Hey guys, back again with another chapter! If it's been awhile, sorry about that. Life really caught up with me the past week or so and sorting out some stuff. Anyway, recommend the track 'Let the Battles Begin' from FFVII Remake for the chapter's battle scene.

"So, care to explain how you ended up here kid?" The booming voice of Barrett spoke, leaning on a wall with his arm and gun-arm folded. Sora tiredly looked up from his crate, dull blue eyes studying the new face and room he was currently in. It wasn't the most well-put-together, but it worked; a little bar area for drinks, a couple of rustic chairs and even a 'meeting' table, as Sora dubbed it, for likely meetings or whatever. Barrett's rugged features softened seeing Sora's downcast expression, and despite how impressive his tall stature was, looking like a mirror to Herc in some ways, Sora just couldn't be phased to reflect it much this moment. "Uh… You can talk later punk, but we need…"

"I got this." Cloud finished, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder as Barrett sighed and walked off elsewhere. Sora dully watched the man sheepishly rub his large neck as Barrett left the room. Cloud pulled up a nearby chair and sat next to Sora, nothing but concern on the man's face. "You've… Seen a lot, haven't you?"

"You could say that again…" Sora mumbled, covering his face with shaking hands. "I… I feel so… Weak right now. As if I lost my powers… Again." Sora let his hands slide to his lap, holding his right hand out. He summoned the Kingdom Key, but it was beyond ravaged. Somehow, the weapon that never shown rust, damage or even scratch marks, looked beyond repair. Sora could even see faint light leaking out of the weapon. "My… My Keyblade is…"

"Hey, you don't need that," Tifa interrupted Sora, pulling the boy into a hug. Cloud backed away, simply putting a hand on Sora's shoulder in support. "If you are thinking 'I died', then I don't think that's the case Sora." Sora let out faint sniffles as if he was crying. Tifa turned toward Cloud, the latter nodding at a silent thought and walking toward the bar. He got some water from the tap and walked back over to the two. Tifa released Sora from her hug and Cloud passed him the water. Sora wiped his watery eyes and slugged down the somewhat lukewarm liquid.

"But… I went down the forbidden path, just to save Kairi," Sora began, holding the water glass with two hands for support. Cloud and Tifa gently guided Sora to the meeting table, the two sitting right next to him as he spoke. "After I vanished, I… Woke up in the world of sky and sea, with no one around." Sora's eyes looked up, the dullness replaced with a twinge of anger. "I… I have never been alone. All my life, I've been around friends or family. But for those… I don't even know HOW long, I was alone." Sora closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "I never felt so angry before."

"I know the feeling, Sora," Cloud said, causing Sora to look toward him. "When my homeworld was lost to the darkness, I was so lost in revenge that I ended up losing myself. You both saw that clearly." Tifa nodded, affectionately rubbing Cloud's shoulder and giving a faint smile. "So you gave up your life, for the one you love?"

Sora nodded, taking a long sip from his water. Tifa mouthed 'aww' before Cloud elbowed her, causing her to collect herself with a cough. "Well, while Mr. Grumpy here finds that weak, I find it heroic." She pinched Sora's cheek, causing him to pout in annoyance. "But until we find you a way back home, you're more than welcome to stay with us in the 'New' Seventh Heaven."

Sora tilted his head in slight confusion, but Cloud smiled, folding his arms as he spoke next. "It's the bar Tifa ran back in our homeworld. You did a pretty good job rebuilding it." Tifa batted her hand playfully as she got up. Sora watched her head over to the bar, picking up a phone from a nearby receiver and speaking to someone.

Simply looking between her and Cloud, Sora was surprised at his friend's new looks. Cloud looked a lot more happy than anything, having a light purple shirt and somewhat baggy black pants. Meanwhile, Tifa sported a skirt with combat shorts and a white crop-top. Cloud caught Sora looking himself and Tifa over, making a small smile and shaking his head. "This is what we looked like on Midgar, Sora. I guess this world had an effect on us or something."

"Tifa said that I'm not dead if I'm here with you guys. What does that mean?" Sora asked, waving his hand around as some strength returned to him. Cloud rubbed his chin in thought, before dully shrugging his shoulders. "...That doesn't answer much."

"Well I got no answers for you," Cloud replied right back, thin line present on his face. "Besides, we have Yozora and his men to deal with." Sora sprang up hearing that name, weakened Keyblade summoning to his right hand. "...Take it you aren't a fan of him either?"

"The guy tried killing me!" Sora blinked, rubbing his neck sheepishly before shaking his head. "Well… He tried killing me again! I don't know what his deal is. Trying to save someone by killing them… That makes no sense."

