AN: Finally a longer chapter, and more FMA characters! Also, I know I originally spelt it 'Aeris' but since 'Aerith' is the spelling used in KH, it's the one I'm going to go with. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA or KH

The Castle looked more or less the way Sora remembered it; big, awkward, and incredibly intimidating. But as they approached it, Sora could see that it was a little more banged up than it had been the last time he'd seen it. Come to think of it, the whole town's pretty banged up he thought. He couldn't get his mind off of what Yuffie had said about these new heartless being stronger, it was like she'd confirmed his worst fears. As they entered the castle, the group stopped short and stared down the long dark hallway.

"Oh! Not again!" whined Yuffie. She pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number. She turned towards her companions, "Sorry 'bout this, the electrical grid's a mess, the power's been goin' out all over the place!" She explained as she waited for the call to connect. Finally it went through, "Hey! It's me, the lights are out again, can you come get us? And bring a flashlight!" Yuffie hung up the phone. "They're gonna come and get us!"

"Okay…" Sora said absentmindedly. Since they had to wait anyway, he figured he'd might as well see if he could get an explanation. "Yuffie, you said something about the new heartless being stronger than before. What did you mean by that?"

Yuffie stared at Sora and then turned to Leon. "You wanna explain?"

Leon sighed, "She meant what she said. We don't know why, but they're stronger and faster than they used to be. That's the reason we brought you here, we're going to need everyone's help to deal with them." He paused to think. "They also seem to be more organized than they were in the past." He was eyeing the Elrics and their friend. "And they first appeared right after these guys showed up in Radiant Garden." He sounded suspicious when he said that last piece.

The black haired man turned to Leon. "I swear, We don't know anything about them."

Leon sighed again, "Yeah, I know." He turned to Sora, "That's about all we know. We've been searching Ansem's computer for information, because if any exists, that's where it would be. But we haven't had any luck, yet." He rubbed his forehead. "Anyway, we can finish this conversation later, when we know more, and besides, our escort's here."

Sora looked up to see a light at the end of the hallway, and a silhouetted figure that he began to recognize as it approached. "Aerith!" Sora shouted in greeting to his old friend.

The young woman smiled, she wasn't alone though, a little girl with braided hair who wore a blue jumper over a pink sweatshirt and a backpack shaped like a white dog came running from behind Aerith and jumped on Al. "Big brothers! You're back!"

"Hey Nina! Have you been a good girl?" Al smiled. Ed bent down to give her a hug too.

"Uh huh! I've been playing with Stitch!" The little blue alien came scurrying out of the shadows as if summoned by the girl's words. It poked Al until he pat it on the head. Then it jumped on Ed's back and refused to get off no matter how much the boy struggled.

Aerith turned towards Leon and the black haired man who had yet to introduce himself to Sora.

"I'm Sorry," Aerith apologized, "We didn't even realize the lights had gone out."

"So then the computer's okay?" Said Leon.

Aerith nodded, "Those rooms must have a backup generator of some sort, the power in there never goes out." She then pulled out an old fashioned lantern, and handed it to the black haired man. "With a large group, two lights would be better than one, but I couldn't find another flashlight, only this."

"Not a problem." Said the man, he held out one of his gloved hands and snapped his fingers. Sora jumped back in shock as a spark flew into the lantern and then a flame appeared. Aerith handed him the light. "Thank you, Roy, that alchemy of yours sure is useful." He smiled smugly, so that's alchemy too Sora thought. Then he smirked Kind of like that hothead Axel…I wonder who would've won in a fight…he thought.

"Come." Said Leon, taking Aerith's flashlight and leading the way. Even with the lights they had to be careful because of the construction debris in the hallways, so it took a little longer than it should have, and it certainly didn't help that the castle was designed like a maze. But when they finally reached their destination, the group put out the lights and entered Ansem's well lit office. Tifa was standing there along with a woman whose blond hair was pulled back with a clip and who wore a vest that matched the jacket worn by Roy, and was carrying a pair of handguns. The women had been talking about something, but when the group entered they stopped and turned to greet them.

"Good to see you again Sora!" said Tifa.

"You too, any news from Cloud?" Sora asked, Tifa's smile faded a little. Nobody had seen the man since he'd disappeared along with Sephiroth during their battle. That was probably a stupid question Sora thought.

The blond woman stepped forward, attempting to break the awkward silence, she introduced herself. "I am Riza Hawkeye; it's nice to meet the keyblade master." She said shaking Sora's hand very formally, "And his friends." She turned to exchange handshakes with Riku and Kairi.

Nina stepped in front of Sora and looked him up and down, "He doesn't look very hero like." She said.

"Nina! That's rude!" Al scolded.

