."

"Says the girl who's literally doing that right now," Dipper retorts, catching Mabel in the middle of the affectionate wave she's sending Sora's way.

"...And your point is?"

As the twins' next round of insincere bickering kicks off, Sora does his best to try and focus on it, only for his thoughts to inevitably drift once more. As far as he knows, Xemnas, or any other Organization member for that matter, isn't anywhere in the immediate vicinity, so how does their power still have such a restrictive hold on him, to the point that he can't even speak freely? Has he really fallen so far under their sway that he can be forced to do their bidding from a distance? Does he really have so little freedom left that he's bound to obey them even when not a single one of them is around?

It's a grim, downright horrifying thought, a reality he knows he ultimately can't escape from, at least not on his own. He draws in a steadying breath as he gently pats the pocket the glass globe its resting in, shuddering as he feels another wave of its palpable power wash over him. Regardless of whatever it is that globe actually holds, right now, it holds something else entirely: all of his once-faded hopes, his nearly-dead dreams, his last chance at living the life he longs to lead instead of the life that's fallen apart all around him. And all it'll take for him to finally get that life is to take that globe back to its rightful owner, to give it back to Bill so that Bill can give him back everything he's lost in return.

So that's exactly what he'll do. No matter how uncertain his mind and heart alike still are of whether or not he should.


"I'm tellin' ya, Sixer, we've already passed that same tree three times already!" Stan snaps as he begrudgingly follows Ford's lead through the forest. Ventus and Roxas trail after them, a largely passive audience to the nearly incessant arguing the elderly set of twins seems insistent on maintaining. Much to the rising annoyance of just about everyone present. "When you said you wanted to look for the kids, I didn't expect you to get us just as lost as they are."

"How many times do I have to tell you, Stanley? We are not lost," Ford scowls back at his brother, holding his lantern up a bit higher. "I know these woods like the back of my hand."

"Even though you haven't even been in these woods for 30 years," Stan grumbles, crossing his arms.

"And whose fault is that?" Ford retorts bitterly. This snide remark is more than enough to launch the brothers into another heated debate, one that Ven and Roxas largely tune out in favor of holding their own quiet conversation on the side.

"You know, I'm kind of starting to wonder if helping these guys was such a good idea…" Roxas mutters, shooting a pointed look Ven's way.

"Ok, so maybe they don't exactly… get along," Ventus rubs the back of his neck. "But that doesn't matter. Having someone who can guide us around this place is better than having no one at all, right?"

"...I'd beg to differ…" Roxas counters, nodding back over at Stan and Ford. The brothers are still in the middle of bickering, this time over which direction they should be heading in. Fortunately, this round of fighting is cut short when Stan lets out a disgruntled groan, glaring away from his twin as he does.

"I swear, poindexter, talking to you is like talking to a brick wall sometimes," he says crossly. Ford can get a single word in edgewise before Stan glances back at the pair of boys behind him to abruptly change the subject. "So what's you kids' story anyway? You said you were lookin' for your lost dog or something?"

"Our lost friend," Roxas corrects sternly. "He's not a dog."

"Eh, friend, dog, same difference," Stan shrugs.

"What exactly happened to this friend of yours anyway?" Ford asks, his tone as guarded as it always is, though there's still a hint of concern in it all the same. "I'm not sure if you boys know this, but Gravity Falls isn't the… safest place to go wandering around all on your own. There are all kinds of monsters and creatures and strange anomalies that call this place home, and trust me when I say not all of them are friendly."

"If Sora is here, that wouldn't be too much of a problem for him," Ventus notes with a small smile. "He can make friends with just about anyone."

"Even when he really shouldn't," Roxas adds before diving into a more thorough explanation. "Sora… ran away. Something really bad has been happening to him lately and he wouldn't let anyone help him stop it. And for some reason, he thought that running away from his problems was a better idea than looking for a way to fix them."

"Hm, why does that sound familiar…?" Ford briefly pipes up, catching a harsh scowl from his brother in the process.

"But we're not giving up on him that easily," Ventus continues where Roxas left off, his tone far more hopeful. "We're going to find him, whenever he is, and we're going to find a way to help him. Just like he helped both of us before."

Despite this earnest resolve, neither of the brothers are very moved by it. "Yeesh, and I thought Mabel was schmaltzy," Stan rolls his eyes.

"Well, you won't be helping him if you can't find him, that much is obvious," Ford says, also quite cynically. "Granted, the same goes for us when it comes to our niece and nephew. Hopefully we're able to locate them before they run into any nocturnal groundhogs with a taste for human flesh."

"Any what?" Roxas asks, alarmed that such creatures even exist.

"Um… maybe we should speed the search up a bit? Just to be safe?" Ventus suggests, apprehensive both for Sora's sake, and for the same of the two innocent kids they're also looking for.

"Agreed," Ford nods as his pace quickens.

Stan lets out an irritated groan, but likewise, he also continues on through the trees a touch faster than before. "Fine. Anything to get me back to the shack so I can finish up counting today's profits and then go to bed."

Roxas and Ventus still keep their position behind the brothers, another conversation sparking between them that neither Stan nor Ford bother with engaging in. "So when are we finally gonna give up and admit that Sora isn't here?" Roxas asks. The impatience in his tone isn't lost on Ventus, largely because it's become something he's come to expect from his lookalike during the time they've spent together. And given how very little time they might have left to bring Sora home, it's impatience that he can understand well, even if he doesn't quite share it himself.

"Just a little while longer, ok?" Ventus insists. "I don't know how to explain it, but I just… I have this feeling like we could find him here any minute now."

"So what happens if we do find him?" Roxas counters, the exact opposite of the question he'd posed before they set out. "I don't think he's just gonna come back with us like nothing ever happened. Not after how he ran away before."

"Well… you said Xehanort and Maleficent had him cornered last time he ran, right?" Ventus asks, eliciting a small nod from Roxas. "So maybe if it's just us, he won't run. Maybe he'll actually hear us out and let us take him home."

"And maybe you might want to get ready to be disappointed," Roxas retorts tiredly. "Xion and I spent days trying to convince him to go get some help. And no matter what we said, no matter what we did, he wouldn't listen. Which means the only way we're going to get him to come back now is by forcing him to."

Ventus hesitates, faltering at the mere thought of having to brutishly drag Sora back to the other lights against his will. But if that's what it takes to fix this, if that's what it takes to finally get him the help he so desperately needs… then what other choice do they really have? "No, we… we'll figure something else out," he tells Roxas firmly. All in the hopes that he might actually be able to convince himself of the same thing too. "And whatever we do figure out will be enough to bring him back to where he belongs."

"It better be," Roxas gravely agrees as he looks to the dark path ahead of them. A path that they both hope will somehow lead them to Sora at long last. "Because there's no telling how much time he doesn't have left if we don't…"


"Man, where did Grunkle Stan and Great Uncle Ford go?" Dipper huffs. He shines his flashlight around the surrounding forest in the hopes of catching sight of the pair somewhere within the practically pitch black shadows. Only to, of course, find not much at all.

"What if, and I'm just spitballin' here," Mabel begins, keeping pace alongside her brother. "They got home right after we left and we've just been wandering around the woods for the last hour looking for no one."

"Well in that case, then maybe one of us should have… stayed home just in case they did come back…" Dipper groans, facepalming. "Ugh, why didn't I think of that?"

"Do you guys… want to head back then?" Sora asks tentatively as they all come to a brief halt. He does his best to hide the slight edge of urgency in his tone, hoping that they agree so he can get them back safely and rendezvous with Bill as quickly as possible. So he can finally start picking up where he'd left off before his life had turned into the horrendous hurricane he knows it to be now.

"Maybe we should," Dipper sighs, glancing back in the direction they'd come from. "It's not like we're really accomplishing much out here anyway other than getting bitten up by mosquitos."

"Yeah, I'm down for going back," Mabel shrugs. "Who knows? Maybe if Stan and Ford are already there waiting for us, they might actually have some ice cream like I said before!"

"Well, we'd better get you two back before it all melts," Sora says with a small, genuine chuckle. And yet, even though it's quite a long way back to the Mystery Shack, they don't make it very far toward it before Dipper suddenly stops them short yet again.

"Wait, do you guys hear that?" he poises a hand to his ear, prompting both Sora and Mabel to listen for whatever he's already caught onto. It takes a moment or two, but soon, between the evening din of crickets chirping and owls hooting, a distant, gruff voice can soon be heard. Two voices, as a matter of fact.

"...tellin' ya, Sixer, we oughta put leashes on those kids to keep 'em from running off like this."

"We're not putting leashes on the children, Stanley. That's inhumane. And possibly illegal, unless there's been a significant change in childcare laws over the past 30 years…"

"Oh! I'd know that grumpy arguing anywhere!" Mabel exclaims excitedly. "Grunkle Staaaaan! Grunkle Foooooord! Your favorite niece and nephew got lost in the woods looking for yooooou!"

There's a momentary beat of silence, one filled with the twins anxiously anticipating a response that happens to come from somewhere within the trees not too far away. "Mabel? Is that you?"

"It sure is!" Mabel beams, grabbing her brother by the hand. "C'mon, Dipper!"

"Whoa, M-Mabel!" Dipper exclaims, startled as she suddenly yanks him forward.

"Hey! You guys!" Sora calls after them, startled when they suddenly run off into the shadows of the forest. "Wait up!"

With the darkness of night covering the woods as thick as it is, Sora nearly loses sight of the twins almost immediately. He barely manages to keep track of them by watching the sparse glow of Dipper's flashlight as it flails wildly through the trees thanks to the rapid run Mabel's forced him into. The twins follow the sounds of their uncles calling for them, and through that, it doesn't take them very long to find them as they essentially crash into the pair in a haphazard, yet very happy hug.

As behind as he is, Sora only catches small glimpses of the family's reunion between the trees. Even so, he smiles, relieved that the twins have finally caught up with their uncles, that they're finally safe and he can finally move on to what he needs to do. He's about to step out into the open to bid them a fond farewell, until he stops just shy of the treeline, narrowly suppressing a startled gasp when he sees who's accompanying Dipper and Mabel's uncles: Ventus and Roxas.

Fortunately, they don't notice him thanks to the thick shadows surrounding the clearing. He doesn't give them a chance to see him either as he quietly backs away, his breathing tight and tense as he tries to keep the blackened spikes starting to spike up around him at bay. His heart races in unshakable fear at the very sight of a pair he's honestly surprised to see together, a pair he knows, without any doubts in his mind, must be here looking for him. And if they find him… he knows exactly what they'll do and where they'll take him, back to where he knows he can't go, at least not yet.

So instead of letting them find him, instead of letting them take him back, he does exactly what he's been doing for weeks now. He keeps on running.

"Grunkle Stan! Grunkle Ford!" Mabel cheers, joyfully embracing both her uncles yet again. "We're so glad we finally found you! Ooo, and the super cute twins that are hanging out with you guys for some reason." Mabel grins, offering Ven and Roxas a flirtatious wink and wave.

Ventus returns that wave with a small, somewhat flustered one of his own while Roxas simply crosses his arms. "I still don't understand why everyone keeps saying we're 'twins', whatever that means," he mutters, aside.

"Are you kids outta your minds?!" Stan snaps at Dipper and Mabel, though his anger clearly comes from a place of concern. "What the heck were you doing running around the woods this late at night?"

"Uh, looking for you guys," Dipper explains. "When we got back to the shack, neither of you were there. We thought something was wrong-"

"So we came to find you and rescue you! Like any good niece and nephew would do," Mabel says with a brazen, confident smirk.

"To tell the truth, we thought we would have had to rush to your rescue instead," Ford frowns, though he lets out a sigh of relief all the same. "We're glad to see that isn't the case."

"Nope," Dipper assures, smiling. "We're just fine, thanks to Sora."

"What?!" Ventus and Roxas' attention instantly locks onto the twins the second they so much as hear Sora's name.

