You can blame Twitch Plays Pokémon for the wait on this. Never before has walking around in circles been so hypnotic.

Chapter 4: Connected Hearts

"You're not part of the code or on the list of accepted Users. You do not belong here. Please, tell me who you are. I don't want to have to hurt you."

Sora stared at the masked man and his strange weapons. Just who was this guy? Neither he nor anyone back at Disney Castle had been expecting to fight anything beyond Braig and Vanitas. Did they have a new ally? This was a big game-changer, because unlike those two they had absolutely nothing to go on about this guy.

Sora stood up straight and held a hand out imploringly. "Hey, let's just talk this out." He had asked for Sora's name rather than demanded, which made Sora hopeful he could be reasoned with. "My name's Sora. And if we can avoid fighting, that would be great. I'm just looking for a friend."

The masked man hesitated. He took a step back and looked at the weapons in his own hands. "I…" He shook his head and all hesitation was gone. "I'm sorry, but I was upgraded with the intention to protect this world at all costs—and more than that, I made a promise to a friend that that's what I would do. I can't break that."

Sora sighed in defeat. "Well… I know what it's like to make a promise to a friend. But I swear to you I'm not here to harm your world, really! I just want to save Xion!"

The stranger shook his head once again, much more forcefully this time. "No. I've been watching you— you entered this world through illegal access channels and you've been frightening those who live here. I'm protecting more than just the research. I'm protecting the people as well!" He jumped up and cartwheeled through the air toward Sora, his discs leaving behind trails of blue light as they sailed through the air. Sora brought up his Keyblade and blocked the strike, only to get kicked in the face by an armored black boot for his efforts. "Please. If you don't go now I will have to hurt you."

"Not without Xion!"

"I saw that, too; she clearly does not know who you are. You won't kidnap someone under my protection!"

He dropped to the floor and swept a leg under Sora's feet, knocking the boy over. Sora grabbed tightly onto the stone ledge and glanced with worried eyes at the ground so far down below them. This was a poor place to fight. He climbed back onto his feet and swung the Keyblade again. The masked man leaned back to avoid the swing, but Sora followed up his attack by casting Fire. The spell wasn't as powerful as he would have hoped but it was at least enough to knock his attacker away for a moment.

Sora grabbed at his chest and took several deep breaths. This was a really bad situation he was in. Not only had it been four months since the final battle with Xemnas and so he was a little rusty, but he was also completely without Xion. Since Sora's power was split between him and Xion due to her absorbing his Nobody, the two of them relied on each other. And so because of that they were only at full strength when together. But Xion wasn't here, which meant Sora had to deal with the exhaustion too much physical strain would put him through. Not too much of a problem normally, since he had put up with it for four months already, but in battle it was another story. Sora groaned and glanced over to the crack in the wall. He could keep the fight up a little longer, but not forever. The Backdoor needed to hurry up and finish opening.

Sora snapped to attention just in time to dodge one of the man's discs flying toward him at top speed. As Sora watched it sail past him and into the orange sky, the man came down on him with the other in his hand. The razor edges of the strange weapon struck Sora in his left shoulder. The sudden sharp pain caused Sora to cry out and his footing to slip. Luckily he was able to fall away from the ledge, toward the back wall instead, but it was still a terrifying experience. That had been way too close.

There was a sound like radio static followed by shattering glass. Sora looked up at the wall above him, where there was now a large black hole outline by white in the wall of the clock tower. The Backdoor had opened.

The masked man reached up to grab his thrown disc as it came back to him from wherever it had flown off to like a boomerang, but hesitated before he struck Sora. Sora climbed up to his feet, looking between the Backdoor and the man. His opponent shook his masked head, recombined the two discs, and placed them on his back.

"I wanted you gone in the first place, so with your exit open I have no reason to fight you. Now leave, so I can block access to here from wherever it is you came from." He turned to the Backdoor and held a hand up. A screen appeared in front of him, hanging in midair, and hundreds of words beyond Sora's comprehension raced by on it. "…I… can't figure out where this leads?"

"That's Chip and Dale's engineering for you, I guess." Sora moved to enter the Backdoor, but the man held his arm in Sora's way.

