Standing outside the Gummi Bus hatch, Axel did his best impression of a Twilight Town train conductor. "All aboard the Sea Salt Express!"

Riku frowned. "That is not the name of my ship."

"No talking back to your captain," Axel said. "Today's adventure is my idea. I'm keeping it a surprise, which means I'm the only one who can get us there. Ergo, my ship."

"...Kairi, I blame you for this."

"I'm sure it's fine," Kairi said. "Axel, you've piloted a Gummi ship before, right?"

"That's Captain Axel, and no I haven't, but how hard can it be? Go forward, go backward, turn left, turn right. I think I can handle moving in four directions. I won that go-kart race, didn't I?"

"Six."

"Huh?"

"Space is three-dimensional. There are six directions. And three angles of rotation."

"Even better!"

"Goodbye, old friend," Riku said, gently touching the side of the Gummi Bus as he and Kairi got onboard. "You were a good ship, lost before your time. We'll see each other again in the Final World, okay? Death is but a door."

Axel gestured again. "Final boarding call for the Sea Salt Express, 2pm Destiny Islands to points unknown. One piece of carry-on luggage per passenger. Please have your tickets out and ready for inspection."

Xion walked up. "I don't have a ticket. I spent all my money on ice cream."

"That's reasonable. Next in line, please."

Roxas walked up. "I was going to buy a ticket, but some guy in a black coat tripped me and stole my money."

"Happens all the time. Next!"

Namine walked up. "I drew a picture of you in a captain's hat."

"Magnificent."

Riku tried to relax. It had been a while since he'd been a passenger on a Gummi ship, instead of the pilot. Especially his own ship. The lack of control was uncomfortable - as were the benches; he'd have to remodel them later. Assuming the benches survived the trip -

Why does fear seize your heart? Do you not trust your friend to lead you through the DARKNESS?

...aaand there was his subconscious, talking like Xehanort's Heartless again. It had a point though, melodramatic as it was -

My friends are my power!

Yeah, Sora's voice was better for speeches like that. Although hearing Sora's voice in his head might be more madding in the long-term. Why didn't he ever get somebody serious, like Yen Sid or Aqua?

Anyway: Axel was Riku's friend. And Riku did trust his friends, no matter what the -

"...the intercom or the missile launcher? Why aren't these buttons labeled? Blinking light means...there we go! Ahem. Attention passengers: this is your Captain speaking. We are currently cruising at an altitude of...uh...we're in space. Temperature is zero, I guess? You are now free to move about the cabin. As a reminder, on this flight there is no eating or drinking, smoking, or removal of hearts with a magic sword. Thank you and enjoy the ride!"

"Riku, are you okay?" Kairi said. "You look almost as pale as your hair."

"Everything is fine," Riku lied convincingly.

"Oh!" Namine put down her sketchbook. "I know how we can pass the time. Riku, Xion, I haven't showed you my new memory-projection powers yet! Hmm...is there anything in particular you'd like to see?"

"Anything that does not involve flying," Riku said.

"Sora, not flying," Kairi said.

"Sora, not flying, fighting Heartless," Roxas said.

"Sora, not flying, fighting Heartless, saving somebody," Xion said.

"I have just the thing. Here you -"

- have just entered Agrabah's main plaza, and you're already surrounded by Bandit Heartless. You almost wish you were facing the recently-disposed Guard Armor instead - a spinning giant is somehow less intimidating than a dozen creatures of darkness with scimitars. Good thing you have a blade of your own.

A few Shadows join the fray and are dispatched just as quickly. Wiping your brow, you realize the greatest threat in this world may not be darkness, but heat - a dry heat, better than Deep Jungle, but just as deadly to the unwary.

The marketplace is devoid of people. No surprise - each corridor reveals more Bandits, more Shadows, and a new monstrosity of the dark: a large clay pot with four giant spider legs. Surely a Princess of Heart would never live among such -

"Who's there? Hello?"

You lower your blade; Heartless can't talk. So far.