"You know Sora?!" Ventus exclaims, his eyes wide.

"You've seen Sora?!" Roxas presses, shocked.

"We sure have!" Mabel nods enthusiastically. "He saved us from a whole bunch of these weird zipper monsters by swinging a giant key at them and using some really cool sparkly magic! He even helped us find you guys!" she says, briefly turning back to Stan and Ford.

"Um… who are you two anyway?" Dipper cuts in, looking to Ven and Roxas curiously. "And how do you know Sora?"

"We're friends of his," Ventus explains as quickly as he can. "I'm Ven and this is-"

"Where is he now?!" Roxas anxiously interrupts before Ven can even get his name out. "Do you know? Is he still here?"

"Oh yeah, he's right… here?" Mabel trails off, confused as she glances behind her, only to see nothing more than the trees behind her. "...Sora?"


Sora doesn't dare look back as he sprints through the trees blindly, not caring about where he's going as long as it's as far away from Ventus and Roxas' reach as possible. If he's lucky, he can create a safe, lengthy distance before the twins even tell them he's here, enough of a distance for him to come up with some sort of solid plan instead of panicking and fleeing like he's gotten so used to doing lately. As he runs, he nearly conjures up a dark corridor to escape this world entirely, though he manages to swiftly stop himself when he remembers that his work here isn't finished yet. That there's still a Key to be found, a deal to uphold, and a once-crushed dream to finally make real.

And all he has to do to get that dream now is to find-

"Heya, Keyblade! Where are you heading to in such a hurry?"

In a split second, the darkness filling the forest fades into a dull grayscale. Sora stops dead in his tracks, spinning around to find a familiar triangular being floating just a few feet behind him. "Bill!"

"How's it goin', kid?" Bill asks, casually leaning on his cane. "From how fast you were running a second ago, I'm gonna guess you were rushing to see your best pal Bill to give him a certain special heirloom, right? Riiiiiight?"

"Y-yeah," Sora nods, reaching for his pocket. "I have it right h-"

"Sora!"

He gasps, frightened when he hears Ventus and Roxas' shared call for him echo from just beyond the treeline. His terror manifests in the form of several shimmering spikes that burst up from the ground around him as he realizes just how close they are, how they could literally step out into the open and find him at any second. How even those two, two of the three hearts that had once resided inside of his own, must certainly want to detain and entrap him, just as all of the other guardians of light do now. But very soon they'll have no reason to; soon, he'll be able to happily embrace them instead of having to run and hide from them. Soon, he'll be able to be with everyone he's had no choice but to leave behind before.

"Now, who could that be?" Bill wonders as another concerned call for Sora sounds out from somewhere not too far away. "Friends of yours, Keyblade? It'd be a shame if they were to find you now, while you're still straddling the line between a human and something that's… well, ya know, not a human." He takes a seat upon one of the surrounding spikes as he points to Sora's claws.. "Now me, I love a good eldritch abomination like myself, but I'm guessing you're not too keen on staying like this for the long run."

"No, I'm not," Sora asserts, turning back to Bill. "I have what you wanted." He hesitates, only for a moment, before he finally pulls the heirloom out of his pocket. The very second his eyes latch onto the glittering amorphous mass inside of the tiny orb, however, his thoughts start to slow, his mind going somewhere far away as he takes in the sheer raw power radiating from it once again. Power that speaks to him here, just as it did back in the shack's basement before:

Protect the heart to forge the Key…

As captivated as Sora is by the globe, Bill's eye also widens in obvious excitement as soon as he sees it. "Ohohoh! I knew you'd come through for me, Keyblade!" he exclaims brightly, extending a hand out to receive it. "Now just hand it over, and you'll be outta the old man's wrinkly clutches and back with your buddies in no time at all!"

Despite this tantalizing offer, Sora doesn't do much to act upon it. Instead, he continues staring at the globe in his hands, unable to do anything else, even so much as lift it up and place it into Bill's awaiting hand. Upon seeing this relative lack of a response, Bill lets out something of an impatient huff, though he still maintains his usually cheery demeanor as he coaxes Sora for the globe once again.

"Earth to Keyblade, let's pick up the pace here!" he urges, waving a hand in front of Sora's face. Even so, it does little to break his intense focus on the orb and the almost pulsating pull it has over his heart. "Those "friends" of yours could barge in any second now to stop all this before it even starts. And unless you want to end up in chains again, I suggest you give me that rift before it's too late!"

Sora blinks, his attention suddenly drawn away from the globe as he glances up at Bill quizzically. "Rift…?" he asks, his voice faint and confused. "N-no, this… this isn't a rift… it's… a heart…" he whispers, not understanding how he knows that, but he does all the same. "It's the heart of this world…" His eyes narrow as his bewildered gaze shifts into a suspicious glare, one aimed solely at his supposed "friend". "What do you want with the heart of the world?"

For perhaps the first time ever, Bill is stunned into silence at such a question. That silence doesn't last long though, before he lets out a loud, easygoing laugh. One that does little to set Sora to ease now that he's already started to figure his scheme out. "Aw, c'mon Keyblade, you know you can trust me! I am the only one who set your sad little heart free, and I want to, but I can't unless you fork that pretty little snowglobe over. Soooo, what'll it be? That silly old rift, or the happily ever after you know you deserve…?"

A small, sharp breath escapes Sora at this reminder of what he could have, of what he wants, of what he needs more than anything else. Of what he could so easily get… all for the price of the tiny glass globe in his hands. For the cost of the heart that keeps this entire world alive and functioning, a cost that's clearly far too high. While he still has no idea what Bill could possibly want to do with the rift, he can't help but feel like it won't be anything good. Which is why Sora knows he can't do this, knows he can't potentially trade away so many innocent lives solely for the sake of his own.

He knows he has to protect that heart above all else. Even if that means he has to let his only, perhaps his very last chance to save his own heart go.

And yet, before he can even open his mouth to tell Bill no, everything's turned on its head in the absolute worst of ways.

"Sora?"

The rift nearly falls out of his hands completely as he snaps his gaze to the side, only to find Mabel stepping out from the depths of the forest. Dipper isn't too far behind her, though the second both twins so much as even spot Bill, they both stop dead in their tracks, mutual terror filling their faces, terror that only amplifies when he addresses both of them blithely.

"Pine Tree! Shooting Star! Great to see ya!" he offers the twins a cheerful wave. "Your new pal Keyblade and I were just finishing up some grown-up business, so why don't you kids run off and play and leave us to it?"

The twins largely ignore Bill in favor of focusing on Sora, their fear turning to stunned disbelief. That disbelief only amplifies for Dipper, however, when he just so happens to see the shimmering globe resting squarely in Sora's hands, the globe he's seemingly about to offer up to none other than Bill himself.

"T-the rift!" he gasps, horrified to the point that he doesn't even notice the confused glance his sister sends him. "Where did you get that?! What do you think you're doing with it?!"

"I-I was just-"

"He was just doing me a HUGE favor!" Bill cuts Sora off before he can even make an effort to explain himself. "We had a deal, Keyblade! And if you want what I'm offering you, then you've gotta PAY UP!"

"What's going on here?!"

This already tense encounter is interrupted as Stan and Ford barge into the clearing, though they're not alone. Roxas and Ventus emerge along with them, and of course, it doesn't take them long to finally find who they've been searching tirelessly for for the past two weeks. Someone they recognize instantly, even despite the hood he now wears, despite the tears in his clothes and the claws his hands have become. For as long as they'd both spent within the once-warm depths of his heart, they'd know him anywhere, no matter how much he might have changed.

"Sora!" they cry in unison, their voices raised between shock, relief, and anger. Neither of them notice Sora essentially freezing up in renewed panic, the rift clutched close to his chest as he takes a large step back. They both try to follow that step, though before they can get very far, Ford holds out an arm to stop them.

"Stay back," he warns tensely. He pulls out some kind of blaster from his coat, one that he doesn't hesitate to aim at Bill, who he fixes with a bitter, downright hateful glare. "Bill Cipher…" he hisses, not even paying his brother any mind as he echoes the name in incredulous confusion.

"Bill Cipher?" Stan raises an eyebrow, trying to comprehend the bizarre, triangular being. "Who in the heck-"

"Wow! Sixer and Fez too? We've got enough Pines here to fill a forest!" Bill jokes, tipping his hat to the family. "I'm especially glad you're here, Fordsy. You're just in time to watch me win."

At first, Ford doesn't quite catch his longtime foe's drift, at least not until his nephew desperately tugs on his sleeve to catch his attention. "Great Uncle Ford! Look! The rift!" Dipper shouts, pointing at the globe still sitting in Sora's hands.

"What?!" Ford starts, immediately alarmed and angry as he starts to aim his blaster at Sora instead of Bill. "You there! Young man, how did you get-"

"Alright, alright, enough yakking already! Geez!" Bill cuts in impatiently. "You all are gonna shut your yaps!" he points at the group gathered on the far side of the clearing. "And you, Keyblade," he turns back to Sora, his eye briefly flashing bright red in rising frustration. "You're gonna give me that rift-"

"No," Sora says sternly, rigidly as he holds onto the rift even tighter. As he solidifies his decision, however painful it might be, to do what's right for a change instead of doing everything wrong. "I'm not."

Bill pauses, only for a moment, before his entire manner shifts completely. Gone is the bright and friendly disposition he'd shown Sora before. Instead, it's replaced with a much less charitable attitude that, as far as almost all of the Pines family is concerned, is absolutely his true colors. "I'm only gonna ask you nicely one more time, Keyblade," he begins, his voice initially low as he rises higher into the air. "And trust me, you DON'T want to see what I'm like when I'm angry." Blue flames burst over both of his open palms, his entire triangular form turning red now as his eye becomes pitch black in contrast. "Hand over the rift OR ELSE!"

The earth itself rumbles as Bill's usually shrill voice suddenly turns deep, echoing through the grayscale clearing. Even so, Sora stands his ground, forgetting about the others just a few feet behind him as he keeps the rift close at hand, ready to do whatever he must to defend it. "I said no," he asserts, his Keyblade flashing into his free hand.

While they still don't quite understand what's going on, Ventus and Roxas take up their Keyblades as well, knowing that if Sora sees this strange being as a threat, then certainly, he must be one. Bill hardly seems to care, however, as his already rising anger rapidly reaches a boiling point. Or at least it does until it suddenly seems to fizzle out altogether.

"Alrighty then, Keyblade, whatever you say," he quips, his flames burning out and his tone strangely cheerful as his form returns to its usual yellow. "After all, I never did answer your question, so it's only fair that I do. Maybe once you hear me out, you might even change your mind! See, that whole thing about an old 'family heirloom' was-"

"A lie?" Sora counters crossly. "Yeah, I've figured that much out already."

"Tch, took ya long enough," Bill retorts, rolling his eye. "I'm sure you've been told this plenty of times before, but you're not that bright, kid. 'Cause maybe if you were, you would have put it together by now that the rift you got there is the key to making this entire dimension my own personal party zone!"

"More like your own personal chaos zone," Dipper speaks up, more than well aware of Bill's sinister schemes. Though by most accounts, he and Ford are the only ones who are as Stan and Mabel exchange another puzzled glance.

"Party, chaos, same thing," Bill remarks with a wave of his hand. "Point is, I get that rift, I get complete control over this world and everyone in it!"

"And I was just about to… give that to you…" Sora says, the horror of it all dawning on him as he glances down at the rift in his hands. As he comes to terms with just how brutally, how successfully Bill has managed to outright betray him. "You never wanted to help me at all, did you? The only thing you planned on doing was tricking me from the very start!"

