The encounter

Ichigo saw right away that the boy was radiating light. His energy was incredible, but not on his level. There was something else about him that seemed...carefree. He saw Marluxia talk to Sora, telling him the phrase that somehow got ingrained in his brain.

"In this castle, what you lost will be regained, but you will lose your memories."

"So, is he going to just travel up...?" asked Ichigo.

"No," said Axel, "In every floor, there is a world behind a door. He has to complete that world to proceed to the next floor."

"And he loses a bit of his memories on each floor!" exclaimed Ichigo.

"Yes." Axel, uncomfortable, looks to the ground. "Then, he will become our pawn."

Ichigo looked at Axel, noticing his uncomfortableness. "Are you alright?"

"Yes...I would be..." Axel looked up at the glass orb. Sora appears to have followed Marluxia into the first world. "I wanted to test that twerp out, but-"

"Why not do it after he finishes a level?" asked Ichigo.

Axel lightened up a bit, smiling as he pondered over Ichigo's question. "Well, why not? Let's go!"

"Wha-" Before Ichigo can say anything else, Axel dragged him into a dark portal. Ichigo closed his eyes until he realized that he was in another place. He saw the door ahead of him.

"Sora will come from there. Get ready!"

Sure enough, Sora, Donald, and Goofy appeared, looking worried.

"So...that world was from my memories?" asked Sora.

To Ichigo's surprise, a cricket appeared on Sora's shoulder. "It seems so. I mean, why else would they not remember us?"

"Bingo!" said Axel. Sora and his friends gasped.

"Another one of those creep?!" exclaimed Donald.

"There's two of them, Donald," said Goofy.

"Well, they're still creeps! They have that hood on-!"

Ichigo realized that he had his hood on, and so did Axel. In a second, Axel took off his hood. "Axel's the name. Got it memorized?"

"Oh, Axel..." Marluxia appeared behind Axel. "If you wanted to test out the keyblade wielder..."

"I should have asked, right?" said Axel. "Well, I'm so sorry. But then again, I don't want Sora to die before he even reaches the second floor."

"Who says that I'm gonna lose to you?!" roared Sora.

"Well, he is just a boy...so sure." Marluxia handed Axel a card. "That's the next several worlds. Make sure he gets it after battling you."

"Yeah, yeah, I got it..." Marluxia teleported away, leaving Ichigo and Axel against the three heroes.

"So, who goes first? The silent one, or the red head?" asked Donald.

"Hey, you!" Sora yelled at Ichigo. "Who are you?!"

Ichigo took off his hood. "Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo."

"Well, whoever you are, I'll fight you!"

"Aw, come on!" cried Axel. "You skipped me!"

Sora rushed at Ichigo, with an eight appearing above his head. Smiling, Ichigo pulled a zero and negated his attack.

"Owww!" cried Sora. "Don't tell me that you have all zeroes!"

"Well...you do have potential after all," said Ichigo. "Show me a sleight or two."

"Haaa!" Sora had several numbers appear in his head. He tried to reach Ichigo, but he floated away from Sora's attack.

"Alright, you pass."

Sora stopped midway through an attack. "What?!"

"What he is saying is that you have enough skill to pass on to the next floor," said Axel. "Catch!"

He tossed the card to Sora. "Here's the passageway to the next worlds. Remember...to lose is to find, and to find is to lose."

"What?!" said Sora. "What random things are you saying?"

"You'll find out soon..." said Ichigo. They left the place by teleporting, leaving Sora confused.