Alright, sorry if this has taken me a while to update! I've been pretty busy with school. Fortunately, I'll be on break very soon, so I'll probably get more chapters out there in the following month or so.

Also, I should probably bring up that this is the real Traverse Town, and I'm assuming that the one seen at the very end of 3D was the one in the Realm of Sleep.

And with that out of the way, let us begin!

Edit: I modified Yen Sid's explanation of Anti Form a little for clarity's sake. Perhaps later, if there's an appropriate time, I'll explain in more detail.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, The World Ends With You, any Disney movie or TV Show, etc.

Chapter 2: Training and Scheming

"Reflega!" Sora shouted. A shield of light surrounded him, the Nobodies' energy bolts impacting harmlessly against it. As soon as it disappeared, Sora leapt up to the upper level of the street and ran toward the First District.

"Where do you think you're going?" Xigbar shouted after him. "You can run all you like, but there's nowhere to run to!"

Sora stopped to catch his breath. How am I going to get out of here? He thought. I was planning on contacting the others, but I can't do that with these guys bearing down on me!

Hearing a noise behind him, Sora turned around to see several Dusks flying at him through the door from the Second District. He cut them down the second that they got close to him, but more kept coming.

As Sora fought the Dusks, Xigbar teleported onto a nearby rooftop. He combined his arrowguns into a sniper rifle, and took aim at Sora. "C'mon," he said. "I don't wanna hurt ya, I just wanna knock you out for a bit." He then grinned a little. "Aw, who am I kidding? It'll still hurt a lot!"

Sora was squarely in his crosshairs. "And there we-"

Something slammed into him from behind, knocking him to the ground below. Sora turned around to face the noise.

"Sora, you're alright!" Standing over Xigbar's crumbled form was King Mickey.

"Your Majesty!" Sora cried out. Mickey ran over to him. "Can you lend me a hand?"

"Gosh," said Mickey. "What are friends for?"

As Sora and Mickey work together to defeat the Dusks, Xigbar struggled to his feet.

Well, he thought to himself, that didn't work too well.

I agree, said Xehanort's voice inside his head. It would be best to retreat for now.

Don't worry about the soldiers, chimed in Malfria. I'll take care of them.

Xigbar sighed with relief. Wouldn't have it any other way. To be honest, I've lost pretty much every time I've gone up against a Keyblade Wielder. Two at a time is probably more than we can handle.

With that, Xigbar summoned a Dark Corridor and slipped through. In the Second District Courtyard, darkness enveloped the other soldiers, transporting back along with him. As they left, Xehanort's voice echoed in Xigbar's mind.

That will soon change.

XXX

Sora dismissed his Keyblade and turned towards Mickey.

"It's good to see you, Your Majesty."

"Gosh, Sora, I've told you, you don't have to call me that," Mickey said with a smile.

"Sorry, Your Majes – I mean Mickey!" Sora corrected himself quickly.

"It's alright. So, that guy attacked you, huh?"

"Yeah," Sora said. "There were Heartless, Nobodies and – oh yeah, these soldiers. I think that they were regular people!"

"Were they?" said Mickey. A troubled looked passed over his face. "That's a bit worrying, now that I think about it. We'd better head back and tell Master Yen Sid about what happened."

"Okay then, let's go!" said Sora excitedly. Then he remembered something. "Hey, how'd you know to come here anyway?"

Mickey's face brightened up at this question. "Well, you see…"

XXX

Yen Sid's Tower, Some Time Earlier

"That's it Kairi, you can do it!"

Mickey continued to shout encouragement from the sidelines as Kairi sparred with Riku just outside of the Tower. Since they had returned from the Islands, Yen Sid had instructed Riku to help teach her the basics. Although she had only recently begun her training, she was a fast learner, and Mickey could see that she had a lot of potential.

Donald, on the other hand, was more critical. "YOU CALL THAT A STRIKE?" he shouted. MY GRANDMA CAN HIT HARDER THAN YOU CAN!"

