-Here is a vital turning point in the story-
Part I. Weapons Lost
As we teleported down a suitable platform, we saw Sora and Co. as well beside us who said, "Nice to meet you guys again."
Just then, we heard a beast's roar and an Amazon cry (not that I know what one is, but it was definitely female). When we came over to the source, we saw Riku and Windelle (in his mask back from Monstro) just beat down 2 other fighters (we were too focused on our 'former friends' to inspect the fallen ones who were at either side of us).
Riku and Windelle said, "So, you finally made it. About time. I've been waiting for you. We've always been rival, haven't we? (Windelle did not say this sentence but instead kept silent and also for the next one) You've always pushed me, as I've always pushed you."
"Riku…", Sora said.
"But it all ends here. There can't be two Keyblade masters.(Only one of us can hold the 'Guns of Light'.)", Riku(Windelle) said.
"What are you talking about?"
"Let the Keyblade(DirLuxGun) choose… it's true master."
Just then, I heard a voice in my head saying,"Ooh. His heart looks stronger than this one. I better switch." then I found myself struggling to keep my gun and shield in hand as Sora was struggling with his Keyblade, but both to no avail.
As our companions gasped in surprise, our weapons disappeared from our hands and appeared in theirs (Riku had the Keyblade, and Windelle the DirLuxGun).
The two continued, "Maleficent and Master Xin were right. You don't have what it takes to save Kairi(Florina). It's up to us. Only we can open the secret door… and change the world."
We responded, "But that's impossible. How did this happen? We're the ones who fought our way here with those weapons."
"You were just the couriers. Sorry, your part's over now. Here, go play hero with this." as they tossed a Toy Sword to Sora and a Slingshot to me.
"Let's go.", Gregorio and Donald said to Goofy and Yoris. "We have to remember our mission."
The other two replied, "Oh! Well, I know the king(Solar Boy) told us to follow the key(One) and all… But…"
They soon reluctantly abandoned us as they apologized before doing so. Just then the fallen ones got up and were struggling ahead but they fell once more. When we came over, I realized they were the Beast(from Disney's Beauty and the Beast) and (I couldn't believe it; Flot and Jet weren't the only Neopets in the Kingdom Hearts universe) an anthropomorphic red Ixi (deer Neopet) whom I recognized as (these terms are for those who know a lot about Neopets) Ilsa Ellits (Female ), the defender of Meridell's Yooyuball Team (So that's what they meant about Team Meridell, I thought as I thought back at what Flot and Jet said back at Atlantica during the showdown with Ursula).
"Hey, don't move. You're hurt.", Sora told them as he went next to Beast and I to Ilsa.
"Why… Why did you… you come here?" the Beast asked Sora.
"I can't believe Agent Windelle fell to darkness and Agents Gregorio and Yoris defected to his side.", Ilsa said to me. "You ARE the one, right?"
As I answered her, "I am. Or was. I don't know anymore. I can't even believe I am here talking to you.", Beast got up without waiting for a reply and trudged on, saying, "I came to fight for Belle. And though I am on my own, I will fight. I won't leave without her. That's why I'm here."
Sora then got his Toy Sword and I my Slingshot as Ilsa got up too and trudged on.
"Me too.", Sora said. "I'm not gonna give up now. I came here to find someone very important to me."
"And I as well.", I said. "I did not come here all the way to Hollow Bastion just to give up."
Just then, I remembered the Tracker and I got it out of my bag (Gregorio did not take it with him) and detected a familiar signal back at Wonderland; Alice. I then stowed my Slingshot and took out the Toy Sword I found back at Destiny Islands during it's last day. We all then continued inside Hollow Bastion together, although we split up 'to find our friends faster'. While Sora and Beast turned for one direction, Ilsa and I went for the other.
"Uh, Ilsa, were you also sent by the Solar Boy? I heard from 2 individuals named Flot and Jet that four Agents were specifically sent to anticipate me. Are you one of them?", I said.