A young woman comes out from behind a stack of boxes. She's beautiful - and given the amount of gold she's wearing, almost certainly royalty. A princess, perhaps? Now you're getting somewhere.

"I'm -"

"Who is that!?" Kairi said. "Oops, sorry. Did I break the vision?"

"I just lost focus. Give me a minute," Namine said.

Kairi sighed. "Nice timing, me. Does anybody know who that was?"

"Princess Jasmine," Roxas said. "I spied on her for the Organization before. She was one of the original seven Princesses of Heart."

Xion turned to Kairi. "Wait, aren't you a Princesses of Heart? Don't you all know each other? Like, meetings in a large white room with impractically tall chairs?"

"The Princesses all came from different worlds," Roxas said. "They never actually met."

"Actually," Namine said, "they did all meet up once, in Hollow Bastion - except for you, Kairi. You had just gotten your heart back, I think? Let's see if I can -"

- enter the Castle Chapel. The lighting is an uncomfortable shade of green - Maleficent is gone, right? - but the faces you see put you at ease. Princesses of Heart, holding back the darkness of the Final Keyhole with their light. Some you know - Alice still has her head, thank goodness, and Jasmine is as strong as ever. Others you know by reputation - the woman in the library could only be Belle, exactly as the Beast had once described her between snarls.

The last three princesses are a cut above the rest, and indeed above anybody you've seen before. 'Princess' is insufficient - these women are regal. They are -

"- so beautiful," Kairi said. "Sora told me about them, but I - I had no idea."

"I thought they were fighting the darkness?" Xion said. "Those dresses were huge! How could they possibly maneuver in them?"

"Maybe they use Aero?" Roxas said. "Like Xaldin and his spears."

"That makes perfect sense."

"Attention passengers: we have now arrived at our destination. Please be sure not to leave behind any luggage, hearts, or keyblades as you disembark. Thank you for flying the Sea Salt Express. Oh, and bonus points to the first person who figures out where we are!"

Kairi blinked as she exited the Gummi Bus, eyes adjusting to the sunlight. Sunlight, sand, dry heat - it felt like the Agrabah vision, but that couldn't be right. The buildings were completely different. As were the locals.

"Look, everybody is wearing sandals and skirts!" Namine said. "Good! I won't have to wear pants this time."

"They're called togas."

Kairi turned to Roxas. "You know where we are?"

"Yeah, this is Olympus. Sora's told you about Hercules, right? He lives here."

"Right you are!" Axel hopped out the Gummi Bus, looking like a kid in a Halloweentown candy shop. He started leading them down the main road. "Roxas, you went on a bunch of missions to this world, right? Care to give us a tour?"

"It looks a little different from what I remember. Most of the buildings were, uh, still standing when I visited. What happened?"

"Hades happened," Riku said. "While Xehanort was making his big push, one of the local gods tried to take over. Sora and Hercules stopped him, but it looks like the city's still rebuilding."

"No worries," Axel said. He pointed to a massive structure at the end of the road. "Only one building we care about. Behold the Coliseum!"

"Oh!" Namine said. "Sora's been there several times. Are we going to watch a tournament? How exciting!"

"You're close! Guess again."

"But there's nothing else to do here," Roxas said. "If we're not going to watch a tournament, then - oh no. Axel, does your plan involve something that Kairi is going to murder you for suggesting?"

Kairi frowned. "Axel, why am I murdering you now? What is this 'brilliant plan' of yours?"

"My plan is, why spectate when you can be a part of the action?"

Kairi frowned more. "What!?"

Axel gestured to a posting near the Coliseum entrance. "Ta-da! Time for all of us to show off our training! And what better way than on the grandest stage of them all, surrounded by adoring fans as we face off against the legions of darkness?"

"What!?"

"We're gonna be in a tournament! They have 'em all the time in this world. I always wanted to go, back in my Organization days, but Xemnas always sent Xigbar, Roxas, or Demyx instead. Demyx! I still haven't forgiven Xemnas for that."