"Without learning where this goes I can't cut the link. I want your word that you won't return here."

Sora sighed and looked the man in the eyes—or, where he assumed his eyes were beneath the mask. "No."

"If you return here I will fight you again, User or no. You used an illegal channel to come here."

"Look, I'm sorry I invaded your home, but Xion is my friend. I'm coming back until I can get her home safe." Sora stepped around the man's arm and set a foot inside the Backdoor. "And I know the way I got in here was against the rules, but trust me: the people running this aren't your friends."

"Running this? But I'm working autonomously. Ansem hasn't checked in since he transferred my program."

"Auto…" Sora's eyes widened. "Wait, did you just say An-" The Backdoor shut behind him, cutting him off from Twilight Town and the masked man. "…sem? Great."

That had been yesterday. Their parting words had told Sora that obviously this guy wasn't involved with Braig and Vanitas. And as for Ansem, at the time he had been confused whether he had meant DiZ or Xehanort's Heartless. Whether he could be a friend or foe all depended on which Ansem he was talking about.

With all these questions and without Xion, Sora had trudged through the blue rooms of System Sector until he reached the exit to Disney Castle. In the library everyone greeted him happily and listened to his recount of the last few days. The news of Xion's memory wipe had deflated them as much as it had him, but at least Chip, Dale, and Mickey were able to answer his questions.

According to Chip and Dale, the System Sector linking Disney Castle to the false Twilight Town went through about a dozen different 'proxies' – Sora had no idea what those were and just nodded – and was impossible to successfully track because of that and that the two computers were housed on different worlds. They had gone through those safety measures to keep Braig from finding Disney Castle, but it had clearly come in handy by saving them from losing their only way to Xion just then.

As for Mickey, he had seemed especially interested in the encounter with the masked man. After Sora finished his story, the King revealed his suspicions about the attacker's identity. Apparently, shortly before the Battle of Hollow Bastion months ago Ansem the Wise had accessed Hollow Bastion's computer – Sora remembered that, he had left a letter for them then – and taken a sentient security program out of it to put in Twilight Town's computer. That same program must have been upgraded and was simply doing his duty protecting what was housed in that computer. This meant he wasn't on Braig's side. And apparently he had gotten along great with Mickey, so he could be reasoned with. Sora just had to bring up their mutual friend the next time he saw him.

And so after a good night's rest, Sora had returned to Xion's Twilight Town. He was ever on guard in case he was attacked, but at the moment there was time to relax. A crowd of teens and young adults stood in front of the train station as a man in a black jacket announced some event. He could see Xion's face in the crowd, but even if he hadn't he would have known she was there. This close his strength was returning, which could only mean she was feeling stronger too.

x-x-x

The day at the mall had ended rather unceremoniously for Xion, especially after her strange incident with that boy who knew her name. She and Olette had moved on, checking store after store as they tried to find something to get the boys for Christmas. In the end they poured their munny together and did buy that new camera for Pence, as well as a fancy new skateboard for Hayner, but for Roxas they were having trouble coming up with anything. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Xion could think of plenty of things to get him, but for some reason nothing felt good enough. Two hours passed before they knew it and the she and Olette returned to the fountain where the boys were waiting. Despite Olette's insistence, Hayner adamantly refused to show her what was in the bag he was carrying, holding it above her head and threatening to drop it into the water when she tried to reach for it.

The next day was the last day without snow according to the forecast. And so Biggs – a shop owner down in the Tram Common who was a friend of Roxas – had organized a skateboard race down Market Street. Xion knew that Twilight Town had a large skating community, but when she and her friends arrived at the Station Plaza to start she was surprised at just how many people had showed up.

Biggs was explaining the rules over the roar of the crowd, but Xion wasn't really paying much attention. She had memorized them all earlier, since Biggs had given Roxas a list of rules when he had first come up with the race. The first person to reach the empty lot in the Tram Common wins. Any route you choose to get down there is viable. Skateboard or roller skates only; walking is only allowed if you're in a position where it's impossible to continue, and you must get back on your wheels as soon as you can. No harming anyone, intentionally or otherwise; if you do, you're disqualified.

Simple.

