Kairi wasn't exactly sure what she'd signed up for when she said she'd team up with Sora. She wondered if this team up was even fair. On one hand, it was two against three. On the other, it was a Keyblade Master and two wielders against Sora, the one-man army and Kairi, the Princess of Heart. If it wasn't fair, who was on the losing team?

Their opponents seemed confident. Well, Riku and Aqua always looked confident. Ven bounced back and forth on the balls of his feet, twirling his Keyblade. Riku poised his above his head, like a scorpion ready to sting. Aqua held strong and steady.

Sora didn't even have his Keyblade out. He folded his hands behind his head, as if they weren't about to start a training exercise. He was always so confident that he would win, even though he had a big chance of losing. It almost made Kairi anxious. He might get reckless, which would make them lose. Then again, so what if they lost? This was just a chance to better themselves.

By the fountain of two dogs, Donald and Goofy stood as referees. Aqua had asked them to watch the match. First team with ten hits wins. Donald was in charge of keeping track of Team Blue (Aqua, Ven, and Riku) while Goofy was in charge of tracking Team Red (Sora and Kairi). Aqua believed they would need both sets of eyes since there were so many of them and the flurry of attacks would make it even harder to see what happens.

She also asked Merlin to cast a charm on the district to help keep people away. A repelling charm was just the thing to keep people from getting in harms way and possibly unwanted viewers. If the Organization were watching, they would be unable to keep their eyes on this district. Merlin agreed to help this one time. Aqua figured that the next time they trained they could take DiZ up on his offer of using his virtual training experience.

"Don't hold back." The look Aqua gave Sora told Kairi she meant it. She wanted him to use every bit of his power against the three of them short of gravely injuring them.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he replied with a cheeky grin.

As they readied themselves, Kairi lowered her voice. "Sora, you need to work on defense and I need to work on offense. Let's go with that, plan, okay?"

"Got your back." He gave her a thumbs-up. What was Kairi even thinking? Her against these three? God help her.

Goofy counted down. Donald blew the whistle. Kairi leapt forward as Sora jumped into the air, Keyblades surrounding them. Kairi clashed blades with Aqua, who pushed back against her. Kairi pushed, trying to give herself more room when she caught Ven out of the corner of her eye, rushing towards her. She twisted her Keyblade, moving under it and Aqua's to slip away. She blasted a fire attack at Ven who blocked it.

Kairi noticed Riku going for Sora. Sora rushed a handful of Keyblades at him. Riku jumped, running across them to leap at Sora, brandishing his weapon expertly. In Sora's hand appeared his signature blade, Kingdom Key, and he blocked.

Kairi focused back on Aqua who swiped upwards at her. Kairi flipped back. A Keyblade flew past them and Kairi heard the clash of metal on metal. She twisted away from Aqua as she glanced to see what had happened. Ven must have tried to get the drop on her while Sora blocked. Aqua turned to the blonde, nodding towards Sora. The blonde smirked, rushing off to join Riku.

Kairi turned back to the Keyblade Master. It was intimidating fighting her. Their blades clashed, Kairi tried for a better offense as she swung and cast spells. Aqua expertly dodged them, cartwheeling away from spells and blocking Kairi's blade as it swung towards her. Kairi didn't believe she stood a chance against Aqua. Then again, she hadn't actually seen the Keyblade Master in battle. It was clear she had been in many. The scars on her arms and one on her shoulder spoke of many tales.

Sora had told Kairi she shouldn't be afraid of Aqua. She was a Master, but still considered herself a student in many ways. She felt there was much more to learn about their trade and the Keyblade. She hadn't even technically finished her training with her own Master. She had explained how Eraqus told them being deemed Master was actually the first step to mastering their weapons. There were still many secrets to unfold and lessons to learn.

Sora had even disclosed to Kairi how Aqua didn't actually feel like a Master. Nothing changed when she was named one. She felt weird when everyone called her Master Aqua and held her in such high regard. She didn't feel like the savior they needed. Sora had asked Kairi to treat Aqua like a friend, so… she did. She dropped the formalities and it seemed to relax the girl. Kairi began to feel on equal grounds with her.

