Okay, now that a new chapter is up, I have a question to ask for any TWENY fans who may be reading: if I were to include Shibuya as a world later on, who should be the main villain, Kitaniji or Minamimoto? I think I already know the answer, but I want to know what you guys think.

Edit: I decided to create a poll for this question, which you can find on my profile page! I even added some extra options.

And with that out of the way, let's begin the chapter!

Chapter 6: The Heartless-Creator-Inator

Inside the Excalibur

"And those are the bathrooms, and over here is the kitchen…"

Isabella and Baljeet were currently giving the group - sans Cloud and Rinoa, who had gone back to Merlin's house - the grand tour of the Excalibur. So far they had visited the gun batteries, the engine room, the medical bay, the lounge area, the sleeping quarters, and now the bathrooms.

"Wow," said Sora, "you've really pulled out all the stops on this one."

"Would I be right in saying that this thing is designed for a larger than average crew?" asked Riku.

"As far as Gummi Ships go, yes," answered Baljeet. "It is also built for much longer trips; up to about three months. Which isn't that long compared to other types of space travel, but Gummi Ships can travel much faster than most of those."

"So we're looking at a long journey, huh?" Kairi asked him.

"Yes, or at least, we're prepared for one."

"Alright," said Isabella, stopping in front of a nearby door. "This is something that Cid really wanted you guys to see. He says it might be helpful with your training."

The door opened, and everyone stepped inside. The room was entirely white, and circular with the walls curving up from the floor to the ceiling. What drew their attention, however, was the figure standing in the middle.

"Jiminy!" Sora said, rushing over to his tiny friend.

"Hello there, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Your Majesty," Jiminy Cricket said, turning to greet the new arrivals with a smile. "It's good to see you again. And you too, Riku, Kairi."

"Hello, Jiminy," Riku said to him. "So just what is this place?"

"Well, I'm not the best person to describe it to you. Why don't you ask...?"

Suddenly, the air in front of them began to shimmer. Out of thin air appeared a figure in a black coat. What was more surprising, however, was that the figure had Riku's face.

"So, I suppose this is the first time we've actually me, right?" the figure said, in Riku's voice.

"W-who are you?" asked Sora in astonishment.

"That's Jiminy's Journal!" answered Donald.

"Jiminy's…Journal?" asked Kairi. "What do you mean?"

For the next few minutes, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy explained the adventures that they had had in the Datascape before the Mark of the Mastery exam.

"Oh yeah," Sora said when they had finished. "I think I remember you guys talking about that earlier. I guess I forgot. A lot's happened since then."

"And you chose my form?" Riku asked the Journal with a raised eyebrow.

"What can I say? I think that it suits me."

Riku shrugged. "I suppose I'll take that as a compliment."

"You said that Naminé left a message?" Kairi asked the Data-Riku.

"Yes, concerning those who needed to be saved. I understand that Roxas has recently returned to physical form."

"That's right."

"Good, he'll be the first, unless we count Lea. More will follow. From what I can decipher, some of them will be restored to the physical plane, while others will have to be searched for."

Riku looked around the room. There was nothing of note about it; it was completely nondescript.

"So, what exactly is this place? And why are you and the Journal here?" Riku asked Jiminy.

"This is the Memory Review Chamber, or the MRC," Jiminy answered. "Cid asked His Majesty if he could get help with something important, so I got sent here."

"So, what's it for?"

"I'll show you," Data-Riku answered. As soon as he said this, a compartment in the wall opened, and a tray slid out. On the tray were three wrist-bands with some sort of device on each of them.

"These are Memory Recorders. If you strap one onto your wrist, it automatically forms a link between itself and your brain. As you travel the worlds, your experiences will be recorded in these, and from there transferred to the ship's computer, where I reside. I'll be keeping a full record of your travels, while Jiminy will stay here and use these records to compile new entries for his journal, which can be accessed either from the ship or remotely via the Recorders."

Jiminy gestured to the wrist-bands. "Try them on," he offered.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi each reached out and took one off the tray. As they fastened the Recorders around their wrists, a screen on each of them lit up blue, and they felt a small in the back of their heads, earning an exclamation of "Ow!" from the three of them.

"Don't worry," said Data-Riku, "that's just the connection being established." He turned to the real Riku. "Touch the screen."

Riku did so and the screen promptly lit up. Instead of showing a regular image, however, it proceeded to project a holographic display of the Heartless that he had fought earlier. Words flashed underneath it: Arachnid Armor.

"Excellent," Data-Riku said. He turned to Sora and Kairi. "Now you two try."

Both of them touched their screens, and both of them projected the same Heartless as Riku's.

"As you can see, data is shared between them. Now press them one more time."

The three of them did so, and were surprised to see the hooded figure who had attacked them in the square. The word Unknown flashed below the image.

"I'm afraid that this is all that we have on the thief," he said to them. "Any more that we learn will appear here later on."

"This is all nice," Kairi said as the image of the thief disappeared. "But that doesn't explain why you need an entire room of the ship for this."

Data-Riku smiled. "Watch this," he said, and snapped his fingers.