"What!?"

"And they use live Heartless! How cool is that?." Axel read the posting. "What's on for today..."

"Axel, I think you broke her," Roxas said, waving his arm in Kairi's face. "Kairi, it's fine. I've done this before. I even won once. You fight Heartless for several rounds, and then you fight a champion."

Xion stepped in. "Besides, Axel wouldn't put us in danger. This sounds like fun! It feels like forever since we've been in a real fight."

"...maybe." Kairi took a deep breath. "Okay, we'll sign up for the - the -" Kairi stammered as she read the posting, "- the 'Pain and Panic Cup'!? AXEL!"

"The name's just a marketing ploy! Come on. We fought Organization 13 together. A handful of Heartless isn't a threat. And look! The tournament requires three-person teams, and there's six of us. Me, Roxas, and Xion on one team, and then Riku, you, and -"

"No."

Everybody turned to Riku.

"Namine is not participating."

"Don't be a -"

"Axel, Namine. Does. Not. Have. A. Keyblade."

"Riku!" Kairi whispered, "ixnay on the eblade-kay!"

Axel shrugged. "I'm sure there are plenty of weapons in the Coliseum. Namine can just borrow -"

"I don't care if Namine borrows the Ultima weapon and gets a permission slip from Yen Sid. We are not putting her in danger."

"It's okay," Namine said softly. "I understand."

Kairi felt her princess heart melt. "Namine..."

"But, um, a team can only have three people right? So we're entering one team, and me and two others cheer them on?"

Everybody looked at each other.

"I'll sit with you," Riku said, not looking Namine in the eye. "This was Axel's idea, so his team should enter. Him and Roxas and Xion. Uh, sorry, Kairi."

"But Riku, you're our master," Roxas said. "We want to win, right? You have to participate. Axel and me and you, and - uh -"

"And not me?" Xion glared.

"Uh...well, we have the most experience, and...um..."

"If we're going by experience, then it should be me, you, and Master Riku -"

"Not feeling the love, Xion," Axel said.

"- since we've had our keyblades the longest. Why are you leaving me out, if 'we want to win'? You think I'm not as strong as you three?"

"Er...all three of us have beaten you on separate occasions, eh heh..."

"Roxas, li'l buddy, this is not the time to bring up -"

Kairi finally found her voice. "This is all beside the point. This trip was supposed to be a group activity. If we're not all participating, then let's find something else to do."

"Why does it have to be all of us?" Xion said.

"We're already here," Roxas said. "And I've actually won a tournament before."

"And I haven't? Is that it?" Kairi said.

"What? No!"

"I have a keyblade too! I've been training just as hard as you! Just because I didn't travel to as many worlds, or - or hold back the darkness with the other Princesses, or..."

Kairi knew she was getting away from her original point, but she couldn't stop herself. Seeing the (older, beautiful, strong) Princesses in Hollow Bastion had been a shock. Namine had assumed Kairi had been left out because she had just gotten her heart back. Kairi hadn't voiced the truth - that Sora had told her fourteen-year-old self to stay behind, because she would just 'get in the way'. And, at the time, Kairi had agreed. She wondered how Sora would feel about her now, when he finally reappeared -

Kairi, I'm back! Sorry it took so long. I actually went on a mission to recruit the original Princesses of Heart. Meet Alice, Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, and Aurora. Turns out they all have keyblades now! Aren't they amazing? We've all gotten really close over the last few weeks. I was supposed to recruit you too, but I, uh, kinda forgot?

- and if the past several weeks of training had made any difference at all.

Kairi realized everybody was staring at her.

Axel coughed. "Guys, look. I guess the tournament might sound crazy. None of us have been in a 'real' battle since Xehanort. But this still isn't 'real' - sure, there are Heartless, but it's in a stadium. Just like the Light Cycles, right? 'Controlled, self-contained environment', or however that went. If it gets too hot to handle, we can just quit."

