"Wow….back in Twilight Town...it's been so long." Sora said looking around.
"Place hasn't changed a bit. Wonder if Hayner, Pence and Olette are doing okay?" Hope asked.
"Huh?" Ace asked seeing familiar white creatures pop out. "Dusks!"
"Oh, Jesus!" Theo cringed. "Are those actually nobodies like Xigbar?"
"I guess you could consider these their grunts." Ace said as his keyblade transformed into a bow of ice. "Keyblade Form 2: Diamond Dust Bow!"
"Let's take care of them fast!" Rainbow said summoning Earthshaker and moving at lightning speed, knocking the Dusks around.
"I got you!" Ace called firing arrows at some of them, freezing them in place. "Theo!"
"On it!" Theo said finishing them off.
"Let's hope they cool off and leave us alone for a bit." Ace said.
"Yeah. Also, Theo?" Mark asked. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't use the Lord's name in vain. Thank you."
"Yeah well….I'd say the dusks were the least of our worries!" Theo said as they saw a large black swarm of Shadows chasing some of the townsfolk.
"That's a Demon Tide." Jexi said.
"Demon Tide? What's that?" David asked.
"Normally Heartless move independently...but there are rare instances...where they work and combine into a powerful group. That's a Demon Tide!" Jexi said.
"Heeey, guys!" a voice called as they saw Hayner, Pence and Olette running their way. "Mind getting this thing off our backs?! Thanks!" Hayner said as they ran past them.
"Don't worry, we're on it!" David said.
"But first we have to slow that thing down somehow." Ace said.
"Not a problem. David?" Hope asked.
"Right. Though, unless you can move in stopped time, it would be best if you hold onto me for this." David said.
"Okay!" Sheath said as everyone grouped up on David.
"Zone Speed: The World!" David shouted. Time then stopped as the Demon Tides erratic movement slowed to a crawl.
"And now to test out this new Heartbinder Yen Sid gave me." Sora said clutching his hand near his chest. "As one!"
Meow Wow popped into the action as Sora got on. They then bounced around as Meow Wow inflated with each bounce, and then deflated by blasting forward, slamming into the tide. "David, restart time, I've got something for this thing!" Sora called.
"And now...Time flows again." David said. The demon tide felt the damage caused by Sora's Meow Wow ballon. Meow Wow then inflated bigger and bigger until he burst, causing hundreds of dream eaters to swarm out and fight back against the demon tide as it then went and fled the town.
"And don't come back!" Hagakure called.
Hayner, Pence and Olette then came back. "Nice fightin'! Thanks guys." Hayner said.
"No problem, all in a day's work." Hope said.
"It's been ages since we last saw you guys." Sora added.
"It hasn't been that long." Pence said. "So if you guys are back, does that mean weird stuff's going down again?"
"You could say that. We came here looking for a guy named Roxas." Starlight explained.
"The one from the….other Twilight Town." Tails said.
"In that case...best bet would be the old mansion past the woods." Olette said.
"That's right, weren't we able to go to Other Twilight Town from there last time?" Erica asked.
"Wait, there's another town just like this one? I'm getting paranormal vibes here." Sero said. "What do you think David?"
"Mm-hm. Definitely." David said.
"We can show you the place if you want so you can get your Paranormal Investigator cap on, David." Hope offered.
"Sounds like a job for us." David said.
So the group took the secret passage through the sewers and into the forest. Though upon arriving, they saw monkey like heartless in the trees.
"Hmm?" Simon said as he looked closely. "That little rat is in trouble!"
"I got it." Theo said shooting away the monkey like heartless in the trees. Soon as they were gone, the small rodent climbed down revealed to be a small blue furred rat. "There...nice and safe." he said as they continued only for the rat to climb on his head. "Huh?" he said before he pulled on his hair, moving his arms. "Hey! I'm not a robot y'know!"
"Theo, what the heck are you doing?" Hiyoko asked.
"It's not me! The rat on my heads controlling me by pulling my hair!" Theo said as his body bent down and picked up some fruit.