"But she's right!" Ed mocked.

"What's with you people?" Sora shouted.

Another argument may have broken out, but Leon stepped in the middle of the group, he handed Tifa the flashlight. "Would you mind going to see what's wrong with the power grid?"

"No, of course not." Tifa took the flashlight and left the room.

Leon turned towards the group, "c'mon, the King's with the computer."

Of everything that Sora had seen in Radiant Garden since his crash landing less than an hour before, the computer room was in the best shape, well, considering that it wasn't really in great shape before the whole mess began anyway. At least it didn't look any worse. The machine seemed to be working, King Mickey stood at the monitor, hitting buttons and pressing keys. He was so focused on what he was doing that he didn't notice the group walk in. Riku went over and tapped him on the shoulder and Sora could have sworn that the king jumped several feet into the air from shock.

"Riku!" The King exclaimed as he hugged his good friend, "It's good to see you." He turned to the rest of the heroes who bowed in respect, except for Ed who had to be pulled into a bow by his brother.

Mickey's smile disappeared, "Now's not the time for formalities. Have you been informed of the situation?"

Sora nodded, "Kind of…"

"Well, I've got good news and bad news, look at this." He turned back to the computer monitor, Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Leon and Aerith stepped closer for a better look. Yuffie stood in the corner admiring her shuriken, while the Elrics and their friends stood in the back of the room, gawking at the equipment.

"It's like they've never seen a computer before." Observed Sora.

"They haven't," replied Leon, Sora gawked in disbelief, "Things like this didn't exist in their world."

"What kind of backwater world did they come from?" Sora asked.

"You're not really one to talk." Aerith pointed out, Sora frowned.

"Back on topic," said Riku bringing them back to attention, "why does the computer keep saying access denied?"

"I'm not sure," said the King, "I tried doing some searches based on what we know about these heartless, and there appears to be information, that's the good news, but it won't let me access it."

"So I'm guessing that's the bad news." Said Kairi.

"Lemme see," said Sora, as he shoved in front of the keyboard. He started to hit some buttons, and then leaned forward towards the screen, "Hey Tron! You there?"

"Sora? Is that you?" Came a computerized voice from the machine.

"Yup, it's me! Listen, we need the information in these files, but can't get through, why?" There were a few moments of silence on the other end, then Tron responded.

"It seems that the information is heavily guarded behind multiple firewalls and other defenses, I can't get to it either."

"Ansem must have wanted to make sure it stayed a secret," Mickey mumbled.

"So, what do we do?" Asked Leon, "If Tron can't get to it, how will we?"

"I have an idea!" said Sora, "What if we go in and try to get it?" Everyone just stared at him. "No I'm serious, I've gone in before, we can probably bust through the security with enough force or shut it down, or something, ya' know what I mean?"

"I think it might work." Said Tron from the computer.

Leon pondered the idea for a few moments. "Okay, but only a few of you. We don't want to fry the system, and we need people to protect this room, because if the heartless trash the computer while you're in it, well, that would be bad. Who will you take?"

"I would like to come." Riku said, giving no room for argument. Sora looked around the room. Donald and Goofy were fine choices, but this was a delicate operation, and there was a chance they might mess something up. And he didn't want to drag Kairi into more danger, especially since he didn't really know what he was up against. Then Sora caught Ed's eye and a sly smile spread across his face. Ed noticed Sora's weird look and his face grew concerned.

"I got an idea." Said Sora as he walked up to Ed. "Why don't you come?"

"Come where?" Asked Ed, he clearly hadn't been listening.

"You'll see." Sora answered. He grabbed the boy's arm and dragged his over to the scanner, Riku followed.

"Ooooh! Are you gonna go into the computer?" Asked Yuffie, suddenly interested. "I've always wanted to see how this works!"

"Wait, What?" Ed asked, nervously. Al suddenly seemed concerned as well and was turning to Aerith for an explanation.

"Be careful." Said Kairi, Sora nodded and gave her a thumbs-up for assurance.

"All ready." Said Leon. "You set?"

"Ready on this end!" Reported Tron.

Sora nodded. Yuffie jumped with excitement, "Beam 'em up Squally!" She exclaimed.

AN: This chapter is brought to you by bad Star Trek jokes. I told myself I wasn't going to use that line, but then my friend talked me into it. I was originally going to have Sora say it, but it sounded more natural coming from Yuffie, as she's the only one who calls Leon 'Squall'. And I wasn't going to originally include Nina, but like I said, if Aerith can live! And she's friends with Stitch 'cause I thought that'd be cute, since Alexander isn't there and neither is Lilo, it just seemed like they'd get along well. Anyway, I hope you liked it!