Xion, Hayner, and Roxas weren't so much interested in winning the race as they were in beating each other. Kronk had promised their group that he'd have a freshly-baked cake ready for them when the race was done, and the first of them to win got the biggest slice.

"You sure you're okay, Xion?" Hayner asked as he checked the wheels of his board to make sure they weren't loose.

"More than okay. I feel great." It wasn't a lie. Xion felt better today than she had in years, and though she had taken Dr. Sweet's medicine this morning she honestly wondered if it wasn't necessary. "You sound like Roxas."

"Hey, thanks!" Roxas said next to her, humor in his voice. "Guess if you don't want me to worry about you I won't."

Xion shoved a hand into Roxas's shoulder. "Oh come on, I'm just playing with you." She pulled her coat off and handed it to Olette, who had a bag that also held Hayner's and Roxas's. It was weird, but even though there was supposed to be snow tomorrow it was actually relatively warm today—relatively being the keyword, though. Xion didn't think she'd ever understand weather.

"You guys are gonna do great," Olette said as she put Xion's coat into the back. "Pence and I will be waiting down at the lot for you guys."

Pence lifted a fist into the air. "Show Rai what you're made of!"

Xion looked ahead of them, where the boy in question was standing. Rai was the only one of Seifer's gang to be into this, which Xion was personally glad for. The less she had to deal with them the better. That said, Rai was certainly intimidating with the way he towered over everyone. He was even wearing a tank top in the middle of winter, no doubt to show off his muscles. She hoped she didn't run into him in the race, since for all their talk of being a Disciplinary Committee Xion wasn't sure Rai could be trusted to play by the rules.

"Okay, everyone to the starting line!" Biggs was holding up a megaphone to his mouth, but even with it he still had to shout.

"That's our cue." Hayner grabbed Roxas and Xion and pulled the two of them over to the edge of the Station Plaza, right where it met Market Street. Xion looked over at her shoulder to see Pence and Olette taking a side rode down the hillside. Seifer and Fuu were going that way too.

Biggs spoke up again. "A friendly reminder to everyone: all routes are valid and no attacking other racers. And so, ready…" Xion rolled her board back and forth with one foot. "Go!"

At Biggs's shout, everyone moved as one big wave down the main road of Market Street. Roxas was to her left and Hayner to her right, but the latter ended up dragging behind when some kid with red hair moved in front of him. In these narrower streets near the top of the mountain it was rather chaotic, though as Market Street widened out and smaller paths branched off of it things would clear up. Xion, however, was a little impatient to get going.

With such a sharp turn that she nearly fell off her board, Xion rounded a corner and entered the back alley where their Usual Spot hid. There was an entry into the tunnels that moved all over Twilight Town here, a leftover from the old days when this mountain had been used to hide during an ancient war. After the city was built the tunnels were rediscovered and redone for safety's sake.

It was a second sharp turn left and suddenly the sunlight was cut off, replaced by the dim glow of electrical lights over her head. Jumping off a ledge and landing in a small room in the middle of the tunnels, Xion rolled to a stop. Which way led to the right exit, again…? An echoing sound came down the tunnels from the direction she came, and Xion looked up just in time to see the brick wall called Rai jump off the ledge she had just come down. Rai glanced over to her and came to a stop as well.

"Hey, taking the tunnels is cheap, ya know!"

Xion grimaced. "All routes are legal, Rai. And you're taking the tunnels too, aren't you?"

Rai rubbed the back of his head and scowled. "Yeah, well… Shut up, ya know?" He started moving again, rolling away slowly down the next tunnel. Xion bit her lip. She wanted to ask him a question, and this would probably be her only chance.

"…Hey." Rai stopped and Xion looked up at his eyes. "Have you guys found Vivi yet?"

"Who?"

Xion felt her jaw drop. Was Rai screwing with her or something? "What do you mean 'who'?! Vivi! The little kid who was always with you, who went missing yesterday!"

Rai rolled his eyes. "This inverse psychiatry ain't gonna work on me, ya know? I have no idea who you're talkin' about." He kicked off against the ground to get some speed ahead of Xion and continued on down the tunnels. Xion suppressed a panicked scream and followed after him. Rai wasn't the sharpest guy in the world, but even he would have to remember Vivi. What was going on?

