The Time Break Saga 3D: Asleep at Dawn

by The Unplanner

Organization XIII was defeated, Kingdom Hearts was destroyed, and the Time Breaks are all closed, but it's too early to celebrate. Unfortunately, it's also to early to send the newest Keyblade wielders off to war. Can Kairi, Lambda, and Xion stop tripping over each other's weapons in time to stop the Keyblade War?

12. Power Nap

Asleep at Dawn

Chapter 12: Power Nap

-"Liking the Look!"-

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A/N: First and foremost: KINGDOM HEARTS 3 IS HERE! Jumping Meow Wows, you guys, after more than a dozen years, it's here! And I already finished playing through the main storyline.

Verdict: The next book of the Time Break Saga (yes, I just said "next book") will have to outright ignore most of KH3's canon. This is a result of me never having played the Kingdom Hearts χ mobile games. Like, who even is Strelitzia? Also, I hate hate HATE what that game did to Kairi. Practically the whole game was a slap in the face to her entire character arc. I vow to avenge our Princess by writing a better resolution for her than that!

Anyway, back to the show! Er...back to another Midnight Town interlude! It's okay, though: big power-ups are in store! For a limited time only. Offer void in The Land of the Musketeers. While supplies last. Your results may vary. Side effects may include pink.

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Training Worlds: Hub...

Lea was the first to reappear in the Hub, where Roxas was waiting. "Welcome back, Axel."

Lea grabbed his forehead and groaned. "Lea! L-E-A! Get the other one un-memorized! ...Sorry, I just dealt with a bunch of that from the others."

Roxas shrugged. "To be fair, you never actually told me your real name. And speaking of things you haven't done yet, I see your Keyblade hasn't come to you."

In the soon-to-be famous words of Sora, Lea whined, "Give me a break! These things take time, okay?"

Roxas actually took him seriously. "Do they? That's another thing I wouldn't know. I've always had mine."

"I would know," Xion pointed out, having arrived without being noticed. "Just give it time; some situation to trigger it is bound to come up. It's like destiny, or something."

"Real helpful advice there!" Hazama pointed out as he tried to grab Xion in a surprise noogie, but missed. "Also, thank Merlin that everything's back to normal for everyone, body-wise. Just thought I'd point that out."

Xion had Dodge Rolled out of Hazama's reach. "Yeah, but I'm definitely going to try and turn that armor into one of my weapon sets."

Hazama agreed, "Yeah, the spike guns were sweet as hell. Too bad my Bonus TP item isn't one of those."

"We're just going to gloss over the mother of all exposition bombs we got hit with, then?" Lambda asked as she rejoined the group.

She received nods from all around. Hazama replied for the group, "Yep, we're ignoring it. That was your mother of all exposition bombs, not ours. And there's not much point to worrying about it until we deal with Xehanort, right?"

Xion asked, "'We?' As in, you too?"

Hazama just smirked.

Kairi finally showed up. "Sorry I'm late! Did I miss anything?"

"No, just the usual light-hearted bickering," Namine replied after casually reading Roxas' memories.

Roxas cleared his throat. "Well, now that everyone's here, I can give you the news you've all been waiting for: you all have enough Bonus TP to buy your personal bonus items! Lea, you get yours for free as a handicap for joining late. Here's a voucher; just give it to the shopkeeper at 'Accessories, Sold Separately' and you'll get a new toy."

The team's reactions, in order of Lambda, Kairi, Xion, Hazama, Namine, and Lea, were:

"Finally!"

"I can't wait!"

"Already got mine."

"About goddamn time!"

"How will I even hold it?"

"Free bonus item? Sign me up!"

Roxas stepped aside and gestured to the door to Training World 1. "I guess you're all heading to back Midnight Town, then. See you later! Oh, and watch out for Terumi. Whatever he was doing before, he's stopped, but I don't think that's a good thing."

Hazama tipped his fedora to put an extra-deep shadow over his eyes. "Oh, is that all? Remember, everyone, I called dibs this time!"

Everyone simultaneously replied, "We remember," including Lea, although he didn't actually remember; he was just playing along to keep the crazy guy pointed in some other direction.

They all filed through the door to Midnight Town.

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RE: Midnight Town: Town Square...

Once everyone had arrived, Lambda asked, "Okay, should we split up to get our bonus items faster, or travel in a group to be sure Terumi attacks Hazama first?"

Kairi decided, "Let's stay grouped up. That way, we can all ooh and aah over each other's bonus items, too."

"Quite a compelling argument," Hazama agreed. "So, what's our first stop?"

Kairi pointed east. "Ms. Wardrobe's Wardrobe. It has the items for both Lambda and myself, and it's right nearby."

With a chorus of affirmatives, the team set off on their shopping spree.

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East Street: Ms. Wardrobe's Wardrobe...

Kairi and Lambda went into the store while the rest of the group stayed outside. After about a minute, Lambda was the first to emerge.

"Okay, everyone, check this out!" Lambda's long braid was now tied back by a clip that extended into a cylinder reminiscent of a gun's barrel, complete with a seemingly unnecessary revolver chamber where her hair went into it. Moving only her hair, Lambda pointed the clip straight up and fired a brilliant white laser, which persisted for a moment as she traced a line across the sky. "It's called the 'Braid Beam': it has infinite ammo, deals sustained non-elemental damage, and on top of all that, it looks pretty cool!"

