Kingdom Hearts Keyblade Legion

by lyokoMARVELanime

Sequel to Dual Keys. Sora, Donald, Goofy return to the worlds after an event that caused them to have their memories modified, and they're off on a new adventure with Ven. But this time they've some new friends with them. Can Roxas and Xion help to save the worlds from this new evil group? Is there some deeper mystery surrounding the two siblings? Find out along with the new team.

15. Marvelous Face-Offs

AN: Phew! Looks like I just made it on updating this before 2019 had ended. If you're reading this after New Year's Eve has come and gone though, trust me, I am being totally honest in that statement, because after a brief break, we are now back with another update for Keyblade Legion!

[audience applause]

Yeah, sorry for the wait, guys, but I've been really focused on my newest crossover story, Remnant of the Key, a crossover between RWBY and Kingdom Hearts, which takes place Post-KH3. Trust me, you should check it out once you get a chance, because I've done some really good work with it, and it's only going to get better as the story progresses from where it's currently at.

Now, I don't want to bore you guys with a long-winded opening note, keep you here waiting too long for some ridiculous gag that may not even happen, or make you have to skip through all the review answers just so you can get to the meat of the chapter, so what're we waiting around here for! Let's get into the action already guys!

I do not own anything from Kingdom Hearts or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

---

Chapter XV

It had not taken too long for the two teams to split into their separate groups after leaving Avengers tower, and just as Captain America and Ventus had suggested, each group consisted of one of the four Keyblade wielders with at least two or three of the others backing them up. Roxas, Donald, Goofy, and Hawkeye covered the rooftops of the city, with Roxas taking point on slicing through the enemies while Goofy covered Donald and Hawkeye as they bombarded most of the Heartless with spells and arrows. Xion assisted Cap, Widow, and Falcon in destroying the invading dwellers of darkness while tracking the Heartless' movements so that they could better determine where they were all coming from. Sora found himself battling enemies throughout the skies and streets alongside of Iron Man and Spidey, each of them the most focused on destroying enemies and protecting civilians, a feat that was old hat for the web-head, and made even easier thanks to Tony calling in his Iron Legion drones. Finally, Ventus covered the skies with Thor and War Machine, and more often than not, ended up dealing with the bigger and/or stronger monsters; not that he was complaining mind you. Ven's team consisted of a powerful thunder god and a man that could be described as a literal, walking armory, so dealing with the bigger, heavy hitters was not too much trouble for them.

With all of these teams on the case, the Heartless quickly found themselves facing problems. Sure, the bad guys held an advantage in numbers, but considering that they were facing both the Keyblade Legion and this world's mightiest heroes, it did not need to be said just how dangerously outmatched they were. Even so, there was one thing that Ventus found a little odd, which he had to give voice to, even as he managed to blast several Large Bodies and Neoshadows into dust with Salvation. "How come Dr. Banner isn't out here with us," Ventus inquired as he turned to slice Guardian Wind through an approaching Shadow, followed by a Tireblade that was just seconds away from cutting him in two. "Isn't he an Avenger as well?"

"He is, but we're not quite at a point where we need him to step in, and trust me, it's better that way," Rhodey replied as he flew past Ven, firing his repulsors along with his shoulder cannon at any Heartless that so much as skimmed into his crosshairs. "Having the Hulk's power on our side of a fight is great, but having him out here makes it a lot harder to keep the collateral damage small."

"The what," Ventus asked, wondering how they got from Banner to some other thing that he had not heard about until now. This pause would probably have led him to being hit by a Bizarre Archer's arrow, but Ven was no amateur; he was able to easily deflect the arrow and then blast its shooter off its perch via wind magic without even glancing in the Heartless's direction.

"The Hulk. A being that many believe to be the strongest hero there is. Though I myself find the claim to be a little debatable," Thor proclaimed while slamming his hammer into several different, bigger enemies. He was proving just how true it was that the Heartless stood no chance against Mjolnir, as even the Large Bodies were taking serious damage and hits when Thor attacked them with said hammer, without even needing to maneuver around and hit them from behind.

Rhodey had quickly touched down alongside the Asgardian to fire a few rounds from his wrist guns, followed by a short barrage of micro missiles, before he turned to Thor and asked, "Really? You want to start that now, when Hulk's not even here?"

"Yes, you're right…It's not nearly as fun when the Hulk is absent," Thor mused sadly.

"Okay, so…Why is it such a problem if he's really that strong," Ventus interrupted, filing that bit of strangeness away for later.

"There's a reason why Banner was surprised by how little fear you, Donald, Goofy, and your kids were of him," Rhodey started off as his shoulder cannon spun around to fire a few blasts at some approaching Flutterings.

"Please don't call them my kids," Ventus flatly requested.

"Banner only turns into the Hulk when he's especially angry, and the angrier Hulk gets, the stronger he gets. Now what's the first thing you would think of when you see a giant, raging monster barreling down the streets and tearing up everything in a mad rampage," Rhodey continued on.

Ventus personally would have given a different answer from most normal people, but he figured that Rhodey was asking what he would do if he were a normal person, in which case, the blonde had to concede, "I think I can see your point."

"To be honest, Banner barely has that much control over the big guy most of the time, even if he and Nat did work out a method to help him focus and regain control after a fight had ended, so we try to use Hulk as a last resort for when a situation is really serious and we need the extra muscle. Even then, it didn't stop Banner and Tony from building a suit of armor that's literally designed for fighting the big guy," Rhodey finished.

"Regardless, the Hulk is a formidable force to be reckoned with, and the gates of hell are heavily lined with many enemies that dared to challenge him. Even I have clashed with him from time to time, and they are always some of the most exhilarating battles I have ever experienced, regardless of how they are usually left unfinished," Thor boasted proudly.

Hearing that, Ventus now had a newfound respect for Banner. To be able to hold back something that powerful had to take an impressive force of will that very few people possessed, but at the same time, he figured that Bruce's mind was left pretty rattled by the aftereffects of any fight that he entered into as the Hulk. From what he could gather, it did seem like Bruce and Hulk were two different people sharing the same body, so given the kind of harm and destruction that Hulk could cause, Ventus would be very surprised if Banner had not broken down from the guilt and shame he would feel knowing that he had probably hurt someone by accident, friend, foe, or bystander. It was a matter that he would have to think about later, because there were some more Heartless coming in that looked eager for another beat down. Among these arrivals were several that looked like living cars with jagged teeth, along with a few that looked to be either flying or fused into fighter planes, which Ventus recognized from Jiminy's newest notes as Hot Rods and Aeroplanes.

"You know, I was okay with just blasting these things whenever and wherever before, but after seeing those airplane-looking Heartless, I'm feeling a little insulted now," Rhodey admitted with an edge in his tone.

Ven did not get a chance to ask Rhodey about his reasons for being upset with the Aeroplanes, since the colonel had already blasted off to engage said Heartless in a veritable dog-fight, but considering that he had learned that Rhodey was an air pilot even before he got his armor, it did make a little sense. "Yes! Into battle once more, my friends," Thor cheered as he spun his hammer round and then launched himself forward as said hammer became charged with lightning. "HAVE AT THEE!"

When Thor's hammer hit the ground again, an explosion of lightning erupted out from where he struck, and blasted several of the surrounding Heartless into oblivion. The only problem was that it seemed to cause some small damage to the surrounding buildings and streets as well, which only Ventus seemed to really notice. "If this is what they call minimized collateral damage then I'm officially getting a little worried about the kind of damage Hulk would cause if he were here," Ventus muttered to himself as he rejoined the fight too. "Still, that was a pretty cool move. Kind reminded me of Terra's Critical Impact finisher, but with lightning."

---

While Ventus was busy taking down tougher enemies and learning more about Banner's place on the Avengers, Xion was hard at work, busily looking over an area that the Heartless and some HYDRA soldiers had just been occupying. At least until she, Captain America, Black Widow, and Falcon had arrived to destroy the dark creatures and take down the terrorists. She was a little skeptical about just what Cap would be able to do when she learned his only weapon was a shield and that his powers was basically being at the ultimate peak of human physical condition, but after seeing the man take down several Neoshadows, Tireblades, and HYDRA goons singlehanded, all skepticism went out the door, and it was safe to say that she was left in great awe of the super soldier. Sure, Widow was able to take down a fair amount as well, but she was armed with bracelets that fired electric blasts that she called stingers, and a pair of electrically-charged staves, and Falcon, well he had his wings and guns, so that spoke for itself.

Speaking of the winged hero, Falcon had just landed alongside of them after finishing up a round of aerial recon, and retracted his wings into the backpack they extended from as he reported, "It looks like this area's clear for the most part, but I couldn't find anything that would tell us which way they could've come from. I've got Red Wing up in the air still making some scans just to be on the safe side though."

"Alright; good work Sam," Cap told his wingman before turning to the girls. "Nat, you find anything yet?"

"Nothing so far, but we all know how tough it is to make HYDRA soldiers crack. Plus, this is the first time I've had to track monsters that were literally made from the darkness in people's hearts, so I can't say that I really know much about what I'm doing," Widow admitted.

"Good thing I do," Xion stated as she stood up straight from where she had been kneeling down on the ground. "Some of these claw marks form a rough trail that could indicate where they were coming from before they got here." She then turned to point in the direction that the trail headed in and said, "That way seems like our best bet in finding either the Heartless boss or whoever it is that's been taken over by their darkness."

None of the three Avengers saw much reason to argue with her, given that Xion was the Heartless expert for their team and instead just nodded as they headed in the direction she had indicated. One of them did still voice their opinion on her tracking skills though. "You really know your stuff when it comes to tracking these things, kid," Natasha praised. "Is that normal Keyblade wielder stuff, or is it some other past experience?"

"A little bit of both, really," Xion admitted with a shrug. "Ven's told me that Keyblade wielders can sense the darkness and light inside of a person, sometimes with little effort after getting enough practice, but I've been tracking down Heartless the old fashioned way for a bit longer than that."

"Where'd you pick up the skills to do that, because even I'm having a hard time finding them, and I was trained to be able to find any kind of target imaginable," Natasha asked.

Xion froze up a little after hearing that question. She was pretty sure that she knew all of this due to some old instincts and what little she could remember from her time with Organization XIII, but after all that she and the others had told the Avengers, she was not sure if she wanted to divulge that information to them right now. Sure, they mentioned that she and Roxas had been tricked into joining a dangerous group, but they never specifically stated that it was the Organization, so Xion was not really sure how to answer without bringing it up.

Thankfully, she did not have to, as her hesitance proved answer enough for Black Widow, who softly asked, "This was something that had to do with that group you and your brother were tricked into joining, doesn't it?"