At that moment, the entire room began to shimmer. The white floor and walls disappeared, and suddenly the group found themselves in the Garden's square once again – or so it appeared.

"We-we're not actually outside now, are we?" Sora asked in amazement.

"Nope," said Jiminy. "It's really a projection of your memories, designed to simulate the real thing as close as possible. Cid designed it, with the help of Merlin and myself," he added, beaming with pride.

Data-Riku pointed nearby as several Shadow Heartless rose out of the ground. "Here, you'll be able to further hone your abilities against enemies that you've fought before, and even, if you wish, re-experience important battles." As he said the last bit, a replica of the Arachnid Armor appear in the air above them, giving a mighty roar that was indistinguishable from the real thing.

Data-Riku snapped his fingers again, and everything disappeared, the square being replaced with the normal blank, white walls.

"Feel free to use this room any time you like," he told them.

Riku looked at the Memory Recorder on his wrist. "I think we're going to need more of these. At least one each for Roxas and Lea."

"I'll get right on it," Data-Riku replied.

"Alright, then," Sora said as he turned back to Isabella, who had been waiting patiently at the door with Baljeet. "Where to next?"

"Well," Isabella replied. "All that's left is the kitchen and the bridge."

Sora turned to the others. "Where do you want to go?"

Kairi's stomach started to growl. "Let's go the kitchen," she said. "I haven't eaten since we left home."

"Okay then," said Isabella. "Then why don't we-"

Just then, a high-pitched whine went off through the ship. Everyone quickly covered their ears.

"What's that noise?" Riku shouted over the din.

"It's the alarm!" Baljeet shouted back at him. "The Heartless are attacking!"

"Again?" asked Sora in disbelief. "But we just fought them off!"

"Let's go!" Mickey urged the group as he headed for the door, motioning for them to follow. "The others are going to need our help."

"That's what I get for wanting something to eat," Kairi muttered as she followed Mickey out the door with the rest.

XXX

Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated – Radiant Garden Hideout

Perry crept onto a windowsill outside of a deserted house. Monogram's Intel had been correct – this was definitely Doofenshmirtz's base of operations. He could tell, as there was a large sign posted on the front door: "Home of Heinz Doofenshmirtz: Not Evil, Very, Very Good Scientist (No Solicitors)". But just what could he be planning? It was time to find out.

Perry burst through the window with a loud CRASH. The shattered glass scattered all over the floor as the platypus landed lightly on his feet. However, when he looked around, hesaw that…there was no one there.

Or, at least, that's how it appeared at first glance.

"AHA!" From behind a corner jumped out Dr. Doofenshmirtz.

"Perry the Platypus, how inexplicable. And by inexplicable, I mean COMPLETELY EXPILCABLE!"

Doofenshmirtz quickly whipped out a remote control, and before Perry could make a move, he pressed its large red button. Suddenly, a large steel cage came down from the ceiling, trapping Perry underneath.

"By the way, what do you think you're doing, crashing through the window like that?" Doofenshmirtz asked conversationally. "Don't you how sharp shattered glass is? And it's right in front of the door too. What if someone walks in with bare feet? Who do you think they're going to blame?"

Perry just blinked at him.

"That's right – me! And I'm sorry, Perry the Platypus, but I don't want my guests to think that I deliberately put shattered glass by my front door just so they can cut their bare feet on it! We evil scientists do have some standards, you know. I want my guests to be able to walk around without shoes if they so please."

"Dad, no one's going to walk in here with no shoes on," said Doofenshmirtz's teenage daughter Vanessa as she walked into the room.

"Now Vanessa, you don't know that," chastised Doofenshmirtz. "The people here are a varied bunch, and I'm sure that there's at least one person who doesn't have any shoes. And this evil lair does not discriminate against bare-footers." Doofenshmirtz paused for a moment, thinking about something. "Unless they have smelly feet. If there's one thing I hate more than shattered glass, it's smelly feet. I'm mean, I'm not prejudiced, some of my best friends have smelly feet – like you Perry the Platypus, no offense – but, you know, sometimes I'm just filled with the urge to say something to them, like 'Dude, you have some smelly feet.'"

Perry continued to say nothing, merely glaring at Doofenshmirtz.

"What?" asked Doofenshmirtz irritably. "Okay, you know what? Maybe I do discriminate a little bit, but in a few minutes, that's not going to matter anymore!" With that, he pressed another button on his remote. There was a mighty roar, and from out of the floor rose an enormous engine-like device, with darkness leaking out of a metal grate on its front, and a giant antenna situated at the top, with dark clouds beginning to swirl around it. Right below the antenna, the Heartless emblem was emblazoned on the machine's metal chassis.

"BEHOLD, THE HEARTLESS-CREATOR-INATOR!"

XXX

Sora and the others ran out of the Excalibur to find Cid waiting for them at a nearby work bench with Phineas and Ferb. Cid was bent over a computer, examining the screen closely.

"Where's Lucca?" Sora asked Cid as they walked over towards his work bench.

"She left. Said she had something else that she needed to get done," Cid replied, not looking up from the computer screen. "Anyway, you'd better take a look at this."