"I don't want to hurt him!" Kairi shouted back at him, parrying a blow from Riku as she did so.

"Kairi, don't worry about it, I'll be fine," said Riku, as he blocked another of Kairi's attacks. "And Donald, seriously, drop the drill sergeant routine! It's really getting old!"

Donald abruptly stopped shouting. "Sorry," he said, lowering his head nervously.

"Garwsh, Donald," said Goofy. "Do ya really gotta be like that? I mean, she's just starting out."

"Well," Donald said huffily. "She's gotta learn sometime, right?"

Mickey turned to Yen Sid. "What do you think, Master?" he asked him. "Do you think she has what it takes?"

The old wizard stroke his beard and nodded. "It would appear so, but at the moment she is strictly a beginner. It may take some time before she is on Sora and Riku's level."

"Of course," he added after a moment of thought. "They never had any formal training before they came to me, and they were able to successfully defeat the Heartless and the Organization, so it's always possible that she will surpass those expectations. What's more important is that she – no, that we are all prepared for what is to come."

"Seven lights," Mickey recalled. "Thirteen darknesses…"

"Precisely," said Yen Sid. "If Xehanort wishes to recreate the χ-blade, not only will he need thirteen vessels of darkness, but he will also need either the seven Princesses of Heart, or seven Keyblade Wielders. And as I have recently discovered, Kairi is the only individual that is a member of both of those groups."

"So that's one of the reasons that we're training her: either way, Xehanort is going to come for her?"

"Indeed."

At that moment, Yen Sid lifted his hand to his temple, a look of alarm on his face. "Something has happened," he said to Mickey. "Quickly, come with me to my chamber."

"What's wrong?" asked Mickey as the wizard opened the door to the tower.

"Something has happened to Sora."

The two of them climbed up the spiral staircase until they reached Yen Sid's study. From under the desk, the elderly Master took out a large crystal ball. An image quickly formed in the center, depicting Sora surrounded by several Nobodies.

"It is as I feared," said Yen Sid as he dismissed the image. "Xehanort has begun to make his move. We should not have let Sora leave this tower alone."

"What are we going to do?" asked Mickey.

"Obviously, one of us will have to go and assist him."

"I'll go!" offered Mickey almost immediately.

"I expected as much," said Yen Sid. "Do you still have your Star Shard?"

"I have it right here," said Mickey, holding it out in front of him.

"Excellent. We have no time to summon an alternative means of transportation, and this will get you there as fast as possible. Now go, and hurry!"

XXX

Now

"Alright," said Riku. "That's enough of that." They stopped sparring for a moment.

"How did I do?" asked Kairi cautiously.

"Overall, not bad," he responded. "But there's definitely room for improvement. You're often leaving yourself open to an enemy counterattack as you strike, so we'll definitely need to work on that, and maybe practice dodging as well."

"Okay," said Kairi. "So what's next?"

"Now, let's try some magic."

Riku walked over to the right side of the tower.

"Okay, so some enemies have strong defenses, but they're really weak when it comes to magic. What I want you to do now is to imagine that I'm a Heartless that's attacking – hold on, let me think - Donald!"

"What?!" shouted Donald. "Why do I have to be the victim here?"

"C'mon, Donald," said Goofy. "Don'tcha wanna help Kairi with her training?"

Donald stammered for a moment, before finally giving in. "Oh alright!"

Donald walked over to where Riku stood, grumbling.

"Now," said Riku. "I want you to imagine that Donald has been – "

He looked at Donald. "Could you try getting on your stomach?"

Donald, still grumbling, did so.

"Thanks. Now, Donald has just been knocked unconscious by a Heartless – or me, so to speak. You don't have time to close the distance between the two of you, and if you take too long, he'll get his heart stolen. So, in cases like this - "

"We use magic!" Kairi finished for him.