"No. Agent Florina is the fourth. I was sent here at a later time to find the Solar Boy."
"Florina's an Agent? And how did you know about her?"
"I spent time with her as well as the other three I had mentioned. They were sent at Destiny Islands as humans to anticipate your arrival." (They were actually anthropomorphic Neopets, like Ilsa, but not necessarily Ixis like herself)
"Odd. They did not introduce themselves to me as such."
"Their teleportation vessel, which was not a Gummi Ship, had a problem and their memories were somehow modified."
"How do you know about that, Ilsa?"
"I was the one who monitored their transportation, that's how I know."
"Oh, I see. By the way, I saw you with Beast. Why was it that you were with him when Sora and I came over?"
"Sora?"
"The Keyblade master. Or he once was now Riku has the Keyblade."
"Oh, him. When I came in next, there was an error in the teleportation and I landed at Beast's Castle. I spent a few days there with him and Belle. At the last day, Heartless came and invaded the Castle. Even as the two of us fought, Belle was captured by them and as his world was about to be destroyed. Beast managed to follow her here by sheer will and I was holding his arm all the while. By the way, at his world's last moment, I thought I saw a 3-pronged candle holder become crystallized." She then said no more as we continued on.
As I busted barrels with the Toy Sword, I found pieces to shoot with using my slingshot, though I still was pretty helpless against the Heartless in the area; Ilsa had to deal with all of them as I served to be merely a decoy. As we continued, I eventually detected Windelle and the others and as I ran, Ilsa followed.
Part II. Recovery
Eventually, we reached a wide room and no one was around, though I saw a lot of hiding places.
"Be on your guard.", Ilsa said. "They're close, I can feel it. Are you ready for them?"
Just then, Windelle, Gregorio, and Yoris appeared.
Windelle then said, "Quit while you can."
I replied, "No. Not 'til I see Florina."
"The darkness will destroy you." as he switched to Dark Form, where his clothes reversed color.
"Don't scare him like that. They'll have to go through me first.", Ilsa said.
"I got nowhere else to go. So be it!", I called out.
"All right then!", Windelle said as he drew out both guns and fired. Just as Ilsa was about to take the shot for me, I saw a fireball make arc around the room and intercepted the shots.
Yoris then leaped over to our side saying, "Rael ain't leaving this universe until we finish our quest!"
"You'd betray the Solar Boy?", Windelle asked.
"Not on your life! But I ain't betraying either him or her!" as he faced me and Ilsa. "The reason is because he has become my bud after all we've been through."
As he turned towards Gregorio, he said, "See you later. Could you tell the Solar Boy I'm really sorry?"
"Hold on there! We'll tell him together." as he ran over towards me, Yoris, and Ilsa. "I guess you're stuck with us."
"Thank you, guys.", I said to them.
"How will you fight without a weapon?", Windelle taunted insultingly.
"I don't need it.", I said as I brought out my Slingshot (and stowed the Toy Sword). "I got my companions."
Windelle chuckled at that part. "What good will your friends do against the almighty power of the DirLuxGun and my GunDeLuna?"
"I trust my companions to the fullest and made friends with them. I know with our teamwork, we can't possibly lose, even to those guns. Even if we are set apart, as long as we think of one another, our bonds will not break."
Just then, I heard a voice saying, "What? This guy's using dark powers?! I better scoot off to that guy. Better a weak heart of light than a strong heart of darkness." and the DirLuxGun disappeared from Windelle's hand.
As I dropped my Slingshot in surprise, the riot shield and the DirLuxGun appeared in my hands. Windelle was enraged and we engaged him in battle. (It's a 3-fighter limit when I'm not with Sora so Gregorio was switched out)
Windelle was incredibly fast as he zoomed around the area and while Ilsa and I were back-to-back, Yoris was in between us blasting homing fireballs. During the battle, I realized that Ilsa was not merely a melee combatant; she also was able to cast a Reflect spell, nullifying any damage for that instant, and Cure (as well as it's -ra and -ga levels) was the only other spell she knew. After 10 minutes, he was defeated, Dark Form lost and ran away as he left behind Materia of -ra levels of Stop, Gravity, and Aero. After I retrieved my slingshot, the four of us explored the castle. Soon, we ran to Donald, Goofy, Beast, and Sora who had his Keyblade back and was holding his Toy Sword on his other hand.
