Aerith walked into the alley as I was leaving. I threw on the best smile I could manage onto my face, which wasn't hard considering my newfound abilities.

"Hey Aerith."

"Hello. I sensed a lot of dark energy being used back here; did you see anything?"

"Nope."

"Hmm." And with that, we left back towards the house. By this time, that boy was back, and two creatures following him. One was a short looking duck, the other an odd looking animal that reminded me somewhat of a dog. The dog, upon seeing me, whispered to his duck friend.

"Something just don't seem right about that guy." I ignored them, and sat on the counter away from them. I relaxed into a comfortable position, very pleased with myself. I felt invincible. As if I could beat anyone, or anything. But that was quickly removed by a change in the air.

It felt like when the boy was fighting Squall. I had ignored the feeling as tension from the battle, but now that I was at peace, I really felt it. It made anger rise up in me, and I whirled to see what had happened. The boy had pulled his weapon, and was pointing it at me. At the sight of the weapon, an inhuman growl escaped from my throat.

"Whoa boys, take it outside." Cid's voice interrupted my anger.

I had to destroy the weapon. Kill its holder, and envelop the weapon in pure darkness. The twinge in my mind was urging me to do so. But whenever that happened, it was my Heartless instincts. But this one was so powerful; maybe it was right for once. The boy exited the shop, and I followed.

When we were in the middle of the open area where the boy had battled Squall before, the boy pointed his weapon at me once again. The duck and dog held a wand and a shield, respectively. I wanted to settle this with my bare hands, but a weapon was probably the smarter choice. I reached to my back, and summoned the shield. I gripped it, and pulled one sword out. I stood at the ready.

"You're a Heartless!"

"How did you know?"

"The Keyblade wants you gone."

"Keyblade?"

"My weapon." So that's what it was.

"I didn't choose to be a Heartless! It just happened!"

"It doesn't matter. You are darkness, and you have to go."

He ran at me, and held his Keyblade up. I raised my shield, and he smacked it hard. With a quick motion, I swiped at his side, but he jumped away. The duck shot a blue light at me that looked like ice. I blocked that with my shield as well, while rushing at the duck. The dog jumped in front of me, and our shields met. I stabbed at him, and he went down. He didn't bleed though. More like the weapon only knocked him unconscious. The duck sent fire at me, but my shield blocked that too. I chopped at it, and it went down just like the dog. They were too easy.

The boy swiped his Keyblade through me. I had forgotten him. I should be in two pieces right now, but I wasn't. I only felt pain surging through that area. He swung again, but I jumped out of the way. My new strength helped me get far away from him. He dashed towards me, and I ran towards the closest wall. Wishing to be able to walk on walls again, I ran up the wall and stood just out of his reach. I hadn't even noticed the spectators cheering the boy on. They really didn't like Heartless.

The boy jumped, but was unable to reach me. I summoned a portal under my feet, and sunk through it. I ended up behind the boy, and slashed at him. I didn't wait to see if he could withstand it, so I slashed him again. He slumped forward and fell to the ground. I felt the urge to finish him off, but I couldn't. I couldn't take this boy's life.

My audience must have thought I was actually going to kill him, because they were all running at me. I had no chance to explain myself. I held my sword over the boy's unconscious body, and they stopped.

"Let me explain myself, and I won't touch him." They simply nodded, and I backed off, letting my weapons materialize. They carried the group inside, and while we waited for them to wake up, they cornered me and began to question me.

"You're a Heartless." Squall spoke first.

"Yes, but that's not a question."

"How do you look like this?" Aerith's calm voice was not marred by her anger.

"I wished I had my old body back."

"Okay, let's just start from the beginning. Where are you from?"

"Well, I was living in my world, when Heartless swarmed the place. I was attacked while defending Leigh, and then I blacked out. I woke up as a Heartless. I then somehow evolved into this form, which looks just like my old body, and Squall saved me from the Heartless that attacked me when they saw me in this form."

"And you haven't killed anybody?"

"If you count other Heartless as anybody then yes."

"You attacked Heartless?"

"Defeated quite a few roaming the second district."

"So, you're a Heartless, just not evil?"

"I guess so. I saw what happens to a world when the Heartless reach its heart. It's horrible. I tried to get rid of the Heartless here, but they overwhelmed me."

"So why did you attack Sora?"

"Who?"

"Sora. The boy you just defeated. Along with Donald and Goofy."

"It was his weapon. It made me so mad, just by being around it."

"That's understandable. Just try to contain yourself next time."

"Alright."

So I was back on good terms with them. Sora, probably not. I was watched for the next while, until Sora woke. He glared at me, and I held my hands up.

"Look, I'm sorry. I may be a Heartless, but I'm not evil, right?" I questioned the others, who nodded slowly.

"Fine, but you owe me." Suddenly, a plan formed in my head. I had to find Leigh, but I couldn't travel with the Heartless anymore, but I heard they were traveling from world to world as well.

"How about I come along with you? I'm sure I could help in many ways."

"Why would you want to come with us?"

"So I can find my friend."

"Well, I'm looking for my friends too."

"So is it alright then?"

"I'll have to ask Donald and Goofy. It's their ship."

And that's how I ended up on the Gummi Ship. An odd vessel, and I didn't feel very welcome. Goofy had used his optimist lifestyle to understand my situation, but Donald was too stubborn. I should find a way to get on his good side, if there is one. I was content to stay in the back of the cockpit, and it made the others feel better. The first world we came to was only a short distance away, so the ride was short and silent.

When we landed, the world looked odd. I was underground, and a small tunnel led further into the world. A small white rabbit sped past us yelling something about being late and a queen. Ignoring that, I led the expedition. I could use portals, but I had to know where I was going. So I was going to memorize a few places I could appear in. I summoned my weapon just in case, and heard the group behind me shift. Not their fault, I am their enemy. I could sense this world's heart, but I wasn't sure where it was.

We came upon an odd door, and after a quick moment, we were in a small room. There were two bottles of an unknown substance on a table. But it was flattened into the ground. We quickly figured out the doorknob could talk, because Sora wanted to know how the rabbit that we had seen earlier had gone through the small door. It told us to try the bottle on the table.

We tried it. I was the first to try it, making sure nothing was wrong with it. I shrunk to a size that made Donald laugh.

"Bet I could squish you now!"

"Yeah, I think you could. Your turn." After Sora and company had shrunk as well, we headed back to the talking door. Heartless appeared in our way. The Keyblade was drawn, and the anger was back again. This time, I ignored the blade, instead, I turned the anger toward the Heartless, and that surprisingly made a huge difference in battle. The Heartless had no chance do unleash an attack before I was on top of them.

Once we had cleared the area, and the Keyblade had vanished, we looked at the door. It was sleeping. Our efforts to wake it up were futile, but I noticed a small crack of darkness behind the green bed that was in the room.

"Hey I know! Let's drink the other bottle and grow big, and push the bed out of the way!"

"Good plan Sora, but not necessary. Follow me." I headed over to the small crack, and peeked through. It was impossible to squeeze through, but I only needed to look at one particular place. I saw the edge of the bed, and that looked like a good place. I focused on that area in my mind, then pointed at the wall. A portal appeared. I walked through, hearing the gasps of Sora, Donald and Goofy change from right behind me, to a distance away. I ran over to the small crack, and looked at the group. I was on the other side now.

"Walk through! It's okay!" I focused on keeping the portal open, and soon enough, the group had wandered through it.

"Okay, that's weird."

"But useful?"

"Yeah, I guess."