"Ding ding ding! You finally got the full picture, kid!" Bill cheers as he tosses a handful of confetti down onto Sora. "I gotta say, I've scammed a lot of suckers in my time, but not a single one of 'em has been as pathetic or as desperate as you, Keyblade. All it took was a few minutes of droning on about 'friendship' and 'hearts' and I had you eating right out of the palm of my hand! Not that you've been eating much of anything lately, but hey, pretty soon everybody around these parts is gonna get used to that when I'm done redecorating the place!"

"No," Sora says resiliently, pointing the tip of his Keyblade at the triangle. "I don't care if I fell for your lies before, I'm not about to let you just get away with it. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to keep this rift-this heart as far away from you as possible!"

"Oh, see, that's the best part, Keyblade!" Bill scales himself down as he hovers in just a bit closer to Sora. "You're still gonna hand deliver that rift to me, whether you want to or not."

"Oh yeah?" Sora challenges, fixing his foe with an unflinching glare. The kind of glare he wishes he could still give to every last member of Organization XIII, though for now, he'll have to settle for sparing it for someone every bit as awful instead. "Make me."

"I will," Bill vows, a hint of almost sadistic delight entering his tone as blue flames flicker over his hand once more. "But first, I think I oughta make good on my end of our little bargain. Wouldn't be a fair trade if I didn't, now would it?"

"Wait… r-really?" Sora asks, caught off guard. "You're… really going to set my heart free, like you said?"

"You bet I am, kid. I'll set you free…" Bill seems to oblige, before both his body and his flames flash a bright, deadly shade of crimson. "IN YOUR DREAMS!"

A single snap of Bill's fingers is all it takes. Sora doesn't have time to even draw in another breath before he falls backward, unconsciousness overtaking him so suddenly that he's already entirely out of it before he even hits the ground. His Keyblade vanishes, and likewise, the rift rolls out of his hand, miraculously not shattering as it makes contact with the forest floor.

"Sora!" Ventus cries, alarmed. He tries once more to run toward him, only for Ford to narrowly hold him back once more.

"What did you do to him!?" Roxas shouts up at Bill fiercely, gripping both of his Keyblades like a vice.

"I gave him exactly what he wanted," Bill shrugs smugly. "I promised him a way out of becoming the old man's last heart-holder, and I'm a demon of my word, so I made sure to deliver. Now he can stay in those sweet dreams of his and pretend like nothing is wrong with him for the rest of time!"

"Y-you… forced him to sleep? Forever?" Ventus asks softly, unnerved by how familiar this is. And terrified at the thought of Sora having to endure anything even close to the kind of practically ceaseless slumber he'd once been trapped under.

"You say it like it's a bad thing," Bill remarks, his tone as flippant as ever. "If anything, I'd say I'm being too nice to Keyblade after that little tantrum he just threw. Besides, I'm sure he could use an extra long sleep like that too, I mean, the bags under his eyes are so heavy I'm surprised a kid as scrawny as him can even carry 'em!"

"Enough of this!" Ford interjects, his blaster trained solely on Bill once more. "Go back to the swirling vortex of nightmares you crawled out of already, Bill! You hold no power in this world, and without a physical form, no means of getting your hands on that rift either!"

"Ok, seriously," Stan pipes up with a frustrated huff. "Is someone gonna explain what the deal is here with the triangle guy and that snow globe and that sleeping kid with the claws-"

"Later, Grunkle Stan," Dipper hisses tensely. "We'll explain later."

"You'd better, bro-bro," Mabel issues her brother a stern pout. "'Whatever this 'rift' stuff is about, it's all news to me even though you and Grunkle Ford sure do seem to know a whole lot about it."

"Um… right…" Dipper winces, rubbing the back of his neck. "So the thing is-"

"Oh, wow, Sixer, you sure do make one heck of a brilliant point," Bill cuts in, the sarcasm in his tone abundant. "I don't have a physical form, which means I might as well just pack up and head home. But wait! What's this?" He hovers down to Sora's still, unconscious body as a faint, inexplicable blue glow begins to surround it. "Look at that! A physical form that isn't being used right now, one that already shook hands to make a deal with me. Which means, at least from where I'm floating, this kid is ripe for the taking!"

"What?" Roxas snaps, confused and concerned.

"Oh no!" Mabel cries, already catching on to what's about to happen here just as much as Dipper has too. "Sora!"

"Don't mind if I do!" Bill eagerly proclaims as his triangular shape suddenly turns transparent. The only thing anyone can do is hopelessly watch in horror as he descends not just closer to Sora, but into Sora.

And then, in a split second, the demon seems to disappear entirely.

Color returns to the forest in full, fast force, and in the seconds that follow, Sora slowly starts to move from his spot on the ground. Ventus and Roxas lean in, daring to hope that he's awakening on his own, though they're quick to find that's far from the case. Because suddenly, Bill's shrill, telltale laughter echoes through the empty air again, and unlike before when it had reverberated from seemingly every direction surrounding him, this time, it comes from a very specific source. And that source… is Sora.

"...What is this?" Roxas takes a step forward as "Sora" picks himself off the ground. His back is turned to the group, his movements oddly clumsy and awkward to the point of being outright unnatural. "Sora," Roxas reaches him, his tone stern and stiff as he reaches a hand out to skim his shoulder. "What's going on?"

"Sorry, kid, but Keyblade's not home right now! Leave a message and I'm sure he'll get back to you… never!" he abruptly turns, though the voice that comes out of his mouth decidedly isn't his own. Instead, its new pitchy, sadistically cheery tone matches the large, fang-bearing smile spread wide across his face, as well as the narrow black slits against pools of garish, glowing yellow his eyes have become. All horrific changes that make no sense to Roxas and Ventus, but are alarmingly obvious to almost all of the Pines family the second they see them.

"No way…" Dipper tenses up, half hiding behind his uncles as Mabel takes in a nervous gasp. "Just when I thought this couldn't get any more messed up!"

"Bill!" Ford shouts fiercely, addressing "Sora" as he does. "Get out of that boy's body this instant!"

"Uh, you mind watching your phrasing there, poindexter?" Stan asks, glancing over at his brother incredulously.

"Get out? I just got here! Why would I leave so soon?" "Sora" replies, still wearing a broad, maniacal smirk that doesn't fit him at all. And as they take in the sight of that ill-suited smirk, as they hear Bill's voice speaking when Sora's should be instead, both Roxas and Ventus finally manage to piece together the awful truth of exactly what's happened here.

"You… you stole his body!?" Ventus exclaims, sickened by how eerily similar this is to what Sora has already been going through. The only difference is that instead of just his body, Xehanort wants to claim his mind and heart along with it, to wholly own every part of who Sora is.

"Sure did!" Bill confirms, grinning as he looks his new stolen form over. "I'd almost say it's a perfect fit, except this kid's nothing but skin and bones! You'd almost think he's been living on the lamb, eating whatever small scraps he can get his claws on to get him through the sleepless nights of existential dread leading up to his own inescapable doom!"

The mocking chuckle Bill lets out is abruptly cut off as he notices the Keyblade pointed directly at him, its tip hovering just a few feet away from his face. On the other end of the weapon is Roxas, raw fury etched into every single inch of his face as he issues an icy threat between gritted teeth. "I don't care who or what you think you are. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told the old man; if you won't get out and leave him alone, then we'll make you."

Ventus nods his agreement with such a valiant stance, positioning his Keyblade in the same way Roxas already has his. Bill, however, is hardly phased by their shared courage to the point that he even goes as far as lightly leaning an arm on Oathkeeper as Roxas keeps it aimed at him. "Aw, that's cute how you think you can intimidate me. But that 'tough' act you two are putting on doesn't mean a thing, not when I know you won't lay a finger on him," his cocky grin widens as he points at himself, or rather, at the body he's so cruelly captured to control for his own wicked ends. "So if you really want me out, go ahead, give it your best shot! Hey, maybe if you're lucky, you'll actually be able to boot me outta Keyblade's body without violently killing him. Whether you do or you don't, I'll get a kick out of enjoying the show either way."

This simple, yet sadistic claim, the very implication that Sora could die if they even so much as try to set him free from the despicable demon puppeteering him, is more than enough to coax both Roxas and Ventus into lowering their Keyblades, as much as neither of them want to. Even so, they still keep their sights fixed on Sora-on Bill rather-as he confidently strides past them both, smiling smugly all the while. "Don't worry; I won't be sticking around in this sad stringbean here for too long," he assures as he strolls over to something lying on the ground not too far away. To the small glass globe filled with iridescent, indescribable energy simply sitting in the grass as if it isn't the very thing keeping this entire world alive. "I've got a bit of unfinished business to take care of and then I'll be outta Keyblade's overly-spikey, prematurely whitening hair. After all, he did promise me one rift, and boy did he ever deliver! " He stops short just inches in front of that rift, his already unhinged smile reaching a practically insane degree as he raises a foot high above the globe with the obvious intent of crushing it completely. "Finally, someone's putting this kid's stupid clown shoes to good use!"

Without any further hesitation, Bill swiftly brings his foot down, yet instead of landing on the rift, he simply stomps down onto the suddenly empty ground instead. "WHAT?!" he shouts, baffled as he glances up to see the rift fly right out of his reach. It gravitates over to Ford, or more specifically, toward the new blaster he's traded his other one out for, a magnet gun that's more than powerful enough to pull the metal casing containing the rift over to safety. "SIXER-"

"My apologies, Bill," Ford remarks coldly, retrieving the rift from the end of his blaster. "But I'd much prefer to live in a dimension that you're not a part of."

"You won't be living at all once I'm through with you!" Bill yells, absolutely livid. He stops for a beat, however, glancing down at his vessel's clawed hands, clenching and unclenching them as if he's trying to figure something out. "Augh! Come on! Where's the kid's dumb key when I need it?"

"It won't come to you," Ventus speaks up, fixing Bill with an unflinching glare. "It's not your Keyblade to use."

"...Fine!" Bill snaps, far too impatient to make a second attempt. "It's not like Keyblade doesn't have plenty of other tools in his arsenal that'll do just as good of a job in tearing you chumps to pieces!"

All Bill needs to do is throw his arms up and Sora's powers react in turn. A jagged wall of black spikes bursts up around the clearing, easily trapping everyone inside of it for the chaotic brawl ahead. A brawl that begins when Bill takes aim, not at Ford, but at the younger set of twins standing right beside him. They're only narrowly saved from this sudden attack by Stan grabbing them and pulling them both out of the path of the dark magic rapidly lunging toward them.

"Alright, Ford, I can deal with all kinds of crazy hijinks," Stan starts, keeping a protective hand on both Dipper and Mabel alike. "Zombies? Sure. Magical keys that somehow double as weapons? Fine. But a talking triangle possessing the body of some random teenager and using some kinda black whoodoo magic to try and kill us is where I draw the line. You got us into this mess, you'd better get us out!"

"Stanley, please," Ford counters, shooting his brother an irritated glance as he pulls one of his journals out of his lab coat. "Can't you see that's precisely what I'm trying to do here?"

"Uh, no rush, Grunkle Ford, but could you maybe do it just a little faster?" Mabel pleads as her and Dipper narrowly jump out of the path of another darkened spire.

"Hand over the rift, Sixer," Bill threatens, conjuring up a set of spikes that crowd around Stan, Dipper, and Mabel, cornering them even more than they already are. "Or you can kiss your family goodbye."

Before Ford even has a chance to respond to this cruel ultimatum, Bill is suddenly struck squarely across the face, not by either of Roxas' Keyblades, but by his fist instead. He recoils briefly from the blow, skimming a hand over the sizable bruise it leaves behind before letting out a wild, strangely amused laugh. "Ohoho! Nice one, kid! I didn't think you actually had the guts to beat poor Keyblade here senseless!"

"I'm not going to," Roxas corrects as he lets Oblivion flash back into his free hand. "But after all of the stupid things Sora's done lately, that punch was more than overdue."

"Aw, how sweet," Bill taunts as maliciously as ever. "I'm sure Keyblade would be touched… if he wasn't stuck in a dream he'll never be able to wake up from!"