Xion clapped. "Ooh! Aah!"

Hazama slow-clapped. "Generic approving vocalizations!"

Lea raised an eyebrow at Hazama. "You really put a lot of effort into trolling, don't you?"

Hazama consumed the snark and was nourished. "Why, thank you! I'm glad you noticed!"

Kairi finally exited the store, wearing a whole new outfit. She did a slow spin to show it off. "Okay, I'm ready! How do I look?"

Kairi's new "Very Special Outfit" consisted mostly of a sleeveless dress made of a tougher material than her old outfit. A pink hood with black cat-ear decorations hung unused from her neck. Most of the dress was pink, except for black sections above the bust line and by her hips. Pairs of silver buttons were fastened down the front of the garment, but they didn't seem to be holding it on in any way; that was what the zipper trailing halfway down the middle was for, but Kairi had it fully opened to reveal a white camisole she was wearing underneath. There was also a black belt fitted snugly around her waist, from which she hung the Pouch of Holding from her previous outfit over her right hip. Her arms fit through wide holes surrounded by black frills with pink plaid lines.

Below the waist was a short but complicated skirt. On her left side, it was a double-layered black frilly skirt with pink and white plaid designs, but on the right it was a plain black pleated skirt. Her feet were covered by wide black boots with thick soles, but the majority of her legs were left uncovered.

Kairi had also taken the liberty of purchasing a "Buster Band" (+5 Defense) - a wide bracelet covered in tough-looking metal studs - clasped on her left wrist, and a silver "Fire Chain" (+4 Defense, +50% Fire Resistance) wrapped around her right wrist, both intended to mitigate potential friendly fire from Lea's wide-area explosive powers. She also still wore her teardrop-shaped pendant around her neck, of course. She couldn't remember ever not wearing that particular item.

Xion gave her a thumbs-up. "You look...adventurous!"

Lea followed suit. "Yeah! Liking the look!"

Hazama mentioned, "It's actually a bit less skimpy than I'm used to seeing..."

Lambda asked, "So, what about those 'very special powers' the advertisement mentioned?"

Kairi grinned. "That's the best part! First, there's this..." She held a palm out towards Lambda, who was suddenly surrounded in a pink aura of Light.

Lambda looked herself over. "Whoa! That's warm, and...strong? Wait, that's way too vague - why did I even bother saying it? Analyzing...okay, so it bolsters my defenses, heals my wounds, and burns Heartless that get too close. It's sort of like what Riku did to Ansem back in Castle Oblivion. Should we call it...Light Armor?"

Kairi reflexively started to cringe, but then stopped. "Ow, that's...that's actually a pretty good one! Anyway, it turns out I've been doing a little of that to everyone around me, all the time. Bits of extra Light sort of spill out of me and fill up my friends. I think it's like that Drive thing you have, Lambda. Or maybe it's more like Lea's fire control. Either way, now that I know it's happening, I can control it myself, but the power of these clothes lets me go a bit further than that."

Kairi closed her eyes and began to glow with the same pink aura as Lambda. At first, the glow was softer, but a pink flash suddenly blinded everyone. When their eyes cleared, Kairi was gone, and Lambda's outfit had changed.

Lambda's green dress now had pink plaid lines all over it. Right over her chest was a pink emblem of a heart formed from two curved lines that bent against each other before curling inward. Everyone except Hazama felt an instant recognition of the symbol, although Lambda's recognition was secondhand from the "database" that she now knew was Kingdom Hearts' connection to her. Apparently, this emblem was the symbol of Kingdom Hearts itself - a fitting motif for the power granted by one of its Seven Princesses.

On top of the changes to her clothes, an ethereal pink halo floated over Lambda's head, and pink sparkles danced in the air all around her. Perhaps most importantly, Lambda's Keyblade, Elysium, had summoned itself to her right hand, while Kairi's Keyblade, Destiny's Embrace, had appeared in her left. Lambda could feel the immense surge of magic and physical strength this new form gave her.

Kairi's voice came from inside Lambda, "See? With this, I can do the reverse of Sora's Drive Form thing: I can grant 'Heart Form' to anyone I want! Of course, it wears off pretty fast - it lasts about half a minute, I think. Or I can cancel it early..." A smaller pink flash heralded Kairi's reappearance and Lambda's return to normal, "...and even if time ran out, I can jump to someone else right away!"

Another flash came, with only half as much buildup as before - Kairi had just slowed the charging period earlier to make it easier to see. Suddenly, Xion was the one who had entered Heart Form. The pink plaid and heart logo overwrote her T-shirt's slogan (which Xion suddenly realized she had forgotten to set, leaving a blank white bar), and Kairi's Keyblade appeared crossed against Xion's Forget-Me-Not behind her back. "All that, and both people get full healing every time I merge!"

Heart Xion looked herself over. "You sound like Namine does. Namine, are you in there, too?"

Namine replied, "Yes. We both have front row seats in your heart's Station. It's nice to see you again, Kairi!"

Xion touched a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. I've never actually seen my own Station."

Namine promised, "I'll start drawing a picture for you once Heart Form ends." A moment later, Kairi canceled the Form and reappeared.

Lea clapped. "Now that's a useful trick!"

"The tactical implications are huge," Hazama agreed, "but I kind of wish it didn't come with so much pink."

"It would probably be a bad idea to do it to you anyway, Hazama," Kairi pointed out. "What if your BlazBlue thing just eats me?"