Tifa walked over to the two of them, coffee mugs in hand. "Drink up boys, fresh coffee for our daily patrol coming up." Cloud took his cup and took a large swung. Sora simply used the heat of the mug to warm up his clammy hands. "And that guy actually has been messing with us too. I think… Someone is tricking him to attack the heroes in this city."

"...Heroes?" Sora asked in confusion, with Tifa nodding. She took her own mug and sipped gently before putting it on the table. She leaned forward and her red eyes narrowed.

"Cloud, Barrett, and I… And now you." She waved her hand as she continued, "And I'm aware of others like us in this city too, just got off the phone with our contact. He spotted a strange masked red-haired woman fighting heartless." She turned toward Cloud, causing him to sigh. "Mind training Sora for a bit while I stock up on supplies hun?"

"Sure thing, just make sure Barrett has enough ammo. He was a bit too gun-happy earlier." Cloud smirked, causing Tifa to giggle and kiss his cheek as she went off. He smiled as she ran off into a hallway, with Sora forming a dumb smile on his face. Cloud looked at him and mouthed 'what' with Sora just smiling. Cloud simply got up and gestured Sora to follow him, with the two going down another hallway.

The hallway was drab and dark, with faint neon lights keeping the pathway lit. Sora simply summoned his keyblade, looking over how battle-scarred it still was. At least it looks a little better than earlier. He figured, but seeing the faint light emitting from the weapon caused the Keyblade Wielder to gulp in worry. Eventually, the two entered a small arena but the basketball hoops made it look more like a playground more than anything else.

Cloud stood in the arena's center, Buster Sword in hand and body in battle position. Sora walked up to Cloud and with his keyblade in hand, he stood on-guard with two hands on his fabled blade. "Wait…" Cloud jabbed his weapon into the ground, walking toward Sora and holding out his hand. Sora looked down at his keyblade, sighing and passing it to Cloud. The warrior held the weapon in his hands for a split second before it was right back in Sora's hands. "...You need to use more than your key-sword."

"It's 'Keyblade' and why? I've always used it to fight." Sora asked, feeling annoyed he knew why Cloud was suggesting this. Cloud walked to the weapon's rack nearby and took out a silver sword, using a cloth to dust off any scruffs before passing it to Sora. He took the weapon, it feeling oddly heavy in his gloved hands.

"Cause your weapon is going to break if you keep using it and crafting materials are sparse here." Cloud entered his battle stance again, with Sora using a one-handed style to use his new blade. Sora charged into Cloud, using a weak strike with his blade, but Cloud effortlessly blocked it with his massive Buster Sword. Sora slid back from the impact, trying his usual three-hit combo with his new blade. But that did little to stagger Cloud at all. "Use your body to fight, not just your weapon."

Sora jumped back, going back to a one-handed style and landing a punch with his left hand. Cloud took the hit, staggering slightly as Sora followed it up with a wide swing with his blade. Cloud flipped backward and avoided the attack, his face grinning at Sora. He grinned back, and the two continued sparring like this for the next ten minutes. While using a regular sword wasn't as organic, to say the least, compared to using his Kingdom Key, Sora felt pleased he was able to hold his own against Cloud.

Memories of his bout against the Ex-SOLDER warrior as a kid playing in his mind, bearly able to keep up with him. But Sora seeing he could hold his own against a warrior like Cloud… I'm not weak, I can fight. "Great work Sora," Cloud spoke after the fight ended, both drenched in sweat and having heavy breaths. "But your blade can use Materia with that weapon." Cloud tucked into one of his many pockets, taking out two colored orbs. He gave Sora a red and yellow one, then pointed to Sora's weapon. "Try putting them into your sword."

Sora complied and the blade light up as if it powered up or something. "Woah, this feels… Stronger now." Cloud turned his weapon around, showing Sora eight colored orbs on his Buster Sword. "You got a lot of them, huh?"

"Yeah, they are very useful. I gave you Thunder and Fire spells. And they are pretty high level-versions too, but I know you can handle it," Cloud smirked, with Sora lugging his blade over his shoulder. "I'll give you something to hold your weapon, but make sure you have some hi-potions on you. The Heartless in this city is pretty strong."

Sora nodded as Cloud went off to get a scabbard for him. He looked down at his weapon and frowned, surprised his keyblade was so… Weak. Sora closed his eyes and let out a sigh. ...I paid the price and fate only let me use the Keyblade to fend off Yozora, huh? Sora bit his lip, gripping his sword tight. "I won't lose to you again, just you wait."

Meanwhile back in Radiant Garden, Kairi and Riku were walking around the shopping district and getting supplies for the adventure aheads. Despite the gravity of everything, Kairi bopped with each step, a warm smile on her lips as she lugged her napsack. My first real adventure! She dreamt about seeing the other worlds, almost more so than Riku and Sora.