Ventus flinches when he hears this, his already palpable fear skyrocketing when he watches Roxas actually start to engage Bill in a fight. He nearly cries out, nearly begs him to stop to avoid the risk of potentially harming Sora's body, but then he realizes what Roxas is actually doing. Whether intentional or not, he's distracting Bill away from the largely defenseless Pines family, and in doing so, he's giving all of them a chance to come up with some kind of a plan.

Ven acts on that unspoken idea as he rushes over to the family, positioning his Keyblade as he goes on the defensive while glancing back at the group to make sure they're alright. "Do any of you know how we can stop this?" he asks tensely, quietly so that Bill won't overhear.

"Well," Mabel begins. "When Bill possessed Dipper-"

"What? Hey!" Dipper protests, flustered by the deeply unpleasant memory. "Don't tell them that!"

Even so, Mabel largely ignores him to continue speaking her piece. "I got him out using sock puppets and tickles. Problem is, I don't have any sock puppets on me right now-weird, I know, seeing as how I always do. But maybe if we're lucky, Sora might be ticklish too, so that's like, half of a plan, right?"

"...Is there any other way we can stop this?" Ventus presses, apprehensive.

"Hm…" Ford muses, leafing through his journal once more. "Bill mentioned that he forced your friend into a state of deep slumber, and in doing so, he implied that he locked his mind away in some kind of inescapable dreamscape. That explains how he was able to take control of his unconscious body so easily, a trick I've seen him pull off many times before when I used to-" He stops short, clearing his throat as he catches himself before he can say something he doesn't want to admit. "W-when he used to do it to someone else I knew. Anyway, all that's to say that it stands to reason that if we can wake your friend up from that dream, then that will be enough to oust Bill from his body, while also reverting him back to his incorporeal form, thus protecting the rift and our dimension from certain devastation!"

"So… we're waking Sora up then?" Dipper asks, casting an uncertain glance over at Sora's currently demon-possessed body. "How are we supposed to do that?"

"Someone will have to venture into his dreamscape and awaken him from within," Ford explains simply, and as soon as he does, Ventus doesn't hesitate to volunteer.

"I'll do it," he says, ready and resolved. "Sora saved me from something just like this before. It's only fair that I return the favor and wake him up too."

"Hold it." Ventus flinches when a hand falls onto his shoulder, though he eases up when he turns to see Roxas standing behind him. He's managed to push Bill back for the time being with a powerful aero spell, though as he's already in the midst of picking himself back up, it's clear he won't be out of the brawl for long. "There's no way you're going in there alone. We're both here to save Sora, even if that means we have to save him from inside his own mind."

"Right," Ventus nods, more than happy to have some help with such a serious endeavor. Especially since that help is coming from someone who's already more than proven themselves to be reliable on every occasion like Roxas has. "Can you guys keep him busy while we're gone?" he asks the Pines.

"Heck yeah we can!" Mabel cheers, whipping her grappling hook out.

"Excuse me, we can what now?" Stan asks, not quite on board where the rest of his family is.

"Well… we have dealt with Bill before…" Dipper shrugs, clearly anxious about this risky mission. "Just… try not to take too long? I don't know if you guys have noticed, but if he keeps on using Sora's magic like that, it wouldn't take long for him to turn us into shish kabobs…"

"That won't happen," Ford assures his nephew as he tucks the rift into his coat. "We'll protect the rift from Bill for as long as we have to. But as Dipper said, please do try to hurry. The fate of our entire world is hanging in the balance here."

"Right… so no pressure," Roxas remarks with a small, wry smirk.

At that exact moment, an entirely new barrage of shimmering spikes bursts up from the ground, an onslaught that the others all hastily manage to avoid getting impaled by. Bill doesn't let up, pulling aggressively on the powers he's borrowing far more skillfully than Sora has ever been able to before. Powers that are being put to use for a violent, downright deadly purpose that Sora would never purposely, willingly carry out himself. "Alright, I'm through playing around!" he hisses, fiercely brandishing Sora's sharp claws. "If I don't get that rift right now, I'm gonna-"

"Stopra!" Roxas and Ventus cast the same spell at the same time, and the dual effect of it is immediate. The time-halting magic bursts out of their Keyblades, striking Bill squarely as it freezes him completely in place, giving the boys just the window they need to do what must be done.

"Be careful," Ford advises as the pair steps forward. "There's no telling what kind of nightmare Bill has him trapped in. You'd best be ready for anything."

Roxas and Ventus exchange an affirming nod, knowing that whatever Bill could possibly throw at them in Sora's mind can't be any worse than the nearly ceaseless fight they'd put up against Xehanort to try and save his heart. "Are you ready for this?" Ventus asks as they both ready their Keyblades.

"Yeah," Roxas agrees, every bit as determined as Ven is to do whatever it takes to bring Sora back. In every way they might need to. "Let's do it."

Without wasting what limited time they have left, Roxas and Ventus cross their Keyblades, calling upon whatever fleeing connection they might still have left to Sora's heart to try and forge a similar bridge to his slumbering mind. Miraculously, this somehow manages to work as a beam of bright light envelops all three weapons before it spreads to cover both of their bodies as well as Sora's. And as that light overtakes them entirely, Roxas and Ventus soon find the night-drenched forests of Gravity Falls starting to disappear around them…

Only to be replaced by the sight of a sunlight-soaked shore instead.

Sparkling blue waves crash upon that shore, the crystal water reflecting warm skies overhead. Faced with the sudden strange peacefulness of such a scene, Roxas and Ventus try to make sense of it, knowing that this paradise is a far cry from the kind of "nightmares" Ford had warned them of mere moments ago.

"Is this…?" Ventus starts, taking a step closer to the water.

"The Destiny Islands…" Roxas confirms solemnly. Both of them are more than familiar with this beach-before Xehanort had so brutally invaded Sora's once-pristine heart, a similar vision of these shores was the place both of them and Xion had called home. But to be back here now, in yet another illusion of the idyllic islands shakes them both in a way they can't quite describe. Especially since they easily notice, within mere seconds of arriving here, that something is so clearly off about this place.

The air is still, not a semblance of any kind of natural sea breeze blowing through it. The waves are uniform, all the same size and speed as what few clouds that hang in the sky remain perfectly still and stationary. This island is, by all accounts, an utterly lifeless one, seeped in hollow silence that's only broken by the soft and sudden sound of light laughter coming from the paopu tree not too far away. Laughter that Ven and Roxas immediately recognize before they even fully turn to find the source of it.

"Sora!" they both exclaim, not hesitating to begin rushing up to meet him. They're both shocked by his appearance as he sits on the tree's base, squarely between Riku and Kairi to the point that there's barely any space between the three of them. His hood is down, his clothes whole and clean, and most surprisingly of all, his hair is brown, his eyes blue, his claws gone, and his smile wide and warm as he turns to see the pair hurrying across the bridge toward him.

"Roxas! Ven!" he beams, hopping to his feet. He doesn't notice the almost dirty looks Riku and Kairi shoot the newly-arrived pair the second they see them, but by most accounts, Roxas and Ventus are far too captivated by Sora to pay them too much mind either. They aren't able to get a single word out, however, before he crashes into them, throwing his arms around them in a tight, happy hug, a stark contrast to the anxious, downright frightened reaction he'd had during their reunion before. "I'm so glad to see you guys! Riku, Kairi! Look who's here!"

Despite Sora's bright excitement, the pair he briefly turns back to puts on a set of rather forced smiles as they only briefly acknowledge Roxas and Ventus, and rather indirectly at that. "That's… great, Sora," Riku says somewhat stiffly.

"But you were spending time with us, remember?" Kairi offers him a coy, pleading pout, beckoning him back over to the tree.

"Oh, yeah," Sora laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Give me just a quick sec and I'll be-"

"Sora…" Riku interrupts him, his teal gaze intent and piercing. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? To be with us? To be free?"

"Y-yes!" Sora immediately replies, the smallest hint of fear creeping into his tone as his smile slips just the slightest bit. "I just… p-please, just give me one minute, ok? I'll make this super quick, I promise."

Riku and Kairi's expressions are mutually cold as they take in this almost desperate plea, but in the end, they both nod their agreement to it, neither of them saying another word as they turn back around to face the sea. Sora lets out a small sigh of relief the second they do, his former easy smile returning as he looks to Roxas and Ventus once more.

"It really is so great to see you both," he says, hanging his arms behind his head. "And... it's kind of weird to see you guys together-I always forget just how much you two look like each other. A-anyway, I'm sorry about how I ran away before, but now I-"

"Ok, stop," Roxas interrupts him, holding his hands up. "Sora, what's going on here?"

"...What does it look like?" Sora counters, casting a brief, furtive glance back at Riku and Kairi, almost as if he's making sure they're still there. "It's finally all over. Xehanort's out of my heart; which means I'm free."

"...No," Ventus solemnly corrects, wishing that he didn't have to. "You're not."

"Yes, I am," Sora insists with something of an uneasy chuckle. "I mean, just look at me! For the first time in a long time I finally look like myself again. I was so scared of what was happening to me before, but now… I don't have to be. I don't have to run and hide anymore; I can finally be with all of you again." His smile turns a touch more blissful, yet there's still a hint of undeniable sadness in it as he looks back to the pair on the tree once more. "I can finally be with them again… just like I've always wanted…"

Roxas and Ventus fall into a long beat of silence after hearing all this as both of them reach the disturbing realization of what's happening at largely the same time. Sure enough, Bill does have Sora trapped, not in a horrific nightmare, but rather, in a perfect dream, one that he can't escape from, not because he's unable to, but because he clearly doesn't want to. Not when he's finally gotten everything he's been yearning for, everything that Xehanort has so viciously ripped away from him. And yet…

"Sora…" Ventus places a gentle hand on his shoulder, hating the unpleasant news he knows he has no choice but to deliver. Hating just about every part of this awful situation. "None of this is real… It's just a dream…"

Sora's already unsteady smile finally fully falls at this, distress filling his features as he slightly pulls back from Ven. "I-I know that," he admits, his voice barely audible as he looks away. "I knew as soon as I got here, actually…"

"What? You do?" Roxas asks, baffled. "Then why are you still here? If you knew this was nothing more than a dream from the beginning, then you could have woken up before-"

"Why would I want to wake up?" Sora interrupts, appalled that Roxas would even suggest such a thing. "I have everything I could ever want right here. If I wake up… I'll go right back to having nothing."

"But Sora-"

"You guys don't get it," Sora cuts Ventus off, letting out a bitter laugh. "How could you? You don't know what I've been going through is like-"

"Yes, we do," Roxas protests sternly. "We were both inside your heart from the second it all started. In fact, I think we'd know what you're going through more than anyone else would!"

"But you don't know what it's like now," Sora argues, wrapping his arms around himself. "It's gotten so much worse since you guys left my heart. They can force me to do and say whatever they want now, a-and I can't even fight back! If I go back now, then I might as well just turn myself over to Xehanort, because that's the only future I'll ever have anyway! There's no way to stop what's happening to me, there's nothing I can do, nothing you can do, nothing anyone can do to save my heart. I can't escape any of it out there. But here..." Tears quickly start to find a place in Sora's eyes as he says this, though he tries his best to hold them back as he turns back to the tree. Riku and Kairi have likewise turned around to face him, both of them offering gentle, affectionate smiles, something he returns as he lightly hovers his hands over his heart. "Here I can escape from it all. I can have everything I thought I lost. I can be happy again."