Hazama smirked. "Good point! I'll just have to live with having my own overpowered Drive ability and that 'BlazBlue thing', I guess. Hardly a bad deal. In the meantime, watch out for that moment where you have to reappear between merges. That's an exploitable weakness if I ever saw one."

Lambda asked, "So, now that we know what these two bonus items do, what's our next stop? Blades backwards-R Us, for Hazama's 'Beam Knives'?"

Kairi agreed, "Sure. Seers is just across the street from there, too, so we can pick up Namine's 'Memory Flasher' at the same time. Then we can head further east to Accessories, Sold Separately for Lea's item, whatever it is."

Xion wondered, "Why is there another accessory store, anyway? Lambda got her beam-shooting accessory from right here."

Kairi shrugged. "Where's the fun in only having one place to shop? Plus, I bet Merlin had to add it when Lea showed up, the same way Blades backwards-R Us showed up for Hazama."

Lea shouted, "Who cares?! Let's just go buy more cool stuff!"

...They went.

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Outside Seers...

Kairi and Hazama entered the shops on either side of the street, leaving Lea, Lambda, and Xion waiting outside. Luckily, they didn't have to wait very long; the leader and guest star of the team walked right back out, twirling their bonus items around their fingers in perfect sync with each other. They both had a quick chuckle once they noticed each other. Kairi announced, "For now, I'll be holding onto the Memory Flasher for Namine. The next Xehanort look-alike who tries to kidnap me is in for quite a surprise!"

Hazama snickered as he tossed and caught one of his new glowing green energy blades. "Shame they won't remember. As for me, this is obviously the coolest thing ever. I mean, come on! Beam Knives? And check out the kickass trail they leave behind!" With some blisteringly fast knife work, Hazama wrote "#RoyaltyFreeLightsabers" in front of his face. The green lines trailing behind his movements hung in the air for a few seconds after he thumbed a switch on the hilt and turned off the blade. "Hands off, everyone - the trails are just as deadly as the blades themselves."

Xion gasped and raised a finger. "That reminds me, I forgot to set this thing up again!" She changed the blank slogan on her shirt to read "Premium Content".

Lea chuckled, relieved that Xion was definitely over the depressing state she was in before her resurrection. "Just one more shop to hit. I wonder what kind of bonus item Merlin had planned for me?"

"Let's find out," Lambda replied. As she set off down the street, she dug into her Pouch of Holding and tossed something at Kairi behind her back. After catching it, Kairi saw it was the for-all-ages Keyblade transformation manual, There Goes a Keyblade Glider! Lambda remarked, "It looks like you're the only other one who can get anything useful out of it right now. Lea hasn't got his Keyblade yet, Hazama doesn't need one, and Namine is intangible. As for Xion..."

"Yeah, I don't need to transform my Keyblade to access other cool weapons. Case in point..." Xion was suddenly obscured in a cloud of golden sparkles. When the effect faded, everyone saw that she'd achieved her earlier goal by summoning a suit of armor that let her look just like she did in the previous Training World, including all its built-in functions. "I call it 'Bot Armor.'" She dismissed the armor right after naming it.

"More puns again..." Kairi sighed.

Lea pointed out, "Y'know, as one single-element specialist to another, I've gotta break it to you: you're always gonna be surrounded by puns on your element, no matter how hard you try to avoid them. You're just gonna have to learn to embrace it. Got it memorized?"

Kairi facepalmed. "...Yes, this is definitely a losing battle. I don't exactly have a list of Light puns off the top of my head, though."

Hazama put in, "Someone else will make them if you don't."

Lambda raised her hand. "I volunteer!"

Kairi quickly cut her off. "No, no, that's okay! I'll come up with a few shining examples on my own, thanks."

"See? It's easy. Got it -"

Everyone interrupted Lea at the same time: "Yes, we got it memorized!"

"What's the big deal with you and memory, anyway?" Lambda asked.

Lea tried to put together his thoughts on the matter for a bit, but then noticed a colorful neon sign up ahead labeling the front of Accessories, Sold Separately. "...Tell you later. We're here!"

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Outside Accessories, Sold Separately...

Lea spent only a minute inside the store, then came back out wearing a silver string around his neck with a chunky red star dangling from it. Lambda's scan revealed that the charm was some sort of Gummi Block. Lea announced, "Everyone, check out my new bling! Apparently, it's called a Summon Shard, and it can summon my friends to my location, even from other worlds."

Xion raised her hand to volunteer. "Well, let's try it!"

"Sure, just as soon as I figure - oh." The Summon Shard flashed bright red, and Xion suddenly turned translucent. At the same time, a translucent copy of her appeared standing next to Lea, holding her Keyblade.

The Xion standing next to Lambda seemed frozen in time while the new one looked herself over. "Whoa, this is weird. I can see myself standing over there...and over here. My body is solid over there, but only my weapon is solid over here...and I can't move both of me at the same time. I guess the summoning ends when I get hit at the source, or if I can't take the strain of being in two places at once?"

Lea replied, "Yep. That, or either one of us could dismiss the summoning. The really cool part, though, is that you can commit to the summoning instead, and end up actually teleporting to me, but you can't be dismissed back to where you started if you commit - remember that! The instruction sheet sure was informative. It was really easy to activate, too...hope I don't set it off by accident."

