Part I. Vexen and Cyan Ranger
When we opened the door to the "Tenth Floor - Exit Hall", a dark portal appeared, revealing an 'old guy' with sand-color hair and (presumably) Cyan Ranger.
"Who are you?", Sora demanded.
Cyan Ranger said, "You can call me Cyan Ranger and my partner here is named Vexen Rednalloh. We have come to collect your debts." He and
Vexen then pointed to me and Sora.
"Debts?", Goofy said. He then whispered to us "Psst, do you owe somethin' to these guys?"
"Come on, of course not.", Sora said outright.
"If he's behind the reason I arrived at Destiny Islands in the first place, I guess I do.", I told Goofy.
"You do owe me, Sora. And another thing-", Vexen told Sora.
"I am not the one who brought you here.", Cyan Ranger said to me. "Instead, you owe us for reuniting you with your former friends."
"You don't mean-", I began to say.
"Indeed, we do.", Vexen finished. "We're the ones who brought Riku and Windelle to you."
"Then…you're the one…", Sora said. "You're the ones who've been controlling them. What have you done?"
"We see no need to give you information about where Riku and Windelle are. After all-", Vexen said as he called out a blue spiked tower shield.
As Cyan Ranger summoned a blue 'Spartan Aegis', he said, "Why trouble you in your final hour?" The 'battle matrix' then initiated.
Sora began by charging at Vexen and did his 1-2-3 combo, but Vexen merely blocked it with his tower shield, then he slashed at Sora with it. While I watched, I suddenly saw Cyan Ranger charging at me. Just before he could tackle me with his shield, I raised my own and blocked the attack. As we shoved, Vexen encased Sora in an iceberg and then charged at me with his shield. Seeing my position as dire, I slid downwards between the two of them, then did Solar Saber on Sora, freeing him from his icy prison. As I followed up with Curaga, Sora leapfrogged over me and cast Mega Flare on our foes. Even as they blocked the attack, they still got injured by the following explosion. Before I could follow up with another Mega Flare, pillars of ice spiked from the ground and followed us as we fled from the onslaught. As we ran in circles, the path eventually stopped and as we turned around, Vexen and Cyan Ranger were about to cast Blizzard. I immediately did a Card Break with my Mega Flare, then Sora proceeded with a Firaga Break, finishing them off, for now anyway. After getting the goodies, the Mega-Ether Card, and the Petrify card the 'battle matrix' dissipated and our foes reappeared saying, "As we expected, you weren't the type to die very easily".
As they dismissed their shields, Sora replied, "As if I'd ever lose to you!"
"I wouldn't be so sure.", Cyan Ranger said.
"Did you even notice?", Vexen said. "I was delving deep into your memory as we fought. And here… Look what I found."
As Vexen held up a world card, Cyan Ranger told us, "A card crafted from all the memories that are locked in the other side of your heart."
As Vexen tossed it to me and vanished with Cyan Ranger, Sora rushed to them, but they were already gone.
As I looked at the card, I muttered, "Memories…in the other side?" We learned the sleight Freeze after that. As we left for the eleventh floor after a light snack, I suddenly received another 'vision'.
In this one, there were Marluxia, Larxene, Axel, and their partners. Red Ranger was the first to speak.
"If Sora disappears, that would mess up the plans of the Organization and the Rangers."
"I trust you know what you need to do.", Marluxia said to Red Ranger and Axel.
"Haven't a clue, really.", Axel replied. "Maybe you could spell it out for us."
"Vexen and Cyan Ranger have clearly committed a treasonous act against the Organization.", Pink Ranger told him. "You must eliminate the traitors."
"No taking that back later." Then Axel and Red Ranger disappeared in a dark portal.
The vision ended and we were up at the eleventh floor.
There, I pulled out the card and Jiminy (who popped up from my bag) said, "A card made outta memories from 'the other side of the heart'? Hmm, I wonder what it does."
"We'll find that out soon enough.", I told him. "It's the only card we have right now. No other choice but to proceed with it." We then approached the door, used the card, and proceeded.
Part II. Twilight Town
Prior to entering 'Twilight Town', it was themed with brown and an eternal sunset as I discovered later.
"Gawrsh… Where are we, Sora?", Goofy asked.
After a few seconds of pondering, he answered, "I dunno… I've never been here."
"Me neither.", remarked Donald.
"Maybe this is your world.", Florina suggested to me.
"Definitely not.", I responded. "I DO know what my world looks like and this isn't it."
Jiminy appeared from Sora's shoulder and jumped down saying, "That can't be right! Up 'til now, the only places we've been are from Sora's memory."
"Maybe so, but I definitely don't remember this.", Sora answered.
"You might've forgotten this just like you have with Naminé.", Gregorio suggested.