"Rai! Wait up and answer me!"

"No way! You just wanna get ahead in the race, ya know?"

Ugh. No, what I want is to learn what happened to Vivi! Light was rapidly approaching her now, and she and Rai broke out of the tunnel into the sunlight of the Tram Common. The empty lot was to their right, past the candy shop and help wanted board. To her left Xion could see others coming down from Market Street, including Hayner and Roxas who were behind just a handful of others.

Xion turned in a wide arc, which meant she probably wouldn't make it into the lot as quickly but at least she wouldn't risk falling over on a sharper turn. At this point it looked like Rai was going to win the race, but to Xion's shock a familiar head of blond hair flew past her. Roxas looked over his shoulder and grinned at Xion before moving up to Rai. The two of them were right beside each other, but at the turn into the lot Rai messed up just as Xion had feared she would: falling off while trying to turn on a dime. Rai crashed into the paved stone while Roxas continued on to the cheer of the crowd.

The rest of the racers followed soon after, including Xion and Hayner. Roxas was currently being hugged to death by a cheering Olette and Pence while Biggs thanked everyone for coming.

"You okay?" Hayner asked behind her.

Xion put a hand on her chest and took in a deep breath. "Yup, totally fine. I'm feeling one hundred percent."

"Great! Weird, but great. Come on, let's get Olette off of Roxas before she chokes the air out of him."

Xion giggled and nodded, and the two of them walked up to their friend to congratulate him. However, as soon as Olette was off of Roxas Xion replaced him, hugging her best friend tightly. She could practically feel the smirk on Hayner's face and was about to silence his teasing prematurely, but Roxas pulled away from Xion and looked over at someone behind her.

"Hey, chicken-wuss!" Oh great. Seifer was marching over to them with his fists clenched and teeth bared. Rai and Fuu were behind him, the former rubbing his wounded shoulder and the latter looking as dead ever. "Do you think what you did was funny back there, blondie?"

"What are you talking about?" Hayner demanded, stepping forward.

"Rule-breaker," Fuu said simply, pointing a finger at Roxas.

Roxas shook his head. "Rai fell over on his own, if that's what you're talking about."

Wait, they were accusing Roxas of attacking him? Xion stomped her foot. "I was right behind them and saw the whole thing. Roxas is innocent!"

"You gonna have your girlfriend defend you like that? Man up, dude." Seifer crossed his arms. "Rai's too good of a skater to just fall over like that. What'd you do, sabotage the board?"

Roxas sighed. "If you don't want to believe me, then that's fine. But I really didn't have anything to do with it. Rai just made a mistake—we all do sometimes."

"This was no mistake, ya know!" Rai marched forward and raised a fist into Roxas's face. "Fess up!"

"Hey, back off!" Hayner said, shoving Rai away and getting between him and Roxas. "You mess with our friend, you mess with all of us."

"Ha, now you're talkin'!" Seifer laughed. He and Fuu ran up to Rai's side and got into combat position. Was he really going to get into a fistfight, right here in this crowded little lot?

Olette spoke up next. "Hey, can't we talk this out?"

"Stay out of this, Olette!" Hayner snapped.

"Actually, I think that's a great idea." All of them turned to the new voice, which Xion recognized but couldn't put a name to. The woman speaking was a few years older than all of them and wearing red, pink, and white. Her hair – blonde with a green tint - was done up in a ponytail with a few locks above her forehead. "Talking things out is always better than fighting. It's how you protect everyone."

Hayner groaned. "This is none of your business, Terra."

Xion, for her part, stared in stunned silence at the thin woman. Terra… That's right, she was Terra Branford. Xion knew her. But why did the same sound so off? When she thought of someone named Terra, she didn't think of this woman even though she had known her most of her life. The name just kept bringing up that armored figure from her dream two nights ago…

Terra rested her hands on her hips. "Hayner, isn't Kronk waiting for you?" The blond boy grumbled something that sounded vaguely like a confirmation. "As for you Seifer, you're just trying to pick a fight with them aren't you?"

"Always am." Well, at least he didn't deny it. "But Rai wouldn't have fallen over if it weren't for Roxas!"