"I think he wants you to pick up the food from the cellar." Goofy said.
"Wait a sec… I've seen this before." Leonora said.
"Yeah, me too." Lemon said going to Theo. "Excuse me, but your name wouldn't happen to be Remy, would it?"
The rat, who was named Remy, nodded in answer.
"I knew it!" Lemon said. "Guys! This rat is Remy, one of the best chefs in the biz!"
"Wait, so you're saying this rat is a chef?" David asked. "Now I've seen everything."
"He's from Ratatouille, one of my favorite Pixar movies when I was growing up." Ace said.
"So he was just trying to gather up fruit for a recipe when the heartless attacked, eh?" Theo asked as Remy nodded. "Well, why didn't you say so? We can help pick up all this fruit."
After gathering the fruit for Remy, the group then continued to the old mansion sitting just outside of Twilight Town.
"Well, here we are. The old mansion." Hope said.
"Wow." Litty said.
"Inside this mansion is a DTD computer, linked to a transport system that will take us to the other Twilight Town." Erica explained.
"It's really that simple?" Izuku asked.
"Yup. and I can access it no problem." Jeremie said. "Stand back and let me work."
Inside the mansion, Jeremie tried to access the computer terminal,but then came the problem.
"Strange...I can't access the data." Jeremie said.
"Did ya try turning it off and on?" Eddy suggested.
"Uh, I'm not sure that'll work." Hope said before they heard Sora's Gummiphone ring.
"Oh, it's another call from Ienzo." Sora said picking up. "Hello, Ienzo. What's up?"
"I just found something strange. Someone tried to access one of our off world networks." Ienzo said.
"Oh, that was us, our bad." Rainbow said. "We were trying to get to the other Twilight Town to find Roxas, we didn't know you put protection on it."
"Hmm. A town made of data. I see. In construction of such a town, it would have had to have held Roxas' data as well." Ienzo said.
"So there might be a way to revive Roxas, put him in the other Twilight Town, and rematerialize him in the real world." Jeremie theorized.
"There is a problem with that." Ienzo said. "Two things would be needed to bring Roxas back. His heart...and a body."
"In other words… A replica." Sectonia said.
"Hey yeah. We ran into one of those in Castle Oblivion. It acted just like Riku and even looked like him." Gray said.
"Hmm. Replicas...that might work. However the one who did the project, Even, though you all knew him as Vexen, has not been seen in some time. But I might be able to come up with something through his research." Ienzo said.
"Alright, we'll keep you posted on the progress we make for Roxas on our end." Hope said. "And Ienzo? Thanks for helping us out with this."
"Oh no, it is my pleasure." Ienzo said. "I will notify you when I have discovered something in Even's research. We will speak again soon."
"Alright, talk later. Bye Ienzo." Sora said as he hung up.
So, with the data gathered, the groups exited the mansion and headed back to down, but then suddenly…
"So… you think you can bring Roxas back?" a familiar voice asked as everyone turned to see Ansem kneeling against the gate wall.
"Ansem! Seeker of Darkness!" Pit said before another figure emerged from the dark corridor.
"And Xemnas too?" Zephyr said.
"Roxas is someone who should have never even existed in the first place. What you seek is impossible." Xemnas said.
"Impossible doesn't exist in our vocabulary. Or did you guys forget already?" David asked.
"Besides, Roxas DOES exist. His heart is inside my heart." Sora said.
"And where exactly do you plan to put him?" Ansem said.
"Well, thats easy. We put him inside the other Twilight Town, then place him in a replica, boom! Key of Destiny, home in time for Sea Salt Ice Cream pops." Rainbow said.
"Are you even listening? The other Twilight Town is just data." Ansem said.
"A heart can live anywhere. Even inside data. And beings of data...they have hearts just as much as we do." Aelita said.
"That's right. We were able to exist because people believed in us, you are fools to not understand." Tsuki added.
