When Sora woke up, he had no idea how much time had passed. Only that he was now on some form of metallic ship flying above the world the Starshroom had crashed onto. He looked around for Luigi, Bowser, or Tippi, only to instead see Riku's bright silver hair. "Riku?"

"I didn't think you'd come, Sora," Riku said with distaste as Sora. He couldn't fight a slight gasp at the way he regarded him. "Good to see you again."

"Where are Bowser, Luigi, and Tippi?" Sora asked.

Riku looked slightly disappointed in Sora. "Are they that important to you? More important than old friends?" Sora looked at Riku in confusion. How could he even think that anyways? Sensing Sora's confusion, Riku smirked. "Instead of worrying about them, you should be asking…about her." He stepped to the side and Sora got a glimpse of a face he'd been dying to see since starting the long journey. Unlike how he'd hoped to see her, she was crumpled over, and sick looking, possibly dead. Still it was her.

"Kairi!"

"That's right," Riku said. "While you were off goofing around, I finally found her."

Sora tried to run to her, to reach for her when two red and yellow robots blocked his path. "Not on my watch." A bald round man with goggles and a beard laughed at Sora. Heartless and more robots began surrounding him.

"Riku, why are you siding with the Heartless?" Sora asked him. While Mimi had lied about being Peach, it appeared Riku's alliance switch was at least one thing she'd been honest about.

"The Heartless obey me now Sora." Riku's tone was ominous, worrying Sora more than anything else. "Now I have nothing to fear."

"You're stupid!" Sora shouted in a desperate attempt to gain his friend's attention, to snap him out of whatever dark power's control, to free his friend. "Sooner or later, they'll swallow your heart."

"Not a chance. My heart's too strong." Riku smirked as a look of sadness appeared on Sora's face. It was worse than he'd thought, way worse.

"Riku…"

"I've picked up a few other tricks as well. Like this, for instance." Riku waved his hand and a dark shadow version of Sora emerged from beneath him, its eyes glowed a fierce yellow. "You can so see your friends now." Sora was about to protest that Riku still was his friend when the ground underneath him fell, and so did he, deep into the carrier.

"Let's get under way, already. And keep Sora away from Kairi until we're ready to land." On that note Riku left the man to his business and went underneath the carrier's top level.

"Well, isn't he a bit bossy?" The man looked to two of his robots. "You keep watch of the prisoners and make sure that blasted hedgehog doesn't meet up with them."

-x-

"Was it really her?" Luigi asked.

"Yeah! Kairi's really here!" Sora said, his voice filled with excitement. "Just a little bit longer and we'll be united again. Then we can save Riku, find Mario, defeat Count Bleck, and head home."

"Then let's get out of this stupid cell already," Bowser said.

"You want out, huh?" A voice asked. A blue hedgehog stood by their prison's entrance. "I already took out the robots Eggman thought would keep you in if you're wondering."

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Sonic's the name, speed's my game," Sonic said.

"Yes, we know." Luigi sighed.

"Luigi, right? What are you doing in Mobius, the Olympics aren't for a few months. And is that Bowser?"

"We're searching for Mario and Sora's friends," Tippi said. "I'm Tippi."

"You mean this is Eggman's Egg Carrier? I'm going to kill him!" Bowser shouted.

"So what are you doing here?" Sora asked.

"I'm waiting on Tails. He's supposed to be getting me a layout of the place so I can find Amy," Sonic said. Not moments after he said it did a communicator turn on.

"Sonic?" A voice asked.

"Hey Tails! You find Amy yet?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, she's in a prison cell a few rooms down. There's a heat energy in the room you're in though. It looks like Eggman has more prisoners than I thought."

"Tails, is that you?" Luigi asked.

"Whoa, Luigi?" Tails asked. "Isn't it early to be in Mobius?"

"Yes, we're in Mobius, yes, Eggman captured us, can't you just tell us where that stupid pink hedgehog is?" Bowser asked.

"I guess you're here too Bowser? Anyways, I gotta go. Good luck Sonic." The communicator switched off.

"Care to help me save Amy?" Sonic asked and pushed a bright red button to open up the cage.

"Of course," Sora said.

"Just try to keep up!" Sonic rocketed off in the other direction.