Roxas largely finds himself at a loss for words upon hearing this while Ventus lets out a long sigh, knowing that they have to take that happiness away from him. Knowing that, for the sake and safety of an entire world, they have to rip the peaceful paradise he's already started to settle into right out from under him. "Sora, you can't stay here," Ventus says, shaking his head. "You already know this isn't-"

"I don't care if it's not real!" Sora snaps hotly, spinning back around to face them. "You have no idea how tired I am of running and fighting and starving and hurting every second of every day! I just want it all to end already, and here, it has! Even if this is fake, even if I know it won't last forever, even if it means I might never wake up again, I… I don't want to let this go…"

"And you don't have to." Sora starts at the sudden sound of Kairi's voice, flinches as she wraps her hands around his arm. Riku joins her in coming to stand at his other side, a protective hand resting on his shoulder as he diverts Sora's gaze away from Roxas and Ven and toward him instead.

"This is where you belong, Sora," he says kindly, cunningly as far as Ventus and Roxas are concerned. "You're home, where you're supposed to be. The way you're supposed to be."

"You shouldn't even have to think twice about staying," Kairi adds, drawing her face in close to his. "There's nothing left for you out there. You have everything you've ever wanted, everything you could ever wish for, right here… with us…"

"With you…" Sora repeats softly, sighing contentedly as Kairi lands a light kiss on his cheek.

"Sora, that's not even then the real Riku and Kairi," Ventus points out as Roxas starts walking forward to pull Sora away from the illusionary pair. "The real ones are-"

He stops short, as does Roxas, when Riku suddenly steps in between them and Sora, fixing the duo with the same sort of harsh glare Kairi has for them in turn. "Maybe you two should leave," he says, his tone icy, downright threatening.

Even so, Roxas doesn't back down as he returns Riku's hateful look squarely, cracking his knuckles all the while. "Oh, if I was ready to punch Sora, then I'm more than ready to punch you, real or not," he mutters, reeling his fist back to do exactly that before Ventus rushes in to stop him.

"You have to listen to us, Sora," he insists, peering past Riku to look at Sora, who's now fully folded into Kairi's embrace. "While you've been sleeping, that Bill guy has taken control of your body and he's using it to try and destroy that rift. If you don't wake up, then an entire world could be destroyed!"

"W-what?" Sora gasps, glancing back toward the pair in apt alarm at such distressing news. "Is… is that true?"

"Of course, it's not," Riku counters dismissively. "They're lying to you. They want to convince you to go back with them just so they can watch you suffer even more than you already have."

"After all," Kairi speaks up, not releasing her grip on Sora's arm. "What kind of 'friends' would want you to leave somewhere you want to be? If they were actually your friends, wouldn't they want you to be safe and happy, just like we do…?"

"...You're right," Sora concludes after only a few short seconds of thought. "They would…" The look of morose betrayal he sends Ven and Roxas' way is enough to nearly pierce both of them straight through the hearts, though even that doesn't hurt as much as Sora outright turning away from them does. Riku and Kairi walk alongside him on either side, clearly confident that their manipulation is working perfectly. But even so, Roxas and Ventus aren't about to let these illusions win so easily, not when so much is still at stake.

"We do want you to be safe and happy, Sora, just as much as we want to save your heart from Xehanort," Ventus asserts as he and Roxas press along after the trio. "But we want all of that for you in reality, not just in some dream."

"We want to help you," Roxas adds, the former anger in his tone replaced with steadfast sincerity. "We all do. Everyone's spent the past several weeks going to every world we can get to search for you. Each and every one of us is doing everything we can to find you and bring you home."

"More like they've been doing everything they can to find you and put you in chains," Kairi hisses into Sora's ear, sending a chill of fear shooting down his spine.

"You can't trust them," Riku adds just as quietly, just as venomously. "You can't trust anyone out there. You care about so many people, Sora, but not a single one of them cares about you, not like we do."

"Stay with us and you'll never have to worry about being lost or alone again," Kairi coaxes, her hold on his arm tightening to an almost painful degree. Not that Sora even notices amidst the torrent of his own conflicted thoughts flooding his mind. A torrent that only grows more intense as Roxas and Ventus continue to speak their own drastically contrasting piece.

"We know what you're going through is horrible," Ventus says, keeping his tone steady and calm. "And believe me, there are times where I actually wish I was still inside of your heart so I could keep helping you fight it off."

"Same here," Roxas agrees without a second of hesitation. "But even now that we're not, we still want to fight for you, Sora. We still want to save you, and no matter how much control they think they have over you or how much you think it's already too late, that's something that won't ever change."

By now, Sora's finally glanced back at them, his expression starting to waver as he starts to earnestly listen to what they have to say. Something that immediately sets the pair of illusions accompanying off. "Sora-" Riku starts, placing an almost restricting hand on his shoulder. He doesn't get a chance to say another word, however, as Sora fully turns around to face Roxas and Ventus with a intent argument of his own.

"I want to believe you guys, I really do, but… I-I just… I don't think I can," he admits, his expression downcast as he rubs his arm. "After all, I already know there's no way to save me from this now. I keep trying to find something or someone who can help and… nothing works…"

"Then trust us to find something that does work," Ventus says with a small, hopeful smile. Hope that Sora simply refuses to share.

"I… I can't," he shakes his head, sighing. "I trusted Bill to help me and look what happened. It turns out he was just using me to get what he wanted!"

"He still is using you," Roxas points out, his hands clenching into tight fists at the thought. "And he's going to keep on using you if you don't let yourself wake up to stop him."

"But even more than that," Ventus presses, wanting to say something that'll matter even more to Sora than the imminent danger his slumber is causing. Wanting to say something that'll truly convince him, not just to awaken, not just to come home, but to finally allow himself another chance at salvation, to allow himself to return to the friends who are all still willing and waiting to finally welcome him home. "We're not giving up on you. We didn't before, and we won't now. We'll do whatever it takes, fight Xehanort in any way we can for however long we have to, and we won't stop until you're free."

"You did everything you could to save us before, Sora, even when you didn't have to," Roxas adds with a warm, comforting smile. A smile Ventus shares as they both take a step closer to him. "Maybe, for a change, it's time to let us save you like you deserve to be."

Sora frowns as he watches Ventus and Roxas both extend a hand out to him, hands that they both patiently wait for him to take. Yet for his part, Sora hesitates, not even listening to Riku and Kairi as they continue viciously whispering warnings in his ears in favor of following his own thoughts instead this time. And what his thoughts are telling him… is something he doesn't want to admit, but something he knows he has no choice but to say all the same.

"I… I don't deserve to be saved, not after everything I've done…." he sighs sadly, more than certain that it's true. That after lying to his friends, after hurting Donald and Goofy, after stealing both the oracle and the rift, the kind of kindness Ven and Roxas are showing him isn't something he should even be offered. He's a runaway, a liar, a thief, by all accounts, a criminal who's only fate is to become the very thing he'd once vowed to stand against. And try as he might, in the end, he can't even convince himself that he'll ever have a chance at being anything else. That he'll ever have a chance at being happy ever again. "But… I don't deserve any of this either…" he finally says, slowly pulling himself away from Riku and Kairi. The illusory pair is every bit as shocked as Roxas and Ventus are to hear this, though the latter duo is even more baffled when Sora piles his hand onto theirs with a small, bittersweet smile. "You know, I… I've really missed you guys."

"We've all missed you too," Ventus assures, picking up a soft grin himself.

"More than you probably think we have," Roxas adds, a hint of a chuckle in his tone.

"Sora," Kairi says, her tone sharp and hostile as she reaches a hand out toward him. "Don't listen to them! They're lying to you!"

"We already told you, they don't care about you," Riku adds just as crossly. "They want to take all of this away from you!"

Sora briefly glances back at them, tears returning to his eyes as he realizes just how wrong they both look right now, how neither of them should be wearing the hateful scowls he's seeing on their faces, how almost nothing about them is what he actually loves about them. And with that realization comes another reminder, a reminder that he needs to cling onto, however painful it might be. "...None of this is real…" he mutters, shaking his head before he turns back to Roxas and Ven. "You… you really want to help me?" he asks, as if he's struggling to believe that's true. That anyone would want to help him after all of the mistakes he's made, mistakes he can't stop making no matter how hard he tries.

"You know we do," Roxas promises. "That's all we've longed for a long time now."

"But we can't give you that help unless you meet us halfway," Ventus says, knowing that's a risky thing to say, knowing that this is where it could all fall apart. And yet, he still has to know that this is what Sora really wants, that this isn't something he feels like he's being forced into like he was the demented dream they're all standing in now. "So… what do you say? Do you trust us?"

"...Yeah," Sora nods, and this time he means it. After all, if there's anyone he can depend on, anyone he can count on to keep him safe, anyone he can believe in now that he's spent so much time wandering alone, it's two of the three hearts that have spent so much time residing within his own. "I trust you."

He gasps as Roxas and Ventus both abruptly fade from his view, the island he's standing on suddenly shifting out of existence to be replaced by the golden void he's seen so many times before. By now, he's surprised that the Keys still even consider him for as corrupted and broken as his heart's come to be. But a question still poses itself to him all the same, a question that's almost identical to the one Ventus asked him moments before:

"Can your heart trust others?"

He isn't able to answer right away, not when trust is something he's been struggling so much with lately. He knows he definitely still has a little left to spare, but he's misplaced it, put it with foes in thinly-veiled disguises like Bill instead of with the friends he's always been able to rely on like Roxas and Ven. It's yet another mistake he can add onto the seemingly endless list of them he has to his name, another point of shame to pile onto the immense load burdening his shoulders. But it's a mistake he still hopes he can find a way to fix as he offers the most sincere answer he can possibly give now.

"It's trying to," he says, placing one hand against that weakened heart as a new, glimmering Key finds its way into his other one.

When the light fades, Sora's startled to see just how suddenly the island has completely shifted in the matter of a few mere seconds alone. The sun is gone, the sky pitch black and the formerly blue ocean now as red as blood as it violently surges onto the shore. A sinister gale whips through the air as the paradise he'd been pulled into turns into the nightmare it's really been all along. Likewise, his own appearance is back to how it had been before this dream began; his hair is white, covered by his hood once again as his eyes gleam gold from under the shadows it casts over his face. He takes stock of his crimson claws and tattered clothes, knowing that it's only fair that he continues to look like this, that it's only fair he stays the monster he knows himself to be. With this sobering change, "Riku" and "Kairi" turn even more aggressive in their efforts to keep him there than they had been before, to the point that they both latch their hands onto his arms, their grip so tight that their fingers dig into his skin.

"You're not going anywhere, Keyblade," they speak in unison, their voices mutually dark and not entirely their own. He recognizes the pitchy tone that's speaking in time with theirs, just as much as he recognizes the thin black slitted pupils and glaring gold their eyes have become.

"Sorry, Bill," Sora scowls as he pulls away from the pair, taking a place between Roxas and Ven as they both stand ready to defend him. "But my real friends need me. See you guys on the other side?" he asks, offering them both a small, yet sincere smile.

"We'd better," Roxas grins, giving him a light, playful punch on the arm.

"The last thing we need is another one of us stuck sleeping," Ventus jokes, though his tone turns a touch more serious as he watches Sora raise his newly claimed Key to the sky. "Whatever's waiting for you when you wake up won't be easy, but… we'll be right there by your side through it all."

Sora lets his somewhat unsteady smile widen at this assurance, lets himself hold onto such a hopeful promise and lets himself believe that this time, things can be different. That now, he might not have to be alone anymore. "I know you will," he says as he lets magic, both light and dark, swirl out from his Keyblade. "Riku" and "Kairi" lunge at him in a desperate attempt to trap him one final time, but in the end, there's nothing they can do as that magic begins to tear their empty illusion apart.

As Sora forces himself to return to reality, however agonizing and uncertain that reality might be.


Three out of the four present Pines have faced Bill Cipher and survived before. Though Stan is a bit out of his element in this chaotic brawl, Ford holds his own against his longtime foe quite well. He does his best to stay on the offensive, largely for the sake of not harming the unfortunate boy Bill's taken advantage of this time. For their part, Dipper and Mabel add onto that defense by taking care to dodge out of the path of any attack sent their way in lieu of not having much of a means to ward them off. Ideally, they'd flee with the rift in tow, but with Bill constantly replenishing the wall of spikes keeping them all confined in the relatively small clearing, it's anything but an easy feat. Which means the most they can do instead is hope that Roxas and Ventus achieve their goal and awaken Sora before Bill can best them and shatter the rift. Before their entire world is irreparably shattered along with it.