"I told you I didn't do anything," Roxas shot back.

"Liar," Fuu said calmly.

"He didn't!" Xion shouted.

"That's enough." Terra stepped in between their two groups, holding her hands out to keep Seifer and Hayner from killing each other. "Can't you all just let it be water under the bridge for once in your lives? It's winter vacation, you kids should all enjoy it."

Seifer straightened up and glared at Roxas and Hayner. If looks could kill they'd drop dead in an instant. "…Fine. But only because it's Terra." He turned around and stormed off.

Xion took in a deep breath and stepped forward. She need to know something before he left. Another step. "Seifer, wait."

"What do you want?"

"I'm just worried about Vivi. Have you found him anywhere?"

Seifer stared at her over his shoulder and then looked to Rai and Fuu, who both shrugged. "Vivi? Never heard of him."

Just like Rai. "But-"

"You're wasting my time. Fuu! Rai! Let's get out of here."

Xion watched as they vanished into the large crowd that was leaving the lot. Why didn't they remember who Vivi was? That didn't make any sense… Xion felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at Terra.

"You okay?"

"…Yeah, I guess so. Thanks for stopping the fight, Terra." Xion was about to ask her about Vivi, but she didn't think Terra had met him. There wouldn't be a point.

"Any time. I'll see you guys again, alright?"

"Let's meet up before vacation is over," Pence said as he waved after her. Terra joined the crowd as well. Xion didn't really care. He turned to Xion, who was sure she looked pathetic right now. "Hey Xion, what were you asking her about?"

"Vivi's still missing and Seifer and Rai are playing dumb about it."

"Who?" Xion stared up at Pence with wide, horrified eyes. He was raising an eyebrow. "Is Vivi a friend of yours or something? What's he like?"

"What- Pence, you know Vivi! He's the little kid who always wears a big yellow hat!"

Pence brought a hand to his chin. "That… doesn't ring any bells."

Xion spun around. "Hayner, Seifer confronted you about him yesterday!"

The blond boy just shook his head and shrugged. "Today's the first time I've seen Seifer all week, Xion. I'd have liked to keep the meeting off even longer."

Xion was shaking. Her friends wouldn't mess with her like this, so what? Had she just made up some kid she barely knew? "What's going on? Vivi disappears and suddenly everyone forgets him, is that it? Don't you see what's going on here? A little kid is missing, forgotten, and nobody cares!"

Roxas grabbed Xion's shoulders gently and looked her in the eyes. "Xion, calm down. We don't know anyone named Vivi. You must have had a bad dream last night or something."

No, she hadn't. She knew Vivi. She had seen him the first day of vacation. Xion broke away from his grip and looked down at the ground. "I… I need to be alone right now."

"Wait, Xion!" She ignored Roxas as she ran at full speed through the crowded streets.

x-x-x

Sora wasn't sure what was going on. He had made sure to keep up with Xion throughout the race so she wouldn't exhaust herself, and had cheered when Roxas had won. He almost jumped in when those other three looked ready to beat the group up, even, but had restrained himself. All his appearing would do would freak people out again.

But then Xion had started ranting about some one named Vivi. Sora didn't recognize the name, but he recognized the description she had said: little boy, big pointy hat. Yeah, he had seen him around town. So why didn't anyone else notice him? When Xion ran off Sora followed, jumping from rooftop to rooftop to keep up with her. At present she was sitting against the wall that cut Twilight Town from the forest, hugging her knees to her chest.

"I should really go down there and talk to her." Sora was just about to leap off the roof he was on when he heard a sound behind him. The Keybearer summoned his Keyblade and turned around just in time to block two razor-edge discs before they cut his head in half. His attacker from yesterday was back.

"I told you I'd stop you if you returned," he said from beneath the mask.

Sora struggled against the discs. How were such little weapons so strong? "Wait! Are you Tron? Mickey sent me; I'm a friend of his!"

The masked man hesitated. "Mickey?" He leaped back, landing about a yard away, and stood up straight. "You mean Mickey Mouse? …I suppose you do have similar weapons."