-x-

"Riku, you should not be using the Heartless like that," Count Bleck said. Riku scoffed at the count's reminder. "Count Bleck does not know where you got that ability, but it doesn't matter. You will still be in danger so long as you use it."

"Relax count, I'm fine," Riku said and laughed it off. "It gave Sora a scare though."

"Which should not be your objective," Count Bleck said. "If Kairi were to wake up with you gone and the Keybearer abandoning her, how would she react to being alone? You dying would put her through pain."

"Why do you even care about how Kairi feels when she wakes up?" Riku asked.

Count Bleck looked away and hid his face under his hat, a habit Riku noticed he used when he was trying to avoid making eye contact in an attempt to hide something. "That doesn't concern you."

"So what about the hedgehog girl, is she one of the seven?" Riku asked in an attempt to change the subject onto something Riku could know.

"No. She unfortunately is not. Count Bleck will leave her fate up to Eggman, but as of now she is no longer our concern," Count Bleck said.

-x-

"She's just up ahead!" Sonic said. He ran up to another prison cell, where a pink hedgehog in a red dress stood by the bars. "Amy!"

"Sonic! I knew you'd come to save me!" Amy cheered and went to lunge up to Sonic. "Luigi? Bowser? Why are you two here?"

"Is everybody going to ask that?" Bowser asked with a growl.

"You're Amy?" Sora asked.

"Yup, I'm Amy Rose!" She pulled out a large yellow and red hammer. "Sonic's girlfriend!"

"A-Amy!" Sonic looked at the hedgehog in shock, giving off an impression that they weren't actually dating at all.

"Nice to meet you Amy, I'm Sora," Sora said and looked to Sonic. "How about we open the cell?"

"Just let me try to wake the other girl. She's been sleeping since I've been in here." Amy walked over to a slumped over figure in the corner.

"Wait, does she have red hair?" Sora asked.

"Yeah! Do you know her?" Amy asked.

"Kairi!" Sora watched as her hand moved a quarter of an inch, which caused a slight smile to appear on his face. Footsteps sounded.

"Quick! Hide!" Amy shouted. The four heroes plus Sonic jumped behind some crates just in time to hear Amy shriek. "Hey! Let me go!" A clang sounded of hammer against heavy metal, but the footsteps continued. "I'll have you know Sonic will save me." No response. When the footsteps died down, they all looked inside the prison cell, only to find it now empty.

"Kairi…" Sora said.

"Hey you found her once, right? She's probably still here," Sonic said. "We just have to get to Eggman now." Robots emerged from all around. "Looks like we've been discovered, huh? Care to show me what you can do?"

Sora nodded and summoned the Keyblade out before attacking one of the robots. The Keyblade easily left a dent in the metallic exterior of the robot's outside. He ducked as it fired a small yellow beam from its eyes before stabbing at the robot, knocking it back several more feet. After another hit, it was quickly defeated, leaving nothing but spare parts as it exploded. He turned around to watch Bowser's claws break through a flying robot right behind him.

"You're too slow!" Sonic's voice brought his attention to the blue hedgehog as he ducked under the claw of a large robot. He jumped into the air, turning into a ball before hitting the robot, and then another, and then another, continuing the chain until all the robots were defeated.

"Woah!" Sora stared at Sonic, who shrugged.

"You weren't bad, but you were nothing compared to me," he said. "Now we should chase after the robots who took Amy and Kairi. They started running through the metallic halls of the Egg Carrier, moving as fast as they could before arriving at a room that was locked.

"Anyone have a key?" Sonic asked. It looked like he was about to ram the door when Sora pulled out his Keyblade and unlocked the door by firing a giant beam of light.

"That work for you?" Sora asked. Sonic nodded and opened the door where Riku and Count Bleck stood.

"Bleh?" Count Bleck asked. He looked over the four of them with mild curiosity. "So we meet at last, Keybearer."

"You're Count Bleck, aren't you?" Sora asked. "Tell me, what have you done to Riku!"

"Riku? Bleh heh heh heh. Count Bleck has done nothing to your friend. Simply offered him a place when you abandoned him," Count Bleck said.

"That's a lie! In all the time that I've been traveling with Sora, he hasn't stopped looking for his friends!" Tippi shouted. "You're the one who's abandoned people."

"And what would you know about this? You're nothing but an insignificant Pixl." Riku went to charge at Tippi and Sora, but Count Bleck put his hand out.