As he gave the Toy Sword to me, I said, "Impressive. You managed to retrieve your Keyblade."
"And you?", he said to me.
"Me too."
"Good. Let's get going."
As we continued exploring Hollow Bastion, Maleficent and another Wutai Associate, whom I assumed to be Xin appeared who said that we were too late. "Any moment now, the final Keyhole will be unsealed. This world will be plunged into darkness. It is unstoppable."
"We'll stop it!" Sora said. "After coming this far, there's no way we're gonna let that happen!"
"You poor, simple fools. You think you can defeat us, Xin, leader of the Wutai Association and Maleficent, the mistress of all evil?"
As we began to engage the two of them, Maleficent manipulated a large rock and she flew to it while Xin charged up his Weapon with darkness as Heartless appeared all over the place. (Beast was not part of this fight due to the 6-fighter limit and I still had Ilsa in and Gregorio out) As Sora's Co. took care of Maleficent, we dealt with Xin. Even as he swung around his weapon which gave status effects, I kept casting Esuna and also did a few status ailments too on him. We also dodged and defended against Maleficent's meteors and Thunder while Xin came over to her. A few minutes later, we ended the battle with my Combo Shots and Sora's Ars Arcanum as they retreated into a dark portal. It did not disappear, so we had the guts to cross it.
Part III. Finally Revealed
Once we got through, we saw Riku (in Dark form, according to Sora) holding a Dark 'Keyblade' and Windelle holding a black variant of my gun as well as his GunDeLuna.
"Is that…", Donald said, referring to Riku's 'Keyblade', which I doubted was real since Sora's had a keychain at the handle's back.
"Yes. A Keyblade('Gun of Light, or should I say, a Gun of Darkness').", Riku and Windelle said. "But unlike yours(Unlike your DirLuxGun), this Keyblade('Gun of Darkness') holds the power to unlock people's hearts(has the ability to make anyone more powerful than ever). Allow me to demonstrate. Behold!" as Riku stabbed Maleficent and Windelle shot Xin.
"Now, open your heart, surrender it to the darkness! Become darkness itself!"
Maleficent then transformed into a huge black dragon spewing out green flames and Xin became a Vajradhara, a giant 'Anti-SOLDIER' unit back at its world (from FF7: Crisis Core), and it wielded a two-sided spear (rather than a tomahawk, or a ball-chain, or a mace). They started by slamming the ground repeatedly, which I responded to by casting Float (which lasted longer here) on the whole party. Then Sora casted Aero and summoned Tinker Bell. I casted Barrier, MBarrier, and summoned Requiem (who constantly heals me and even revives me once when I get KO'd). (Our companions were attacking the other parts of their body and taking care of themselves) When I realized that their weak points were at their heads, I cast Haste on the whole party and the world became slo-mo as Sora did combos on Maleficent's head and while I shot away at Vajradhara Xin. Just then we were back in normal time and while Sora managed to dodge Maleficent's claw attack, Vajradhara Xin's staff fell upon me as I blocked the blow which Stopped me. Luckily, Yoris and Ilsa had the liberty to get me out of there and once I was out of Stop, I cast Slow on Vajradhara Xin and Dragon Maleficent. Once they were back in normal time and after we dealt a flurry of blows, Maleficent started spraying fire all over the place while Vajradhara Xin started swinging around his staff crazily.
Still, we pushed on and once they faded into darkness and after a Red Materia with a candle holder symbol (Ilsa mentioned something like this to me before; Lumiere: turns his arms around and shooting flames forward while on my head.),
Riku and Windelle commented, "How ironic. They were merely just yet 2 more puppets after all."