Kairi grinned. "Even with all the rules and restrictions, this will make it easy to get everyone back together if we all get split up or end up on different missions!"

Lambda added, "It could also be a quick fix if you just need Xion to bail you out of a jam. Trust me, she's become a pro at cleaning up my messes."

Xion committed to the summoning, and the version of her at Lea's side became solid while the one next to Lambda faded away. "Aw, thanks!"

"No, thank you," Lambda replied.

"Looks like it could cause all kinds of nasty misunderstandings if you don't explain how it works," Hazama pointed out. "I mean, say you're a random local hero or civilian traveling with Xion. Suddenly, she freezes up for a few seconds, then fades away and vanishes off the face of the world before she can tell anyone not to panic."

Lea flinched. "Yikes, that's gonna be something to think about. You're really good at this whole adventuring thing, Hazama!"

Hazama shrugged. "Just calling it like I see it. I've actually only been at this for...er, a couple weeks, maybe. Only since Lambda asked me to join. I expected more apprehension from the new guy - didn't you meet Terumi?"

"You mean the jerk in the Black Coat? Xemnas introduced to us to him once, then I never saw him again. Roxas mentioned him, too...is he bad news?"

A deep voice with a slight reverb answered, "Absolutely!"

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Defeat Terumi!

A grotesque, slimy mass of green and purple Darkness slithered out of two nearby alleyways, joining together into a single massive blob. Several thin tendrils reached out of random parts of it and waved in the air before being reabsorbed. Jagged green glowing patches ignited on the side facing Team Kairi, giving the impression of eyes. "Behold, my new form!"

Kairi raised an eyebrow. "I'm beholding...and it's disgusting. It looks like you turned yourself into a blob of sewage."

Xion crossed her arms. "Tentacles? Seriously?"

Lambda scanned him, getting back highly worrisome results. "Scanning...target confirmed as Terumi. Overall threat level is SS. Strength: SS. Magic output: SS. Defenses: SS. Range: variable. Power of Darkness intensity: 100%. Weak point: unknown. His magical power output exceeds Roxas', so we probably can't even hurt him with the methods we've used before. Effective strategy: unknown. But, Hazama, you called dibs, right? Do you have a plan?"

Hazama smirked and swept into a bow holding his fedora against his chest. "But of course! I might need a few seconds of cover to make it work, though."

"Not this time! Feel the wrath of a god!" Tentacles whipped out of the blob, stretching out to ensnare each of the heroes, but met with no success.

Xion jumped over them and equipped her Bot Armor, using her dash boots to change directions quickly and stay one step ahead of the flock. "Ooh, so close! Nope! Too slow! Sorry!"

Kairi vanished to give Heart Form to Lambda, causing the tentacles coming her way to grasp uselessly at empty air. "You won't find any easily captured princesses here, sorry!"

Lea blasted the tentacles headed his way with a huge fireball, then burst into flames and fireported away when the pseudopods were unaffected. "Just as I thought. You've powered up enough to fight Roxas, even though he's way stronger than us."

"Protect Option!" Heart Lambda generated a shield-shaped Option to surround herself and Hazama in a barrier, creating the necessary cover for Hazama's plan. Tentacles bashed against the shield, creating several cracks, but it would take a few seconds to get through.

Hazama, for his part, hunched over and crossed his arms behind his head. "Hey, you so-called 'god'! Remember this neat little trick? Restriction 666 released!"

"Oh, SHIT!" Terumi immediately stopped trying to fight the other heroes and focused all his effort on breaking through Lambda's shield.

"Dimensional interference field deployed!" A green, bestial crest appeared beneath Hazama. Cracks appeared on the shield, but whether they were from Terumi's attacks or the sudden pressure flowing outward from Hazama was anyone's guess.

"No, no, no no no..." Gone was Terumi's apparent god complex. He desperately ramped up his attacks on the barrier.

"Code S.O.L.!"

"NONONONONONONO!" Terumi finally shattered Lambda's shield, causing the Protect Option to flash out of existence...

"Protect Option!" ...Only for Lambda to summon a second copy that generated a smaller shield. One of Terumi's tentacles managed to reach halfway inside, though, and the barrier couldn't close over it. Lambda crossed her Keyblade and Kairi's to hold the tentacle back and keep it from destroying her Option.

"That's right, you know what I'm up to! Blazblue, ACTIVATE!" Hazama thrust his arms out to his sides with a wide grin, and a circle of green runes surrounded him at the edges of Lambda's barrier. The fedora blew off of Hazama's head, but his hair didn't blow around in the wind at all.

The Protect Option, a Drive power created from Lambda's soul, was swallowed by the Drive of the Azure Grimoire: Soul Eater. The barrier vanished, and Lambda stumbled away. She air-dashed as far from Hazama as she could get before she could lose any more of her soul to Hazama's all-consuming aura. As she landed on the far side of the street, Heart Form ended and Kairi reappeared next to her.

"DAMN YOU!" Terumi screamed in rage, but backed away in fear. The tentacle he'd been using, however, was caught in Hazama's aura and left unable to retract as Hazama used it like a straw to suck in more of Terumi's gathered Darkness.