Axel grinned. "Besides, we beat Xehanort, didn't we? And Namine has fancy magical mind-zappy powers now. We got this."

After a moment, Namine said something unintelligible.

"Huh?"

"...I want to participate," Namine said.

Riku looked uncomfortable. "Nami-"

"Breath, should I take a deep? Faith, should I take a leap?"

"It's not -"

"Let me face, let me face, let me face my fears!"

"...yeah, okay."

"Yes!" Axel cheered. "Alright, so it's me and Roxas and -"

"No." Xion was still glaring. "I don't want to be on a team with Roxas."

Roxas glared back. "That's fine with me."

Axel blinked. "Alright, uh, Xion and -"

Xion shook her head. "I want to be on a team with Kairi."

"...so boys/girls then?"

"No," Riku said. "I have to be on the same team as Namine."

"Fine! Me, Kairi, and Xion on one team, and Riku, Roxas, and Namine on the other. Are we happy now?"

Axel did his best to keep up his trademark grin as the group entered the Coliseum lobby. He'd planned out the entire trip, from forcing Riku to give up the keys (so to speak) to the Gummi Bus, to their inevitable victory over whatever spiky-haired guy showed up for the final round. He'd memorized every step, none of which included arguing.

Looking at it objectively...it was all Riku's fault. Revenge for daring to breathe on the controls of his beloved Gummi ship, no doubt. But that was fine. Axel wasn't vindictive. Not until they faced each other in the tournament, at least.

Speaking of...

Axel turned to Roxas. "So how do we sign up?"

"With him." Roxas pointed to a squat half-human with goat horns and legs. "Phil! Remember me?"

The goat-thing - 'Phil' - turned around. "Well, if it isn't the junior hero! Where are your other friends? You running with a new crowd now?"

Roxas was a 'junior hero'? He hadn't mentioned that at the Organization 13 staff meetings. Or maybe...

Better step in. "Hi, name's Axel. And this is not Sora, if that's what you're thinking."

Roxas twitched but kept going. "I visited a few years ago. Won the tournament, beat a guy with an eye patch?"

Phil squinted. "...am I seeing things? Rookie, is that you?"

"Eh heh, yeah, it's me," Roxas said. Axel couldn't blame Roxas for feeling bashful - this Phil was apparently the only person in all the worlds who remembered him. Didn't have his name memorized, though.

"How've ya been, kid? I was gettin' worried about ya, what with fire-head and his buddies knocking over everything from here to Athens. Keeping up with trainin'?"

Axel stepped in again - this was his brilliant plan, after all. "Yes he has! In fact, that's why we're here. My little buddy told us all about your world-famous Coliseum. He insisted we enter a tournament -"

"I what?"

"- and you just can't say no to that face, am I right? So is there a form to fill out, or can we just walk in to the main event?"

Phil looked amazed. "Participants? Really? Er, I mean...normally I don't let newbies sign up this close to the opening bell, but I guess I can make an exception just this once."

Alright. Everything was back on track. The arguments from a few minutes ago were already fading from memory - and once they stood victorious, together, then Kairi would relax about -

"You all got your Hero Licenses ready?"

What? "Er, license?"

"Yeah. This is the world-famous Coliseum - heroes only. I'll take entry passes too, if you're just starting out."

Demyx hadn't mentioned that! "I, uh, must've left the passes in my other coat...eh..."

Suddenly Riku stepped up. "We're heroes."

"Oh really," Phil said. "Look kid, guys like you show up every week. Spiky hair, belts, fancy swords - you got a fancy sword kid?"

Riku smirked and summoned his keyblade. "You could say that."

The others summoned their keyblades. Namine shuffled behind Kairi.

"Of course ya do. Like I was sayin', guys like you are a dime a dozen -"

"I'm a Keyblade Master."

"And I'm sure your mother's real proud of ya. Like I was sayin', half the guys who show up ain't even seen a Heartless before -"

"We have a Princess of Heart."