Sora couldn't hide his wide grin. "Yes, that's me! He told me you guys were friends, after I left yesterday. See, I'm not your enemy."

Tron's mask glowed and opened, revealing a pale face beneath it. "If that's true, then why did you sneak in here through that Backdoor?"

"Because of who's controlling this town."

"Ansem the Wise-"

"Tron, Ansem's dead. Someone else is in charge, someone really bad."

Tron stared at Sora with wide eyes. "Dead? But, he was my User! …What happened? Who's running the computer now?"

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," a cruel voice said. Sora shivered. He knew that voice, because it sounded almost exactly like his own. A corridor of darkness opened up and as one he and Tron turned to it. A masked boy in black and white armor stepped out.

"Vanitas."

"Long time no see, kid." Vanitas said. He walked forward and called a weapon into his hands. Sora had never seen this one, but there was no denying what it was: a Keyblade. Black and white, like Vanitas's armor was.

"Tron, he's one of the two who are in charge now!"

Tron held up a hand and called a screen. His eyes narrowed as he read whatever was written on it. "I see… another User. Because you came in here through Ansem the Wise's digitizer, your signature was hidden. That's why I never noticed you on the scans."

Vanitas scoffed. "Or maybe you're just blind. So preoccupied protecting your precious research data you don't even pay attention to the rumors. I've become famous in this town."

"What are you after? Is it Ansem's data?"

"No, I really couldn't care less about some old man. Now why don't you be a good little security program and get rid of the intruder?" Tron shook his head and crouched down, glaring at Vanitas as he held his discs for battle. Without warning, Vanitas burst into laughter. "You think you can handle me? Fine." With his Keyblade in one hand he spread his legs apart and held the other hand in front of him. So he didn't just dress like Riku, he held his weapon like Riku too. Vanitas turned his head to Sora. "Your face pisses me off. Let's fix that."

Vanitas jumped high up into the air and brought his Keyblade down on Sora, who jumped backwards with a split second to spare. Sora spun on his heel and swung his own Keyblade out, clashing with Vanitas's as Vanitas tried to swing at him again. He swept his foot at Vanitas's legs to trip him up, but Vanitas jumped over that and struck Sora in the back. Sora fell forward and spun around, aiming his Keyblade at Vanitas and casting Aerora.

The force of the wind knocked Vanitas back, right into a waiting Tron. The man struck at the masked boy with his twin discs, then acrobatically jumped above Vanitas and struck him again in the chest. Or that's what he tried to do—before the weapons could connect Vanitas's image blurred and he vanished, Tron's discs swinging through empty air.

"Pathetic." Vanitas appeared behind Tron and stabbed his Keyblade through the program's back. Tron screamed out in pain as particles of data flew out of his wound.

"Vanitas, stop it!" Sora shouted, running at the boy. Their Keyblades met once again, sending sparks flying as the two clashed. Sora planted his feet firmly on the ground and pushed against the black and white sword with all he had, while Vanitas didn't seem to be putting any effort into their struggle at all.

Sora finally broke Vanitas's guard, pushing the Keyblade away and striking him in the torso. "You'll pay for that!" Vanitas roared, jumping into the air. Darkness surrounded his Keyblade and he dived down, stabbing the Keyblade into the ground and sending waves of purple and black magic rippling out around him. Sora cast Reflect around him and Tron, and while the shield held turned to the program.

"Are you okay?"

"I've been better. This isn't enough to derezz me, but it's… pretty painful, I'll admit."

Sora wasn't sure if Cure worked on digital life, but he wasn't going to let that stop him. A green light surrounded Tron and sure enough the wound in his chest vanished. Sora sighed in relief.

"Thank you." Tron stood up as the Reflect shattered and Vanitas charged at them. Sora brought his Keyblade up to parry the hit, but the force behind Vanitas's charge knocked him back to the edge of the building. As Sora teetered on the edge, Tron leaped at Vanitas with his two discs.

The masked boy jumped back with a mocking "Too slow."

Tron turned around and grabbed Sora's hand to keep him from falling. "What do we do now?" Sora asked.

Tron kneeled down and called up multiple screens. "Keep him off me for just a little while. Mere seconds are all I need."