Hazama slowly walked forward and opened his unnerving yellow eyes, forcing Terumi to back away with each step he took. "You seem to know what's what, but let's recap anyway for the kids. You had me created to be your meatshield and host body. You needed something capable of housing a god, something with enough power to kick all the people who hated you to the curb. The Azure Grimoire was pretty much the only thing that fit the bill. Now, how does one make an Azure Grimoire? You take a scrap of Azure and cover it in a shitload of seithr, producing a fun-sized Boundary, with all the reality-screwing properties that implies. With the BlazBlue you created this way, A.K.A. me, I could use the Drive 'Soul Eater' to turn just about anything - souls, magic, matter, energy - into seithr, which the BlazBlue eats to fuel all its other asskicking powers. Then you left me behind to go scope out the Heart Timeline, where you found a huge surprise: the Power of Darkness works like seithr, but twice as efficiently! Then you went back, fell into an impressively devious trap that managed to separate us, and the rest is history.

"Bottom line: after you spent the last few days surrounding yourself with a big ol' blob of Darkness, all you've managed to do is to turn yourself into my favorite snack! And damn, is it gonna feel good to chow down after a few weeks of fasting! Wouldn't have been sporting to eat all the Heartless we've been fighting and not let the kids train, y'know? But now that I have a target no one will miss, it's dinner time!"

"NEVER!" Terumi fired giant green blobs of Darkness from his main mass in panic, but each one ended up swirling into Hazama's circle of runes like sludge down a sewer drain, becoming more fuel for the living BlazBlue. "Damn it all! How much more power do I have to gain to crush these stubborn insects!?"

Lambda yelled at Terumi, "You didn't need any more power! If you had stuck around in the Lotus Academy Arena after the first reset, where Kairi could only get some soot on your face even with the most powerful spell at our disposal, you could've beaten us without much trouble. If you'd dodged when Xion dropped her Final Weapon, you could've caught your breath and kept fighting in Spring Falls...assuming the platform survived. If you'd stuck around in the Hub before that, you might've learned Roxas' attack patterns and made use of your only chance to kill Xion and Roxas simultaneously. You only keep losing because you aren't stubborn enough!"

Xion nodded. "Look at you, swaddled in a safety blanket of power that does your fighting for you. That's a fitting strategy for someone too scared of pain and effort to actually fight for what he wants."

Kairi added, "And honestly, since Lambda was perfectly fine with befriending Hazama - and a friend of Lambda's is a friend of ours - the only reason we fought you at all is because you always start these encounters by calling one of us a bitch and then trying to kill us. Why are you so set on being the bad guy?"

Lea played devil's advocate. "If I've got that one meeting Organization XIII had with him memorized, he eats hatred, right? So he has to be the bad guy."

"Wrong," Lambda replied. "The people reconstructed by Observation in this timeline don't seem to have the same limitations they used to. I used to not be able to see Xion's face at all, for one thing, but now everyone sees her the way Roxas does. Hazama can break down and seithr-ize normal food without needing to eat souls. And Terumi can clearly consume Darkness to replace his old diet of hatred, since Darkness comes from hate, among other sources. All those other limitations seem to be replaced by the requirement to maintain the Observation. So, as a Keyblade Master in training, I'm obligated to point out that you could've used your powers for good, Terumi."

"Screw the good! I never cared about that shit!" Terumi was backed up against a wall, too frozen in terror to remember that he could now ooze straight up it.

Hazama took two more steps, bringing his Soul Eater area into contact with Terumi's blob. Darkness was dragged off of it in a constant stream, causing the giant monster to slowly shrink. "And that's why you need to go. The question is, are you going out of the Training Worlds, or into the belly of the Beast?" Hazama took another step, consuming the entire dark blob with a disgusting *SLURP* sound. Terumi's actual body was revealed: a black silhouette with round green eyes and a red gash for a mouth, stuffed into a yellow hoodie and tight leather pants. "Here's your chance to back off. I'm pretty full off all that Darkness you graciously gathered for me, but I always have room for seconds... So, are you gonna run away like you always do? Going once!"

"I'll go, I'll go!" Terumi shrank against the wall.

Since Terumi wasn't already gone, Hazama simply smirked wider and took another step. "Going twice!"

Terumi vanished in a burst of green flames. Hazama chuckled. "And sold!" The circle of runes from BlazBlue vanished, and Hazama closed his eyes and re-summoned his fedora.

Lambda reported, "Observing...yep, he's gone. He went back to the Hub and left through a Corridor of Darkness. And...perfect! From the feedback of him passing through the bubble, I've just figured out how to wean him off my Observation. It'll take a while to make sure, so I'll have to go into standby for the night." Lambda sat down right there on the ground and closed her eyes, focusing on delicately reducing the scope of her Observation.

Kairi slumped in relief as the tension from the battle left her. "Sounds good. Lea, can you carry her while we go to the inn?"

Lea heaved a sigh as he heaved Lambda's unresponsive body over his shoulder. "Yeah, I guess. I wish the rest of us could've done more to help fight that guy, though."

Namine agreed, "It does feel strange to beat such a major enemy only halfway through our training, just by letting Hazama handle it."

Xion shrugged and dismissed her Bot Armor. "It couldn't be helped. Hazama called dibs, and like we've gone over, we can't really force either of those two to do anything."