"Princesses get sword trainin' where you come from? Anyways, like I was sayin', we can't just let anybody in. The Heartless would eat 'em alive -"

"We've been fighting Heartless for years. We just defeated Xehanort."

"Never heard of him. Anyways, like I was sayin', Hades would love it if we just fed every yutz we got to the Heartless, but Zeus wouldn't. He already shut down the Underdrome for, and I quote, 'senseless violence.' And half those participants were already dead."

"You're really afraid of this 'Zeus' guy?"

"I got two words for ya: Βασιλεὺς Βασιλέων."

"Excuse me!" Kairi flashed her trademark Princess of Heart smile. "I know we may not look like much, but we have been training really hard. My friends would be terribly disappointed if we couldn't participate. And I'm sure that none of us would even consider doing anything foolish or needlessly violent. Isn't that right, guys?"

Said question was asked with an expression that was not a Princess of Heart smile. Five cowed voices quickly rang out in agreement.

"So could you maybe bend the rules a little bit? Just this once?"

"Welllll..." said Phil, who wasn't fooling anybody, "my star attraction is busy puttin' up buildings at the moment, so I guess I could squeeze ya in."

"Thank you so much!"

Waiting just outside the stadium entrance, Riku tried to calm his nerves. Sure, he had beaten the forces of DARKNESS! more times than he could count - just not with a stadium full of people watching.

Best not to think about it. Instead of staring at the door, Riku would look at...Namine? Sure, why not. Namine was blinking slowly (preparing her mental powers?) while wearing the most adorable determined expression Riku had ever seen. Her hands were balled into fists, presumably because they had no weapon to hold onto.

Now that was another wrinkle. Riku was used to fighting alongside Mickey, not an innocent girl who was all courage and no keyblade. He'd have to keep an eye on her.

Namine caught him staring. "Is something wrong?"

"You need a weapon," Riku quickly improvised. "Even if you don't use it, you don't want to appear vulnerable. Some of the smarter Heartless pick up on stuff like that."

Namine pouted. "It's a little late to be telling me that! At least I wore a skirt with pockets. Let's see...colored pencils...eraser...seashells...pass to Disneytown...oh, Even's inkblot tests! Those are kind of intimidating."

Roxas picked something off the ground. "How about this?"

"Roxas, that's a stick."

"Can the Heartless even tell?" Roxas handed the stick to Namine. "Just wave it around before you mind-zap them; they'll think it's a magic wand or something."

With a rumble, the stadium doors opened. Riku shielded his eyes against the sudden flash of sunlight as the team walked into the stadium, surrounded by the multitudes of -

Empty seats?

Mostly empty. Phil was at the other end of the stadium, giving orders to somebody. Axel, Kairi, and Xion were in the front row of the stands on the left side. Further up, Riku thought he could see one of the locals, fast asleep. The only other spectators were birds.

In the front row, Axel and Xion were both pouting. Kairi, in contrast, had apparently decided to act as an entire audience by herself.

"You can do it! We believe in you! Namine, sweetie, be careful!"

With some prodding, Axel got in on the cheering.

"Destiny Islands, represent! Burn the opposition!"

Xion remained stone-faced, though in the relative silence of the stadium, Riku swore he heard her mutter to Axel something like "...carrying a stick...had to be Roxas's idea…can't believe..."

Another rumble, and the opposition arrived.

Riku counted. Four Hook Bats. Several Rapid Thrusters, moving too quickly to count. And two massive Bolt Towers.

Riku and Roxas summoned their keyblades. Roxas switched to a stance that was much less aggressive than usual - it looked suspiciously like Sora's stance in the Agrabah vision - and then turned to Riku.

"What's the plan?"

Right. This trip was Axel's idea, but Riku was still the Master. Time to step up.

"We've got too many targets out of reach. Namine, use your powers on as many of the flying enemies as possible. Put them in a vision with an enclosed space. Roxas, you and I can use the Towers as platforms to pick them off. Don't bother deflecting the lightning attacks unless they're aimed at Namine. Once the flyers are out, take your Tower down."