"You might as well give up while you're ahead, Sixer," Bill wears a confident grin as he saunters slowly toward the family. The eyes of the body he's stolen flash bright with violent intent, his hands raised to continue calling upon powers that aren't his own to finish the twisted plan he's almost seen through to the end. "If you give me that rift now, maybe I'll be nice enough to not scramble your family's molecules across space like I plan on doing to Keyblade and his pals once I'm through with them."

"Never," Ford hisses back, holding the rift close and carefully. "If you want this rift, then you're going to have to pry it from my cold, dead hands!"

"Ooo! Great idea!" Bill quips, flicking his wrist to summon another wave of dark magic. A collection of small, yet incredibly sharp shards bursts into existence around his hand, shards that he aims directly at every member of the family standing before him. "Ya know, I really did want all of you to be around to shake your dimension up into a really fun place to be, but if it means getting my hands on that rift, I guess you'll just have to miss out. Oh well!" He shrugs, smirking triumphantly as his deadly projectiles inch ever closer to his cornered foes.

"Great Uncle Ford, what do we do now?" Dipper whispers anxiously as he and Mabel cling onto each other for support.

"I'll tell ya what we'll do," Stan cuts in before his brother can answer. "We blame Ford for getting us into this mess, and we blame those two kids for not being quick enough to bail us out of it!"

"Hush, Stanley!" Ford scolds in a harsh whisper, still watching Bill's every move, still waiting for something in this dangerous stalemate to change. "It's not over yet."

"Shame your brilliant plan to wake poor Keyblade here up was a dud," Bill continues his cruel taunts as he prepares to go in for the kill. "I mean, I shoved him into just about the best dream he could have asked for, gave him everything he could ever want. Did you really think he'd ever want to wake up from that to go right back to living his sad, sorry little life just to boot me out of his body? Get real!" Bill lets out a snide, mocking laugh at this, laughter that only picks up to an especially manic degree as his knife-like shards press in to painfully pierce the Pines.

And yet, miraculously, those shards never touch any of them. Because right before they do, Bill's wicked hysterics are abruptly brought to a stop with a sudden sharp gasp, his golden eyes going wide as his stolen body jolts violently. His stolen magic fails him completely, the dark spikes surrounding the area falling away as a shimmering Keyblade, completely different from the one Sora wielded before, flashes into his hand, and as it does, a shadow-seeped glow engulfs his entire form. The Pines watch in bewildered awe as two bright lights burst out of that glow, as Roxas and Ventus return to the waking world in a state of bleary half-consciousness. Even so, they're awake enough to hear Bill's shrill, furious scream as he's torn right out of Sora's body at long last, returning to his usual triangular, intangible form as the world surrounding him turns gray and hollow once more.

As for Sora himself, he collapses to his knees, digging the tip of the Key into the soil as he clumsily leans against it to keep himself upright. He's breathless, his senses distant as he tries to regain a feel for being in control of his own body again, something he should be more than used to doing by now after all of the times it's been taken away from him. He's trembling as he slowly glances up at the family standing before him, alarm, outright fear written across each of their faces as they stare at him as if he's some kind of despicable monster. And after everything that's just happened, after how his own horribly selfish actions nearly cost them their world and their lives, that's exactly what Sora knows he is in just about every sense of the word.

"I-I'm sorry," he chokes, his voice weak and soft, but entirely his own once more. Just as much as the guilt-driven tears already starting to stream down his cheeks are too. "I'm so, so sorry, I-"

"Oh, you're about to be WAY more than sorry once I'm through with you, Keyblade!" Bill's outraged shout catches everyone's attention, especially as bright blue flames burst over his palms. He wastes no time throwing those flames directly at Sora, prompting Roxas and Ventus to their feet, their Keyblades forming in their hands to protect him from it. In the end though, those flames don't strike any of them, instead phasing clean through them as a result of Bill's once again non-physical form. He stops short upon remembering this for himself, flashing an angry shade of red as he hovers even higher into the air above his foes. "You think this all over, don't you? Well it's NOT! Not even close!" he threatens, keeping his furious sights set on Sora above all the others. "All it'll take is one snap and you'll be taking a one way trip right back to dreamland, Keyblade. And this time, I'll make sure those dreams won't be anywhere near as sweet as the last one was!"

"Are you kidding?" Sora scoffs, struggling to stand. Ventus and Roxas are quick to rush in to support him, allowing him to fix Bill with a defiant glare. "What you gave me wasn't anywhere close to what you promised me. You said you'd set my heart free, but all you did was trap me inside my own mind while you stole my body to use as your own! You didn't keep your end of our deal, Bill. So why should I keep mine?"

"Because you don't have a choice, you little-" Bill cuts himself off, his eye widening as he snaps his fingers to ultimately no effect. Sora remains standing, entirely unaffected by the demon's deal-bound powers now that he's called that deal off. "...Well, that's annoying," he says simply, flatly. "But not a game-ender! All I gotta do is find some other stupid sap who's every bit as desperate and gullible as you are, Keyblade, and that rift is as good as mine!"

"Not on our watch!" Dipper pipes up as brazenly as he can.

"That's right," Ford firmly agrees, tightening his hold on the rift. "We'll find a way to keep this rift as far out of your reach as possible, even if it means we have to seal it away somehow."

"Seal it away…" Sora repeats, a sudden idea striking him. One that could very well save this world and its very vulnerable heart from harm once and for all. "That's it! Roxas, Ven, mind lending me a hand here?"

"Not at all," Ventus grins as he and Roxas follow Sora's lead. They aim their Keyblades at the rift, white light shooting from their weapons toward the tiny globe. Ford gasps, startled as it floats out of his hands, rising into the air as a radiant glow surrounds it, something that even Bill himself doesn't seem to understand.

"Huh?" he blinks, genuinely caught off guard as a shimmering keyhole appears over the rift. "Wait, what do you twerps think you're doing?!"

He doesn't get an answer as Sora, Roxas, and Ven continue pooling their power together to the same singular, stalwart goal. "Together?" Roxas asks as that power pulsates brightly.

"Together," Sora confirms, letting the Key lead the charge. A beam of darkness mingled with light sparks from its tip, joined by a much brighter kind of magic from Roxas' and Ven's. That combined power hits the keyhole, and with a single twist of all four of their Keyblades, that keyhole is locked, the rift safely sealed and secured. And as it is, Sora feels its otherworldly radiance tug at his heart one last time as it whispers him one final, unspoken message:

"You're not where you belong… but you will be soon… When you find the Keys, you'll find your way Home…"

"Home…" Sora echoes as the light fades, his voice barely even a whisper. His mind and heart both somewhere far away from the forest his body is standing in.

All four of the Pines are gaping in awe as the rift lands unceremoniously back in Ford's hands. By all accounts, it looks exactly the same as it did before, without a single sign that any kind of magic had been cast on it, as if nothing's changed about it in the slightest. "Woah…" Mabel coos in wonder as she glances back to the trio of Keyblade wielders. "What was that really pretty, super cool lightshow all about?"

"We used our Keyblades to seal the rift," Ventus explains. "That means that it can't be broken."

"Not by you," Roxas shoots a disdainful glare back at Bill. "Or by anyone else."

"You WHAT?!" Bill practically shrieks, outraged. His entire body erupts into a fury of blue flames, though his furious, fiery tantrum does little to scare the group gathered before him.

"It's over, Bill," Sora says as he grounds himself back in the present. "You lost."

"Ohoho, not as much as you're about to lose here soon, Keyblade," Bill shoots back as he swiftly glides in closer to Sora. "You really think that the old man is going to all this trouble just to make you his latest lackey? As soon as you find out what he REALLY wants to turn you into, you'll be wishing you'd stayed in that happy little dream world I gave you, trust me!"

"W-what?" Sora starts, surprised by such a frightening implication. By the notion that there's something more to the torture Xehanort is putting him through, that there's an entirely hidden, much more sinister layer to his suffering that he has not a single clue about. "What do you-"

"Ah ah ah! Spoilers!" Bill pulls back, wagging a finger. "As for that rift, I'll find a way to break that seal sooner or later. And when I do… you Pines can kiss everything you think you know about your dimension goodbye! Until then, I'll make sure to keep an eye on all of you…" At this, Bill rises ever higher into the air, an outline of a wheel containing ten different, rapidly flashing symbols surrounding him. But in the end, every one of those symbols ends up settling on the same exact image as Bill focuses his one-eyed gaze back to Sora alone; and that image is the very same crown he still wears around his neck. "And I mean ALL of you… Bye!"

With a single, almost cordial wave, Bill abruptly disappears, finally letting time and color resume as everyone allows themselves a much-needed sigh of relief. Somehow, they'd gotten through their entire daunting encounter with the demon without watching the world around them be cast into some sort of catastrophic cataclysm. Yet even in the aftermath of their narrow victory over Bill, the tiny clearing they're all still congregated in is anything but peaceful.

"Fascinating," Ford begins as he lightly flicks the glass keeping the rift contained. It shimmers briefly as the seal protects it from any damage, proof of the magic meant to keep the heart of this world from seeing any further harm. "And here I was getting ready to go out to a derelict spacecraft buried under the town to obtain an incredibly rare alien adhesive to stabilize the rift, but this is much better and much easier by far. Thank you, boys," he gives Sora, Roxas, and Ventus a grateful nod. "Even if Bill is still out there somewhere, you may have every well just saved us all from his schemes, at least for the foreseeable future."

"Uh, hold on a second," Dipper interjects before any of them can return that thanks. "Are we just gonna forget who somehow stole the rift and nearly gave it to Bill to begin with?!"

Sora simply glances away in shame the second he catches the harsh glare the younger boy is sending his way. There's nothing he can say to defend himself, not when he knows he'd done something so undeniably, unforgivably wrong. But that doesn't stop Ventus from trying to defend him instead. "But he said he was sorry-"

"No," Sora interrupts, loosely wrapping his arms around himself as he turns away from the others. "I am sorry, but… there's no good excuse for what I did. I knew stealing the rift was wrong, but Bill offered me something I really needed and… I was dumb enough to believe him…"

"Tch, not to mention how he used your body and your powers to try and kill all of us," Dipper adds, his tone every bit as cold and resentful as his expression is. "Turns out I was right after all: we never should have trusted you."

For as piercing as this bitter accusation is, the most Sora can do is accept it, knowing that whatever rapport or friendship he might have formed with either of the younger twins is certainly way past broken by this point. And yet… "Dipper, that's not fair!" Mabel pipes up, her tone stern as she fixes her brother with a protesting frown. "How was Sora supposed to know Bill's nothing but a big jerk who was lying to him until it was too late? Besides, it's not like he's the first person who's ever fallen for Bill's sleazy tricks. Do I need to remind you about the whole 'Bipper' thing a few weeks ago?"

Dipper tenses up at this, his anger fizzling into remnant remorse almost immediately. "Right…" he rubs his arm as he stares down at the ground, clearly ashamed over some sort of past incident, over some point of blatant shame that's quite similar to what Sora's currently feeling.

"Ya know, kid," Stan suddenly interjects, placing a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "I may not get all this junk about a rift or that Bill guy or… heck, just about anything that's happened here tonight, but you've gotta realize that sometimes, people mess up. Believe me, I would know," he lets out a small, wry chuckle. "But what really counts is that when someone messes up, they do everything they can to try and fix it. Now, I could be wrong, 'cause again, I'm just about as out of the loop with all this as anyone could be, but… I think that's exactly what your friend here just did."