"Then it's a good thing friendship isn't about forcing people to do your bidding," Hazama pointed out as the group began the long walk over to Inn Name Only on the other side of town. "This is all part of the plan, of course. Or at least, it started that way: I wanted a heart of my own, and fusing with a Murakumo Unit and figuring out the nature of hatred by torturing innocent girls both ended up being a bust. So after being reconstructed here in the Heart Timeline, I tracked down some of the kids who, rumor has it, can make even computer programs grow hearts just by hanging out with 'em for half an hour. I was still surprised when I actually got sucked into this whole friendship thing for real so quickly, though. Good feels good, as it turns out, and that helps friends stay friends. And friends just like helping each other - no mind control necessary."

Xion tapped her temple and grinned. "Looks like you've got it memorized."

Lea exclaimed, "Hey, that's my catchphrase!" But he was ignored.

Hazama continued, "Once I got a heart, I was expecting a huge wave of guilt for all the top-tier evil shit I did in the Azure Timeline, but...nope, not really. Either I'm still a total goddamn sociopath, or maybe it's because Lambda already forgave me, just like that." He punctuated his theory by snapping his fingers.

Namine pointed out, "Well, it wasn't to people we know, and if I've read Lambda's memories right, the whole Azure Timeline got rebuilt at some point, so it never even happened. Forgiveness is easy when it's not personal...but I think she would've forgiven you anyway, just to mess with the status quo."

Hazama glanced at Lambda, still asleep on Lea's shoulder...but no one could tell, because Hazama's eyes were shut. "Yep, she's a crafty one. Ambitious, too. She's trying to fight destiny itself...and she's winning. One thing that hasn't changed for me is how good it feels to be on the winning team!"

Lea pointed with his free arm at the huge, resort-quality inn. "This is all super touching, but I think we're here."

VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Inn Name Only...

Xion rolled her eyes. "Lea, would it kill you to celebrate a bit? We're finally free of the jerk who's been hounding us for almost a month! If you were here from the start, you'd be way more excited."

"Hey, I've only been alive...er, again...for a few hours. Maybe days; keeping track of time is a pain. Anyway, I haven't had much time to build up stress for a proper catharsis."

Kairi appeased, "Lea will have plenty of time to settle into the team. Right now, I'm going to get our rooms in order. Lea, are you okay bunking with Hazama?" She started negotiating sleeping arrangements with Innkeeper.

Lea shrugged, bouncing Lambda on his shoulder."Sure, why not? I'll just drop Lambda off in your room and crash down the hall."

Namine realized, "Wait, that's not how this inn works. Lea can only enter his own room, so I guess Lambda will have to sleep with the guys."

Xion giggled as Lea started blushing. "Just leave her on the couch and keep your mind out of the gutter."

Lea chuckled. "Obviously. If I don't maintain utmost honor, Riku would kill me...twice!"

Hazama mused, "I wonder if he's gotten skilled enough to do the same to me...? I can always ask him for a spar when we get back, I suppose."

Kairi yawned and made her way down the space-bending hallway. "Well, good night, everyone."

"I hope you have another of those clairvoyant dreams. Let's go, Lea." Hazama launched himself down the hallway with Ouroboros.

"I'm right behind you!" Lea launched himself down the hall by setting off a man-sized explosion at his feet, which Lambda slept right through.

"That'll be 50 TP for damages," Innkeeper announced. Something behind the front desk chimed as the money was deducted, but it wasn't much of a drain on Team Kairi's massive TP stockpile.

"What is it with guys and not walking normally?" Xion brushed some embers off her shirt and went to her room...by floating on her Sonic Blade wings.

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[The Sleeping Worlds, Sora side] Symphony of Sorcery: Starry Trail...

Kairi's dream...

In her dream, Kairi was an ethereal presence flying beside Sora, who was using a trail of stardust as a grind rail to chase a tough Dream Eater that looked like a bird dressed as a witch, riding a broomstick through the night sky. That mysterious voice, the one only Lambda and Kairi could hear, told her that this Nightmare was a Spellican.

"I wonder if that voice is a connection between me and Kingdom Hearts, like Lambda has? Can other Princesses hear it?" At least, that's what Kairi tried to wonder aloud, but it came out sounding like a haunting violin melody. "Huh?! What?" This time it was cymbals crashing. Clearly, something was extra-screwy about this Sleeping World.

Oddly enough, Sora seemed to actually hear the instruments coming out of Kairi's mouth. He looked right at her, shrugged in confusion, and sped up, only to have to jump over a meteor that came flying backwards along the rail. He lost some speed, and the Spellican laughed at him from far ahead.

Kairi decided to make the best of the situation. After a few stumbles and sour notes, she found she could make whatever sounds she wanted as long as it was orchestra music, so she started performing an upbeat encouraging tune to cheer Sora on. It seemed to work, too; Sora managed to catch up to the boss, at least, smacking the monster off the starlit road and into a more manageable arena.

For such a ridiculous-looking and scrawny monster, the Spellican was no pushover. It could call down flaming meteors and star-shaped projectiles, summon squads of little walking brooms that could all cast simple spells, and turn its own broomstick into a giant laser sword. Even with all that firepower, though, it was no match for Sora and his...balloons? The big orange balloon produced by Sora's Balloonga spell drifted over to the Spellican and exploded with enough force to stun the boss, and then it split into a bunch of smaller balloons in many colors that curved back around and burst on the boss one after another - a self-contained combo with ridiculous damage output. Sora cast Balloonga three times, which would be enough for any lesser Nightmare, but the Spellican somehow held itself together and teleported away.