He moved away from the screen, allowing the others to have a better look. The monitor showed several Heartless stalking the streets, lashing out at anybody who dare crossed there path. Several Defense Corps soldiers were already on the scene, and though they had scored a few kills, the Heartless just kept coming. There were no longer any civilians on the street; whether they had escaped or not was a question no one wanted to pose.

"Where are they coming from?" Mickey asked Cid.

Cid quickly tapped in a few commands into the computer. The screen promptly changed to show a run-down house on the north side of town. A dark cloud was circling above it, and all around the Heartless were emerging; from inside the house, from the ground around it, even from the dark cloud above.

"This isn't good," Riku commented. "The Heartless are coming in faster than the Defense Corps can destroy them. If this keeps up…"

"Then the entire town will be overrun," Kairi finished for him.

"That's right," came a voice from behind them. Everyone turned around to see the tall general from the courtyard, along with Lightning and a middle aged man with a mustache and ponytail that the group didn't know.

"Wait a minute, you're that guy from earlier," said Donald. "Um, what's your name again?"

The man smiled. "I am General Leo Cristophe of the Radiant Garden Defense Corps, though I prefer go by Leo. This is Captain Cyan Garamonde-"

The mustached man bowed. "It is an honor, Keybearers," he said to them.

"-and I believe that you have already been acquainted with Sergeant Farron."

Lightning glanced at them and nodded, then looked up at the Excalibur.

"Who is that ship for?" she asked Cid.

"It's for them," Cid replied, indicating Sora and the others. "Is that a problem?"

Lightning frowned. "I don't believe that the town's funds should be spent on a ship for ferrying around children."

"How dare you!" Cyan shouted. "The Keybearers are a sacred order dedicated to upholding peace throughout the worlds! If they are in need of a vessel, we should be more than happy to provide them with one."

"What, do you expect me to just get down on all fours like a dog for them, too?" Lightning retorted. "I'm not about to smile and curtsy just because some teenager with a giant key thinks that he's superior to me!"

"Um," Sora started to say. "I don't think that I'm-"

"You stay out of this," Lightning growled at him.

"Enough, from both of you," General Leo ordered. "Sergeant, Captain, your assignment was to accompany me to the hangar. Now go and rejoin the fight."

"Yes, sir," both replied. Lightning briskly walked towards the exit. Cyan moved to follow her, but suddenly stopped when he noticed Kairi.

"A thousand pardons, my lady, but…are you not the Princess of Heart?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Um, yes, but-"

Before Kairi had time to finish, Cyan was on his knees before her. "Your Holiness, I must offer my humblest apologies for the Sergeant's abominable behavior. I am afraid she has not been thinking straight after her sister-"

"Captain!" said Leo sharply. "That will do. Return to you post."

"But I-"- Cyan try to think of something to say before regaining his composure - "As you wish, sir." He stood, gave a sharp bow to Leo, Kairi and the others, and then hurried off.

"I'm afraid I must apologize for both of them," Leo said with exasperation.

"I-" Kairi tried to offer an apology of her own. "He doesn't need to do that."

Leo smiled. "I know, but Cyan comes from a very traditionalist family. They have served the rulers of Radiant Garden for nine generations. While he would never deliberately say anything to offend another, he's very set in his ways, and it would take a lot to change his mind." He then sighed, his face looking troubled. "As for Lightning, her views have taken a rather extreme turn lately, though as her superior I don't think it's my place to say why. That said, her opinions are held by several members of the Corps, including myself, to an extent."

Sora and the others were shocked. General Leo had seemed so reasonable, it didn't seem as though he resented their presence. Noticing the looks on their faces, the General simply laughed.

"Don't worry," he reassured them. "I have nothing against you personally, nor do I have any problem with you being here. I merely agree with Lightning on not blindly following Keybearers just because they're, well, Keybearers."

When Riku heard this, he relaxed. "General," he said, "I wouldn't have it any other way." The others nodded in agreement.

"Excellent," said Leo. "Now, let's get down to business."

XXX

Leo reached into the folds of his jacket and withdrew a small disk. He placed it on the ground, and it projected a holographic image of the town in front of them.

"Garwsh," said Goofy, "That's pretty impressive."

Leo pointed at the house that was the point of origin for the Heartless. "Our forces are trying to make their way there," he said, "but the influx of Heartless is too great. For each one we take out, three more take its place."

He looked up at them. "We've managed to get the citizens out of the area and escort them to the designated evacuation points, but I'd prefer not to actually evacuate them unless we learn that the situation is truly uncontainable."

"Don't worry, General," Mickey said with enthusiasm. "We'll do whatever we can to help. Together, we'll beat these Heartless!"

"I'm glad to hear it," Leo responded. "Now, our technicians have reported that this-"- he pointed at the dark cloud gather over the hologram-house – "-is producing the most Heartless, and is also keeping our men from advancing by radiating dark energy. I've been in touch with Even, and he believes that a burst of concentrated burst of light energy should be enough to disperse the cloud, at least for a short time. There's likely some sort of machine at the center that's causing all of this. The plan is this – you guys disperse the cloud, then we move in, take out any Heartless in our way, secure the house, and destroy whatever's causing this to happen."