Though Stan offers Sora a genuine grin, it's not one he makes any effort to return. Instead, he shakes his head as he lets the Key disappear, staring down at his claws as he speaks softly, sadly. "I'm the one who caused this mess, and all of you were nearly hurt because of it. How is that 'fixing' anything?"

"Because," Roxas steps forward, his tone earnest and calm. "You came with the idea to seal the rift. You stopped Bill and saved this entire world."

"And that, my boy, is no small feat," Ford adds with a satisfied smile.

"Yeah, it's just like we said before, Sora," Mabel says, her tone enthusiastic and energetic as ever. "You're a hero through and through, even if you don't think so!"

It takes a moment of uncertain hesitation, but ultimately, Dipper ends up siding with the rest of his family on the matter, knowing that being able to stand up to a monster like Bill requires more courage than even he's ever claimed to have. Courage that Sora must have no small supply of for sure. "Yeah," he finally says with a small, apologetic smile. "I guess you are."

Despite their kind encouragement, Sora still doesn't let himself accept their praise and gratitude, knowing he's done not a single thing to earn it, knowing that what he truly deserves is the exact opposite. He only briefly glances back at the Pines, his heart aching as he takes in the sight of their shared, sincere smiles, smiles that only make him feel even more guilty for the grave danger he brought them, for the incredible, potentially world-ending disaster he almost made. And the longer he stands within the range of those smiles, the more he realizes it's all too much to bear. He forces himself to turn away, fighting back tears as he simply offers them one final, solemn, shameful statement. "...No, I'm not. I don't think I ever really was…"

And with that, he simply walks away.

"Sora!" Roxas shouts, wasting no time in going after him. Ventus moves to do the same, though he stops short when Mabel speaks up behind him.

"Is… is Sora gonna be ok?" he asks, clearly concerned.

Ventus hesitates, unsure of how to respond to a question that has no clear answers. So instead, he throws on a bit of a wavering grin, hoping it'll be enough to set the family at ease for the time being. "Yeah," he lies, a heavy pit settling in his stomach as he does. "He'll be just fine. Roxas and I will make sure of it."

"Do you guys… I dunno, need any help with him or something?" Dipper offers. An offer Ventus only wishes he could take, because he knows all too well that they could use all the help they can get when it comes to dealing Sora now.

"...We've got it covered," he says regardless. "For now, you guys should probably head home. It's pretty late, after all."

"Tch, tell me about it," Stan remarks dryly, turning to leave. "Stupid triangle made me miss out on a good night's sleep. By the time we get back to the shack, it'll be breakfast."

"Ooo! I want pancakes!" Mabel exclaims as she trails after her uncle.

"Mabel, you always want pancakes," Dipper chuckles as he follows their lead.

"Only 'cause they're so gosh darn good!" Mabel grins, though she does turn a touch more serious as she casts a brief glance back at Ven. "Um, can you tell Sora that it was fun hanging out with him today?"

"And... that it'd be pretty cool if we could do it again sometime soon?" Dipper adds with a soft, earnest smile.

Ventus only narrowly holds back a sad sigh upon hearing this, knowing that Sora probably won't feel the same. Not after how close he'd gotten to accidentally harming his newfound friends. "Y-yeah," he says all the same, unsure of what else he can really do. "I'll tell him."

The twins give him a thankful nod as they head off alongside Stan. Ford prepares to follow suit, the rift securely in his care as he also pauses for one last cordial farewell. "Thank you boys again, for everything," he says, glancing over his shoulder. "Best of luck with… whatever it is you need to do next."

"Thanks," Ventus returns as he sees the family off. Though as soon as they're gone, he mutters his own apprehensive statement as he turns in the direction Sora and Roxas have gone in. "We're gonna need it."

Because now that the easy part of simply finding Sora is over, the hard part, the part where they have to convince him to come home, has just begun.

It doesn't take him long to catch up with them, arriving just in time to see Roxas grab Sora by the arm to keep him from retreating any further. "Where do you think you're going?" he snaps impatient, his grip tight enough to stop Sora from slipping away, despite his efforts to try.

"Roxas, I-" he starts, though his Nobody refuses to let him get a word in edgewise.

"If you're planning on running away from us again, then you've got another thing coming," he continues, fixing him with an unrelenting glare. "Go ahead and scream and cry about it all you want, you are coming back with us right now."

"I-I can't," Sora narrowly manages to pull back, but even then he doesn't run away. At least not yet.

"Why not?" Roxas growls between gritted teeth.

"Sora, everyone knows the truth now," Ventus says as he steps forward. "You don't have anything to hide from anyone anymore."

"That's not it," Sora shakes his head, his hands pressed close to his chest as he takes a small step back.

"Then what is the problem here, Sora?" Roxas asks with an indignant scoff. "Because we haven't spent the past two weeks running around looking for you just to go home empty-handed. We promised we were going to help you and that's what we're doing, whether you want us to or not."

"Help me? You really think that-" Sora stops short, his eyes widening as he looks between the pair before him. "You… don't know what they're planning on doing to me… do you?"

"Who?" Ventus asks, confused.

"The other lights…" Sora says quietly as he pulls his hood up just a bit tighter. Shadowy spikes begin to slowly emerge from the ground around his feet, yet another clear sign of his steadily rising dread. "They didn't tell you… Of course they wouldn't tell you," he lets out a sorrowful laugh as he covers his eyes with his hand. "You guys would never let them…" Inevitably, he trails off, his laughter quickly crumbling into a heartbroken, bitter sob.

"Let them… what?" Roxas presses, narrowing his eyes in newfound suspicion.

When Sora doesn't answer right away, and in his silence, Ventus decides to make a much more level headed appeal to counteract Roxas' more severe demands. "You said that you trusted both of us to help you," he begins calmly, carefully. "What makes any of the others any different?"

"Because," Sora looks at them, golden eyes red with despondent tears. "If I go back, then they're going to-"

Before he can even get another word out, a sudden burst of bright, crimson energy shoots down from somewhere above, slamming into the ground directly between Sora and Ven and Roxas. The small explosion it creates is enough to send all three of them flying away from each other, though as they painfully land on opposite ends of the clearing, they're able to see who's arrived to reclaim his ethereal blade.

"Silence is a trait you should learn to embrace, number thirteen," Xemnas says, glancing over his shoulder at Sora. "You speak far too much for your own good."

"W-what?" Ventus gapes as he stares at this newcomer, wondering why in the world he bears an alarming resemblance to Terra of all people. "Who-"

"Xemnas…" Roxas hisses hatefully, Oathkeeper and Oblivion taking their places in his hands.

"Roxas," Xemnas sneers just as coldly as he turns his focus back on the pair before him. "And Ventus. The resemblance between the two of you truly is uncanny. I wonder who's to blame for that…"

Sora's discreet attempt to slip away without Xemnas noticing is brought to an abrupt halt as his body is forced to stop stiffly in place. The superior doesn't even have to issue him a command to turn around; he's horrified to find that he does it entirely on his own, his body and heart obeying while his mind is silently screaming for him to flee.

"Sora!" Roxas and Ventus exclaim in apt alarm. They act on the same impulse, running forward to get him as far away from the grave threat he's facing as possible. They don't get the chance though, as they only end up crashing into the sturdy magical barrier Xemnas erects to stop them instead.

"My business here does not involve either of you," he says to them, his tone dismissive and condescending. "But you're more than welcome to stay and watch as yet another Key falls out of your reach." He finally picks up a bit of a haughty grin as he turns his focus back to Sora, only needing to draw a single finger back to beckon him to walk forward. To walk toward just about one of the last people he'd ever want to willingly approach on his own.

"Leave him alone!" Roxas yells, slamming both of his Keyblades into the barrier.

"Come on, Sora!" Ventus pleads, knowing there's little they can do to protect him or the Key for that matter. "You have to fight it!"

"No, he can't," Xemnas counters cooly. "By now, obeying his Organization comes as naturally to Sora's heart as drawing air into his lungs does. To deny that obedience would be to deny who he is at his very core: our thirteenth seeker of darkness, the final piece we need to truly become whole, just as we are the piece Sora needs to be whole himself."

All the while, Sora continues marching over to him, tears streaming down his cheeks and his face filled with despair he isn't allowed to express in any other way. He finally comes to a stop just a few feet away from his superior, his head bowed in respect his body is forcing him to show, respect that isn't his own in the slightest.

"It's such a pity that new 'friend' of yours couldn't be trusted," Xemnas slides a hand under his chin to guide his gaze upward. Sora shudders, both from the unwelcome touch and from the reminder of Bill's treacherous betrayal, a betrayal that had turned his body into the same kind of helpless puppet he currently is now. "Then again, you should have known better from the start. We've tried warning you so many times, Sora, to spare you from such unnecessary grief when you already know the truth: nothing can stop you from becoming what you're destined to be. Perhaps what happened to you here will teach you a valuable lesson. What do you think that lesson is, number thirteen?"

"T-that I belong to my master a-and my Organization…" Sora says, entirely against his own will. "A-and no matter what I do to try and change that… I-I always will…"

"Very good," Xemnas nods, pleased as he holds his free hand out. "Do you know what else belongs to us, Sora?"

Sora swallows hard as he nods, unable to keep the latest Key from flashing into his hand. His heart aches at the mere thought of losing it, of watching his foes take another one away from him. But in the end, there's nothing he can do to stop his hand from lifting that Key, nothing he can do to stop himself from placing its hilt firmly in Xemnas' awaiting hand. Nothing he can do but obediently follow the orders of the Organization he's always hated, the Organization he knows he's now almost entirely a part of.

"Your Organization thanks you for your loyal service, Sora," Xemnas smirks as he admires his new prize. He allows Sora enough control to fall to his knees, letting out a mournful, miserable sob as he covers his face in shame over what he's just done. He's so distraught that he doesn't even hear whatever Xemnas has to say to him next, nor does he notice when Roxas and Ventus finally manage to shatter the barrier barring them from him. At least until he hears their shared courageous cry as they charge straight at Xemnas, Keyblades ready to strike.

And yet, that strike never lands. Because when Roxas leaps in to land a high swing, Xemnas not only manages to counter it just in time, but his own glowing blade slams brutally into the boy's torso, leaving a wide, deep cut. The incredible force of the blow sends him flying back, crashing cleanly into Ventus, who's only a few short steps behind him. They both end up flying into one of the surrounding trees, the wind knocked out of both of them as they land just as painfully to the ground. Even so, Xemnas doesn't let up as he casts a range of energy beams from his palm, beams that burn both Ven and Roxas as they strike them repeatedly. And as soon as he hears their anguished cries, Sora quickly finds that he can no longer sit by and idly watch this senseless violence continue one second longer.

"Stop!" he shouts, driven largely by panic alone as he jumps to his feet to grab Xemnas' arm. He's quick to realize just how much of a mistake this risky, rebellious move was when his superior shoots him a silent, absolutely irate glare. It's immediately followed up by a fast, sharp backhanded blow to the face, one that immediately knocks Sora off his feet as he lands hard on the ground, clutching his sorely stinging cheek.

His own pain is quickly forgotten though as he watches Roxas and Ventus struggle to stand again, only for Xemnas to keep his vicious onslaught going. He bridges the gap across the clearing in seconds, and before the pair can even fully ground themselves again, he slashes both of his ethereal blades clean across their chests. Despite the large, bleeding wounds this leaves, Xemnas readily inflicts several more as he continues his brutal barrage, swinging and slicing and stabbing at a rapid, relentless pace. Amidst this aggressive assault, Roxas and Ventus don't have much of a chance to fight back, much less defend themselves against it as their injuries start to become more numerous and more severe with each passing second.

From his spot on the other side of the clearing, Sora watches, his eyes wide and tearful, as his friends are brutally beaten for no real reason at all. What's worse is that he isn't able to do a single thing to help them, isn't even allowed to speak a single word of protest anymore. The unwavering thrall of Xemnas' power keeps him planted firmly in place, still as a statue, hopelessly trapped within his own body as his friends are all but ripped to shreds right before his very eyes.