Sora then called out his chubby but adorable Meow Wow Spirit companion, which sucked in a mighty breath that drew his other Spirit, a Thunderaffe, into its mouth. The Meow Wow grew ridiculously large, and Sora rode on its back as it began repeatedly jumping up and down on the Spellican, releasing massive shockwaves with each bounce. Looking on from above, Kairi cringed as the attack just kept going and going. The Spellican didn't stand a chance; it was destroyed only partway through the attack, but it took a few more bounces for Sora to calm his Spirit partner down.

Sora got off the Meow Wow as it finally shrank down to normal size and the Thunderaffe reappeared beside it. "Great work, Mr. Fuzzers! That should do it." The Meow Wow (he named it Mr. Fuzzers?!) made some happy noises and vanished. Sora gazed up directly at Kairi, but he didn't seem to be trying to make eye contact. "Mission complete, right, Neku? And I bet Mickey's okay now, too. Also, thanks for cheering me on, Kairi. You're here watching over me, right? I'll be done with these tests and get back to you soon." Sora closed his eyes and vanished into a different part of this Sleeping World, outside the inner world of the music sheet.

"So he did figure it out. Hey, wait, how come he gets to talk normally?" A symphony of woodwinds replaced Kairi's indignant huff. "Well, at least he's doing well for himself, right? ...Wait, did he say 'Mickey'? What's Mickey doing in...*yawn*..." The dream faded into the calming piano music coming from Kairi's mouth.

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[Riku side] Symphony of Sorcery: Bald Mountain...

Xion's dream...

Xion dropped into Riku's dream, just like before. This time, he was standing on a rocky crag right in front of a volcano. On the rim of the volcanic crater was an unfamiliar boy in a Black Coat, but it wasn't hard to guess his identity: The stranger's silver-gray hair and golden eyes were a dead ringer for Xehanort.

"So you were waiting for me again?" Riku called.

The boy replied with all the smugness and sliminess Xion remembered from Xemnas. "Yes, for the Keyblade's chosen one. It was yours first, right? And now, because you fell to Darkness, it's only yours last."

Riku smirked at the transparent attempt to stir up jealousy. Perhaps in another life, this would be a sore point for him, but the Riku here and now had greater self-confidence. "Sure, but the fact that I got one at all means I clawed my way back out of the Darkness and stomped it back down behind me."

The other boy sighed. "Indeeeeed. I don't know how you did it, but you really have found a way to trap Darkness in the pit of your heart. Thus, our attempts to possess you failed. A potential vessel who's immune to Darkness is of no use to us."

"Meaning what?" Riku coaxed. This was the part where the villain reveals his evil plan, right?

Xion, with her absorbed anime knowledge, knew better. "Oh boy. This is the part where the villain attempts to dispose of a pawn who's outlived his usefulness. The key word being 'attempts'."

Sure enough, the young version of Xehanort (because who else would tack so many E's onto "Indeeeeed"?) raised his arms and proclaimed, "Your abyss awaits." Right on cue, the volcano erupted, spraying lava and burning rocks everywhere that obscured the view long enough for the villain to disappear.

From the molten spray emerged a giant demon with skin blacker than charcoal and eyes that glowed a frightful yellow. Xion actually recognized this entity, Chernabog, from Sora's memories, since he had fought this thing along the way to Ansem's Kingdom Hearts a year ago; perhaps it originally came from this world before it fell to Darkness.

Tense, frightening orchestra music swelled from nowhere as the battle began, but Riku didn't seem surprised, so Xion decided not to question it.

Chernabog wasn't the kind of enemy that could be fought on foot, since it stayed halfway inside the impossible-to-climb volcano at all times. Luckily, this was a dream world, so Riku could just decide he could fly, but he opted to simply fall sideways...with style! Xion cheered Riku on as he pushed against Chernabog's waves of pressure and dodged waves of fire and ghosts, but she wasn't expecting someone to notice.

"You there. You're Xion, right?" Behind Riku, a transparent version of himself appeared and floated over to Xion's presence in this dream. This other Riku looked a bit different, though, due to his long hair and skirt.

Xion took a second to get over her surprise, but only long enough for Riku to weave around another swarm of ghosts. "That's me, all right. And you must be the other Replica. How can you see me?"

The Riku Re...no, just Replica, scoffed. "I don't need some special ability to do that. We're both parts of his dream that shouldn't be here, after all. You were there in Monstro when I first appeared, too."

As Xion nodded in comprehension, Riku scored a strike on Chernabog while falling sideways at terminal velocity.

"But didn't you have a body of your own back then? What happened?"

Replica shrugged. "That body was part of the sleeping Prankster's Paradise, not my own. Right now, I'm in a similar situation to Namine."

"Huh. Namine's really looking forward to seeing you again, by the way. I wonder if there's a way to get you two bodies of your own, though..." While Xion was puzzling through the possibilities, Riku landed another hit. Deep cracks had appeared along Chernabog's torso, and it looked like just one more blow would do the trick. Chernabog sent up a bunch of pillars of fire from below, and a few of them passed right through Xion's and Replica's ethereal forms.

Riku called out, "Replica, it's nice that you apparently finally met Xion, but I kind of need to focus!" He spun in midair to shake off a clingy, life-sapping ghost.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll wrap this up. It was nice meeting you, Xion. Hope your training's going well." Replica flew back to Riku, but before merging back into him, he yelled, "Dark Burst!" and emitted an explosion of Darkness that scattered a wave of ghosts and snuffed out some floating fireballs without harming Riku.