"What?!", Ilsa cried out.
"The Heartless were using Maleficent and Xin from the beginning. They failed to notice the Darkness in their hearts eating away at them. A fitting end for such fools."
They then disappeared into a dark portal. Beast then left us for he said he'd look for Belle and we said farewell to him. We then went up to a high rise where the final Keyhole was. As we got up to the platform, we then heard a thunk and when I looked back, Goody fainted and Yoris was 'stuck' on the wall. Just then, Sora shouted out Kairi and when I looked too, I saw Florina (head still in a sack) and we ran for them.
When Sora picked up Kairi and tried to wake her up, Riku and Windelle's voices (though their voices seemed to be fused with 2 more) said it was no use since Kairi lost her heart and that Florina (yes, Windelle said her name and Sora repeated the name) was drugged with a Sleeping Draught.
As Windelle took off his SOLDIER Mask (revealing jet black hair instead of white like Riku), Sora called out "Windelle?", and when he shot out my mask (I had to wear my glasses since the mask I wore also provided a clearer vision) and those of my companions (they put on their beanies immediately after by the way), he called out Gregorio and Yoris' names but he did not say mine (for he did not know it), but instead said "Didn't I see you before? I never got your name."
"Yeah. Name's Rael by the way.", I said. "Those guys don't seem to be really them. Notice the voices?"
Just then, Riku and Windelle said, "The Keyhole cannot be completed so long as the princess of heart still sleeps."
"The princess…? Kairi's (Florina's) a princess?"
"Not Florina. Kairi is. Without her power, the Keyhole will remain incomplete. it is time she awakened."
"Whoever you are, let Riku and Windelle go! Give them back their hearts."
"But first, you must give the princess back her heart."
Just then, something flashed at Sora's chest and he was down on his knees as if he was struck down. As Gregorio, Donald, Ilsa and I all wondered what was happening to him and called out his name in concern, the two of then said, "Don't you see yet? The princess's heart is responding. It has been there all along. Kairi's heart rests within you."
"Kairi… Kairi's inside me?", Sora asked.
"How is this possible?", I asked.
"I know all there is to know.", the two of them said.
"Tell us. Who are you?," we said.
"It is I, Ansem (Stickee), the seeker of darkness(the evil stick figure)."
Ilsa, Donald, and Gregorio then came charging at the two but they were thrown out easily, leaving Sora and me to deal with Riku and Windelle.
"So, I shall release you now, Princess.", Riku said as he pointed his Keyblade at Sora.
When I aimed at Riku, Windelle aimed at me.
"Complete the Keyhole with your power. Open the door, lead me to everlasting darkness!"
As Riku was about to land his Keyblade at Sora, he suddenly deflected it and just when Windelle was about to shoot him, I shot him away.
"Forget it!", I said. "No way are you killing Sora just like that!"
Riku then started with a flurry of slashes which Sora was able to block with ease. Windelle then started shooting away at me and I blocked it all the way, wary for any teleporting he may do behind me. Just then, Riku and Windelle switched their targets and though I was able to block Riku's blows with a bit of difficulty, Sora had a lot of it while he was deflecting Windelle's shots. They then disappeared, but when we thought it was over, cannonballs and Riku (yes, Riku) came flying towards us and as Sora constantly tried hard to dodge it, I was doing the same for blocking. Just as Riku and Windelle appeared and landed their weapons on the ground, I grabbed Sora, thrust down my shield, got him and me on, and when pillars of energy appeared, we were safe from it. After that, Riku then rushed towards us from the front and we both dodged it with a back flip. As Windelle appeared next to Riku, I called my shield to come to me (since I left it on the ground while dodging Riku) and it struck the duo from behind as it returned to me. Sora then followed through with an Ars Arcanum and they disappeared (and Riku left his Dark Keyblade behind) and a yellow Materia with a symbol of the Solar Boy (Taiyou) appeared as well as seven green Materia which are the -ga levels of my spells.