"…Yeah," Xion nodded sadly. "I don't really remember much about my time with them, aside from some moments that I spent with Roxas and our only real friend from that group, but I do know that a lot of our assignments from them involved tracking down and destroying Heartless."

"Why would a dangerous group want something like the Heartless destroyed though," Falcon asked.

"Probably didn't want any competition, or because the Heartless were just as big of a threat to them as they are to everyone else," Cap suggested.

"I'm not so sure about that. I feel like there was a…bigger reason or something," Xion admitted. "I just wish I could remember what it was, but at the same time, I don't really want to remember everything on the off-chance that I did something…really bad."

"You're worried that you might find out that you have a lot more red in your ledger than you think, right," Widow simplified for her, getting a curious look from the girl in reply. "Trust me, Xion, I get where you're coming from. My own past isn't really something I like thinking about either."

"Really," Xion asked, now feeling a bit more curious.

"Kid, I'm one of the world's greatest super spies. That's not a title you earn just by getting the best training ever, and being able to do all the cool stuff you would see in the movies. I've done a lot of bad things too, things that landed me on SHIELD's radar in a bad way, and if it weren't for Hawkeye making the choice to give me a chance to turn things around, I would probably still be doing all that stuff. Now, I just want to wipe that red in my ledger out, and being part of this job, this mission, is the best way that I can do that. You on the other hand, you can do a lot more than that, and I get the feeling you'll have better luck in righting your wrongs than I've had with most of mine."

Hearing all of that from Widow, Xion could not help but feel a little better, just because it was nice to know that someone could understand a little bit of what she was going through in her situation. Add in how confident Widow seemed to be about her chances of making up for whatever past mistakes she may have made during her time with the Organization, and Xion could not help but press on with a new spring in her step as they continued following the trail.

The two boys had small smirks on their faces after hearing Widow give Xion that little pep talk. It was always nice to see Natasha's softer side show itself, given how strict and professional she normally kept things, and something about Xion really seemed to have brought it out of the super spy more than normal. Even then, it did not keep them from wondering about the rest of their combined team.

"How do you think the others are doing right now," Falcon eventually asked as he steadily glided above them.

---

"This is officially turning into one of the worst days ever," Hawkeye shouted as he ran as fast as he could over the rooftops in an attempt to stay ahead of the multitude of fire blasts that were currently being hurled at him. "Why did I have to end up on the one team where I'm the only Avenger? More importantly, why is it my backup ended up being mostly cartoon goofballs?!"

"Hey, we're right here you know," Roxas snapped in return as he rebounded off of walls and poles in his own attempts at dodging. The biggest difference was that he was retaliating with a few blasts of his own magic, and some powerful swings and throws of one or both of his Keyblades. Sure, his magic was not all that great, but Roxas would like to think that it was fairly decent at least.

"I didn't mean you, kid. I was talking about them," Hawkeye clarified, pointing to Donald and Goofy after he shot down another batch of Red Nocturnes. He had to duck down in order to avoid having his head taken off by a Heartless that Roxas identified as a Tailbunker, but even as he notched another arrow to fire, he still kept on complaining about his teammates. "It's nothing personal. I do get that they're supposed to not be exactly the same as their cartoon counterparts that I know about, but I'm still not entirely confident about our chances here."

"See, you claim that it's not personal, but after hearing all of that, I can't help but feel that it kind of is," Roxas countered as he leapt up and cut down the Tailbunker that Hawkeye had managed to nick the wing of before spinning around and blasting the Aerial Viking that had been hiding behind it.

It turned out to be a lot more than just one Aerial Viking though, and both archer and dual Keyblade wielder would have ended up getting bashed by a few of them had Goofy not jumped in the way to deflect their attacks with his shield. The knight then threw out a hard swing that sent the attacking Aerial Vikings skyward, where they were then struck down by an impressive rain of lightning bolts that made Hawkeye think Thor had just arrived, until he turned to see Donald standing behind them with his staff raised up and a smug look on his face. The magician then turned his staff on the remaining enemies and fired several more blasts of magic that knocked out a good majority of the remaining Heartless, and any straggler he did not finish off were swiftly dealt with by Goofy and his mighty shield.

"Still think our odds are bad," Donald smirked to Hawkeye as he crossed his arms in confidence.

"No, not at all, sir," Hawkeye quickly assured him, now really impressed with the two's actions. He then noticed something coming at them out of the corner of his eye, and turned to see another wave of Heartless bounding over the roofs towards them. "Heads up, gang. Looks like we're not done yet," the archer informed them. "Might want to prepare for quite a storm."

The others all assumed battle ready positions, but only Donald said something in reply to Hawkeye's observations, and he did so while spinning his staff around in dramatic fashion. "Haven't you figured it out yet, Hawkeye," Donald asked. "I am the storm."

Hearing that latest movie-like line come from his friend and how epic it sounded in his altered voice, Roxas could not help but relax his guard a little as he turned to Donald and asked, "Seriously, have you really been saying things like that this whole time?"

Hawkeye would not admit it, but he was wondering the same thing as Ventus. Sure, he had seen a lot of the old Disney cartoons, but right now, he was wondering if Donald's lines would have sounded just as epic if his voice had been the way it was right now. He figured that it would be something to think about later on, and instead just prepared hit the controls on his bow that would prepare another trick arrow that he was certain would take out a number of the incoming Heartless all at once. Right when he was about to pull the arrow from his quiver though, something suddenly bashed into hard enough to send him flying across the roof that they were all currently standing on. Turning to where Hawkeye was, Goofy started rushing over to check on the archer when that same thing knocked him off his feet too.

"What the…" was all Roxas managed to say before the strange being that was attacking them slammed into him as well, only this time, they saw a bit more of a blue and silver blur passing by them when Roxas was hit.

"Hey, what's the big idea," Donald shouted angrily as he waved his staff around in an attempt to ward off whatever entity that was attacking him and his friends. Needless to say, it was unsuccessful, and Donald was knocked aside just like the others.

Hawkeye was just starting to get up again when the blur appeared before him again, only to slow down and solidify into a full person who was now just casually walking past them with a smug smirk on his face. Clint did not know who this kid was, and his attire did not really provide many more clues either, but he was pretty sure that the guy was probably with HYDRA, be it by choice or for some other reason. It did make a lot of sense, seeing as HYDRA was the only organization that anyone knew of that could create enhanced people, and often did so intentionally, but judging by how young the boy appeared to be, Hawkeye was pretty sure that the kid had not been given all the honest facts when he made his choice. That did not mean he was any less irritated by the brat's smug remark.

"You didn't see that coming," the boy quipped to the archer before he suddenly took off again, once again becoming a blur of blue and silver when he did, just avoiding the blast of magic that Roxas had thrown at him by a few seconds.

Dismissing Oathkeeper for the moment, Roxas hurried over to Hawkeye so that he could help the Avenger up, and quickly asked, "Who or what the heck was that?"

"Couldn't tell you on the 'who;' I've never seen him before. As for the 'what,' I can only think of one thing," Hawkeye replied. He then tapped the comm. device in his ear so that he could contact the rest of his teammates, and reported, "Hawkeye to Avengers; might want to be on your toes, because it looks like HYDRA's making a play. We just had a run-in with an enhanced that tossed us all over the rooftop. Be on the lookout for a boy with silver hair dressed in a blue runner's outfit. He's fast enough to be there and gone in the blink of an eye."

"Understood, Hawkeye. We'll keep an eye out," Captain America's voice responded over the radio.

Hawkeye was about to press on again when he noticed how Roxas had just crossed his arms in silent contemplation and grew curious. "Something on your mind, kid?"

"Yeah. Why is it that we're the only ones who have encountered someone like that so far? And why did he only show up when that really big group of Heartless did," Roxas poised to the group.

"How the hell would I know," Hawkeye asked.

"I think I know what you're gettin' at, Roxas. You're thinking that maybe that fella is the one leading the Heartless, at least in this area or something," Goofy realized.

"Exactly," Roxas confirmed.

"But what would give you that idea," Hawkeye asked.

"Remember how we told you and the others how Xion and I used to be part of a really bad group before we met Ven and the others," Roxas asked, getting a nod in reply as a signal for him to continue. "Well, one of the things that group had us do the most of was tracking down Heartless and who or whatever their leader was. I may not remember much about that time, but I do know that the number of Heartless had a tendency to increase the closer we got to their boss."

"So since that big swarm showed up right when Speedy Gonzales did, that must mean he's pulling their strings," Hawkeye reasoned out.

"Well it does make sense based on what I can remember from back then," Roxas confirmed.

"Okay, then we need to get after that kid as soon as possible," Hawkeye stated, more than ready to leap into action until he looked back at the large number of Heartless still swarming towards them and deflated a little. "And I get the feeling that these guys aren't going to make that easy for us."

"Only if we all stick together," Donald pointed out. "You two go after the speedster. Me and Goofy will take care of these big palookas."

"You sure, Donald," Roxas asked. "I mean, that's a lot of Heartless."

"Aw phooey. We can handle them easily," Donald waved off in full confidence.

Hawkeye and Roxas took that in for all of a minute, before they both shrugged to one another and said, "Okay then."

With that said, the two raced off to track down their speedy foe, leaving Donald and Goofy to handle the Heartless heading their way. Not that they did not spare at least a few shots for the dark creatures as well so that the two would have a lighter load to handle, but Hawkeye did make it a point to eliminate the HYDRA troops that were also coming in with the Heartless once he saw them trying to discreetly sneak past him and his Keyblade partner. Once they had broken through, the two were able to find a few clues on where the mystery speedster went, and immediately followed the trail, each of them hoping that this whole mess would be dealt with once they had taken down the enhanced in question.

---

"This is the coolest thing ever! You know, aside from the HYDRA terrorists and Heartless attacking the city," Spider-Man cheered as he swung through the air, webbing up bad guys left and right so that they would be vulnerable to either his, Iron Man, or Sora's next attacks. "Not only am I having a reunion team-up with one of my favorite Keyblade-wielding heroes, but we're also partners with Iron Man!"

Sora could only beam widely in response to hearing Spidey call him his favorite Keyblade wielder, even if there was a chance that he was just saying that, but that did not mean he did not have anything else to say about his old friend's statement. "You must really look up to Iron Man a lot."

"Well who wouldn't," Spidey asked. "Mister Stark's not just a great superhero. He's also one of the smartest men in the world, rich, famous, and everyone loves him."

"Hey, I wouldn't go that far, kid," Iron Man disputed as he blasted another HYDRA goon into unconsciousness before turning his repulsors to evaporate another Heartless. "I'm pretty sure that my board members are usually not too happy with me, and last I checked, a good number of my competitors don't like me either. And don't even get me started on Justin Hammer or any of the other bad guys I've dealt with before."