Mickey studied the hologram carefully. "How far back is that cloud keeping you?" he asked.

"About three hundred yards," Leo answered.

"I'm not sure if any of our attacks have the strength to last that range and still cause enough damage."

"Hmm…" Leo looked at the map again. "That's definitely a problem."

Phineas looked at the map too, deep in thought. Suddenly, his face brightened up. "Ferb," he said to his step-brother, "I know what we're gonna do today!" He then turned to the rest of the group. "We can build a cannon that can get three hundred yards easy. It shouldn't be a problem to get the light energy we need for it."

"You're sure?" Leo asked with some skepticism.

"Hey, these kids are some of the best engineers I've ever seen," Cid said. "If they say they can do it, they can do it."

"Well, alright," Leo said. "How long will it take?"

"We can have it ready for in about an hour," Phineas replied. Behind him, Ferb whipped out a power drill and turned it on, signaling that he was ready to go.

"Okay, then, there's just one more thing…" Leo turned to Cid. "I'm sorry to ask this of you Cid," he said apologetically. "I know that you don't exactly consider yourself a friend of the Corps."

"Just get to the point," Cid growled.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to inspect your new ship, Gestahl's orders; just to make sure that everything's up to code."

"You mean to make sure that his money's being spent the way he wants it to be," Cid muttered.

"Well, when you put it like that, I suppose the answer is yes," Leo responded. "Now, while Phineas and Ferb prepares the light cannon, would anyone be willing to take me on a tour of the ship?"

"Um, we would certainly be willing to do that," Baljeet said, indicating Isabella and himself.

"Wonderful," Leo replied. "Shall we?"

XXX

"I can't believe him," Cid muttered to himself. Leo had entered the Excalibur only a few minutes ago, and Cid was very impatient.

"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him," said Sora.

"Oh, I don't have a problem with Leo, Leo's fine," Cid responded. "It's just that he's utterly loyal to Gestahl, and I hate Gestahl. He's a scumbag who only looks out for himself, and some of the people working for him are even worse. I don't know how Leo can stand working for him."

"I think I'd have to meet Gestahl myself before I could judge him," Riku commented.

"Fair enough. I don't suppose I can really do him justice."

Meanwhile, Kairi was deep in conversation with Phineas.

"You really think so?" she asked him.

"Well, I don't know if we need to do it," Phineas replied, "but it would probably be a lot safer if we did."

"Okay, I see what I can do."

At that moment, Leo walked out of the ship, followed Isabella and Baljeet.

"Took you long enough," Cid commented. "Shouldn't you have taken care of the Heartless before you did this?"

"I left my men holding strong defensive positions," Leo replied. "They should be fine until I get back. I have my utmost faith in them. In any case, I wanted to get this out of the way in case something goes wrong; I don't want to worry about whether or not this ship is ready for flying if we need to evacuate. I'm happy to say that everything appears in order, at least for the most part. I was somewhat surprised to see who you had for a chef, but he made a convincing argument. I had a small sample of his food; it was delicious. Have you tried any?" he asked the others.

Kairi's stomach started to growl again. "Not yet," she muttered.

"Oh, sorry," Leo said sheepishly. "Forget I said anything. Now then," he said, turning back to Cid, "the only real issue seems to be with the gun batteries. While they're operational, they seem to be lacking the appropriate cooling units, leaving them in danger of overheating if used too often."

"Oh yeah," Sora said to Phineas. "You guys mentioned that."

"We'll keep an eye out," said Riku. "If we find anything, we'll let you guys know."

Kairi approached Sora. "Um, if you don't mind, Phineas asked for my help with the light cannon. He was hoping that I could help infused it with the light energy that we need to disperse the cloud."

Sora grinned. "Hey, you don't need my permission for that. Do whatever you want!"

Kairi smiled back at him. "Great! We'll meet you out there when it's ready." She took his hand. "Be careful."

Sora nodded. "I will."

Leo approached them. "Is everyone ready?" he asked. Sora nodded. "Okay." Leo's expression suddenly turned serious. "Let's move out."

XXX

Radiant Garden Castle Laboratory

Even worked furiously at his computer. The Heartless attack was seriously throwing off his analysis of the data he had collected from Roxas. Alas, it couldn't be helped. He would just have to finish the work that Leo had assigned him first.

He was attempting to puzzle out what kind of machine could be produced this much Heartless when the door to the lab opened behind him, then quickly close.

"Yuffie, is that you?" he asked without bothering to turn around. "Never mind the ice cream; shouldn't you be at the-"

At that moment, he felt two cold, metal blades slide in front of his neck.

From behind him came a voice, barely above a whisper. "Do not struggle or make any attempt to call for help, or we will slit your throat."

Even gulped. "You're not Yuffie," he whispered.

"We are not," the voice confirmed. The speaker was female, and whoever she was, betrayed next to no emotion when she spoke.

"Now then," the speaker continued – Wait, was that the same person? Even thought, as that voice had come from slightly further away – "Turn off your computer,"

"I will not," Even responded. "The people out there are dependent on the data I am able to transmit to them. They could die without it."

"If you do not turn the computer off, we will make sure that they die now."

"How do I know you're not bluffing?"