Part IV. Sora, The Shadow
Just then, all of our companions came over to us and got our attention to the final Keyhole. When Sora tried 'locking' it with his Keyblade, it was to no avail since it wasn't finished yet. Goofy then had an idea; wake up Kairi. Then Sora knew what to do.
As he walked to the Dark Keyblade, I suddenly knew what he was gonna do and I ran to it first saying, "Stop right there, Sora!" as I picked it up and pointed it to him.
But then, he did something I did not expect him to do; he thrust himself to the Keyblade as I held it. As that happened, it disappeared and turned into six orbs of light as they flew to (I suddenly realized) the other six princesses of heart. Then, an orbs came out of Sora and it landed on Kairi. Coincidentally, Florina woke up too and was attempting to remove the sack on her head, which I did for her since I was no longer holding the Dark Keyblade. Just then, the final Keyhole opened and as I saw Sora about to fall to the floor, everyone else, including the newly awakened Kairi, rushed to him. Kairi reached him first, but he disappeared into starry twinklings as they rose in the air.
As we were speechless as that all happened, Kairi then first spoke, "Sora, are you really– No. He can't be! I won't let him go!"
Just then, a black stick figure with red eyes (not bloodshot but evilly red) and a dark evil-looking man appeared saying, "So you have awakened at last, Princess. The Keyhole is now complete. You have served your purpose. But now it's over."
As he approached, Donald, Goofy, Gregorio, Yoris, Ilsa, Florina (she still had that gun she had back at the Departure), and I prepared to battle as Kairi went behind us since she had no weapon.
"Don't make another move!", Donald valiantly called out.
Goofy then said to him, "Do you think we can stop them all by ourselves?"
Donald replied, "I don't know!" as Ansem with Stickee continued walking towards us.
Just then, They halted in their tracks as the 'spirits' of Riku and Windelle (neither in their Dark Forms) appeared saying, "No. You won't use us for this!"
"Riku! Windelle!", Kairi and Florina called out.
"You gotta run! The Heartless are coming." and we all did as they indeed appeared. As we fled, Goofy then got concerned about the Keyhole, but Donald did not care about it now and just focused on escaping. After 5 minutes of running (and a short snack with crackers and a few paopus which I treated to Kairi and Florina), we reached a 'safe haven'. A second later, a lone Shadow appeared, walking like a human instead of being crouched down like most others, and Donald walked over to it.
As he bonked it on the head, he said, "Confounded Heartless! Get lost, will ya?"
As it looked at Kairi, she called out Sora's name and if that was him. Just then, lots of other Shadows appeared. As the rest of us surrounded Kairi and the 'Truant Shadow', we also fended off the enemies that were coming upon us. Once the first wave stopped, I then pondered on the thought of Sora I then took out my Toy Sword and tossed it to the Shadow. When it then wielded it like Sora once did with his Keyblade, my suspicions were confirmed that this Shadow IS Sora.
Just then, another wave of Heartless appeared and we assumed our positions once more. Once that wave is over, Sora then pointed to my DirLuxGun, Florina's gun (which she calls the RefLuxGun, since it charges under all other lights, be it reflected or refracted, instead of direct light like mine) then to himself. Seeing what he is referring to, Florina then asked Kairi to stand aside, pointed her gun at Sora and then motioned me to do the same.
As we aimed, beams like spotlights appeared from our guns and as they fell upon him, he was transformed into his original form but as a white silhouette. When Kairi embraced him, he was completely returned to normal as he said "Thank you." to Kairi, Florina, and me.
Just then, more Shadows appeared and before we can proceed to fight, Beast appeared and told us to go now.
When Sora asked him to come with us, he replied, "I told you before, I'm not leaving without Belle. Now go! The Heartless are coming."
When Ilsa protested, he told her, "Don't worry about me. Go with them!"
As Beast took care of the Shadows, we evacuated to our respective Gummi Ships and zoomed for Traverse Town.