"Exactly! Now point your Keyblade at me. Good. It's important to remember that the power to use magic comes from deep within your heart. It's stronger for some than for others, so we'll see how you do in a moment. We'll start with a basic Fire spell. Try picturing a fire starting in your heart – non-lethally, mind you – then imagine it flowing up your arm, through the Keyblade, and out the end."

Kairi closed her eyes and pictured what Riku told her. As she did so, she felt something warm blossom in her heart. As it made its way up her arm, it got hotter and hotter, until it reached the Keyblade. A word began to form in her mind, and she opened her mouth…

"Fire!" she shouted, and with a roar, a large fireball was launched from the tip of her Keyblade, hurtling towards Riku and Donald.

"Whoa!" yelled Riku, as he instinctively leapt out of the way. Donald, however, was not able to move in time.

"Bwaaaah!" Donald cried out in pain, as the fire ignited the feathers on his rear end, before impacting on a nearby bush, causing it to burst into flame as well.

Donald jumped up and started to run around in a panic. "HELP, HEEEEELP, I'M ON FIRE!" he shouted with his plumage smoking behind him.

"Omigosh, Donald, I'm so sorry!" yelled Kairi, as she, Riku, and Goofy rushed forward to put it out.

"Don't blame yourself, it's my fault," said Riku. "I shouldn't have jump out of the way. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was –"

"Master Yen Sid's coming!" announced Goofy. The other three looked up and indeed saw the elderly wizard descending the stairs, eying them with amusement.

"Well," he said. "You four seemed to have caused quite the ruckus."

Riku and Kairi both started talking at once.

"I'm so sorry, sir!"

"I really didn't mean to!"

"I know I shouldn't have jumped out of the way!"

"It's my fault, I should have aimed higher!"

"Settle down, you two," Master Yen Sid interrupted. "I've come to expect this sort of thing from apprentices, especially when dealing with magic."

He snapped his fingers, and three walking brooms appeared armed with water buckets. Two of them went to put out the bushfire, while the third splashed Donald.

"Gee, thanks," grumbled the now soaking, if no longer on fire, duck.

"This isn't the worst I've ever had," continued the wizard. "Tell me, have you flooded the tower yet?"

"Well, no."

"Then I wouldn't worry too much. Al things considered, I did observe some very impressive magic from you, Kairi. Princesses of Heart tend to have a degree of latent magical powers, although few, if any, ever apply it, least of all in combat situations. And as far as I know, you're the first to wield a Keyblade in centuries. All that I ask is that the two of you be more careful during your training, understood?"

"Yes sir!" both of them said.

"Excellent. Now, hopefully, the King will return with Sora soon so that we may discuss our plans in full."

"Sora? Where is he?" asked Kairi.

"He was in Traverse Town, but with any luck, they should be arriving right about-"

Just then, a beam of light shot out of the sky like a shooting star. It touched down mere feet from the others, and then disappeared, only for Sora and Mickey to fly out and land face first on the ground.

"Welcome back," Yen Sid said to Mickey. "I would have thought that you would have gained control over that Shard by now."

"It's a lot tougher with more than one person," replied Mickey, dusting himself off as he got up.

"Sora!" the others cried out as they went over to him.

"Hey Donald, hey Goofy, hey Riku! Glad to be back!" Then Sora noticed Kairi standing next to him with a smile on her face. "Hi, Kairi," he said, noticeably blushing. "Um, how've you been?"

Kairi took hold of one of his hands. "I missed you."

Sora reached out and hugged her. "I've missed you too."

They sat there for a moment, just taking in each other's presence. While the others watched, not sure what to say, Mickey turned to Yen Sid.

"We've got trouble."

XXX

Location: Unknown

Xehanort, Malfria, and Xigbar stood around the table, none of them saying a word. Xigbar was the first to speak up.

"I take it that capturing the kid was never the plan, huh?"

"You are correct," Xehanort responded. "It was merely an attempt to determine the level of strength that he possessed after we had shattered his heart in the Realm of Sleep."

"What he displayed was a good deal above our initial calculations," said Malfria. "I'm quite surprised that he is capable of thinking, let alone fighting. Someone must have repaired his heart from within."