"Do you really wish to test us?"

That was definitely more than one voice, Even thought to himself. Just who is this woman?

Regardless, Even could tell that he had no choice. He reach down and pressed the "off" button. The computer powered down.

"Thank you. Now then…"

The blades were removed from Even's neck, but before he had a chance to turn around, something hard hit him in the back of the head.

"You will come with us."

Even lost consciousness almost immediately. He crumbled to the floor, and being unconscious, was completely unaware of the three sets of arms that grabbed him and carried him through a Corridor of Darkness, which closed behind them.

A second later, the door to the lab opened again, and Yuffie poked her head in.

"Even? Are you alright?" she called in. "I just wanted to check on you, what with the Heartless attack and all." She pulled out a small metal case. "I brought you some ice cream."

There was no response. Yuffie frowned, and walked into the now empty laboratory.

"…Even?"

XXX

Leo led Sora, Riku, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey to what constituted the front line. When they got there, however, they found the Defense Corps in disarray. Many of the soldiers were panicking, and some of them were even trying to turn tail and flee from the steadily advancing wall of Heartless.

"What's going on here?" Donald asked.

"I shouldn't have left," Leo muttered to himself. He strode forward, barking out orders.

"All of you, stand your ground! These are your homes you're defending, don't abandon them to the Heartless! Captain!" Leo shouted for Cyan. "What's the cause of this panic?"

"I'm sorry, General," Cyan growled. "The men had no idea that the enemy had this many in number. Many of them are fresh recruits, and have yet to even fire their weapons once." He lowered his head. "This is my failure as Captain, General. I am prepared to accept the consequences."

"Don't be a fool, Cyan," Leo said to him. "I don't blame you, and there is no time for punishments on the battlefield. Now go, show the men how a true warrior fights!"

"Yes, General!" Cyan straighten up, his eyes ablaze with anticipation. As he stepped forward, he drew a katana from the scabbard around his waist.

"Monsters!" he yelled at the assembled Heartless. "I am Cyan, a Captain of the Radiant Garden Defense Corps, and I am your worst nightmare!" And with that, Cyan charged at the Heartless, cutting down six Shadows with one slash.

"Whoa, he's strong!" exclaimed Donald.

"One of the strongest men I've ever had serving under me," Leo commented. "Now, shall we enter the battle ourselves?"

"You've got it!" said Sora, drawing his Keyblade, with Mickey and Riku doing the same, and Donald and Goofy drawing their own weapons.

"Now that's what I like to hear," Leo told them, drawing a sword of his own.

They turned towards the Heartless and together, they charged.

XXX

Merlin's House

Lea stood in front of the doorway of Merlin's house, launching balls of fire at any Heartless that got too close.

"Damn it!" he shouted. "I can't keep this up forever! Merlin, how much longer?"

"Not to worry!" the wizard replied. "I'm almost finished. Just a few more seconds…"

"We're running out of time!" Aerith told, dispatching a Shadow with her staff.

"Okay, done!" Merlin exclaimed. "Get back inside!"

Lea and Aerith quickly ran for the door as Merlin began chanting in some unknown language. Several Heartless tried to follow them, but a blast of fire from Lea stopped them in their tracks. Once they had made it through the doorway, Merlin finished chanting and unleashed a blast of light from his hands. The light began to expand outward into a bubble until it had encompassed the entire house. The weaker Heartless that touched it were destroyed outright, while the stronger ones were forced back several feet from the house.

Merlin lowered his hands. "That will do for now," he told the others. "They will not be able to get past that light barrier."

"I don't get it," said Roxas, who was still resting in his bed. "Why were so many of them focused on this house?"

"If I had to wager a guess, I'd say it was because you're here," Merlin told him. "A Keyblade wielder like you, injured and vulnerable; they would consider you to be easy prey."

"Well, okay then," Roxas said as he sat up. "In that case I can't stay here any longer."

"Are you crazy?" Lea asked him. "You're in no condition to fight! You still haven't been able to get out of bed!"

"I don't think he's really tried," Aerith told Lea. "In any case, it's been a while. He should be fine if he doesn't overexert himself."

"With all those Heartless out there?" Lea retorted. "It'd be impossible not to overexert himself!"

"Lea, they need my help," said Roxas. "I can't just lay here and do nothing."

Lea looked torn, and for a moment didn't say anything. Then, he turned to Merlin. "How does he look to you?" he asked the wizard.

Merlin studied Roxas for a while, pondering Lea's question. Finally, he spoke up. "He definitely seems better than he was a few hours ago. Perhaps if you and Aerith accompanied him, he would be alright…"

"Lea, please," Roxas pleaded. "Let me go."

Lea sighed. What else could he say at this point?

"…Alright."

XXX

"Sora! Glad you've finally decided to show up!" Leon shouted. He, Cloud and Rinoa were currently situated in the center of the mob of Heartless, and though many had decided to focus their attention them alone, they weren't about to go down just yet.

"What, couldn't handle this without me, Leon?" Sora responded with a grin. He fired several blasts of Fire at the surrounding Heartless. Several of them were destroyed, but more appeared to fill the gaps that that created.