"You're nothing but an insignificant girl, what makes you think Blumiere truly loves you?"

"This is none of your concern Riku," Count Bleck said. "I have not turned my back on what matters most. Nothing will stop me in my quest."

"Your quest for what? Whatever you were before this is long lost? How could you destroy so many worlds? What could possibly mean so much to you that you would destroy the worlds and hurt so many innocents?" She could understand her anger at Count Bleck, but not the feeling of bitter disappointment.

"The worlds have brought nothing but pain to me. Why should I care of their fates?" Count Bleck asked.

"Because they're somebody's home! Somebody who shouldn't be hurt! If you had any heart you would…you wouldn't have hurt them!" Tippi shouted.

"Anyone with a heart would not ignore an injured soul."

Count Bleck underwent a change so suddenly. His face was filled with surprise as he looked at Tippi, but it shortly morphed into pain and a longing for what he had lost. "Tim-Timpani!?"

"Huh?" Tippi asked in confusion. That was the name Damien had called her back in his destroyed home.

"Uhh, Tippi?" Sora asked her. They were all staring at her, Riku included, several of them with shock. Count Bleck's had the most impact, it was one of hope. Her heart hurt at the idea that she'd have to tell him no.

"Ah ha ha ha ha! It appears I have arrived at an inopportune moment." As though on cue, Dimentio appeared.

"Dimentio!" Count Bleck shouted, his façade returning almost instantly. "Count Bleck demands to know why you are here and not at Castle Bleck."

"You needed help, did you not?" He teleported both Count Bleck and Riku, holding Kairi's body, away. "And now, I shall take my leave. Ciao." He too vanished from their sights before another word could be said.

"Hey Tippi, are you alright?" Sora asked.

"I…I think so…" Tippi answered. She was honestly more shaken to the core than anything else, but there was no point in worrying the others.

"Look out!" Sonic pushed Sora out of the way as a shadow version of the Keybearer struck, narrowly missing both Sora and Sonic.

"Thanks," Sora said and summoned out his Keyblade.

"That's Anti-Sora, a Heartless created from Riku and modeled after Sora. It's incredibly strong with all the same strengths and weaknesses as Sora, but if you all work together, you should be able to take him out," Tippi said and with that, the battle began. Sora ran after Anti-Sora first striking at him with his Keyblade only for the attack to be intercepted by the Heartless. It clawed at him, injuring Sora, but the attack managed to distract the shadow for long enough so Bowser could slash at him with his claws. The Heartless fell into the shadows to appear behind Bowser. It attacked Bowser from behind, but was left vulnerable to a double attack from both Luigi and Sonic. Anti-Sora was quickly hit by a green fireball before being hit by Sonic's ball attack. Sora stabbed at the Heartless again, this time hitting it with his Keyblade.

The Heartless split into three Anti-Soras, each one identical to the others. Sora slashed at one, only for the attack to go right through the Heartless, leaving him open to another attack. "Cure!" Green petals emerged and refreshed Sora before he attacked the Heartless once more and fell through again. Bowser, Luigi, and Sonic didn't seem to be having much more success with finding the real one among all the copies.

"This is taking too long!" Sonic created a tornado in an attempt to block round up all the copies. Only one Anti-Sora ended up inside the tornado. With the realization that it was the real one, they ignored the other copies and began blindly attacking the one in the tornado. It wasn't long before the Heartless vanished into a puff of smoke.

"Let's keep moving. We can't be that far from where Eggman's hiding Amy." Sonic pushed open the door to end up outside where Sora had confronted Sora on the Egg Carrier when he'd woken up.

"We're back here?" Sora asked.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted from a cage. Sonic went to go help her when Eggman laughed.

"Sonic, good to see you my old foe."

"Show yourself Eggman!" Sonic shouted. A large robotic monster of some kind emerged from the shadows, it looked like some kind of dragon. Eggman stood at the mouth. "Is that really what you think will destroy me?"

"Of course." The dragon pressed its foot onto the platform where Sonic was standing, but by the time the foot touched the ground, Sonic was already standing on a crate and sticking out his tongue.

"He wasn't even running at full speed around us?" Sora asked.