"The keyword in that last one was 'bad guys,' and they don't really count that much. They're supposed to hate heroes," Spidey waved off, getting nods of agreement from both Sora and Stark. "None of that changes the fact that you're the best hero ever. Like, the first superhero of the modern age, even. Ever since that big press conference you had a few years ago when you announced your secret identity to the world after taking down Iron Monger."

"Wait, what," Sora exclaimed in surprise, having thought up until now that people only knew Tony Stark was Iron Man because someone had found out and blabbed. He was not opposed to people knowing who he was whenever he was saving worlds, but last he checked superheroes were not supposed to tell anyone, let alone the whole world their secret identity unless it was absolutely necessary or if the person they were telling was someone they trusted. "Why would you do that?"

"You mean besides the fact that secret identities are just weird and really bothersome, in my opinion," Tony asked as he landed alongside the two on a rooftop. They had paused in their flight across the city to catch their breath and let Tony's armor systems recharge a little bit, and with very few to no enemies in their current location, there did not seem to be any harm in stopping for a quick conversation. "I've never been afraid to hide who I am from the world. Sure, I've been afraid of people getting a certain image of me, or letting others see me at weaker or less pleasing moments, but I'm a genius, billionaire playboy philanthropist with his own company and who built the most advanced super armor on the planet. I've got a target on my back even without people knowing I was a superhero. Announcing that I was Iron Man to the world just helps to make sure everyone knows not to mess with me, and it shows that I'm willing to do more to make the world a safer place than just sit in an office all day signing checks and filling out paperwork."

"Not to mention that it's another way to show that he's determined to not let his company and tech be used in the weapons business ever again," Spidey added on.

"Yeah, there's that too, I guess," Tony confessed, earning another confused look from Sora. "A lot of the money my family's company gained over the years was from working in the weapons industry, especially since my father helped with the Manhattan project and worked alongside of Cap during World War II. He even made Cap's shield and was a founder of SHIELD, but after nearly being killed by one of my own weapons and seeing the soldiers I had built those weapons for being gunned down by terrorists that somehow got their hands on said weapons, you can't help getting a change in perspective."

"Huh," Sora hummed in acknowledgment. He was not too fond of the fact that Tony's company had gotten rich from making weapons for people, but it was nice to hear Tony was turning things around for the better. Still he was confused on one thing. "If your weapons are really that good, how'd you manage to survive nearly being killed by one of them?

"Well in a way, you can thank my very first suit of Iron Man armor for that," Tony replied. "I may save a lot of lives as Iron Man, but the truth is Iron Man's saved my life more than a few times as well, whether it's the full suit, or just part of it."

"Which is really impressive considering he built his first suit in a cave with a box of scraps," Spidey revealed.

"Seriously," Sora gasped in awe.

"Hey, don't get too excited. It wasn't anything as impressive as my current armors, be it the one I'm wearing now, or any of the other ones I've built since getting back from that impromptu siesta. It couldn't fly and didn't have repulsor tech in it, but I will admit, it was pretty impressive, considering what I had to work with," Tony admitted.

"Wow. Now that's scary smart," Sora complimented.

"If you think that's impressive, you should see the stuff that Web-Head here's been able to do just from a little dumpster diving," Tony remarked as he indicated Spidey. "I may have built all my own suits, but everything after that first one was made using the resources and money I get from my family's company. This kid here, he had to make do with stuff he could find in his basement, or whatever junk he happened to find lying around that seemed useful, and it was all really impressive."

"Really," Sora asked.

"My original costume was basically a hoodie, sweat pants, boots, and a pair of goggles with a crappy mask, while my web-shooters were clunky, gauntlets. You have no idea how happy I was when Mister Stark showed up and offered to give me the much needed upgraded to what you see now," Spider-Man informed his other-worldly friend.

Sora was about to ask Tony why he would help Spider-Man like that, when suddenly, a new wave of multiple Heartless suddenly appeared before them. "Looks like we're going to have to talk more a little later."

"Right; to be continued," Iron Man agreed as he charged his repulsors to fire, proving his suit was back at full power again.

"A shame that the same cannot be applied for your life, Stark. Your reckoning is finally at hand," a heavily accented voice declared from the shadows, and for a moment, the three almost thought that it was the speedster that Hawkeye had called in about earlier. At least until they realized that the voice was that of a woman's.

Turning around, the three came face to face with a young woman decked out in a black dress and an old-looking, red jacket, and judging by the sneer on her otherwise lovely face, she was certainly not here to make friends with any of them, least of all the person she was directing both her previous comment and angry look towards. What really set off warning bells for the three boys was the fact that there seemed to be weird, red energy tendrils of some kind floating about her, giving her already dangerous aura an extra edge; that was especially true when they noticed how most of this energy seemed to be focused around her hands like she was using it to power up an attack of some kind, but Sora could sense something else from her that made several shivers go up his spine.

Tony and Spider-Man must not have noticed Sora's sudden discomfort, as they were already busy addressing the woman in red before them. "Miss, I'm not sure what your problem is with me, but I'm sure that we can work something out if we talk things out after," Tony advised, sounding like he was making light of the situation despite the undercurrent of honest concern. "Namely, after we've dealt with the current crisis of the city being invaded by HYDRA and a bunch of dangerous monsters. So, if you could just move to somewhere a little safer, that would make things easier for us in the…"

"There's nothing for us to discuss, Stark," the woman snarled before Tony could continue further. "You took everything from both me and my brother. Now, we have the power to make you pay, and make sure that no one else will suffer for your sins as we have."

"Whoa, hey! Let's not get too crazy now," Spidey stepped in. "I'm sure whatever you think Mister Stark did is all just a big misunderstanding."

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Spider. After all, when one of the bombs that destroyed your home has its creators name painted onto the side clear as day, there's very little room for misunderstandings," the woman revealed.

Hearing that drew surprised gasps from all three heroes, and Spidey and Sora could not help but turn furtive glances towards Iron Man. They were not wondering if he had actually bombed this girl's home; they were sure that Tony would not do that kind of thing, personally or otherwise. What they were concerned with was how Tony would react. This girl was laying down a very serious accusation, and given how he would react over his company's weapons and tech falling into the wrong hands to be used for evil purposes, they had to wonder if Tony would be okay or end up just attacking out of a sense of denial.

Thankfully, Tony did not attack her, but instead was having his armor run various scans of the girl before him. One set of scans was to identify the energy she was giving off, while the other was to further his attempts at identifying this mystery girl. When he did, he was startled at what he found out, not because he knew the girl, but because he recognized the name of her home country. "You're from Sokovia," Tony gasped.

"Where," Spidey and Sora both asked, not recognizing the name at all.

"It's a small, land-locked nation that was victim to several bombings for years, and most of its populous isn't too fond of many of the larger world governments. The only things they like less than them are SHIELD and yours truly, which by extension, makes them hate the Avengers," Tony explained. "You and your family were caught in the bombings, weren't you?"

"My brother and I were orphaned the minute that one of your bombs collapsed our apartment, burying us in the rubble while killing our parents. Pietro pulled us under the bed just before a second shell hit, but it never went off. It just sat there in the rubble, three feet from our faces, and on the side of the shell was painted one word: Stark," the woman explained from there, her eyes turning as crimson as the energy around her, while a second, darker aura seemed to flare around her. "We were trapped for two days, and every effort to save us, every shift in the bricks, I would think 'this will set it off.' We waited for two days for you to kill us, Tony Stark. Your failure to do so allowed HYDRA to give us just what we needed to make you pay."

"Normally, I'd try to explain the flaw in your leap of logic, but if you're really with HYDRA, then I take it that means you're leading this little attack along with Hawkeye's speedy friend. So, I'm going to make this simple: stand down. This is the last time I'm going to ask nicely," Tony warned, his repulsors now clearly humming with life.

"Mister Stark," Spidey started to protest, only to be interrupted by the woman in red.

"No Stark. You will pay for what you did. This Scarlet Witch will make sure of that," the woman corrected, and the next thing any of them knew, she was floating up from the ground before she released a blast of energy that knocked Iron Man off his feet.

"Iron Man," Sora shouted in worry. He would have rushed over to check on the Avenger, but he was quickly forced onto the defensive when Scarlet Witch began trying to blast him and Spidey as well. To make matters worse, the Heartless began coming after them again, making Sora split his focus between avoiding or blocking Scarlet Witch's blasts and taking down the dwellers of darkness that she was clearly commanding.

Thankfully, Iron Man was not out of the fight for too long, and he had managed to pull himself up again so that he could spare a quick repulsor blast that saved Sora from a Neoshadow's sneak attack. He then used his boot jets to get airborne and start blasting at most of the Heartless surrounding them, while shouting out warnings to his two young teammates. "Watch yourselves around her, kids. That energy she's putting out is like nothing I've ever seen before," Tony cautioned. "The closest comparison I can make is to the energy that Loki's scepter gives off, which would explain part of the source behind how HYDRA gave her those powers. There's something else there though that I can't recognize at all, even through comparisons."

"I know what it is. I've felt this kind of darkness before, namely among people who have been forced to give into the power of the Heartless," Sora revealed to the other two.

"Meaning if we take down the Heartless or do something to snap her out of it, we can get her to stop," Spidey asked.

"Love the optimism, kid, but I'm pretty sure it's not that simple. You don't need to stoke the flames when there's already a roaring fire going," Tony dismissed while blasting a few more aerial Heartless with his repulsors, right when his something else suddenly pinged on his sensors. "Uh JARVIS, what's that coming towards us?"

"Exactly what you think it is, sir. HYDRA forces inbound for our location," the AI responded.

"Great. Like we didn't have enough problems. Spider-Man, you and Sora deal with this while I take care of these party-crashers," Tony ordered, and before anyone could say anything, he had already blasted off to intercept the HYDRA troops heading for their location.

Scarlet Witch tried to keep Tony from getting away, but a quick blast of Fira from Sora put a stop to that. Luckily for her, she was able to avoid the fireball before it singed her, but she was still very annoyed that the object of her revenge had escaped her grasp for the moment. Still, she did not let it show, and for the most part, she seemed content with turning her focus onto the two young heroes before her, as evidenced by how she was now blasting Spider-Man and Sora with a new vigor to her attacks.