With the obstructions cleared, Riku slammed into Chernabog one last time, causing the demon to dramatically wave its arms over its head and roar as it sank back into the volcano and evaporated into smoke just as the background music hit a climax and started to faded out. "That's three strikes - you're out! Time to go help Mickey and finish this test off for good. The last Sleeping Keyhole's been a crazy ride." Riku floated up into the air and burst into a spray of colorful music notes.

"...What?" Before Xion could figure out what Riku was talking about or where he went, the dream faded.

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[The Training Worlds] Inn Name Only...

Kairi and Xion woke at almost the same time, sat up in their beds to face each other, and immediately compared their experiences.

"Aw, how come you got to talk normally?" Kairi pouted after Xion's recap.

Xion retorted, "Are you seriously questioning dream logic? To be fair, I couldn't talk directly to Riku, only to his Replica...named Replica."

"Well, at least we know Replica will be able to return to the real world with Riku, the same way I'm with Kairi."

Kairi nodded. "Right. I've been meaning to ask you, Namine...is it hard, not having a body?"

Namine thought hard about it. "Hmm...I can say for sure that it's better than not existing. Never being lonely is nice, too. But it's also true that I miss being able to feel physical things. I can't taste the food you eat, or sink into a soft bed when you do, or slice through the Heartless with your Keyblade. If I didn't speak up every once in a while, it would be like I'm not here at all. And I can always feel this...pull, to just let go and sink into your heart for good, but I've been able to resist it easily so far. Still, I'm worried. Maybe I wasn't supposed to exist as a Nobody, but I'm definitely not supposed to exist this way. It can't last forever. And the same has to hold true for Replica."

Xion decided, "Then...we should find a way to get you a body of your own. Preferably without straining Lambda's Observation any further."

Namine hesitated. "...If you'd asked me back before we fought Xemnas, I would've said no. All of you have stable relationships with each other and your loved ones, and I would just end up a third wheel...or a seventh wheel, caught between Kairi, Sora, Roxas, Xion, Riku, and Lambda. I don't trust myself to deal with that...because that feeling is how I ended up doing what I did at Castle Oblivion."

Kairi pressed, "But...? You said that would be your answer back before we beat Xemnas and came here. What changed?"

There was a long silence, but Kairi and Xion could practically hear Namine blushing. "Well...if Replica can come back too, then there will be a place for me. He promised to protect me. His own promise, not just a lie I forced on him. I know he's looking forward to the day he can make good on it. So I have to be there to meet him. I...still don't know how, though."

*Ding, dong!* "Guests currently staying Room 601: the guests staying in Room 666 have requested to see you."

"Huh, I didn't know there was a P.A. system in the lobby." Xion shrugged and stood up, changing her shirt to read: "I Got It Memorized. Thanks For Asking." She and Kairi made their way to the lobby, where Lea, Hazama, and Lambda were waiting.

Lea joked, "The sleeping beauties awaken! Did you two have more of those weird dreams Hazama mentioned?"

Kairi nodded. "Define 'weird'...but yeah, they really were. Here's what we learned, though..." She recapped her dream and Xion's.

Lambda noted, "Riku said that was the last Sleeping Keyhole, right? That means the boys should be almost done with their Mark of Mastery exam by now! We should ask Roxas if it's okay to go meet them when they get back."

Xion nodded. "Good idea, but first, how did it go with getting Terumi off the hook from your Observation?"

Lambda grinned. "I did it! I also disentangled myself from Roxas while I was at it. Still, what Mu-12 said about me makes me think it's still not safe to go get myself killed."

Hazama pointed at Lambda and announced with all the flair of a game show host, "And the award for Most Obvious Conclusion goes to..."

"...Touché."

"Well, let's not waste any time!" Kairi created a save point and vanished into it, leaving the green swirl behind for the rest of the team to follow her.

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The Training Worlds: Hub...

Everyone appeared back in the Hub, but for once, Roxas wasn't there to greet them. There was an iridescent bubble of magic in the middle of the room, though. There were a couple other changes to the room, too. Directly across from the team, another door had been unsealed. This one was labeled:

Training World 5:

Arena Pillar

Also, the door to Roxas' personal training room was closed and locked. "What's going on?" Kairi wondered.

"It looks like Roxas left the Training Worlds in a hurry once I stopped Observing him," Lambda deduced. "Something must have happened in the real world."

"Then we should go back, too! The rest of the training can wait. Xehanort was involved in those dreams - Sora might be in danger!" Kairi ran to the bubble and vanished into it.

"Yeah! We're strong enough now to help out. I do want to come back and finish later, though." Xion followed after the leader.

"Darn right I will; I haven't managed to summon my Keyblade yet! I hope this is all a misunderstanding..." Lea jumped into the bubble.

"Either way, this is a welcome break in the routine. You coming, Lambda?" Hazama moonwalked out of the Training Worlds the same way he came in.

"Affirmative." Lambda swallowed any lingering doubts that she hadn't quite fixed her initially abysmal skills and stepped through the bubble.

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A/N: What?! No battle arena? #KH3HasProblems

Unfortunately, Xehanort won't wait around at the cusp of completing his sinister plot until Team Kairi finishes all the sidequests and minigames. At least, not when he hasn't been paying attention to what they've been up to...

Rest assured, the remaining three Training Worlds are still going to be explored.