That felt good.

The Heartless were on the move. Riku grinned. "Long-range attacks first. Namine, hit it."

"Um, I already am? I started as soon as they showed up."

The Heartless weren't stopping.

Roxas turned to Namine. "Have you, uh, ever used your powers on Heartless before?"

"No, my powers used to only work on people connected to Sora. But I thought I was past that." Namine frowned. "This is weird. It worked this morning..."

"Namine, Heartless aren't people," Riku said. "Your powers work by messing with memories, right? Do Heartless even have memories?"

"Oh," Namine said. "Oh dear. I hadn't thought of that."

"Okay, new plan. Roxas, you and I deflect Tower lightning into the flyers. Namine, try to -"

And the Heartless were upon them.

"Rookie, I don't know what you were playin' at - bringing a scrub without any fightin' skills at all - but you're outta the tournament."

Phil stomped off.

Roxas stomped off in the opposite direction.

"I'm so sorry," Namine said. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have dropped my stick. I was just so startled -"

Riku shook his head. "I've never seen a Hook Bat actually use his hook to pick somebody up before. And you still managed to kill it." Namine's colored pencils were sharp.

"Thanks for catching me."

"My pleas- you're welcome."

"Do you think Roxas will be okay? I still want to apologize to him. That was just so - so - I'm really glad only our friends were watching."

"Me too. Well, Axel and the others are up next. We should cheer them on."

"Um, Riku? You can put me down now."

"Oh, right."

Axel walked through the stadium entrance with considerably less enthusiasm than he'd intended. He'd planned out the entire entrance - a little chakram action, a leaping flame or two - but who was he going to impress? The birds? And nobody would ever hear his 'Axel's Angels' entrance music.

At least Kairi was happy. She was currently waving to Namine, who was yelling some unintelligible encouragement.

Xion was looking at the stands as well. "Roxas isn't here."

Axel shrugged. "I'm not surprised. He just got kicked out of the tournament. I'd need time to cool off too."

"I know, but - it's us. You and me. I thought he'd be here..."

"If you're mad, take it out on the Heartless, yeah?"

"I'm not mad." And, indeed, Xion didn't sound mad. She almost sounded...scared?

A rumble, and the Heartless appeared. A lot of Heartless. Two Soldiers, six Aeroplanes, two Assault Riders, and one of those stupid purple dogs.

Good. Axel needed to burn things. Besides, after all the trouble they went to just to get into the tournament, the actual fight would be easy in comparison.

Axel shared a look with Xion. She was grinning too. They summoned their keyblades simultaneously, and Kairi -

- had just taken out the Soldiers and was running towards an Assault Rider.

Hoo boy. "Xion, can you take out the mutt and the other Rider while I keep Kairi from getting herself killed?"

"On it. Puppy!"

Axel fire-dashed to Kairi, tackling her to the ground before the Rider's glaive could take her head off. "Hi Kairi! Is this a singles tournament, or can anybody join?"

"I can stop this guy myself! And -"

"Yeah, but you don't have to. Group activity, right?" Axel turned his keyblade into its chakram form. "I can stay out of his reach. While I do that, can you take care of the six Aeroplanes before they strafe us and we all die?"

"Yeah. Okay." Kairi ran off.

Well that was weird. Since when was Kairi the reckless one? And Axel the voice of reason?

Two flame-covered chakrams to the face, and the Rider was down. Axel looked across the stadium. Only three of the Aeroplanes were left. Good.

Kairi, apparently out of magic, was swatting her keyblade in the air and yelling at the Aeroplanes to land already. Less good.

Xion...was doing the same as Kairi. Huh?

Axel took out the last three enemies with a well-aimed Explosion, then ran over to his teammates. "What are you doing?"

Kairi wrung her hands. "I ran out of magic, and I'm not used to fighting flying enemies yet -"

"Yeah, I figured that." Axel turned to Xion. "I meant you. Xion, three Aeroplanes should've been nothing for you."