"Nah," said Cloud, brandishing his Buster Sword with a grin. "We've made a bet to see who take out more Heartless, and he wants you to help. It's the only way he'll be able to beat me."

"You guys, don't be like that," Rinoa chuckled, loading her Blaster Edge, then pointing it at the surrounding Heartless. "We all know I'm going to win."

"Leonhart, Strife, Heartilly!" Lightning shouted from nearby. "If you're going to chat with your friends, do it on your own damn time! You've already had plenty of time to catch up!"

Lightning then swiftly took her sword and shifted it into a gun. As several Soldier Heartless charged at her, she opened fire. A rapid barrage of energy blasts took the Heartless down in seconds.

Meanwhile, Irvine and Fang were dealing with their own mob of Heartless.

Irvine fired off several rounds from his shotguns. "Hey," he said to Fang as several Heartless disintegrated into shadow. "What do you say if after this the two of us head down to the bar and-"

Fang suddenly drew her lance and thrust it in Irvine's direction. Irvine's eyes widened in fear, but then he saw that she had only skewered an Armored Knight that had been directly behind him. "Yeah, I don't think so," she told him.

XXX

The arrival of the Keybearers had reinvigorated the morale of the Defense Corps, and they began to press back against the Heartless in earnest. The Heartless started to fall back, but they weren't about to go without a fight.

Several Soldiers appeared right in front of Donald and Goofy, along with a few of the stronger Sergeant variety.

"Here they come!" Donald shouted. As the Heartless rushed forward, Donald shouted, "Thundaga!", and several lightning bolts rained down from the sky. Most of the Soldiers dissolved into shadows, and the Sergeants were badly damaged, but they still kept coming. Goofy charged forward, bashing the remaining Soldiers with his shield and causing them to disintegrate as well. Donald proceeded to cast Blizzard spells at the Sergeants, freezing some of them in place, then following that up with Fire, defeating them as well.

"Good job guys!" Mickey jumped in, and with several quick swipes of his Keyblade, cut down the remaining Sergeants.

Riku ran up to them. "So what now?" he asked Mickey.

Suddenly, a Defense Corps soldier flew past them and impacted on a nearby wall, breaking several of his bones in the process.

"That's not good," said Goofy.

At that moment a large Heartless emerged from the crowd. While it looked similar to the Soldiers and Sergeants, even looking about the same size as the latter, this one was covered from head to toe in armor, with only its eyes being uncovered. It was equipped with a sword and shield, and the Heartless emblem was emblazoned on its chest-plate.

"What's that?" Riku muttered.

When he said this, the Memory Recorder on his wrist beeped, and in Riku's own voice (really Data-Riku's) responded with, "Analyzing." After a moment, the Recorder beeped again, and said, "Analysis complete." It projected a holographic image of the Heartless, while continuing, "Enemy is Heartless, Centurion class. These heavily armored warriors like to seek out the strongest opponents on the battlefield and fight them one-on-one. They are well-versed in swordplay, so attacking them head on is inadvisable; instead, try to get behind them and take them by surprise!"

Riku looked at the Recorder in surprise. "Do you just make these up on the spot?" he asked it.

"Well, on occasion," the Recorder responded.

Riku turned back towards the Centurion. "But how are we supposed to get behind it?" he wondered aloud.

At that moment, the Centurion turned towards them. When it caught a glimpse of Riku, it gave a mighty roar. Its eyes turned red, and it readied its sword for combat.

"Looks like it decided that Riku's the strongest!" Goofy exclaimed.

"Why me?" asked Riku. "Mickey's had the Keyblade for longer than I have."

"Well, maybe it thinks that you'll give it the best fight," Mickey suggested.

"Does it matter!?" Donald shouted. "IT'S COMING THIS WAY!"

Indeed, that moment was when the Centurion selected to charge. "Everyone get out of the way!" Riku shouted. He and others scattered, and a second later the Centurion plunged its sword into the ground, tearing up chunks of the street and sending them flying into the air.

As he leapt away from the Heartless, Riku caught a glimpse of its back – specifically, of an unprotected chink in its armor.

That's it! Riku thought, but then the Centurion turned to face him again. It pulled its sword out of the ground, and prepared to charge once again.

"Mickey! Its back isn't shielded. Aim for that!" But as Riku shouted for the King, the

Centurion was already practically on top of him. As it readied another blow, Riku quickly raised his Keyblade to block the incoming strike. He succeeded, but the impact forced him to his knees.

Damn, this thing's strong, he thought. This could be it.

But just as the Centurion was preparing to strike again, a blast of light struck it in the back. The Heartless gave a strangled cry, then dissolved into darkness.

"Got it!" Mickey shouted. He ran up to Riku and cast Cure on him. "Are you alright, Riku?" Mickey asked him.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Riku said as he got to his feet. "That thing might have the edge on offense and defense, but once you get past that, it just doesn't have the stamina to survive."

"Riku!"

Riku turned to see Kairi running toward him, Keyblade in hand.

"Kairi!" he called out to her. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here soon," she responded. "I finished what they needed me to do, so I went on ahead."