Spidey mainly focused on dodging the girl's blasts while taking out Heartless wherever he could, making it clear where he was putting his focus. As he fought, Sora could also hear Spidey shouting out various commands that seemed to activate various features in his suit, among which included electrified webbing that destroyed several Heartless the minute they were hit. The number of falling Heartless grew even more when Spidey fired off several blasts of web bullets at once, sometimes in several different directions, and this trend continued on and on from there, leaving Sora amazed at how much more Spidey seemed to be able to do. It was not just with his webs though, as Spider-Man was spinning and flipping from one enemy to the next as he landed several hard punches and kicks that would often times destroy a Heartless in just one strike, and when they did not, he easily spun or slid around the enemy in question to quickly land an attack from behind that did the job. Seeing all of this from the web-head made Sora think that Spider-Man must have been holding back during all the times he had summoned the wall-crawler on his last journey, or that his abilities had somehow been watered down from his being turned into a summon charm.

Not that Sora was slacking off so that he could just watch Spidey fight. On the contrary, the Keyblade warrior was fighting just as hard as Spider-Man, and it showed in how he was easily destroying any Heartless that dared to cross him, be it with standard attacks or magic. At some points, Sora even used one or two of his Shotlocks, if for no other reason than to make the crowd they were dealing with a little more manageable, until eventually, he finally unleashed the power of his Destiny Blaze Command Style so that he could hit harder and faster than ever. Unlike Spider-Man though, Sora was not just dealing with the Heartless; he was also fighting Scarlet Witch as well, feeling that it would be a big help in the long run if they beat her here and now, and not just for them either. Sora knew very well what that kind of darkness could do to a person, and if he was right in thinking that the Heartless' power was forced onto her, then it was imperative that he do everything he can to help her.

Scarlet Witch was proving to be a very difficult opponent to fight though, even while Sora was using his Command Style. Given all that he had seen since coming to Marvel Universe, Sora was not sure what percentage of her power and skill could be attributed to the darkness that was overtaking her, and what amount was just her own power and skills. The only thing he knew for sure was that she was definitely angry with Iron Man, and justifiably so if her story was true, but behind that anger, Sora could also see something else in her eyes: fear. It was very obvious that something about all of this scared her, and the next time he got in close for an attack, Sora could swear that he saw a lone tear escape from her eye, indicating that she was far from happy with having this new power.

"Listen to me," Sora pleaded with her while he held his Keyblade against the shield she was using to keep him back. "The power of darkness is not something you want to mess with, especially if it's the kind that comes from the Heartless. I've seen what it does to people; how it can destroy them, and how it nearly cost my best friend his life. You need to fight it off before it destroys you."

"Don't act like you really care," Scarlet Witch growled. "No one who allies with Stark truly cares about the people who have been crushed underfoot."

"I care a lot more than you know," Sora insisted as he continued pushing, only to break off with a mighty leap and then aim his Keyblade so that he could freeze her in place with some ice magic. "The last thing I ever want is to see other people suffer, and if I can do something to stop that, then I'll gladly do everything I can to make it happen."

"You think others haven't tried before," Scarlet Witch asked. "You think I haven't tried to do something else before resorting to this? This is all I know! I won't let Stark and the Avengers destroy the world anymore than they already have!"

"If you side with HYDRA like this, you'll do a lot worse than destroy the world," Spider-Man informed her. "Do you really think they care about anything other than furthering their own goals? They don't care if they're playing with fire so long as they get what they want, and trust me, the Heartless are a fire that you do not want to even think about playing with."

Scarlet Witch did not listen, and instead just let out a loud shriek of anger as she blasted another wave of energy at the two, prompting Sora to cast Aerora Shield in an effort to protect both him and Spidey. The wind barriers held up for the most part, but the overwhelming strength of her attack was so incredible, that it ended up causing Sora's spell to be dispersed completely after it struck the spheres. A powerful shockwave seemed to hit both Spidey and Sora after the barrier was broken, and as a result, they were sent hurtling across the street before falling flat on their faces, leaving them struggling to stand again afterwards. Not that it seemed to deter Scarlet Witch at all, as she just marched over with an intent to end them once and for all.

"I've heard more than enough of your lies," she snarled as she powered up her attack, and the boys could do nothing more than shut their eyes in preparation for the worst.

To their surprise, the attack never came, but a loud cry of pain did. Hearing that shout made them open their eyes again, only to see Iron Man had returned from his battle and taken Scarlet Witch's blast for them. When the attack finally ended, Iron Man fell to one knee, panting heavily while his armor sparked with faint electricity from various points of damage. Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch could be seen staring at him in open surprise, hardly believing that Tony had taken an attack meant for someone else.

"What…Why would you," she barely managed to stutter.

"Because I made a promise to not waste my life and do a better job in protecting the world we live in, Wanda," Iron Man gasped, surprising the girl a little more given her soft gasp. "That is your name, right? Wanda…Maximoff, isn't it?"

"Y…Yes," Wanda hesitantly confirmed.

"Listen Wanda, whether you believe me or not, I am telling you the truth when I say that I never wanted any innocents to be hurt by my tech, even when I was making weapons. I'm not perfect. Hell, I'm so far from that it's laughable, but I'm trying to be better than I was before the events that led to my becoming Iron Man. I'm sorry for what happened to you and your brother, and if you want to take your hatred out on me, that's fine, just so long as you leave anyone else out of it, especially Spidey."

"Why do you care so much if I leave him out of it or not," Wanda asked.

"Because I know that he can be better than I am, or likely ever will be," Iron Man confessed. "He's always been incredibly bright for his age, even before I first met him face-to-face, but more than that, he's got a solid code of morals. When I first asked him why he does all of this, you know what he said to me? I'll never forget it. He said, 'When you can do the things that I can, but you don't, and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.' Even when he's getting into huge city or world saving things like this or anything else the Avengers deal with, Spidey always goes right back to helping out the little guys, because there's no such thing as a small time problem in his eyes. He sees something wrong going on, and he's always one of the first ones there to try and help out, even if you don't want him to. That alone makes him someone that I can admire. Not because of his intelligence or skills, which are admittedly impressive, but because first and foremost, he is and always will be your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

Hearing such a passionate and honest speech like that left all three of the remaining combatants in varying degrees of shock. Wanda because after living so much of her life hating Tony Stark, she would never have believed that he could believe something so strongly, or that he would be willing to go so far for someone as he did just now. It just did not line up with the image she had of Stark at all. Sora was shocked because after hearing all that Spidey had told him and the Keyblade Legion about Iron Man and the Avengers, he would not have thought it possible for one the superhero team's members to think so highly of someone that normally dealt with small time stuff in the way that Spidey did. He got over his surprise pretty quickly though, mainly because Sora had seen firsthand what Spider-Man was capable of after all the time they had worked together on his last journey, and even if that time was really limited, he knew that Iron Man was right in his beliefs.

Spidey was just downright stunned. Here was one of his greatest heroes, basically singing his praises to the heavens like he was the greatest thing that ever lived. It was certainly a change of pace in comparison to the critiques he usually received from others, but coming from Tony, it held a lot more weight than he could even hope to imagine. For once in his life, Spidey was completely speechless. However sweet the moment might have been, it was quickly ruined when Wanda suddenly let out a loud shriek, not of anger, but of pain, and that got Sora and Spidey back on their guard, with Iron Man now struggling to try and stand up straight.

The three heroes could not help but watch as Wanda clutched her head, crying in agony while the aura of darkness around her seemed like it was trying to assert its power over her in any way that it could, and to make matters worse, it seemed like her powers were lashing out uncontrollably because of her struggle against it. All around them, destruction was raining down on the city from the blasts of scarlet red energy that Wanda was projecting, and while it was destroying several Heartless as a side effect, that proved to be a very small bright side in the grander scope of things.

After screaming until the point where it seemed like she would lose her voice, Wanda looked to the three heroes and hoarsely croaked out as best as she could, "Please…Help…Help me. I can't…I can't stop it!"

Another explosion of energy burst forth from Wanda with that last sentence, prompting Sora and Spidey to try and shield themselves with their arms. Iron Man was not quite as lucky, because while his armor did prevent him from being thrown back like a loose flag in a powerful wind, he was still knocked off his feet by the blast all the same, much to Spider-Man and Sora's concern. They would have rushed over to him, had Iron Man not waved for them to stop so he could give them a different set of orders.

"Don't worry about me," Iron Man shouted over the raging winds that were now being stirred up by Wanda's powers. "Just do whatever you can to save her!"

Looking back over at Scarlet Witch from where Iron Man was, Sora and Spidey had a feeling that was going to be a lot easier said than done. Good thing they both specialized in dealing with situations like that. In an instant, the two had set to work, battling it out against the Heartless and the out-of-control Scarlet Witch with everything they had, their teamwork proving to be just as strong now as it was when they had last met almost a year ago. One could argue that it was even better though, as Spidey was now using all the special settings on his web-shooters to help even things out as well, and Sora eventually added an extra edge both with the help of his Destiny Blaze Command Style, and once that had run its course, he kept it going with the assistance of Valor Form. Between the combined powers of these two, it was more amazing that anyone could have stood a smidgen of a chance, and it only got better as time went on.

Watching them work, even Wanda had to admit that she was impressed and amazed at how right they were proving Tony to be, because they were not just focused on fighting her and these monsters she had been forced to command for this whole thing. Several times, she saw Spidey break off from the fight to pull a random civilian to safety before they could be hurt, and Sora use some of his magic to prevent innocents from being crushed by falling rubble. They did not just do it when it was convenient either; they would go to save all these people even if it put them at risk of being hit by an enemy attack, and that certainly spoke volumes to Wanda about how truthful Tony was being earlier. The thing that really impressed everyone though, was what had come the moment Sora and Spidey were gearing up for one final attack.

After destroying another Heartless and ending up back-to-back with Spidey, Sora could feel a new energy building inside of him, and upon looking down at himself, he saw that a brilliant gold aura had begun to cover his body and Keyblade. A quick glance at Spidey allowed him to see that the web-head was also being covered in this aura, and at that moment, Sora grinned, knowing exactly what was going on. "Alright! Looks like we've formed a Command Link, Spidey," he cheered.

"A what," Spider-Man asked, completely bewildered by what was going on.

"Just think of it as an ultimate team-up move for the two of us, and go with whatever happens," Sora simplified as best as he could while readying his Keyblade for action.

"Okay, sure. I can work with that," Spider-Man agreed, grinning under his mask as he felt a new power start to flow through him as he took his ready stance.

The next thing anyone knew, Sora and Spidey had blitzed through at least half of the remaining Heartless with a series of high-speed attacks that were almost invisible to the naked eye, and any monsters that were not destroyed found themselves trapped in some very tough webbing or bindings made of light energy. Wanda ended up being one of the ones who was trapped by the latter and considering how said bindings seemed to be weakening the dark powers that were trying to claw their way into her, she was not complaining. A second later, Spidey had leapt high into the air, spinning around as fast as he could while attaching a web-line to Sora, giving the Keyblade Warrior a little extra pull when his next attacks came down after Spider-Man's did. The result was the destruction of nearly every airborne Heartless that was still in the area, and several more Heartless being wiped out by the shockwave that erupted when the two hit the ground again.