"Nah, Sonic's super quick," Luigi said to answer Sora's question. "I'm not even sure I'd bother helping at this point." Luigi pointed to Sonic at he ran up the metallic dragon's tail and onto the back, which Eggman proceeded to use the tail in an attempt to hit the hedgehog. The tail went right through the metal back, causing sparks to appear as Sonic climbed onto the head where Eggman sat controlling it and stuck out his tongue again as a taunt before he smashed through the glass, which along with the sparking area on the back, caused the dragon to explode.

"Curse you Sonic!" Eggman flew away, leaving Sonic behind to save Amy.

"Oh thank you Sonic! I knew you'd save me!" She hugged him as he opened up the cage.

"Knock it off Amy," Sonic said and Sora laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," Sora said and smiled. "Now if we can just find the Keyhole, we can head off."

"Keyhole?" Amy asked. "Why do you need a Keyhole?"

"It doesn't matter," Tippi said.

"I'd say it's not too far from here." Sonic pointed at a floating island in the sky. "That's Angel Island. It's home to the Master Emerald. Anything that powerful probably has something to do with it."

"Thanks," Sora said. "How do I get there though?"

"Tails will fly you guys, right Tails?" Sonic asked as a blue airplane with a two tailed, orange fox manning it appeared.

"Right!" Tails said.

"Thanks." Sora nodded and the four got into the blue plane.

"No problem, I don't mind helping a friend of Sonic." Tails nodded and silence fell. Everyone had a lot on their mind, but none more than Sora and Tippi.

"Hey Sora…you don't really think…" Luigi trailed off, unsure of how to complete his phrase.

"I can't believe it. After all this time, I've finally found Kairi! I can't wait to tell her about all the awesome adventures we've all had." Sora smiled. "I wonder if she'll believe me about some of these worlds."

"If she doesn't, you can take her," Tippi said. "Then, she'll have no choice."

"Hey…Tippi, why did Count Bleck call you Timpani? I mean, Damien did too, but…" Sora looked at his Pixl friend.

"I don't know Sora…and that's what worries me the most…"

"We've arrived." Tails interrupted the conversation before it could get further. "Good luck on your journey."

"Thanks Tails, see you later," Luigi said. The fox pilot flew off. Moments after landing on the island, Sora's Keyblade activated as it sealed the Keyhole to the world and revealing another Power Star.

"Let's head to Cid and see if he can help give the Starshroom a power boost with this," Sora said.

"And then what?" Bowser asked.

"We head to Count Bleck's castle and save the world."

-x-

"Hey, Sora."

"Hm?"

"When we grow up, let's get off this island." Riku was smiling. "We'll go on real adventures, not this kid stuff!"

"Sure, but isn't there anything fun to do now?" Sora asked. He was kind of bored. "Hey, you know the new girl at the mayor's house? She arrived on the night of the meteor shower." Sora began to walk out of the cave, but Riku hesitated. When he looked at the door, there was now a large keyhole…

-x-

"Why did you teleport us out Dimentio, we would have been fine," Riku said.

Dimentio smirked. "You see Riku, I needed to get you alone, to tell you about the truth the count has been hiding. I couldn't do that with him around."

"The truth…what truth?" Riku asked.

"The truth of your true potential," Dimentio said. "I will tell you more about it after I take care of a small problem. Ciao." Dimentio teleported away.

-x-

"Count, um…are you okay?" Nastasia asked as Count Bleck reappeared.

"Nastasia…I've made a horrible mistake…" Count Bleck said.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Nastasia said.

"She's alive," Count Bleck said. "It had to be her."

"That's-that's great count. That means you can stop this plan altogether and get rid of the Heartless."

Count Bleck shook his head. "Nastasia, I promised Riku that I would get him access to Kingdom Hearts, and when she figures out that it was me who brought destruction and ruin to the world for Kingdom Hearts, she'll never forgive me."

"Then do what's right, you can't just continue along this path. Find another way to give Riku's friend her heart back. There must be another way… there must be…Lord Blumiere…"

"Nastasia, if there was another way, Count Bleck would have found it in his hours reading the Prognosticus." Count Bleck looked away. "Leave me Nastasia. I shall figure out the answer to this dilemma myself."

"Understood." Nastasia teleported away from the room, leaving Count Bleck alone.

"Ah ha ha ha ha. Count Bleck, or Lord Blumiere, it does not matter what name you go buy my count…your fate is sealed…"