"And besides, you two are ones to talk." Hope said. "You're Xehahort's body and mind. It didn't seem like you couldn't coexist at first. But here you both are now."
"Then by all means. Try." Ansem said.
"Nothing would bring us more joy than Roxas's return." Xemnas said.
"So you can just use him again? Yeah, I don't think so." Sunset said.
"Still so blind. A nobody is simply a being that is left behind. They cannot exist. There is only one way to bring Roxas back, and that is to give up your heart as well. Sora, have you finally decided to call upon the darkness?" Xemnas said.
"You're kidding yourselves, we would never let him do that." Lacy said.
"Even if it seems like there's no other way but to let Sora fall to Darkness, we won't give up until we find a better way, no matter how hard it is." Hope said. "Besides, its like you always say, Kaito."
"The impossible is possible. All you have to do is make it so." Kaito said.
"Hmm...but the shadows are never too far away." Ansem said as several Neoshadows and Dusks appeared.
"Now...set your heart free." the two said at once before vanishing.
"Damn cowards." Ace said before summoning his keyblade.
"Well then, guess we'd better prove those two twins wrong." Theo said.
"Let's do it. Keyblade Form 3: Gaia's Wrath Chain Axe!" Ace called as Summoner's Oath turned into a whip with an axe blade attached.
"It's not darkness, not if it helps him!" Sora said as the group fought the armada.
"Looks like you need punishing." Ace said wrapping his whip around a few trapping them.
"Let's finish this." Omnimon said finishing off the remaining enemies.
"Looks like that's all of them." David said.
"Yeah. Why don't we head back to town?" Ace said.
"Yeah, good idea." Hope said as they returned to town and saw another familiar face near a Bistro.
"Hey, isn't that…" Aqua asked.
"It is! Uncle Scrooge!" Donald called getting the billionaire's attention.
"Ah, How nice to see you all again. I haven't seen some of ya since helping with my ice cream planning. Oh...which reminds me. I got a little something." he said showing them a box. Opening it, they saw a cake.
"Cake!" Stoj said as the hat shook a bit on Scrooge's head.
"Oh uh...the chef wants me to clarify it's not a cake but a Fruit aux tartes. Oh...no use hiding it. Meet...Little Chef." Scrooge said lifting his hat to reveal Remy.
"Hm? Hey, it's the rat we helped before." Leonora said.
"Aye. That's right. See...this little guy works for me as the chef of my bistro here." Scrooge said.
"Really? So that's why he was gathering fruit out in the forest." Hope said.
"An' he was very kind to repay saving his life by making that tart for you all." Scrooge explained.
"Aw, thanks Remy." Indigo said as Remy rubbed his head.
"Y'know, if you happen to find any other ingredients in yer travels, bring em back here so Little Chef can cook up some meals for ye." Scrooge said.
"You got it. We'll keep an eye out." David said.
"So, sora… about what Ansem and Xemnas said. I know for a fact that they're wrong." Hope said. "If there's a way to bring Roxas back besides falling to darkness, then I believe in the possibility there is."
"So do I, there's always a way, and we will find it. May your heart be your guiding key." Ace said.
"We have GOT to find out where you picked that up, Ace." Sci-Twi giggled.
"It's not really that big of a deal is it?" Ace asked as he blushed a bit.
"It kinda is." Goofy said.
"Well, let's focus on traveling around and helping Naomi and Sora get their power and memory back. And maybe find a couple tournament competitors along the way." Hope said.
"Yeah, good call. How we looking on worlds sighted so far, Mari?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, besides Olympus and Twilight Town, two new ones have popped up. The Toy Box, and The Kingdom of Corona." Mari said pulling up a hollow map showing the two new worlds.
"Toy Box...It's Toy Story!" Ace said.
"Slow down there Ace. Why don't we let Sora decide where we should go next?" Hope asked.
"Hmm...well...Toy Box does sound interesting...so we can head there first, then the Kingdom of Corona." Sora said.
"Then it's settled. Toy Box, here we come!" Gemini cheered.
"Woohoo!" Ace cheered.