Their combined attack was not done though, but they were definitely about to bring things home when they felt the energy of their Command Link reaching its peak, and they quickly came to stand side-by-side with one another. A second later, Spidey had launched himself forward while attaching another strong web-line onto Sora, and the two then proceeded to land several attacks while using the web-line to pull the other in for another one that proved stronger than the last one that they had landed. First it was Spidey landing a strong but fast kick then he pulled Sora in so that he could land a slash with his Keyblade, and after following up with another swing of his blade, Sora pulled Spidey back into things, allowing the web-head to land a hard, flying punch. A quick pair of spin kicks soon followed after in Spidey's end of the assault, while Sora catapulted himself into the air, so that when Spidey gave their connecting web-line another pull, the Keyblade Warrior was drawn in for a powerful, downward strike that created a powerful shockwave of energy.

Under this tremendous force of attacks, Wanda could not remain standing for very long, and was thus thrown flying backwards through the air when their last attack connected. Luckily, she ended up relatively unscathed, but she was more relieved by the other thing that had resulted from taking that last hit. Whatever darkness was inside of her, Wanda could now feel that it was all gone, and she could not help smiling a little in thanks to the two who had blasted it out of her.

Sora and Spider-Man were doing a fair amount of smiling too, even as the aura from their new Command Link faded out, but sadly, now was not the time to relax. There was still some work to do, as Iron Man soon reminded them as he came to stand between the two boys. "Not bad, kids," Tony praised. "Looks like that last attack of yours has made this part of the city a Heartless-free zone. Now we just have to hope that the others are able to take care of their sectors."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that, sir," JARVIS said. "Recent scans show that defeating Miss Maximoff has eliminated a good number of the Heartless attacking the city, while any stragglers have already been swiftly dealt with by Colonel Rhodes' group."

Tony was just about to ask JARVIS for confirmation on whether or not he heard that right, when Rhodey's voice suddenly sounded over his suit's comm. system. "Hey Tony, a lot of the Heartless that we were fighting just now suddenly turned to smoke or vanished, and I'm pretty sure only a few of them did so because of Thor's lightning and Ven's fancy light-sword move."

"It's called the Wingblade Command Style," Ventus could be heard shouting at War Machine from somewhere in the background.

"Was that you guys," Rhodey continued on.

"Yeah, looks like," Tony confirmed. "Now we just have Cap and Legolas's teams to worry about."

"Might be a little harder for Hawkeye's team to do that since they've got to worry about that speedster who's leading another group," Spider-Man pointed out, while clueing Sora in on who Stark was talking about when he mentioned the name Legolas.

Wanda looked over at the three heroes for a minute, thinking about all that had been said and done just now, until she finally let out quiet, resigned sigh and spoke up, getting their attention. "He's just fast, not invincible," she revealed to the heroes. "Quicksilver…Pietro's speed allows him to move faster than the speed of sound, but he's still just as vulnerable to injury as any other man if he's not careful of where he runs. He also has moments where he tends to be overconfident a great deal of the time, and that's his greatest weakness."

The three just stared at Wanda for a minute, questioning whether or not they should believe her and if this was truly an attempt at helping them on her part. Not that it was hard to blame them for such skepticism, considering that she was just fighting them a minute ago, but from what they had gathered, she did seem like she was just a victim in all this madness too, and the look in her eyes indicated that she truly regretted what she did.

Taking another minute to weigh the validity of her claim, Tony decided to relay the information to Hawkeye's team, only to receive a pretty surprising reply. "Yeah, we figured that out already, but you've got nothing to worry about, Stark."

"Why not," Tony asked.

---

"Me and Roxas have already got Quicksilver under wraps," Hawkeye replied with a smirk on his face, making a few little adjustments to one of his arrows while he and Roxas stood proudly over a downed Pietro who was tied up from nearly head to toe. Roxas had even gone an extra mile in securing the speedster's feet in ice, just to make sure that he could not run even if he broke free of the cables wrapped around him, but he did not really need to do much beyond that than knock out any overabundance of darkness that was allowing Quicksilver to remain in control of some of the Heartless.

"So, how does it feel to know that you got taken down by a guy with a bow and arrow, tough guy," Roxas asked with a little smugness in his tone. When Pietro just glared back at the blonde, Roxas just had to quip, "What? You didn't see that coming?"

"Shut up," Pietro retorted.

"Hey, don't be a sore loser, kid. It can be bad for your health. Just ask Stark, or Thor, or really half of the team," Hawkeye playfully scolded.

"If you two are done making fun of the poor kid, how about you help us deal with what's left of these Heartless," Donald shouted over from where he was.

"Calm down, Donald. We're coming," Roxas reassured his friend as he rushed over to where Goofy and the magician in question were still fighting.

"Now we just need to figure out how to stop all of this for good, because last I checked, we still haven't found a source for these things," Hawkeye commented as he readied the arrow he was adjusting and fired it at a random Heartless.

"Maybe you didn't, but we did," Black Widow reported. "Xion was able to track the Heartless back to the Sokovian Embassy and a quick little search helped us to find plenty of evidence linking the country to HYDRA."

"Well, isn't that interesting. Seems our two enhanced are from Sokovia," Iron Man reported to the others.

"That's a bit too much of a coincidence," Captain America noted.

---

"Yeah, you can say that again, old man," Iron Man agreed before he looked to Wanda, knowing that she would have a few answers to the new questions he had. "Is that where you and your brother got your fancy powers? Back in home sweet home?"

"Yes," Wanda confirmed. "HYDRA has a base in Sokovia where they performed many experiments. Most volunteers did not survive. Pietro and I are the only ones who did."

"And how is it that your powers share an energy signature with Loki's scepter," Iron Man questioned.

"Probably because that's where they came from," Wanda admitted, surprising Iron Man. "Every experiment that they did in that program was in search of a way to harness the power of that scepter in others. They believed that it held more power than was demonstrated during the Battle of New York. Seems they were right."

Hearing that, Iron Man did not need to think twice before he relayed his next orders. "Wrap up with what's left of the Heartless and then meet back at the tower, Avengers. We're heading to Sokovia as soon as we're done here."

"Any particular reason for this journey, Stark," Thor questioned.

"That's where HYDRA has Loki's scepter," Tony answered as simply as he could, knowing that would be all that any of the team needed to hear to be okay with this mission, especially in the case of Thor.

"Wait," Wanda called out, getting the heroes' attention again. "The person who gave us the power to command those creatures will likely be there too. You cannot miss him. He looks and sounds just like that big, fat cat-man from the Mickey Mouse cartoons."

"'Big, fat cat-man,'" Spidey repeated in question.

"Pete," Sora growled in recognition a second after. "Looks like we'll be going with you."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't, Sora," Iron Man admitted. "Besides, having you and Spidey along might be a big help if you guys can do that little Command Linking thing again."

"It's called a Command Link," Sora corrected. "The Spectacular Marvel Command Link."

"Seriously? That's what you're going with for the move's name," Spider-Man asked.

"Hey, don't look at me. These things name themselves. Why? What would you have called it?"

"I don't know. How about…Ultimate Web," Spider-Man offered.

"What about Slinger Sting," Sora countered.

"Key Web."

"Oh! Spell Binder!"

"Shinning Avenger?"

Sora had to pause for little at that last one, before he finally admitted, "Okay, that one's pretty good. Maybe if I ever form a Command Link with one or a bunch of the other Avengers in the future it'll be called that."

"Hey guys! Workshop later; head to the tower for our mission now," Iron Man interrupted.

"Right. Coming," both boys answered and they quickly started to follow after him.

Sora had just formed his Keyblade Glider when he looked back to Wanda and saw her struggling to stand up. Moving over so that his flying motorbike was hovering next to her, Sora held out a hand to the girl and asked, "Are you coming with us?"

Wanda looked at Sora like he had suddenly grown two heads, and reminded him, "I was just trying to kill you and your friends, and you want me to join you on a mission to stop HYDRA?"

"Well, we can't exactly let you go free," Iron Man pointed out. "Besides, HYDRA are snakes in a lot of different ways, so I'm sure that we could spin a few stories to sell the fact you weren't entirely in agreement with all this insanity. But just to be clear, you won't be joining us on the mission. If anything, we'll be leaving you at the tower under heavy surveillance while we deal with that HYDRA base."

Wanda was still seemed hesitant to accept this offer, until Spidey came over to her and said, "I know you've got a lot of baggage with Mister Stark and how he does things, but staying at Avengers Tower has got to be better than being out on the streets and having to fend for yourself, right? Besides, you might find that things with them are a lot better than you ever thought they could be, so why not give it a try?"

Seeing how eagerly they all were at the thought of her coming with them, even if it was so she could be placed on what was basically house-arrest, Wanda eventually gave in, accepted the hand that Sora was offering to her, and allowed the boy to pull her onto his Keyblade Glider. "Not like I've got a better option," Wanda shrugged once she was on. Upon wrapping her arms around Sora to ensure she would not fall off during the flight, she did give the Keyblade warrior a playful warning. "Just don't get any ideas, kid. I'm pretty sure that I'm a little too old for you, even by Sokovian standards."

Even though his face did turn a little red at Wanda's implication, Sora managed to shrug it off and say, "That's okay. I've already got a great girlfriend."

Hearing that drew a smile onto Wanda's face that she was sure was bigger than any she had ever given to anyone or anything in years. Not only that, but it also felt much more pure and relaxed than any she could remember making in an even longer time, and she could not help but mentally thank Sora for giving her this feeling. Tony also shared in those smiles from behind the mask of his helmet, but all the same, he kept on task as he allowed Spider-Man to hang onto him for the flight back to the tower while relaying a few more orders.

"Alright everybody, we're going to be going in hot when we get to Sokovia, because if that is where they're keeping Loki's scepter, you can bet that it's going to be packed with some heavy security and artillery. In short, we can't afford to give any less than our absolute best on this one," Tony informed the others.

"Does that mean what I think it does, Tony," Bruce asked.

"You bet it does, Banner. Start getting angry. I'm calling a Code Green for this one," Iron Man confirmed.

"Code Green? What does that mean," Sora asked.

"You'll find out pretty soon," Spider-Man answered as cryptically as you can imagine.