They walked forward towards the battle. After the defeat of the Centurion, the Heartless had suddenly changed tactics. They had pulled back and formed a perimeter about halfway down the street, about where the dark cloud's darkness radiation prevented the Defense Corps from advancing.

Sora and Leo saw Riku and Kairi approaching and ran over to greet. "I presume Phineas and Ferb will be bringing their cannon soon," Leo asked Kairi.

Kairi nodded. "The Heartless have vanished from the streets near the hangar," she said. "I think they're concentrating around here now."

"I think you're right," said Leo.

"Where's this dark cloud anyway?" Sora asked Leo. Leo pointed down the street, and the group saw in the sky a massive cloud of darkness gathering above a house at the end of the street.

Just then, Sora's Recorder beeped. "Uh-oh. That's a problem," said the voice of Data-Riku.

"Why? What's wrong?" asked Kairi.

"That's not just any dark cloud. That's a Black Fog. It's a type of Pureblood Heartless that only appears when massive amounts of darkness are gathered in one spot. It continuously produces additional Purebloods, and emits dark energy at an astounding rate that shields those aligned with darkness, while repelling those aligned with light."

"How do you know all of this?" Sora asked Data-Riku.

"That's not important right now. All you need to know is that whatever is in that building is not good. You are definitely going to need that light cannon."

A rumbling noise filled the air. Everyone looked around for the source, before realizing that it was coming from the Black Fog. The rumbling continued, sounding strangely like…

"If I didn't know better," Kairi said fearfully, "I'd think that it was laughing."

"It is," came Data-Riku's reply.

"So, it's not just a cloud of darkness, but it's a sentient cloud of darkness?" Sora asked.

"If you are willing to define a Heartless as sentient, yes."

"Crap."

"I feared as much," Leo muttered. "This thing has all the hallmarks of a Pureblood Heartless, but I was afraid to admit it; one glance is enough to conclude that it's extremely powerful."

Leo reached into his pocket and pulled out a communicator. "Even," he spoke into it. "The dark cloud is a Heartless, I repeat, a Heartless. I need you to check on whether you have any records of something called a 'Black Fog'."

There was no response. Leo tried again. "Even, report!" Still nothing.

"This isn't exactly reassuring," Kairi commented nervously.

"I don't like this," Leo muttered. He turned to Cyan, who just now approaching him with a group of four soldiers. "Captain! Even isn't responding. Head over to the castle and find out what's wrong."

"As you wish, General," Cyan replied. He barked an order to the four soldiers next to him, and they took off after him towards the castle.

"Now then," said Leo. "Where is that light cannon?"

"Right here!"

A hovercraft sped towards them. Lucca was at the helm, while Phineas and Ferb were in the back with what appeared to be the cannon. They stopped right in front of the group and got out.

"Sorry if we were late," Phineas said as he helped Ferb lift the cannon out of the back.

"Don't worry, you're right on time," said Mickey. "So how does this thing work?
"Well," said Lucca, indicating the various parts of the cannon, "As you can see, this was meant to be a handheld device. According to the boys' instructions, all we need to do is just look down this scope, aim, and then press the trigger." Lucca hoisted the light cannon over her shoulder, with her eye looking directly down the scope. "Is that the cloud?"

"Yes, that's it," replied Leo.

"Okay then, better get clear."

Leo turned to his troops. "EVERYONE TAKE COVER! WE'RE ABOUT TO FIRE THE LIGHT CANNON!"

Everyone frantically rushed to get out of the line of fire. When the path was clear, Leo turned to Lucca.

"Fire."

Lucca pressed the trigger. From the barrel of the cannon came an incredibly bright stream of light, accompanied by a loud SHING. The stream cut through the air and struck the Black Fog dead-on. The Heartless gave an agonized scream, and began to dissipate.

"It's working!" exclaimed Sora.

"Keep firing!" shouted Leo.

Everyone stopped what they were to watch as the Black Fog continued to scream in pain, the light stream coursing through the Heartless. Eventually, the clouds that made up its body scattered, and the screaming ceased. The Defense Corps erupted in cheers.

"We did it!" said Donald.

"Good work, boys!" Leo told Phineas and Ferb. "Your invention worked perfectly!"

"We're not out of the woods yet," said Data-Riku. "The Black Fog won't truly be destroyed until we can destroy its source. Until then, it will continue to reform.

A look up at the sky confirmed that he was right. Already the cloud were starting to slowly move back together.

"We can't keep firing it forever," Phineas informed them. "There's a limited amount of light energy contained in it. Eventually, we'll run out."

"Sorry I couldn't do anymore about that," Kairi said to him.

"Oh don't worry, it's not your fault," Phineas told her. "We just haven't been able to bend the laws of physics to our liking. Yet." Ferb nodded in agreement.

"General!" Lightning called out. "The Heartless are falling back!"

"Perfect," said Leo. He turned to Sora. "I'm afraid the Heartless tore through my people pretty badly. I'm going to need to keep them together for now. I'd hate to ask this, but will you six be alright on your own?"

"Sir," said Sora, "You can count on us!" He turned towards the others. "Alright, we don't have much time until the Black Fog reforms. Let's go!"

"Right!"