Just visiting the arabian sands and hanging out with a magical genie, meeting a talking skeleton and scaring people, running around as a cute little lion cub and even turning into a literal toy; Kairi never understood how Sora just casually told her those stories. She looked toward Riku, relieved he had a calm expression on his tired face.

"You think twenty high potions will be enough, Kairi?" Riku asked seriously, with Kairi nodding in response. Riku sighed and looked over his munny pouch, opening it and a gust of dust blew into his face. He closed it and gave Kairi a dull look. "Really hope all those Elixirs were worth it, we really didn't need that many."

Kairi pouted and jabbed her finger into Riku's chest. "Hey, I'm still learning how to fight Mr. I Can Block Thousands of Lasers," Riku rolled his eyes and smirked, folding his arms amused. Kairi just continued pouting, drooping her shoulders. "...Come on, better to be prepared, right?"

He laughed softly and playfully ruffled her hair. "I know, just messing with you." Kairi fixed her hair with a comb in one of her pockets after he let go before catching up with Riku. "What world should we visit first? The map you have doesn't give much information."

Kairi took the map out and the two stopped by a nearby shop, sitting on a bench and studying the paper. "Well… Our Keyblades only showed images on here, so we can only guess." Kairi started, though she closed her eyes and focused. "I… Do feel a connection, a strong one, with this one." She pointed toward a symbol on the map, it a circle with black wings connected by what looked like a star in the center. "Maybe one of the Seven Lights lives there. You told me Sora met three of them on his adventure."

Riku nodded and rubbed his chin. "Then that makes the world a priority then. Who knows what he wants with the other lights." Kairi nodded, her mind wondering what exactly that older Sora wanted. He gave me the map and a way to find Sora's heart… But why? She tried thinking it over, even after her meeting with Leon and the others, but nothing came to mind. She simply sighed and tucked the map away.

Her eyes spotted the limping body of a pink-haired woman, with Riku rushing toward her in concern. "Lightning, what happened?" He asked in concern, with Lightning giving a weak smile in insurance. Riku passed her one of the Elixirs, with Kairi mouthing 'told ya' to him. He gave her a thankful grin before turning back to Lightning. Kairi got up from her bench and walked over toward the two, holding out her hand to the woman. "Oh, this is Kairi, one of my good friends."

"Nice… To meet you," She shook Kairi's hand, with the latter feeling such power within her grip. "I was looking into the source of that heartless attack, and found our attackers." She stood up tall, stretching her neck as she started pacing somewhat. "He was in all black, donning a hood. I couldn't see his damn face…"

"We know who that is," Kairi interjected, frown firmly on her face. Lightning turned toward her, interest clear in her eyes. "You said attackers though, he wasn't alone?" Lightning nodded, eyes looking away from the two before her.

She closed her eyes and sighed, seemingly collecting her thoughts. "It was a young woman, not too different from you… Actually." Lightning started, eyes studying Kairi. She simply blinked, but Lighting continued speaking. "She ended up siding with him, but didn't seem too convinced with his actions."

Riku rubbed his chin, before nodding a silent thought. "We'll keep an eye out, thanks for the heads up." Lightning nodded, patting Riku's shoulder before walking off into the town. After Lightning made some distance from them, Riku turned toward Kairi and frowned. "Please don't tell me we are dealing with a future version of you too Kai."

"Now that would be rich," Kairi laughed bitterly, shaking her head and folding her arms. "Let's just head out soon. Maybe we will find those two on our adventure." The two nodded and stood back, keyblades summoning in their hands. Both focused magical energy into the blades before throwing them into the sky. They turned into hoverboard-looking objects, landing before them with grace. Riku then dug into his pocket, giving Kairi an armored glove. "What's this?"

Riku smirked, fitting a gauntlet on his arm and slamming his fist into it. Bright light encased him before it vanished and revealed a set of dark golden blue armor, fitting Riku like a glove. Kairi couldn't help herself but blush seeing how cool Riku looked at this moment. If Sora wore that… She shook off the mental thought, slotting that away for later. Fitting the armored glove on her right hand, she mirrored Riku and felt a surge of added weight encase her body. Opening her eyes, she clearly saw Riku, but through a slightly tinted view.

Kairi was not in form-fitting dark pink armor, with her boots turning into armored heels. "Sora would faint if he saw you in person right now," Kairi giggled at Riku's comment, the two getting on their boards and flying off into the sky. A keyhole opened up before them, giving them the heads up to fly into it. And like that, the two vanished from Radiant Garden and ventured to their first world.