---

A few hours later certainly proved Spidey right when the teams were flying right over Sokovia, but only the Avengers had moved in for the initial attack. The Keyblade Legion on the other hand had remained behind on the superhero team's transport, the Quinjet so that they could be ready to drop in with full strength at a moment's notice in case the Heartless did show up at some point during the confrontation. To everyone's relief, the HYDRA base was in the middle of a forest just outside of the borders of Sokovia's main city, which meant that no one had to worry about collateral damage too much. Not that it stopped HYDRA from firing on the city in an effort to divert the Avengers' attention, but luckily, Iron Man had a response for that in the form of his Iron Legion drones. The only thing more interesting than the flying robotic defense force was the events happening on the ground around the Avengers themselves.

The nine heroes were all showing a great deal of skill and coordination, proving that their teamwork was just as solid in the field as it was in a training ground, and they were also showing that they were able to adapt to their environment pretty well too. Some of them had a harder time than others, with Spider-Man being the most obvious since he was more used to fighting bad guys within the confines of a city. Thankfully, given the heavily wooded area they were in, the web-head was still able to find a way to swing around and take down bad guys like he usually would, but he was still grateful to have the other Avengers watching his back. The only thing that was more attention grabbing for the Keyblade wielders was the change Banner had undergone once he had entered into the fight.

Just after they had arrived in the airspace, Bruce had opened the hatch and jumped out of the plane, making the Keybearers think that he had suddenly become suicidal, at least until his landing made a small crater, and included a very loud roar that almost rivaled that of the Beast's. When the dust had settled, they all saw that Bruce had transformed into a massive, hulking, green rage monster, and he had wasted no time in tearing apart any HYDRA forces that had already been deployed to stop them. What's more, none of the weapons being used against him seemed to be so much as tickling the Hulk, and he then proceeded to barrel through everything in his path like it was made of tissue paper. Seeing how easily Hulk was handling things, the Keyblade Legion had to wonder why the rest of the Avengers were really there, until they realized just how directionless his rampage really was.

"Guess Rhodey wasn't kidding when he said that Bruce has a hard time controlling himself when he's like this," Ventus noted as he watched.

"Actually sir, the Hulk is more of a second personality from Dr. Banner, and their relationship is often said to be comparable to Dr Jekyll and Mister Hyde," JARVIS clarified for Ventus.

"Either way, at least we get to just relax and watch the action instead of being caught in the middle of it," Roxas shrugged as he leaned back in his seat. When he saw the others looking at him weirdly, he instantly said, "What? I don't mind fighting bad guys, but you can't tell me it doesn't get a little tiring after a while, can you?"

"He's got a point," Xion shrugged in agreement.

"Just keep in mind that we're not here to just watch as this happens, you two. We need to be keeping an eye out for the Heartless in case they appear," Ventus gently reminded them.

Not even a few seconds after he said that, the monsters in question started crawling and flying about around the castle that the Avengers were heading into. "Speak of the shadows," Sora shrugged as he turned towards the Quinjet's exit, already gearing up in his armor as he went.

"Yep. Probably would've helped if I kept my mouth shut," Ventus agreed. "Donald, you and Goofy stay here and make sure that the jet doesn't crash or something."

"Aye aye," Donald saluted from the pilot's seat.

With that little matter taken care of the Keyblade wielders all followed Sora's lead in armoring up, and quickly leapt from the jet so that they could join the fight. Their landing was not nearly as rough as you would probably have expected, thanks in large part to Ven's use of wind magic, and just like that, the two teams were entering battle together again, with the Keyblade Legion focusing on the Heartless while the Avengers took down the forces of HYDRA. The addition of the Keyblade wielders was so seamless in fact, that you would think that they had been in the fight right from the start, especially with how they each seemed to group up with one another shortly after their arrival.

Xion was quickly fending off several enemies at once while calling out changes in enemy patterns to the rest of the team with Hawkeye and Black Widow, while Roxas had somehow found himself in a three-way competition with Thor and Hulk to see who could take down the most bad guys. Not that the blonde was complaining; he seemed like he was enjoying himself quite a bit. On the other end of things, Ventus and Sora had quickly managed to break into the main base with Iron Man, Falcon, Captain America, and Spider-Man, and together, the five were able to knock out several different lieutenants and leaders while securing an entry/exit for the rest of the team to get through. Things only grew easier when Iron Man found a port that he could use to hack into the base's systems in order to disable the enemy's security and locate their main objectives: the scepter that they were after and the leader of HYDRA himself. As it turned out, the latter of those two was the one that the Keyblade wielders needed to pursue, as Barron Strucker was actually attempting to make his escape alongside of old Pete, much to Sora and Ven's irritation.

Captain America did not even need to ask for the master and apprentice to accompany him in the pursuit of Strucker, but he did make a point to tell Falcon to keep combing through whatever data he could get his hands on in order to find some information regarding another target of theirs while making sure Tony would promise to stay safe when he went after the scepter. Ventus and Sora wanted to ask what it was that Falcon was looking for, but one look at Steve's face told them it was something really personal for the captain, so they decided to keep out of it. There was no need for them to be sticking their noses into something if it made Cap uncomfortable.

Not that they really had time to question anyone about anything right then, because it was just when they came around another corner after splitting up from Iron Man and Falcon that they came face-to-face with their villains. "Oh great. You pipsqueaks again," Pete bemoaned at the sight of the Keyblade wielders. "Don't think that putting on some fancy suits is going to change anything though. You'll still end up falling at the hands of the mighty Pete!" He then had to pause when he felt Strucker giving him a look for his remark, before he hastily added, "And of course, my new friends in HYDRA too."

"Like we really need you to tell us how little our armor changes things in a fight with you," Sora scoffed as he and Ventus both rolled their eyes behind the visors of their helmets. "We already know that we could take you down without even trying, Pete."

That seemed to rile Pete up a little, but Strucker and Captain America paid him little mind, as they were more focused on their own stare down. "Looks like we've finally gotten HYDRA's number one thug," Cap commented.

"Technically, I am a thug for SHIELD," Strucker corrected.

"Well then technically, you're unemployed," Cap easily quipped back. "You should surrender now. We're already on the verge of securing Loki's scepter."

"Actually, we're not on the verge. We just have Loki's scepter. It's a bit of a shame that Thor's going to have to take it back to Asgard, because this would make a great souvenir for the trophy room," Iron Man corrected via Steve's radio.

"Correction, we do have Loki's scepter, and all your forces are either down for the count or are just being rounded up as we speak, assuming they haven't been smashed by Hulk," Captain America then informed Strucker.

"Not to mention that the Heartless aren't going to be of much help to either of you now, seeing as our team has likely dealt with them all by now, so it would be a wise move to just surrender," Ventus added on.

"Oh don't worry. I know when I'm beat," Strucker assured them, much to Pete's disbelief.

"I thought you were supposed to be some top-dog of evil-doers," Pete gasped in disbelief.

"I am, and part of that comes from being smart as opposed to arrogant, unlike certain other threats that the Avengers and their little friends have faced in the past," Strucker stated. He then turned his attention back to Captain America and asked, "You will mention how I cooperated, I hope?"

"I'll put it right under illegal experimentation," Captain America informed him, making it clear how unlikely it would be that his sentence would be lightened. "How many are there besides the twins?"

Strucker merely shrugged as he admitted, "They are the only ones. The others were not as…fortunate in the tests."

Hearing Strucker pass that off as though he were talking about an old pair of boots really got under Sora and Ventus's skin, and if it were not for the circumstances and their own moral code, they likely would have outright attacked Strucker for his remark. Pete on the other hand, did not keep quiet, but instead, continued throwing a fit like an upset child over how his side had lost again, until he looked up and pointed at something behind the heroes. "Oh look! A giant robot monster thing," Pete shouted in a panic.

No one needed to see Ventus or Sora's face to know that they were both giving the exact same flat, disbelieving look to the large bully. "Did you seriously think we would actually fall for that," Ventus questioned after a few more minutes.

"Yeah, even Goofy wouldn't fall for it. None of us are that gullible," Sora reminded him. He stopped short of any further critiquing on Pete's distraction strategy when he heard the sound of something big and mechanical moving behind them, and slowly turned to glance back and see what was making the sound. When he did see it, he immediately went stiff, but still managed to maintain enough composure to tap Ven's arm and say, "Uh…Ven…"

"What," Ventus asked as he turned around, only to pause when he saw what had gotten Sora's attention. "Oh…You know, it's moments like this that are the reason why people actually do fall for that 'made-you-look' joke from time to time."

Captain America turned around to figure out what the two were talking about, and was left surprised at what he was seeing. "A Chitauri Leviathan!"

"A who-what-now," Ventus questioned, with Sora silently asking the same thing, despite the fact no one could see his face at the moment.

"The Chitauri are an alien army that had been under Loki's command, and he used them to launch an invasion of Earth, leading to the Battle of New York and, incidentally, the formation of the Avengers," Captain America explained. "And that Leviathan there is one of their most powerful forces. A living warship of destruction that could drop several regular Chitauri troops into the field all while flying around and unleashing whatever destruction it could think of in a single moment. It shouldn't be possible for it to be working though."

"Why not," Sora asked.

"Because Tony had destroyed the base that gave them their commands, disabling all Chitauri at once," Cap explained. "The fact it's so much as moving is impossible."

"Oh, you wanna bet," Pete boasted with a chuckle. "Well as it turns out, there was still just enough of a mind in that thing for a whole mess of hatred and vengeance to build up inside, and that was all that the Heartless needed to power it up again, only this time with the power of darkness. Meaning, in just a few short minutes, your world will be overrun by the all new Chitauri Heartless!"

"That's what you think," Sora shot back, his Keyblade at the ready.

"Stark, did you get all that," Captain America asked.

"Loud and clear, and the others are all ready and waiting right outside, so you might want to lead it there," Iron Man reported.

Ventus and Sora did not need Steve to say anything, as they had both already started firing whatever spells they could muster in that moment, drawing the Leviathan's attention onto them as they broke off their attack to turn and make for the exit. Cap watched them go for only a few minutes before turning to Strucker, who looked ready to add a few more remarks. Too bad for the baron, Steve was not in the mood to hear any of it, and he quickly knocked Strucker out with his shield. He would have done the same to Pete as well, but somehow, the overweight cat had already vanished from the area in all the confusion.

"Guess he's just going to be something that the Keyblade Legion's going to have to worry about some other time," Steve shrugged to himself, and he quickly started running to join the others outside.