"This is terrible.", Jiminy said worriedly. "Our memories are practically gone."
"Or to be exact; yours, Sora's, Donald's, and Goofy's", I told him.
"We'll be okay.", Sora said. "See, look at this…"
"Naminé's good luck charm.", I muttered as I rolled my eyes.
"There's a special memory that goes with this."
"Fire away."
"One night, when Naminé and I were little, there was this meteor shower. Naminé started crying. She said, 'What if a shooting star hits the islands?'"
He continued, "So I said, 'If a shooting star comes this way, I'll hit it right back into outer space!' I was swinging my toy sword around the whole time. Naminé just smiled and said 'Thanks.' and then she gave me this charm. Naminé said she had it ever since she was a baby."
"And she gave it to you? Aww…", Donald commented.
"Yeah. So I promised her… From now on, I'll bring you good luck. I'll keep you safe."
"But then one day, Naminé left the islands…and I forgot about her all this time. I really let her down…"
"Waaaaait a second.", I told Sora. "About the 'promise' you made to Naminé."
"Yeah?"
"Didn't you make that promise to Kairi as well?"
"Who's she? And how did you know about that?"
"You told me about that promise before."
"When?"
"The day after we saw 2 men; one in a black cloak and the other in a pink battle suit."
flashback
As the seven of us walked, Sora suddenly fell back and noticing that I did so too. When he pulled out his charm, I asked, "Who gave you that charm?"
"Kairi. There's also a special memory that goes with this."
"Really? What is it?"
"One night, when Kairi and I were little, there was this meteor shower. Kairi started crying. She said, 'What if a shooting star hits the islands?'"
He continued, "So I said, 'If a shooting star comes this way, I'll hit it right back into outer space!' I was swinging my toy sword around the whole time. Kairi just smiled and said 'Thanks.' and then she gave me this charm. She made it from thalassa shells found on the shores of Destiny Islands."
Just then, Donald called out, "Hey, slowpokes! Hurry up!"
The two of us caught up before he and the others could run ahead.
end of flashback
"I can't remember."
"Then what DO you remember?"
"Never mind. Let's get going." And with that, we got the Key of Beginnings and entered the 'floor area' of Twilight Town. As we traversed, nothing much seemed to have changed in his way of fighting.
"Whew.", I thought. "At least his abilities have not changed for the worse."
In the Calm Bounty rooms we crossed, we found, along with more cards, the Tornado, Warpinator, Ars Arcanum(Sora), and Combo Shot(me) sleights. Soon enough, we found the Door of Beginnings, met its criteria, and crossed it. In the Room of Beginnings, we stood at the gate of a large mansion. When Sora began to rub his chin, deep in thought, Goofy came over, asking what was wrong.
"Something…feels really strange.", Sora answered. "I'm sure I don't know this place, but it's starting to feel like it's familiar to me…"
"You must have come here sometime before.", Donald suggested.
"No, and that's what's strange…"
"It could be like with Naminé. You forgot lots of other stuff and that's why you remember this place now.", Goofy said.
"No… It's different.", Sora insisted. "With Naminé, my memories…sort of came drifting back to me, a little piece at a time. But not now. It's not memories- just this idea that I must've been here before."
Suddenly, two familiar voices called out to us, "So, feeling nostalgic?" Then a dark portal appeared in front of the gate, revealing Vexen and Cyan Ranger.
"Sora…a question, then, for you…", Cyan Ranger told him.
"Your memories of Naminé or your feelings here, which of the two of these is more real, I wonder.", Vexen taunted.
"Naminé, of course!", Sora answered. "Whatever it is that I'm feeling, I bet it's just another one of you mean little tricks!"
Cyan Ranger sniggered, then said, "The memory's wiles can be cruel. In its silence we forget. In it's obsession, it binds our hearts."
"Cut the riddles!", Gregorio demanded.
"We told you.", Vexen said. "This place was created solely from another side of your memory. It is on the other side of you heart that the memory of this place exists. It is your heart that remembers."
"Wrong!", I shouted at them. "We've never been here before, especially Sora!"
"If you remain bound by the chain of memories and refuse to believe what is truly found inside your heart…"
"…then throw it away.", Cyan Ranger finished. "You aren't a Keyblade master; just a slave to twisted memories. Yes… Exactly like my Windelle and Vexen's Riku." The icy duo then summoned their shields.
"Your existence is worth nothing!", they said.
"Like YOUR Riku and Windelle? Worth nothing?", Sora said, then his rage built up silently.
"Uh-oh, you're in for a tough beating.", Florina warned to our opponents.
Sora then flew into a rage and shouted, "That's enough! YOU'RE the ones who changed Riku AND Windelle! Every word you've said is a lie! (Vexen smirked) I'd never throw away my heart!" Sora summons his Keyblade and the rest of us followed suit with our weapons.