"If you say so." Sora ran at Vanitas and swerved around him, slashing his Keyblade into the masked boy's back. Vanitas responded by spinning around and slashing his own Keyblade across Sora's chest. Their blades locked once more as the two struggled against each other. Vanitas, however, had something over Sora: a one-handed fighting style. His free hand glowed a bright blue and Sora looked down to see ice forming on it.

"Freeze!" Vanitas shouted, thrusting his hand into Sora's chest and casting Blizzaga. Sora encircled his body with Firaga in time to avoid being frozen solid, but the impact from the spell still tossed him backwards. He landed next to Tron, who was grinning.

"Tron?"

"It's working. Sora, help me out!" Sora climbed up to his feet and stood back to back with Tron as the program rapidly typed away at the screen. "Running executable!"

A white pattern appeared at their feet and light flashed at the tip of Sora's Keyblade. Instinctively he raised it into the air, and suddenly dozens of little white machines made out of polygons appeared and surrounded Vanitas. With a swing of his Keyblade the little polygons struck the masked boy, hitting him rapidly at every moment. He didn't have a chance to break out.

A pattern formed in the air around Sora—a white circle surrounded in red. "Access approved!" he heard Tron shout from behind him. Mimicking Tron's own movements, Sora slammed a hand onto the panel in front of him. Red light pulsed out from the polygons and they quickened their pace, as well as moving without Sora's commands.

"What was that?" Sora asked Tron.

"A security protocol. Quickly, while he's distracted!"

The two charged at Vanitas, a streak of black among a swarm of white, but the masked boy roared and sent waves of darkness out. The polygons vanished, breaking apart into pixels that flew into the air. "You're all pissing me off!"

Vanitas jumped high into the sky and pointed his Keyblade at them while gripping it with both hands. Three blue crystals formed in the air around him. "Darkness waits!" The crystals flashed and fired beams of light between them, which met in the middle and formed a glowing orb of darkness. "Suffer!" The orb fire a large beam at Sora and Tron like a cannon, pure darkness erupting out of Vanitas's Keyblade.

Sora cast Reflega as quickly as he could, but he wasn't sure if it would be enough.

x-x-x

Twilight Town was suddenly thrust into chaos.

Xion had been moping in the shade of Twilight Town's wall, trying to figure out what had happened to Vivi, when suddenly the building in front of her exploded. Fire broke out among the rubble and panicked crowds screamed and ran about in horror. In the distance Xion could hear sirens. But for her part, she only stared with wide-eyes at the building. In the smoke, she thought she could make out the silhouettes of three figures.

The building next to the one that had exploded creaked. Xion looked up as it began to fall—right on top of her. Frozen in fear, she put her hands over hears and clenched her eyes shut tight, trying to block out the orange stone rapidly fall toward her.

But it never came.

And, Xion noticed, all the sounds had halted. She couldn't even hear the crackling of the flames.

Xion opened her eyes and took in a deep breath. The collapsing building was suspended in midair above her, and behind it the billowing smoke and burning fires were frozen solid. The crowds around her were just as still, their mouths open in silent screams.

"What's going on…?" Xion looked around. It was like time had come to a stop. "Hayner? Pence, Olette? Roxas!" No response.

"Wake up, Poppet." Xion spun around. A man with an eye patch stood behind her. He wore grey, with a purple sash across his chest and a darker purple scarf around his neck. And black boots and gloves, as well as silver streaks in his black hair.

"Who are you?" Xion asked, taking a step back. He didn't exactly give off a friendly vibe, especially with the way his gold eye – gold! – stared at her.

"Hey, I'm telling you to wake up. Isn't it obvious?" He looked around them and raised a hand at the frozen building for emphasis. "Time doesn't just stop out of nowhere, right? This is a dream. You're asleep."

"A dream?" Yes. Yes that was it. It had to be.

"Right? Now why don't you be a good little girl and wake up?" The man walked forward and Xion felt dizzy. She clutched her head as the town around her began to contort, her vision blurring and blacking out every few seconds. "Wake up and live your life. You and your pals are going to the mountains tomorrow, aren't you?"

The strange man rested a hand on her forehead and Xion fell backwards into a deep sleep.