"Riku," Xehanort muttered.

"Is it that obvious?" asked Xigbar.

"I suppose. Keep our 'normal' personnel on standby for now. I'd prefer to finish preparing the special units first."

"Of course," said Malfria. The three of them again lapsed into silence.

A silence that was quickly interrupted by the opening of a Dark Corridor.

"If you're done moping around," announced the thin man from the earlier meeting. "I was hoping that you would have actually have accomplished something."

"You're our Chief Scientist," responded Malfria. "Stop badgering us, and work on your own damn plans."

The Chief Scientist sneered. "I like to remind you that just last week you made a speech about how we're – what was it? 'All in this together'? God, it sounded like some high school assembly or something."

"It wasn't a speech, said an exasperated Malfria. "It was advice that I gave to you, personally, on how you need learn to cooperate with the rest of us. Now what is it that you want?"

The Chief Scientist reviewed his notes. "So far the project has been progressing nicely, but we've hit a wall as far as stabilizing the product goes. If we wish to continue, then I need either the notes of the project's original supervisor, or the man himself. Otherwise, anything that we can successfully produce will almost instantaneously dissolve into goo. Granted, non-sentient sludge almost perfectly describes our enemies, but-"

"Enough," said Xehanort, and with that the Chief Scientist fell silent. "I'm afraid that we have other matters that need to be attended to before we can make any progress with that. We still don't have the other two in corporeal form at the moment, and without at least Number XIII, your project will still be unable to proceed."

"Fortunately," Malfria told the Scientist, "we have a plan that, if all goes well, will not only dislodge Number XIII, but will also put us in a position to get what you want. If, that is, you would let us use the other project that you adore so much."

"What?" he asked. "You mean the Red-"

The Chief Scientist stopped talking for a moment, and then smiled.

"That will work quite nicely, as long as you let me handle that bit."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. Now then, this is the plan…"

XXX

"Human soldiers?" asked Yen Sid.

They had all returned to the study to discuss the recent developments in Traverse Town.

"That's what they looked like," said Sora.

"What does this mean?" asked Kairi.

"I'm afraid I don't know," said Yen Sid. "We will have to investigate this matter further, but the fact that Xehanort has recruited normal people, willingly or otherwise, is…worrisome."

"So what are we going to do now, then?" asked Riku.

"We'll need to go to Radiant Garden and meet up with Leon and the others," said Mickey. "Lea's already there, so he should have explained the situation to them by now."

"Wait, who's Lea?" asked Kairi.

"Oh, he's the Somebody of Axel. You remember him, tall, spiky red hair?"

"Oh," said Kairi, raising an eyebrow. "You mean the one who kidnapped me?"

"Oh, right," said Sora. "But don't worry, he's good now! I mean, he was sort of good before, except for the whole kidnapping thing, of course. But now he's really good! And he has a Keyblade now!"

"Um, sure, alright. If you say so," said Kairi, clearly surprised by this sudden flood of information.

See, this is what happens when you decide to stay at home, said a voice inside her head. You end up missing all of the good stuff!

Shut up, Naminé, Kairi thought back.

"Before you go," said Yen Sid, "I have something that you'll be needing."

With that, three fairies appeared, one dressed in red, one in green, and one in blue.

"Riku, Kairi," Yen Sid said. "I'd like to introduce you to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather."

"Hello dears," said Flora. "We're so glad that we could finally meet you!"

"Wait, have you heard of us?" asked Kairi.

"Of course, dear," said Merryweather. "We knew that Sora had friends back where he came from, and now it turns out that not just one, but both of you can wield the Keyblade! It's simply wonderful!"

"So what is this all about?" asked Riku.

"Well," answered Fauna, "When Sora first visited this tower, we gave him special clothes that not only looked rather stylish, if you ask me, but also contained new powers. If you'll let us, we'll give the two of you some of your own."

"Alright then," said Riku. "Let's see what you've got."