---

It did not take long for Ventus and Sora to rendezvous with the rest of their teammates, and thankfully, Iron Man came in just seconds after they had arrived, because otherwise, the Leviathan would likely have swallowed everyone whole just like Monstro the Whale had Sora, Ven, Donald, and Goofy a year ago. Too bad for him, the tank missile that he shot to make the Leviathan back off had little effect aside from simply keeping it away from his teammates, much to everyone's displeasure. When Captain America and Falcon appeared on the scene, they had both arrived just in time to see the Leviathan slowly rising back up again, still covered in an aura of darkness as it started dropping not Chitauri warriors, but more Heartless, most of them being Soldiers or the ones that the Keyblade Legion had seen back in Hollow Bastion, which Jiminy had long since identified for them as Armored Knights.

"Well that's different," was all that Hawkeye could say after seeing the Heartless drop down from the living warship.

"Only in terms of guests, Barton. The party's still the same as it's always been," Iron Man disputed, clearly still just as confident as he usually was.

"I still don't see how that's a party," Black Widow admitted.

"Me neither," Xion said, with Roxas silently nodding in agreement.

"Either way, Tony's right. We've already beaten several of these Leviathans during the Battle of New York. The fact that it's now got the powers of the Heartless doesn't change anything other than the kind of troops it deploys," Captain America insisted. "If anything, we have the better advantage here."

"Naturally, you've got us on your side," Donald announced as he and Goofy walked up to the group. "Sorry, but we were starting to get bored just sitting around and watching."

"I doubt anyone's going to complain, pal," Ventus assured the magician.

Sora then leveled a powerful look on the Leviathan as he stepped forward and shouted, "Alright Leviathan Heartless; prepare to face the Keyblade Legion!"

"Oh come on. Are you still on that," Donald grumbled under his breath while he and Goofy summoned their weapons.

"And Earth's mightiest heroes: the Avengers," Iron Man added on. "Together, we're unstoppable."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Captain America agreed. "Avengers, let's take this thing down!"

"Keyblade Legion, time for us to really shine," Ventus commanded.

While the others all rushed in to attack, Goofy could not help but pause in thought as he commented, "Anyone else feel like we just missed out on a huge opportunity or something?"

No one answered the knight, but that was probably because they were all already battling it out with the Leviathan and the Heartless it was deploying into the battlefield. Iron Man, Thor, War Machine, and Falcon had all gone for an aerial attack straight on the Leviathan itself, leaving the rest of the team to deal with the Heartless that were already on the ground. It was not like they could just leave them alone, considering that if left unchecked, the Heartless would probably try to get into the main city, so it was only natural for everyone who was not capable of getting airborne without extra assistance would be fighting off the foot soldiers. Not that it stopped them from trying, as evidenced by how Ventus would often use his Flowmotion powers to boost into the air to land a few strikes of his own on the Leviathan.

Ventus was not the only Keyblade wielder to attack the Leviathan though, but he was usually instrumental in getting the other members of his team, and sometimes a few of the Avengers into the air so that they could attack it as well. The only ones who did not really need his help that much were Sora, who would usually resort to getting airborne with his Keyblade Glider, Spider-Man, and Hulk. Sure, the web-head mostly kept his focus on the Heartless fighting on the ground, but he would sometimes try to hit the Leviathan with a slingshot maneuver that seemed to do a fair bit of damage now and again. Hulk on the other hand was a different story, as he just needed to jump up on top of the thing and then punch it as hard as he could without creating any kind of destructive earthquakes or shockwaves. The one thing that was undeniable though was that the Keyblade wielders were definitely helping to make some headway in the fight against the Leviathan, probably even more so than the Avengers usually had when they had been fighting against the Chitauri before.

The only reason why the fight was not over quickly was because somehow, having the Heartless give it an extra power boost had made the Leviathan a bit more resistant against normal attacks. Lucky for the Avengers, that same power boost also made it more vulnerable to the Keyblade's power, which meant that the Keyblade Legion just had to find a soft spot and hit it as hard as they could. Those soft spots were pretty easy to find, seeing how the Keyblade Legion were soon focusing their attacks on the wings and head of the Leviathan, but they made a few more with some help from the Avengers. One example would be when Thor and Hulk tore off some of the Leviathan's armor, giving Roxas an opening to hit it on its stomach with both of his Keyblades, and Xion quickly followed after her brother with an easy barrage of spells that made it whimper and stumble in its flight path. Falcon was then able to hit it with several shots from his guns in a fast, bombardment run, leaving it open to the attacks that Donald, Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America had launched soon after.

The final attack to knock it out of the sky came from Iron Man, Thor, War Machine, and Ventus, all of whom had hit it with their best long-range attacks, making the Leviathan actually release a roar of pain as it started dropping to the ground. It probably would have slid all the way over to the city, had Hulk not gotten in its path and punched it right in the face. Goofy tried to help out the big guy by pushing the Leviathan back with his shield, but from what everyone could tell, it did not seem like the knight was really doing too much to lighten the load. Then again, Hulk was known as the strongest hero there is for a reason, so that was really no surprise. To further guarantee that it would go any further from their battlefield, Spider-Man quickly spun out a quick net of webbing, capturing the Leviathan like a fly in a spider's web long enough for Sora to land one last, finishing blow with his Keyblade. That last hit proved to be just what they needed to end the fight completely, as the Leviathan finally let out one last roar before it fell to the ground, completely dead as the darkness it was infested with dispersed from its body.

"Well…that was fun," Spider-Man sighed, glad that whole mess was over.

"Yeah. Let's not do it again anytime soon," Iron Man insisted, and almost no one argued with him on that sentiment.

"Here's hoping we won't have to unless we come back to this world in the future," Xion stated, reminding everyone that the Keyblade Legion were likely to have to deal with more big monsters like this in the near future.

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you," Ventus warned her.

The moment was suddenly interrupted when everyone heard a loud crash, and turned to see Hulk was still tearing into what was left of the Leviathan. "Oh yeah. Almost forgot about him," Iron Man admitted.

"Widow, time for a Lullaby," Captain America ordered.

"I'm on it," Black Widow confirmed, slowly making her way over to the Hulk.

As Widow performed the necessary routine to help Hulk turn back into Banner, the Keyblade Legion all had to agree that the whole adventure on this world really was one marvel of excitement and insanity. "So…how long do you think we still have here, and when do you think we'll be able to come back," Roxas asked his friends, cuing up the laughter from all of them.

---

A few hours later, Strucker had been taken into custody along with the other HYDRA agents that the Avengers and Keyblade Legion had managed to capture, while a special organization known as Damage Control was left with the task of cleaning up the Leviathan and all the other debris that was left over from the battle. This allowed the Avengers and Keyblade Legion to return to Avengers Tower without much worry, and with Loki's scepter securely in hand, there was little doubt that the heroes were all likely to throw quite the victory party later on. There was just one thing that Sora had to wonder about.

"What's going to happen to Wanda and her brother," he eventually asked as they all gathered back in the Avengers' conference room for the mission debriefing.

"Normally, they'd probably go to prison, seeing as they did break quite a few laws, willingly or otherwise," Steve started out, instantly getting the Keyblade Legion worried.

"But, considering the data we had retrieved from that HYDRA base, along with what you, me, and Spidey all heard from our Scarlet Witch, I think we might be able to swing it so that the worst they get is some community service," Tony finished for him.

"What do you mean by 'community service,'" Roxas asked, voicing the question that the rest of his group was wondering about, since that could mean just about anything with these guys, from what they could tell.

"That's up to them, but preferably, we'd like them to join the Avengers," Widow revealed.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? You do remember that they don't really have a high opinion of you guys," Ventus reminded them.

"Some more than others," Donald added with a side look at Tony.

"They have also proven to have the power and capability to actually stand their ground against us, if not best us in battle," Thor reminded them.

"Yeah, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather have someone like that fighting with us instead of against us," Rhodey admitted.

"Besides, like the old saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer," Hawkeye stated with a furtive glance at the image of Quicksilver that was included with the computer file that was being shown to everyone at the moment. Clearly he was still a little sore over how the speedster had tossed him around earlier on, even if he had managed to beat Pietro in the end. It was probably something to do with the kid's attitude.

"Speaking of villains, what about the Heartless and Pete? Do you think they'll cause anymore problems," Banner asked of the Keyblade Legion.

"Pete's been causing trouble for ages, and the fact that he can reach other worlds now just means that he's an even bigger bully than ever," Goofy all but confirmed for him.

"But we should be able to handle him. After all, that guy's not even smart enough to tie his own shoes," Sora reassured them all.

"As for the Heartless, I'd say we've got that covered," Ventus promised.

That seemed to be good enough for the Avengers, given the smiles and nods that were given in response to those answers, but none of the Keyblade Legion expected what would happen when Captain America stood up to approach them. "In that case, we wish you all the best of luck," the super soldier informed them before he started to pass something out to each member of the world travelers. "And given all that's happened, we'd be honored if you would accept these as a sign of thanks from us."

When the last member of the group had been handed the items that Cap was passing out, the group glanced upon them in surprise when they saw what they were. "Are these," Sora started to ask.

"Membership cards," Donald finished for him.

"Actually the technical term is Avengers ID card, but yeah, basically," Tony clarified for them.

Indeed, the four Keybearers and their friends were in fact holding Avengers ID cards, complete with a headshot of them in the little image box on the card and the Avengers' stylized logo on the other side. If that was not confirmation enough for what this meant, then Spidey's next comment certainly was. "Congrats you guys! You're now honorary Avengers!"

That got excited cheers from the entire Legion, and soon prompted them to exchange handshakes as they thanked the Avengers for the honor that had been bestowed upon them. Right when Sora was about to shake hands with Captain America though, his ID card suddenly flashed brightly and began glowing as it floated up out of his hand. Seeing as the Keyblade wielders' blades had jumped into their hands soon after that, it was obvious that this was not a normal function of the ID card, but rather, something that the Keyblade Legion had quickly grown accustomed to by now. Sora then stepped forward with his Keyblade ready, and as soon as the tip of Kingdom Key began to glow brightly, the image of his crown pendant materialized around him, glowing brightly as a familiar energy surged out from the image's outline. Much like many times before, once the surge passed, Sora found himself in the strange sky, and he quickly spotted his new Avengers ID card in the air before it shot out a beam that dispersed into a Keyhole high above it. Without even thinking, Sora leapt back a short distance, spun his Keyblade around, and then aimed it at the Keyhole that had appeared, allowing a beam of light to be fired off from its tip the minute he had lined it up with the Keyhole. When the beam connected with the Keyhole, a faint ringing sound reached his ears, over the sound of something being unlocked, just as his surroundings returned to normal.

"Okay, that was new," Spider-Man said.

"And it's also our cue to head on out," Ventus revealed.

"Really? You guys are leaving already," Falcon asked. "You're more than welcome to stick around for the big party later today."