He continued, "We're going to take you down and save Riku, Windelle, and Naminé! THAT'S what's in my heart!" He then charged at them and the 'battle matrix' began while he was at it, starting the battle right away.
Despite the sudden beginning, Vexen and Cyan Ranger had their shields ready and successfully blocked the attack. They shoved him away, then performed Iceburn, which created ponds of ice for us to slip on, but, of course we would not let that happen. Though Sora charged at them recklessly, I stood my ground, watched my step, and fired at the icy duo while they took care of Sora. However, this tactic was not to last because I launched a Fire Missile at them and they began to focus on me. Luckily the Iceburn was gone and I started to flee, but I was then Frozen by Cyan Ranger. Time stopped for me since, a moment later (which was actually half a minute), Sora broke me out of my stasis, and cast Curaga on me. He then cast Tornado on Vexen and Cyan Ranger but then, they performed Diamond Dust, casting a blizzard of ice in the whole field. While I 'tucked tail' (hid underneath my shield), Sora Dodge Rolled and both of us were saved from the attack, but they weren't finished yet. They then began to charge at us, but I was ready when I discovered a secret sleight called Lightning Bolt. Having little time to think, I performed it which stunned them and brought their shields to us, rendering them unavailable. Sora then finished them off with a Firaga Break, like before. After getting the goodies and their cards (Cyan Ranger had one too, and as I discovered later, it had the same effect as that of Vexen's), the 'battle matrix' dissipated.
As Sora and I stood there, a defeated Vexen and Cyan Ranger fell to the ground, exhausted. As the two of them gasped for breath, Vexen said, "You have such strength, even at the mercy of your memory."
"None of that matters! Just put Riku back!", Sora demanded.
"Don't forget Windelle.", I reminded him.
"Just put him back?", Cyan Ranger scoffed in response as he got up, supporting Vexen and himself by leaning on one another.
"The Riku you speak of…has but one fate. To sink into the darkness… and you will share that fate, Sora! And as for Windelle…, you can have him back… if he wants to return. If you continue to seek the girl, Naminé, the shackles will tighten,… you'll lose your heart… and end up becoming the pawn of Pink Ranger and Marluxia!"
"Marluxia? Pink Ranger?", Sora asked. "What does Naminé have to do with-"
Suddenly two flaming chakrams, but not identical, went flying towards them and they were struck down. When the flames died, Vexen was still there but instead of Cyan Ranger, there was a 'doppelganger' of Vexen wearing a cyan T-shirt with a crystal decal, jeans, and a white lab coat worn over the shirt.
"Axel! Red Ranger!", Sora called and when I turned around, there they were.
"Yo, guys!", Axel said. "Did we catch you at a bad time?"
As Vexen struggled to get up saying, "Axel, why…?", the Red Ranger answered, "We came to stop you guys from talking too much by eliminating you two."
"No… don't do it!", Cyan Ranger begged.
"You and I are just Nobodies who have no one to be, yet we still 'are'. But now you can be nothing instead of just being a Nobody, Vexen. You're off the hook."
Hearing that, Vexen backed up to the gate, pleading to Axel and Red Ranger, "No… Please don't! I don't want to-"
"Goodbye.", Axel said and with a snap of his fingers, Vexen was engulfed in flames, then he faded into darkness.
"What are you- What ARE you people?!", Sora demanded.
"Don't know.", Axel said. "I wonder about that myself." And he disappeared into a dark portal.
"Now for you, Cyan Ranger!", Red Ranger said.
Since I was desperate to find out more answers, I did what he wouldn't expect me to do; I pulled out my Delta Device, set to Containment Mode, and 'contained' Cyan Ranger (the Vexen doppelganger).
As the Containment Card flew to me, Red Ranger remarked, "Oh well. At least he won't trouble us anymore." He then disappeared as well.
As I held up the Containment Card, I asked to Cyan Ranger, "Can you tell me who is this Marluxia. I will make a request to lower your penalty once I hand you over if you do."
"All right. He is the partner of Pink Ranger. Pink Ranger-"
"I know what Pink Ranger looks like."
"Okay. You see, Pink Ranger and Marluxia have a plot against their own Ranger team and Organization respectively."
"And what is their plot?"
"However you may refuse to believe, I don't know much other than what I told you. Only Vexen knows it all, but as you saw earlier-"
"He was killed. Don't worry; I'll keep my word." And with that, I put him away into my bag, then Sora and I left the Room of Beginnings (without the Key of Guidance, I wonder why), but not before I picked up a trinket that looked like Vexen's shield. As we traveled further, We located the Room of Rewards and there (with the help of my Copier), we found the Warp sleight. After, we saw the exit and we crossed there. But before I was able to cross it, another 'vision' came to me.