But Kairi never seen her in action. She didn't know what Aqua could do. It was clear the girl was going easy on her. She hadn't thrown one serious attack. Kairi grit her teeth, rushing at Aqua, allowing light to flow into her blade. She swung at the Master who only danced out of the way. Kairi flipped over her, trying to catch her off guard. Aqua was quick. She blocked Kairi's attack and swung, knocking Kairi back. Aqua lunged, swinging into Kairi's ribs. The attack knocked the breath out of her. She heard Donald give the Team Blue a point.

It didn't hurt too badly, but Kairi knew she'd be sore by the time they finished. She wanted to see how Sora was fairing against Riku and Ven. Something told her he might have his hands full when Donald called another point to the Blue team. Kairi rushed at Aqua, shrouding herself in light as she swung. Aqua blocked with Reflect, sending Kairi reeling backward. Kairi went back at the Keyblade Master, trying her hardest to at least land one hit.

Aqua was blocking. Her smile told Kairi she wanted to encourage the younger girl. She wanted to tell Kairi what she could do and how to do it. But she wanted them to learn on their own. That was the point of all this. They needed to gain experience and unlock new abilities.

Kairi decided Aqua was too big of a target for her. Sora might have better luck against her. Or worse. Kairi snorted, flipping away from Aqua and leaping up to attack Ven. The blonde was in the air, throwing aerial attacks at Sora. He blocked as he sent Keyblades after Riku, who leapt on them, jumping from one to another to reach Sora.

Kairi knocked the distracted Ven out of the air. Their first point was awarded to her. She glanced at Aqua to see if she had followed her. Aqua found Sora to be a more interesting target, it seamed, when fire shrouded him, blasting out towards his enemies.

Ven got to his feet, grinning at Kairi. His grin was just as infectious as Sora's. She couldn't help but smile back as she slammed her Keyblade downward at him. He blocked, crossing his arms to support the blades. She didn't expect Ven to be an easy target. She knew Ven was strong and confident, but they were on equal grounds which made things much more interesting.

He landed one hit on her, she landed two on him. She heard Goofy call the score: Six-four to Blue. This was a team building exercise, she remembered. Her and Sora needed to work together. She knocked Ven back to turn back to the brunette. He had been grounded, working against the two relentless attackers. He had been getting better at defending, but she was sure it wasn't enough. Kairi ran at Riku who tried to rush Sora and knocked him out of his run. They were granted another point. She felt a presence behind her and turned just in time to see three Keyblades shoot at Ven. Kairi looked to Sora who smirked at her. He seemed to have gotten what she was aiming to do.

Together, they fended off the three attackers. Kairi, going for the enemies he couldn't focus on. She was trying to get them points. But Aqua and Riku were strong and out for blood. It wasn't long until the game was called and Team Blue won. Sora and Kairi lost by three points.

But it didn't matter. As Aqua gave notes, Kairi listened, glad for the help. When Aqua had told her what she could have done instead of what she had done, it seemed so obvious. She took the loss much more gracefully than Sora, who argued with Ven about who got more points. Kairi hadn't been able to keep track of how many hits she landed and Sora, with his many Keyblades, couldn't be sure either. How was he able to control where all of them went?

Donald and Goofy were gone by that time, so they couldn't ask them who landed how many hits to settle it. Kairi felt like Aqua and Riku probably landed the most points out of all of them.

The rest of the day and the next were spent with more one-on-one training. Sora wasn't allowed to bring out his Keyblades again save for two. Ven and Kairi trained together when Aqua wasn't focusing on Kairi. Sora would watch them and give his own input. Ven still declined training with Aqua. Kairi could see she was hurt by it, even if she knew it wasn't personal. Kairi tried to convince the blonde to let Aqua help him, but he was stubborn on this one and she had no idea why.

The day after that, they went to Twilight Town. Ven was excited to finally get off world. Riku insisted they took the Gummy Ship, telling them it was faster than the Gliders and he wasn't wrong. He ended up regretting it. He was stuck in a ship with Sora and Ven who were both quite loud. Kairi knew Riku wasn't about that, so she brought them down to the engine room.

"So, do you think this DiZ is going to have this… uh… thing finished?" Ven asked.

"He said he would by the next time I came to see him," Sora replied, kicking his legs against the metal container he sat on. "DiZ knows what he's doing, so, yeah. It should be done."

Ven turned to Kairi. "How can we stay in Traverse Town? You said the Heartless are attracted to the Keyblade, so… with all of us there, do you think the Heartless will find us?"