"I've never seen them before."

Axel started gesturing as he spoke. "They're flying Heartless. You hit them until they stop flying!"

"I wasn't sure, and I thought Kairi knew how to deal -"

Oh, you're not sure? What, did they forget to build you with common sense? Oh, come on, don't look shocked. You already know you're a Replica.

"Oh, you're not sure? What, did they forget to build you with common sense?"

"Axel!"

What's your problem? You think you can do whatever you want. Well, I'm sick of it. Go on, you just keep running.

"What's your problem? You think you can do whatever you want. Well, I'm sick of it."

"Axel, I'm sorry!"

"Axel, that's enough!"

Axel stopped. Kairi was furious. Xion was near tears.

"Xion...I...I..."

Axel dashed out the stadium door.

Roxas's team had been disqualified. Axel's team had forfeited. For them, the tournament was over.

In fact, the entire tournament was over, as nobody else had signed up.

Kairi was okay with that.

It didn't take long for Kairi to find Axel - there were no clock towers in Olympus, so he was on top of one of the Coliseum pillars instead - but calming him down was another matter.

"I snapped at Xion."

"Yes you did," Kairi said, "but you're going to make it up to her, and realizing that you -"

"I snapped at Xion."

"Admitting it is the first step. Next is -"

"Kairi, you don't get it. This is about more than just breaking Xion's heart. You asked me to help bring everybody together, and instead I snapped. At Xion. That's not helping. That's the opposite of helping." Axel sighed. "And Roxas is acting weird, and everything I did to include Namine backfired. The next time I tell you I have a brilliant plan, hit me with your keyblade, okay?"

"I could hit you now and get it over with."

That got a chuckle. Good.

Kairi sat down next to Axel. Just like in their training days. "You once said 'Being a Somebody is pretty easy for me.' That's not true, is it?"

"Guess not."

"You started out with a heart, sure, but then you lost it. For a decade. Xemnas took advantage of you. Your best friend couldn't help because he was in the same situation." Hug time. "I'm sorry. I should've realized all this sooner."

"Me too."

"Axel, you lost your temper. And now you feel guilty. You might not remember, but that sort of thing happens when you have a heart. You're not turning into a Nobody again. Although you might be turning into Donald Duck." Kairi stood up and offered a hand to Axel. "Come on. The others are worried about you."

"In conclusion, we might've lost the tournament, but we tried, and...we're all still here, so it's not like the Heartless won...losing is a thing...in fact, we're the real winners, for losing..."

Once again, Riku wished Sora was around to give the pep talk.

The group had reconvened in the Coliseum lobby. With the tournament over, tempers had cooled enough for everybody to stop fighting each other. Now everybody was just miserable in general. At least they were too caught up in their own problems to listen to his speech.

Phil walked in. "Hey, keymaster, I'd like a word with ya."

"Yeah, sure. One moment" Looking at his teammates, Riku knew he had to say something -

Do not run from the DARKNESS! Embrace it!

- and that was not it. But 'embrace'..."Okay, cooldown exercise. Everybody take turns hugging each other. I'll be right back."

Riku walked over to Phil. "I'd like to apologize -"

"Save it. Like I said before, this happens all the time. Just wanted to let you know that you have potential. You might even be junior hero material. Unfortunately -"

"One moment. Axel, let Xion breathe! Sorry, please continue."

"Like I was sayin', unfortunately there ain't gonna be any more tournaments for a while. I know it's hard to believe, but you're actually the first participants we've had in weeks. And I cannot, in good conscience, let your friends try again."

"Yeah, I don't think you have to worry about that."

"Good. But you keep on trainin' in the meantime, yeah? Well, I'm gonna go clean up. See ya around, kid."

Riku yawned as he piloted the Gummi Bus. The tournament hadn't been physically strenuous, but Olympus was a long way from Destiny Islands. It was already evening.