"Very well, then," Merryweather said to him. "All together now, dears. Ready…go!"

The three fairies proceeded to work their magic on the two. Light began to fill the room, causing Sora to shield his eyes. When he opened them, he was quite surprised by what he saw.

Riku's clothes were mostly the same as before; a few extra pockets, a little less yellow, and most noticeably, the black and white on his jacket and vest had swapped places.

Kairi's, on the other hand, had undergone a dramatic transformation. Her mini-dress had turned a mixture of black and a deep shade of purple, her shoes were now black and white, and she now had on a pair of black and purple shorts with white straps. It looked very different from before, but Kairi seemed to like it.

"Huh, not bad," Kairi said as she observed herself in the mirror. "I've always liked purple."

"Those clothes aren't just for show," Fauna said. "They'll also help to access Drive Forms like Sora can."

"Take these," Yen Sid said, handing each of the three of them a glove with a small, clear, sphere-shaped gem on the back of it.

"What are they?'

"They are designed to helped channel the power of Drive Forms. In the past, Sora, you needed to merge with one or both of your partners to use this power. Now, however, if you focus your thoughts on those gems, you can activate it using only the innate strength of your own hearts. No longer must you sacrifice the strength of your comrades for your own power."

"You should know, however, that this power does still take time to recharge, and it is also split between the three of you," Merryweather added. "So if one of you, for example, uses Valor Form, then the other two won't be able to use that form until the first is finished."

"Give it a try!" urged Flora.

Sora, Riku and Kairi each focused on their gems. The gems began to glow as an image began to form in each of their minds: themselves, each of them in a different form. For the second time that day, a bright light enveloped the room.

When it cleared, the color of the three's clothes had changed. Sora's had turned red and been emblazoned with a fleur-de-lis, while he now held the Oathkeeper Keyblade in addition to the Kingdom Key: Valor Form. Kairi's had turned blue and now displayed a blue flame: Wisdom Form. And Riku's had turned yellow with saltires along the side of his pants, and the Oblivion Keyblade hovered in the air beside him: Master Form.

"These are only a few of the forms that you are able to use," Yen Sid said as Riku and Kairi examined themselves in alarm; Sora just grinned.

"But be warned," The wizard continued, "while this power is indeed great, you must be careful not to overuse it, as Sora well knows. A great darkness sleeps within it, and since its power itself has been copied from its effects on Sora's heart, should you use if too often or spread it too thin it may well be capable of overtaking you as well. It would slip in, cloud your mind, and infectyour heart. Yes, perhaps even with a heart of pure light," he said to Kairi, who nervously felt his gaze resting upon her. "This darkness stems from Sora's time as a Heartless, after all, as brief as it was."

The three of them returned to normal.

"So," asked Riku. "How do we plan on getting to Radiant Garden?"

Mickey held out his Star Shard. "We can use this!"

"Well alright," said Donald. "But just as long as it can take all of us."

"Don't worry," said Mickey. "It can. But it might be a bumpy ride."

"Be wary," said Yen Sid as the six of them placed their hands on the Star Shard. "If I am correct, Xehanort will have made many allies outside of his new Organization. They could be lurking anywhere."

"Don't worry, Master Yen Sid," said Goofy. "We'll be careful!"

"Alright, guys!" said Mickey. "We'll take off on three. One…two…"

"Wait," said Kairi, "Just how bumpy is this going to b-"

"Three!"

And with that, they disappeared in yet another burst of light. Yen Sid looked out the window to see a shooting star streaking through the skies above.

To Be Continued

Okay, I know that I kind of, sort of promised that we'd be going to Radiant Garden in this chapter, but as I was writing it, I realized that this was going on pretty long already. Quite a bit happened in this chapter, though, so I think that it delivered on most counts. Though now that I think of it, we didn't really get much of a fight between Sora and Xigbar, now did we? Oh well, I think that there will be plenty of time for that later on. So without further ado:

Next Time:

Trouble in Radiant Garden (for real this time)!

Please feel free to review!