Kairi hadn't thought about that. She tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Not sure… Riku and I haven't really tested it. We don't really want to bring Heartless to a world that doesn't have them."

"True…" Ven chewed his lip.

In Traverse Town, Ven asked if they could explore before going to see DiZ.

"It'll be real quick!" be begged. "I promise! I'm just so tired of being stuck in Traverse Town!"

Aqua could not say no to him. Riku had no problem. He tried to get them to stay on task. It was very hard with two boys who wanted nothing more than to explore. Sora even felt as if they hadn't seen everything ("Look! There's tunnels! Let's check them out!" to which Riku said, "They're literally just tunnels. There's nothing exciting about tunnels." And he was quickly proven wrong when they were taken to a completely different part of town that Sora and Kairi hadn't seen yet.)

They admired the sunset on Sunset Hill, took a train back to town, and Sora showed them the lot that the Struggle Match took place in. Riku was thoroughly unimpressed. It was hard to be impressed by such normalcy as Twilight Town after you've been to so many worlds. Kairi had to admit the best part about this town was the sunset. The sun was always setting, coloring the sky with purples and reds and oranges. It was so soothing and beautiful.

Aqua suggested it was time to pay DiZ a visit. She was anxious to meet up with him again. She hadn't seen him in a long time and was glad to finally get a chance to catch up. Kairi and Sora led them to the mansion and past DiZ's trick entrance.

"How did you guys even figure this out?" Riku asked when he saw the puzzle.

Kairi and Sora grinned at each other before looking to the silver haired boy. "We just make a good team," Kairi said with a shrug. There was no way she could tell him it was chance and a lucky guess. He acted mysterious all the time. She tried to give him a dose of his own medicine whenever she saw the chance.

It seemed they had been expected. As soon as they descended the stairs to the lab, the ceiling shimmer back into existence, sealing them in the lab. Kairi wondered if DiZ installed security cameras or maybe just had a way to automatically seal the lab once it was opened. Sora bound ahead of them, calling for DiZ, carrying his bag of treats. He had asked Kairi to help him gather his favorite sweets to give to DiZ. It wasn't surprising Sora had a sweet tooth. Especially after not having eaten for more than ten years. Aqua had to reel him back and warn him against having too many. Of course he didn't listen and had fallen ill with a stomachache.

In the computer room, Sora was already talking up a storm to the man that sat in the chair. The man smiled patiently, thanking Sora for the bag of treats. He promised next time, he'd have his favorite ice cream ready for Sora to try. He looked up when the rest of the group joined, raising his brows. Aqua smiled as she walked up to him. He rose to embrace her.

"It's good to see you again, DiZ."

"As it is you, Master Aqua." DiZ looked around, chuckling. "I see you've already taken on some charges already."

"That's actually why we're here," Aqua admitted, scratching her cheek. "Sora mentioned he could practice without being detected because of some program you made? Do you think we can train with it?"

"Absolutely," DiZ agreed, motioning to the tube-like device by the computer. "I've finally perfected it."

"And what is 'it' exactly?" Riku asked. Kairi elbowed him in the gut. He was so rude. He hadn't even been introduced yet and he wasn't exactly making a good first impression.

"Ah," DiZ looked over to them, still smiling through his bandages. To Sora, he asked. "Is this Riku?" Sora nodded fervently in reply. DiZ turned back to them. "A very fascinating program I've created. A digital world. Well, almost. It's not much at the moment, but it's possible to recreate entire worlds in one little program. You can transport into it and the one way to be seen is through these monitors." He pat his computer. "I created it as a place for myself to hide if the Organization found me. I plan to first create a virtual Twilight Town where I can set up a base like this one. The computer there will be linked to this one. I could continue to work there while hiding from view in this world."

"What exactly are you up to that they'd be after you?" Riku huffed. "They barely consider us a threat and we have give Keyblade wielders."

"Hm, yes." DiZ rubbed his chin. "And they're looking for one of their own." DiZ ticked off a finger. "They've put problematic Organization members up in what they call Castle Oblivion, the world we know as the remains of the Land of Departure. Three of which worked for me." He ticked another finger. He raised another finger before hesitantly curling it back. "And… no, I am not certain on that one. I need to look further into that."

Riku blinked once. Twice. "How did you find that out?"

"I have my ways."