"Sorry, but we've gotta go. Other worlds are calling, and we're the ones that need to answer," Sora apologized on everyone's behalf.

"Well, guess we'll be seeing you all around. Don't be strangers," Tony bid in farewell, with the rest of the Avengers doing the same afterwards.

Once they had finished their goodbyes, the Keyblade Legion made their way out to the helipad of Avengers Tower, ready to teleport back to their ship. At least that had been the plan, until Sora suddenly realized that there was a new weight in one of his pockets that had not been there before. Reaching into said pocket, Sora quickly extracted quite the surprise for everyone, and it had left him grinning happily when he confirmed what it was for them.

"A new Keychain," Sora cheered.

"Just when you think we're going to be able to catch up with him, he gets another one for his collection," Roxas playfully groaned.

"I don't think I've ever seen this one before," Ventus admitted after studying the Keychain for a minute, taking in how the chain itself seemed to shine with a brilliant silver color, while the pendent was a bright red colored version of the Avengers logo. "Seems like you've got a penchant for creating new Keyblades, Sora, cause this is now the third time you've gotten a Keychain for one that probably doesn't exist yet."

"So what's this one called," Goofy asked.

Sora studied the Keychain token for a minute, getting a feeling for the new blade that was now available to him, and finally announced, "Excelsior. It's called the Excelsior Keyblade."

With that said, Sora pocketed the newest addition to his collection of Keychains and they all then teleported back up to the Kingdom-A, finally ready to head out for the next world. The minute that they arrived back on the ship, they all saw that Donald and Goofy had changed back to their normal forms, which reminded them all of one other thing that their return to the ship would mean, and Xion could not help but comment on it.

"You know, I think we can all agree on what we're going to miss the most about this world," Xion said to the others.

"What's that," Goofy inquired.

"Hearing Donald speak with a voice that everyone can easily understand, and actually makes the stuff he says sound as epic as he intends it to be," Roxas finished for his sister.

Donald's reaction was an angry quack that only proved the twins' point, and as a result, the entire team was laughing all the way back up to the bridge and for a good amount of their departure from Marvel Universe. All that was left for them to do now was hope that nothing too crazy happened to the Avengers and their world while they were gone, but what were the chances of that happening?

---

Naminé's Diary Entry 3:

I'm so glad that I was able to keep Sora from losing himself completely, and thankfully, Ventus had shown up to help further ensure that wouldn't happen just in time. Now all we have to worry about is getting Sora back to normal, or at least, as close to it as I can manage. Sure, it might mean that he'll lose a lot of the powers he had gained on his last journey, but Ventus has assured me that he can help Sora deal with that easily enough. I know, he's said that I shouldn't blame myself, but considering that it was my powers that caused all of this in the first place…well, wouldn't you feel pretty responsible for the whole mess, too? Still, despite this, I have to wonder, is it selfish of me to feel upset that Sora chose to have his old memories restored, even though he knew that it would mean he would forget everything about what happened here at Castle Oblivion, including our true first meeting? I know we promised to meet again and be friends for real, and that what happened here isn't entirely pleasant, but still…

Anyways, all that I had to worry about after Ven's departure was the moment when Aqua, Riku, and Mickey arrived to speak with me, too. I was so sure that Riku would want me to remove the darkness from his heart, but I don't think I was nearly as surprised as Aqua was that he chose otherwise. Then again, I'm the one who encouraged Riku to not run and hide away from his darkness, and I have to admit, I'm glad that he chose to remain as he is now. It shows that he's willing to face the consequences of his choices head on, and with Mickey and Aqua's help, I'm sure he'll be able to find whatever redemption he's looking for, and that he'll have the power needed to dispel Ansem from his heart.

The only downside is that Ventus had left before Aqua could have arrived, and I think that's the most disappointing thing of all. Despite what DiZ may say, I suppose you could call me something of a romantic for hoping that the two could have reunited here and now. They were just so close that it hurts knowing that they had missed each other by just a few minutes! Maybe that's just the part of me that's Kairi speaking, but I don't care. Those two more than anyone, deserve to finally get a happy ending after all they've been through. Here's hoping that it will happen soon. Well, better get back to work on fixing Sora's memories. Last thing I want is to give DiZ a reason to think that I'm slacking off on my work. He can be pretty scary when he's mad, and I always get the sense that he's holding himself back from doing anything to me for some reason.

---

AN: And with that, we are done with the first visit to Marvel Universe, and before anyone asks, yeah, the next time we come here, it will be covering events that are very similar to what happened in Age of Ultron, as if that wasn't already obvious by this and the previous chapter. Hope you all enjoyed the action that was featured here, including the dialogue between the Keyblade Legion and the various Avengers. Plus, who else totally called it on the Keybearers getting Avengers ID cards and one of said cards being the thing that opened up their next gate between worlds? Am I right?

Now, onto other business, yes, this chapter did kind of serve as a way of showing a little more history behind this series' version of the Marvel Universe, and there are quite a few things in here that are heavily influenced by the MCU, but can you blame me? After Endgame, it's only natural that we see a heavy abundance of stuff from that series being worked into here. And of course I'm going to make the final battle as big as it was.

Plus, I know you all totally called it on Sora being the one to get the next Command Link, and a lot of you definitely seemed to have figured out that it would be Spider-Man he would form it with, so give yourselves a round of applause and a pat on the back for that.

[audience applause]

Alright, so...yeah, I guess that's pretty much all I can say about this chapter, aside from mentioning we finally have another journal/diary entry here, this one being from dear, sweet Namine. I know, it seems like I skipped over literally everything else that happened in Castle Oblivion from the last entry, but it's not like I really had much more else to cover this time around. What else was there to say about Chain of Memories in this series? Ven showed up really late in the game, Namine helped Sora remember who was really most important to him, Sora decided to be changed back to normal instead of keeping his new memories, etc., etc., etc. Besides, considering what was happening at the time, how often do you think Namine would have the chance to write something down in her diary, even if it was given to her by Larxene? Don't worry though. This most likely won't be the last time we see an entry from Namine's diary, but I wouldn't expect it to be quite as frequent as Ven and Aqua's journal entries.

Now, let's get onto the review answers, shall we?

First of, regular guest reviewer "CG", maybe you should consider getting a regular account and just messaging me all your ideas for the "live-action" Kingdom Hearts, because honestly, it's kinda getting to the point where most of your reviews are about that and nothing else, or are just a similar set up. They're all good ideas, but I'd really rather just see reviews that are about the content of the actual story, while most of that other stuff that you've posted is left in like PM chats, so if you wouldn't mind at least starting up an account so that we could keep that conversation going, that would be great. Plus, that way, you wouldn't have to wait for me to update any of these stories for you to get an answer. Please do so quickly, too?

Next, "Guest" of 8/17/2019, the rooms on the ship are pretty much the same size all around, but a few of them do have to share a room for the most part. At the moment, the only ones who actually have their own rooms are Ventus and Xion, as Roxas and Sora are sharing one room, and Donald and Goofy another. When Kairi and Aqua join up, Kairi will be sharing a room with Xion, while Aqua does in fact move in with Ventus, but the latter was always going to happen whether that was the case or not.

"Guest" of 8/15/2019, there may or may not be a discussion about that, but it would not really be too big of a thing, or at least I'm not planning on it being one, assuming I go forward with the idea. I do like the suggestion though, so thanks for that.

"theIrishWriter", uh...I guess it's really not that much bigger in this series than it would be in a game. I mean, it's implied that there are other islands to Destiny Islands, considering the name of the world and all, but since we don't really explore too much of Sora, Riku, and Kairi's home, it's a little hard to say for certain.

"SuperSonicBros123" and the "Guest" who brought the matter up, there is a very likely chance that Ven will sit down with someone to talk about everything he's been going through and basically vent a little about his frustrations and doubts, and there's also a very likely chance of that person being a certain blue-haired master we all know and love. It's probably not going to be as big of a thing as you're thinking it is, but it will still be something that we address at a later point in the story.

"barbatos009", to answer your questions, in order: 1) I probably would've liked to have seen the Defenders and Quake in Endgame, if we're including the characters from all the other MCU franchises and not just the movies. Mostly Quake though, cause Daisy's awesome. 2) I did not see all of it, but I will say that what I did see looks pretty awesome, a lot of action packed scenes, and...that's really all I can say right now until I've seen the whole thing.

"Monkey D. Conan", I'd say that this answers at least a few of your questions. Sorry you didn't get to see the team's exact reactions to the Hulk, or Xion not even batting an eye at him, but stick around, and I can guarantee that you might see something similar to that later on down the line.

"Dragon Rider 66", don't worry, the Infinity Stones of this series' Marvel Universe only affect Marvel Universe, so you don't have to worry about Thanos or anyone else causing half of the entirety in the Keyblades Unleashed series being turned to dust if he snaps his fingers. You'll see further proof of that when we reach this series' version of KH3. Consider that a very small spoiler alert for that story, by the way. As for my thoughts on the live-action Mulan trailers...yeah, I'm not really looking forward to it too much. It just feels like the level of seriousness in this version had been dialed up way too much. Not to mention the removal of Mushu, I mean, come on! What is up with that?

"theCesar09", I've already got a set idea in mind for Kairi's new look, and it does in fact draw a basis from a look I had her rocking in the very first story of this series, so no worries there. And yes, Kairi is completely unaffected by the Corridors of Darkness because of her Princess of Heart status. That has not changed in the least, otherwise I probably would've had Aqua tell Kairi to armor up before she ran into one a few chapters ago.

And finally, as a general response to everyone who's asked, yeah, I've seen both that trailer and the newest one for the Re:Mind DLC, and I've gotta say, I'm now looking forward to it more than ever! The return of the Final Fantasy characters, a chance to finally play as Kairi, and not to mention that my curiosity about just what all will be going down in the additional story we'll be getting is now at an all-time high! How could you not be even more excited for what we'll uncover once it gets here?

Okay, I think that's everything for this time around, so, let's not waste another second and get you guys over to the thing you really tune into my ending notes for, which does in fact show we're getting back to the worlds that were originally from KH2. Onto the Preview!...

The next stop on the Keyblade Legion's journey has landed them back at Olympus Coliseum, or at least, that's where they were expecting to be. Too bad for them, they ended up a little ways down from where the actual coliseum is. Right in Hades's domain to be exact, and it's in that very place where they encounter a friend of Hercules who's more than a little concerned for the hero of this world. Can the Keyblade Legion find a way to help their friend out with the problems that he's currently facing? What scheme is Hades cooking up this time? And…is that the Organization skulking around in the Underworld?! Oh boy. Looks like things are going to get pretty crazy, next time.

Please read and review, and see ya real soon!