XXX

Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated – Radiant Garden Hideout

Dr. Doofenshmirtz laughed. "Soon, Perry the Platypus," he gloated to his captive nemesis, "Soon the Heartless will sweep over this world, like a poorly-designed broom that leaves dust all over the floor when you sweep with it. And when the dust – I mean Heartless – settle, I will conquer THE ENTIRE! TRI! STATE! AREA!"

"Dad, we're not in the Tri-State Area anymore!"

"Oh right, thank you Vanessa." Doofenshmirtz cleared his throat and tried again. "THE ENTIRE. RADIANT. GARDEN. AREA you know it doesn't really have the same ring to it, you know what I mean, Perry the Platypus?"

Perry didn't respond, merely rolling his eyes.

"Hang on," Doofenshmirtz said, "I think I'm forgetting something. Oh, that's right. Norm, could you sweep up the glass that Perry the Platypus left all over the floor?"

"Right away, sir!" came the cheerful reply from Doofenshmirtz's robot henchman. But before Norm could comply with the request, the front door was blasted open. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, and Mickey all strode in.

"Wow, that didn't take as long as I thought it would," Goofy commented to Donald.

"I'll sayOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWW!" Donald yelled in pain and started to hop on one foot. "I stepped on a piece of broken glass!"

"Sorry," Norm said. "I was just about to get to that."

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't walk around without shoes on," Kairi told Donald.
"See, Vanessa, I told you!" Doofenshmirtz told his daughter, who simply groaned.

"Wait a minute," Sora said to Doofenshmirtz. "Who are you?"

Doofenshmirtz gave Sora one of his trademark (quite literally, actually) evil grins. "I am Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz," he proudly proclaimed. "And you must be the Keybearers my employer told me about!"

"Wait, employers?" Mickey asked. "You mean Xehanort?"

"Um, no, sorry. I don't know any Xehanort," Doofenshmirtz told them. "I got this job from a magazine ad. But once I'm finished, I will finally take over THE ENTIRE! RADIANT! GARDEN! AREA! You know what, after a while, it kinda grows on you," he commented. "I should keep using that."

"That machine," Riku said, pointing at the enormous device in the back room. "He must be using that to summon the Heartless!"

"Ah yes," Doofenshmirtz said to him. "I see you've noticed my Heartless-Creator-Inator. But it doesn't matter! With my nemesis, Perry the Platypus, safely trapped inside that cage, nothing can stop me now!"

"Perry the Platypus?" Kairi said. She looked over at Perry's cage. "Wait, isn't that…"

Perry frantically shook his head at her.

"…a platypus I've never seen before? Yes, yes it is."

Nice save, genius, Naminé snarked at her.

Oh, be quiet.

Sora, also looking at Perry's cage, noticed that its door had a rather large keyhole attached to it. Without a moment's hesitation, he pointed his Keyblade at it. A thin beam of light hit the keyhole, and with a CLICK, unlocked it. In an instant, Perry had leapt out of the cage and was standing by Sora's side.

"Ctrtrtrtrtr," Perry said to Sora.

"Um, you're welcome, I guess."

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Doofenshmirtz shouted. "The giant key-things or whatever they're called can unlock stuff, too!" He paused, considering this. "You know, I suppose I should have seen this coming. But nevermind about that! Norm, get them!"
Norm stomped towards the assembled heroes. "My name is Norm!" he introduced himself cheerfully.

"A giant robot man?" Donald asked in disbelief. "Really?"

Norm held up his arms, and they suddenly started to change shape. His hands disappeared, only to be replaced by what bore an uncomfortable resemblance to missile launchers. His eyes then locked onto Perry.

"The enemy of the platypus is man."

"Get back!" Mickey shouted. Everyone dove out of the way just as Norm fired two rockets at them. They struck where they had been just a second ago, and created two explosions of a fairly respectable size.

"Oh come on!" Donald shouted.

Doofenshmirtz simply laughed. "If you like that, then you'll love this!" He whipped out his remote and pressed another button. From out of the floor rose a device that contained a large array of lasers ready to fire. Doofenshmirtz climbed into the device's operating chair and strapped himself in.

"BEHOLD, MY EVERYTHING-INATOR!" he shouted. "A collection of my deadliest Inators, all in one convenient package!"

Vanessa facepalmed. "Dad, you're embarrassing me in front of people we just met!"

Doofenshmirtz ignored her. He began to operate the Everything-Inator, aiming right at Perry.

"GOODBYE, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!"

To Be Continued

Next Time: "Come Little Children…"

Well, that was definitely a long chapter. In fact, I think it was the longest so far! No wonder it took so long to write.

Anyway, next chapter should be the conclusion of what I'd call the first Radiant Garden arc, but I don't know if I can make any promises. I ended up putting in a lot of stuff in this chapter that I hadn't planned on in originally, so we'll have to wait and see how things go next time.

By the way, I'd just like to point out what games the Final Fantasy characters I've introduced in this story came from, just in case there's anyone who isn't familiar with them. Cyan, Leo and Gestahl are from Final Fantasy VI, Rinoa and Irvine are from VIII, and Lightning and Fang are from XIII.

Okay, I think that's everything! Please review!