Xemnas remains silent yet effective as he fiercely knocks both Ven and Roxas back yet again. This time, he doesn't allow either of them to fall as he casts a dark aura around them both. His magic halts any movements they might make as he raises them up into the air, grinning with smug satisfaction as he holds his apparent victory over each of them.

"Why do you both still hold onto the futile hope that you can save him from his fate?" he asks, a question he doesn't even give them a chance to answer. "For as long as you spent within his heart, watching as it fell further and further into darkness, one would think that you would have given that hope up long ago. But now that you're out, you can clearly see just by looking at him: Sora is our property. And whenever someone tries to take our property from us, I can promise you they are punished accordingly."

"Y-you're wrong," Ventus speaks up, his voice weak as a bit of blood spills out of his mouth. "Sora isn't just something you can control and use however you want. He's his own person, and he deserves to be free!"

"No, I don't…" Sora wants to say, but the words won't come to him. Instead, he only lets out a small, sorrowful sob as his friends continue to selflessly defend him, even when he knows they should be doing anything but.

"There's nothing you can ever say or do to get us to give up on him," Roxas vows viciously, trying with every fiber of his being to call his fallen Keyblades back to him. "Whether we're inside his heart or not, we'll always fight to save him from you, no matter what!"

"...I see," Xemnas says simply, his expression darkening. "Such admirable devotion. It almost makes me want to keep both of you alive so you can witness the day when all of your efforts to protect him inevitably prove themselves to be meaningless. Even so, the guardians of light have more than enough members rallied to their side by now. Certainly, they could afford to lose two of their least impressive Keyblade wielders…"

Sora gasps, horrified as he watches Xemnas draw both of his ethereal blades dangerously close to Ventus and Roxas' necks. Yet for their part, neither of them so much as flinch, both of them determined to not show a single ounce of fear in the face of what could be the last fleeting seconds of their lives.

"Pay close attention, Sora," Xemnas grins, not even glancing back at the boy behind him as he prepares to carry out his murderous intentions. "And while you're watching, know that what is about to happen here is entirely because of you."

"No!" Sora's distraught, desperate cry echoes through the clearing at the same time the sound of Xemnas' blades crashing into his Keyblade does. The superior starts, genuinely caught off guard at the sight of Sora standing between him and Roxas and Ven, blocking his potentially fatal blow. "S-stop…." he chokes, his voice faint to the point that it's barely even audible. "D-don't… don't hurt them…" The amount of effort it takes for him to so much as even stand there, much less directly stand in opposition to his superior like this, is incredible, to the point that his heart feels like it's on the verge of exploding from the sheer, unending anguish flooding through it. Yet even despite that anguish, Sora refuses to let up, knowing that if he does, it'll cost Roxas and Ventus their very lives.

"So there's still enough of a stubborn streak left in you to resist our power. By now, I thought that streak would have been as broken as your spirit should be," Xemnas sneers as he pulls his blades back. At the same time, Roxas and Ventus fall out of his magical hold, essentially collapsing onto each other as they fall to the ground just a few feet behind Sora. Still, as heavily injured as they both are, there's little they can do but watch as Xemnas swings one of his weapons at Sora, easily knocking the Kingdom Key clean out his hands. He doesn't stop there, however, as he digs his other burning blade into the side of Sora's arm, eliciting a heavy cry of pain that he quickly cuts off.

"The master will be immensely displeased when he hears of your latest transgression against him," Xemnas hisses, his tone as cold as ice as he continues to let his blade scorch straight through Sora's skin. "But your Organization is not completely without mercy. Stand down and step aside, and perhaps I will be kind enough to let this foolish misstep go unreported."

"N-no…" is all Sora is able to get out in the form of a strained whisper. By now, his body has largely been forced back into a state of forced stillness, though he somehow manages to retain control of everything else. He shakes his head, his eyes tightly shut against the white hot pain Xemnas is sending shooting through his arm, his heart, his every last vein. Pain that he has no choice but to ignore with every last bit of resilience he has left.

"Number thirteen," Xemnas persists authoritatively, his golden eyes gleaming with hatred as he stares down at Sora. "I told you to-"

"And I told you no," Sora counters, his unsteady voice filled with hostility as he finally finds enough strength to pull away from Xemnas' blades. A large, raw burn is left on his upper arm, but he pays it little mind in favor of fixing his superior with an intense, rebellious glare, his hands clenched into tight fists as he forces his heart to maintain what small semblance of control he's somehow managed to get back. Control that he isn't about to waste, not now, not when it matters most. "Y-you don't get it, do you? No matter what you try to do to me, I will do anything to keep my friends safe. Even if I have to keep this up for the rest of my life, even though I know I don't have much time left, even if you do force me into the Organization, I will never, ever stop fighting you!"

Even despite the dire straits they're all in, Roxas and Ventus can't help but find a bright spark of hope upon hearing all this. Upon seeing that Sora still has enough determination, enough courage, enough strength left in his heart to stand so brazenly against those working so tirelessly to drag him down. And yet… that spark of hope is quick to burn out when they hear what he has to say next. "U-unless…"

Xemnas' furious scowl evens out into a calm, neutral look as he lowers both of his blades. "Unless what, number thirteen?" he asks, already sensing where this could be going.

Sora hesitates, casting a small, fretful glance back at Roxas and Ventus. He knows what he's about to suggest is absolutely unthinkable, that the mere notion of it alone will likely make them both hate him. But for their safety, for the safety of all of his former friends really, it's the only sacrifice he really has left to make. "Unless… unless you leave them alone," he begins as steadily as he possibly can. "Unless the Organization leaves all of the guardians of light alone. If you do that, then… I-I'll do whatever you want."

"What?" Roxas snaps, trying to pull himself up to stand, an effort that fails almost immediately.

"Sora, no!" Ventus protests, though Xemnas doesn't let either of them argue the matter any further.

"Really?" he muses, forming a confident grin as he looks Sora over. "You would finally swear your undying loyalty to the Organization you're so determined to keep yourself out of, simply for the sake of protecting a group that wants nothing more to do with you? Such a trade seems almost unfair…"

"It's fair to me," Sora insists, only now realizing that his entire body is trembling in fear. Not out of what might happen to him if Xemnas agrees to his terms, but what might happen to Roxas and Ventus if he doesn't. "I told you, I'd do anything to keep my friends safe."

"Even serving our cause willingly?" Xemnas presses smugly, twistedly. "Even putting an end to every ounce of stubborn resistance you might try to show us? Even if it means claiming the final two Keys in the name of your master…?"

Sora shudders, hating everything about this, hating the idea of just giving Xehanort everything he wants, from the remaining Keys, to his thirteenth and final vessel. But with lives on the line and little options left, what other choice does he really have? "Yes," he nods breathlessly. "I-I won't resist, I won't fight. I'll follow every order you give me. Just… don't hurt any of them anymore than you already have." He holds back a heartbroken sob as he lowers himself to one knee and bows his head, entirely on his own accord this time. It's a show of respect that makes him feel sick to his stomach to give, but if it can prove his sincerity, then it'll be more than worth the shame it's bringing him. "P-please… superior…"

Xemnas pauses for a long moment, seemingly to mull this offer over. And in that moment, Roxas and Ventus stare at Sora in shocked, silent disbelief. They both know all too well just how self-sacrificial he can be; Roxas especially knows from experience that Sora is the type to give his very life if it means saving those he most cares for. And yet now, the price he's preparing himself to pay seems even higher, even more devastating than anything he's ever given before. Because now, he's essentially selling himself to the Organization, to Xehanort, to everything he's never wanted to be a part of, just for the sake of saving them. And as far as Roxas and Ven are concerned, it's a sale they refuse to let Sora complete.

And yet, before either of them can try to stop it, Xemnas finally reaches the consensus Sora had been hoping for. "Very well," he nods, still grinning triumphantly as he extends a hand out to Sora. "In exchange for your fealty to your Organization, the guardians of light will not be harmed by our hands. But only as long as you continue to loyally serve your master and your superiors without fail. If you go against our commands, even once, then this 'bargain' will cease to be. Is that clear, number thirteen?"

"Y-yes," Sora agrees, still fighting back tears as he lets Xemnas help him back onto his feet. "I-I won't disappoint you. I… I promise."

"You should hope that you don't," Xemnas says without a trace of sympathy in his tone. "For if you do, your dearest friends are the ones who will pay the price. Now," he stops only for a moment to summon a dark corridor, one that Sora already knows he'll be going through too. "Come along. We've wasted enough time in this world. There are still two final Keys to be found before your true purpose can be fulfilled."

"Yes, superior…" Sora glumly mutters, not even having to be forced into calling Xemnas that this time. Because if he wants to keep this demented deal going, if he wants to truly ensure his friends are unharmed, then he has to show the Organization, his Organization, the respect he knows they don't deserve in the slightest. Respect and obedience he now has to voluntarily give.

"N-no," Roxas catches his attention before he can take a single step forward. He glances behind him just in time to see his Nobody struggle to rise to his feet, clutching his badly injured shoulder all the while. "Sora, you're not doing this! We won't let you!"

"I'm sorry…" Sora glances over his shoulder. His golden eyes filled with shining tears that refuse to fall as he offers the pair a bittersweet smile, one that does little to convey everything he wishes he had time to tell them. "But I have to…"

Ventus shares the same sentiment as Roxas as props himself up against a nearby tree as he watches Sora walk toward the dark portal, toward the incredibly dark future that awaits him under this new, awful arrangement he's made. "Sora, please," he begs morosely, miserably. "You have to listen to us. If you go through with this, then-"

"Then he will be exactly where he belongs," Xemnas interjects as he places a possessive hand on Sora's shoulder. "Finally within the fold of darkness, where he has always been meant to be, isn't that right, Sora?"

Sora only nods at this, knowing there's no use in arguing, not when he knows it's so undeniably true. Still, he takes another look back at the friends he's about to leave behind, his heart aching as he catches the mournful tears in their eyes. "It's alright," he tries his best to assure them, his voice feeble and small and scared. "E-everything will be ok now. You'll all be safe, I promise."

"You won't be!" Roxas protests, torn between outrage and grief.

Sora lets out something of a saddened sob mingled with a joyless laugh at this. "Who cares about me?"

"We do!" Ventus argues, stumbling forward to try and reach Sora before it's too late.

And yet, Sora simply turns away from them both, staring down at his clawed hand as he shakes his head despondently. "...You shouldn't," he says, his voice barely above a woeful whisper. "No one should…."

"I believe it's time to go, number thirteen," Xemnas coaxes impatiently, already standing within the dark corridor.

Sora sighs softly as he fully turns away from Roxas and Ventus, unable to bear the anguish etched into both of their faces for one second longer. "Thank you both, for everything…" he says as he makes his final approach to the portal, to whatever awaits him beyond it. "I guess… this is goodbye…"

"No!" Roxas yells as he forces himself to walk, forces himself to run even as pain continues lancing through every inch of his injured body.

"Sora!" Ventus shouts, sobbing as he follows suit, reaching a trembling hand out as Sora steps into the shadows after his superior.

But in the end, they don't make it in time to stop him from disappearing into the darkness.

They don't make it in time to stop him from selling himself over to that darkness, now and forevermore.


AHAHAHA SO THAT WAS A LOT HUH? Looks like Sora pulled another self sacrifice that's bound to end well for him, I'm sure. Either way I gotta say it was really fun to work on both of these Gravity Falls chapters, and a lot of fun to push the fic forward into what I like to call, the deeper end (we were already in the deep end but now we're even deeper but still not to the deepest end yet if you can believe it!) Next time, we've got two interval chapters to look forward to again and trust me when I say that if you think this chapter was a gut puncher you ain't seen nothing yet. But until then I would love to know what you think in the REVIEWS! Until next time!