Kairi walked into the cockpit, sitting down in the copilot's seat with a huff. "Everyone's asleep."

"That's good."

"They're all sitting as far away from each other as possible."

"That's less good."

"Riku, what am I doing wrong? A week ago, we were all getting along just fine. It wasn't perfect, but we were still on speaking terms with each other. Now it's all falling apart."

"It was just a bad day -"

"I'm serious! Everything was great until I opened my mouth. Are we sure I'm still a Princess of Heart?"

"You're over-"

"I'm doing a better job of dividing us than Xehanort. I didn't even need a magic rock maze or anything."

"Kairi! Don't even joke like that!"

Kairi sniffled.

"Listen. I believed in what you said, about helping our friends get used to their new lives. I still do. Your only mistake was in thinking your Princess status would make it easy. If we could solve every problem with sea-salt ice cream and a pass to Disney Town, there wouldn't be any darkness in people's hearts." Riku squeezed Kairi's hand. "Xemnas did terrible things to our friends. Helping them is going to take time. Things will go wrong. But that's never stopped us before."

"...you're right. Thanks." Kairi rubbed her eyes. "When did you get so smart?"

"I had Xehanort's Heartless in my head for over a year. I learned a lot about persistence. And patience."

"So what do we do now?"

"Now? We go home. I think we've been trying too hard. If we want to help our friends with normal life, then let's go back to our old routine for a while, and -"

The Gummiphone rang.

Riku blanched. Only a few people, in the entire universe, had Riku's Gummiphone number. Most of them wouldn't call Riku unless it was an emergency. Yen Sid, Aqua, Mickey, -

"It's Ansem the Wise!" Kairi pressed a few buttons. "Ansem, it's me and Riku. You're on speaker."

"Ah, good. No time for pleasantries, I'm afraid. I just received a message from young Pence -"

"Pence? How?"

"Several weeks ago, he and Ienzo connected the Radiant Garden network to the computer I had left in the Old Mansion. Ienzo had needed Roxas's data memories for his replica body. Most fortunate. Are you familiar with the Underground Concourse near the Mansion?"

"Yeah."

"Pence and his friends visited the Underground this morning. They barely escaped a swarm of 'monsters, not the white squiggly ones, but the little shadow things with the yellow eyes.' Pence also mentioned he couldn't contact Roxas."

"He's with us. We were out of town today. How many Heartless we talking about?"

"Scores of them from the sound of it. They haven't left the Underground yet. Regardless, -"

Kairi almost jumped out of her seat. "That's perfect!"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I mean, it's perfect that we're already together and on the Gummi ship. We've got Axel and Xion too. We can handle this!"

"Splendid! I shall inform Pence that you are on your way. He and his friends are staying at the Old Mansion for now."

"We'll meet them there. Thanks!"

Kairi pressed a button to end the call. Riku stared at her.

"Okay, I'll go and tell everyone that -"

"...Kairi."

"What?"

"What happened to helping our friends adjust to normal life? The others are in no condition to fight right now. I was planning to drop everybody off at Destiny Islands and handle the Heartless myself."

"You were going to hide this from Roxas? Hayner, Olette, and Pence were his friends first, you know. He'd hate you forever."

"He can hate me all he wants, as long as he stays safe."

"Don't say that. And what makes you think I would sit this out? That any of us would? This is bigger than the six of us. Besides, this might be just what we need. Once everybody realizes that we have each other's backs as we save an entire city, we'll grow closer for sure!"

Riku didn't know how to respond. The Keyblade Master in him was screaming that their 'team' was a mess of bruised feelings and fragile egos, none of which bode well for an underground Heartless battle. But -

This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness...soon to be completely eclipsed. All shall be extinguished.

-Kairi was right. People were in danger. Not just Hayner and his friends - an entire city. Maybe even a world. Fighting on his own would be more than reckless - it would be negligent.

There was no choice to make after all.

"Changing course. We're on our way to Twilight Town."