Aqua frowned. Kairi thought maybe Aqua had some ideas of how DiZ pulled all this off. DiZ turned to the blonde, introducing himself. He had already assumed he was Ventus, considering what Sora and told the man about him. Sora and Ven were identical in every way, including their smiles. Especially their smiles.

He turned back to the group. "Who would like to go first?"

Sora and Ven both raised their hands eagerly. "Oh, me!" they exclaimed in the same tone at the same time. Kairi smirked as Riku flinched. She had gotten used to the boys and their strange similarities. Riku had not. She found it hilarious. He would cringe and shiver, as if a ghost had passed through him (Kairi would know what it was like for him, Halloween Town had shown her that expression).

DiZ chuckled, allowing Ven to go first. He ruffled Sora's head as Ven stood in the cylinder, grinning at Aqua and Sora. He waved when lights circled about him and he was gone with a shk! Kairi felt uncertain about all this. What if the program glitched? What if they got stuck in this virtual world? What was even there now?

Sora went next without hesitating. She supposed if she was going to be stuck in a computer for the rest of her life, this group of people would be the first people she'd pick to be trapped with.

Kairi volunteered to be next. She stood in the cylinder, smiled at Riku as the machine whirred to life. She raised two fingers in a victory symbol as light engulfed her. When it faded, her dots burned into her vision. She blinked them away as she surveyed her surroundings. Sora and Ven were exploring the rather plain area.

They stood in a very cavernous white room. It was decorated with white monoliths in rectangular shapes topped with three points, like a crown. Sora jumped to the top of the largest one, turning around to view the whole space. Kairi waved up to him when he stopped on her. He waved back, cupping his hands around his mouth to carry his voice, "This place is perfect!"

She agreed. It was just right. It had more space than the lot in the Third District and collateral damage wouldn't be a problem. Sora flew down to her, landing deftly on his feet. He danced around her, his smile stretching wide. "We're gonna clean up this time."

"Oh yeah," Kairi raised her hand for a high five. "Those guys are going to be blindsided by our awesomeness."

That was when Riku entered the space. He barely looked around as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Kairi knew this look. He tried to come across unimpressed and aloof, but she could see right through him. She smirked as he shook out his bangs, sighing. "Aqua said we can start without her if we want. She wants to talk to DiZ about something."

Ven groaned. "That's not fair! We need her!"

Kairi noticed Sora frown. She raised her eyebrow at him questioningly. He rolled his eyes. "They haven't seen each other in ages and they're probably just going to fight again." Sora shook his head. "They always fight. He's kind of leaning on the darkness and she wants him to be more careful."

To Kairi, the relationship sounded a bit like a father-daughter kind of situation. Aqua wanted him to better himself, for his sake and theirs. He was stubborn and felt he knew better. Kairi sort of understood how she felt, except with her, it wasn't a father figure, it was a brother. Riku and her fought a lot about his reliance on the darkness.

So, they started. They went on for a while, none of them noticing a scoreboard appearing on the large monolith. When Kairi landed the first hit on Riku, there was a chime like a bell, shocking them all out their concentrated spar. Gold numbers appeared under embossed letters spelling out "RED." They looked at each other, laughed off the shock, and went back to work.

The score was five to two Red when Aqua appeared. She summoned her blade with a smirk. "Looks like you boys need me."

"Finally," Ven laughed. "We're getting our butts kicked!"

With Aqua back on team Blue, Kairi and Sora didn't stand a chance. They lost that round. And the round after that. Every other day on Traverse Town, they'd take off for Twilight Town. Every Traverse Town day was three Twilight Town days. It became easy to follow their time, compared to most worlds. It was probably the world with the closest time frame to Traverse Towns, to be honest. And it helped them not stay there long enough for the Heartless to catch on.

After a week and a half of training, Sora and Kairi finally won. They took victory for the next several training exercises. That was when Sora told her she should join team Blue. He wanted to improve and the only way to make sure he was doing so was if he were to be on his own. She only grudgingly agreed. She liked working with him. It came so naturally to her. They worked in such perfect sync that it became weird to work on her own—much like it was when her and Riku split up to defend the worlds.

The first attempt was rough. Sora lost pretty badly (10-2). He picked himself up and kept at it, improving each time. He'd gain more and more points. There was a particularly difficult exercise that proved maybe Sora just couldn't take on that many enemies all at once on his own.

Erg. This chapter didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. It's pretty much a segue into the next one which will be much more interesting. Sorry for this chapter. So, so, sorry.