While the Kairis wrestled each other with their dresses riding up (revealing numerous panty shots to Sora and Riku's utter disbelief)...

"What exactly did you have in mind, Riku?" Sora asked as he struggled to keep his gaze averted. Riku cupped his hand and whispered his plan into Sora's ear.

Both Kairis got to their feet and prepared to lunge at each other again when Sora quickly aimed his Keyblade. "FREEZE!" Blasts of ice burst out of the Keyblade's tip and caught both Kairis at the ankles. They started to lose their balance, but Sora went and cast Blizzaga at their wrists, immediately following up with Magnega. "GATHER!" Soon the girls were completely restrained with their arms locked over their heads and their hands and feet encased in blocks of ice. It was like Vexen all over again, except this time Kairi was upright.

"How long will the spells last?" Riku asked.

"As long as someone's holding onto the Keyblade and stays within range..." Sora glanced at his watch. "About thirty minutes."

As Sora and Riku walked up to the dangling damsels, the Kairi on their right glared at them. "Was this absolutely necessary?"

Sora shot a sideways glance at Riku. "WAS it necessary?"

Riku nodded. "I don't want the fake one to bum rush us while we figure this out."

"Could you at least pull down our dresses?" the Kairi on the left requested. "It's a bit embarrassing for them to be riding up like this."

"You'll manage," Riku said sternly. "You've already went through a bunch of embarrassing situations. What's one more?"

Sora blinked. "Kinda harsh, don't you think Riku?"

Riku shook his head. "If this clone of Kairi is as strong and dangerous as Repliku, then I'd rather not take any chances."

"So..." Sora ruffled his spiked, bushy hair. "How're we supposed to tell who's who?" Riku only crossed his arms in silence.

"We could try asking them something only the real Kairi would know," Roxas suggested.

Again, Riku shook his head. "Usually I'd agree with that, but..."

"But what?"

"The Organization's been scanning both my heart and memories," the Kairi on the right explained. "So she would know everything that I know."

"Oh." Roxas didn't know what else to say.

"How about Naminé?" Sora asked. "She could talk to us!"

But the idea was shot down when the Kairi on the left said, "It's no use. The Organization was able to block my connection with Naminé earlier."

The other Kairi nodded. "She can hear us, but she can't respond."

Sora threw up his hands in surrender. "I give up!" He looked up helplessly at Riku. "Any other bright ideas?"

Before Riku could respond, a flash of brilliance occurred to Roxas. "The good luck charm!" he exclaimed. "They may be able to recreate outward appearances, but not items!"

Riku looked like he was about to reject the suggestion, but shrugged instead. "Good idea. Maybe one of them has it." He gave a sweeping bow as if he were a butler greeting guests to enter the mansion. "They're all yours, Sora."

It took a few seconds before Sora realized what Riku was suggesting. "Wait!" His face was in a state of shock. "Are you saying you want me to..."

Riku smirked. "Yeah. You're going to have to frisk both of them." He glanced over at the two Kairis who were equally stunned. "If either of you are the real Kairi, then you shouldn't have any problems with your boyfriend feeling you up."

"But..." Sora didn't feel good all of a sudden. "Wouldn't it be in one of their purses?"

The Kairi on the left cleared her throat. "Um...actually I keep it in my inside pocket."

"Which one?" Sora asked slowly.

He felt even sicker as she replied, "I honestly don't remember at the moment." The feelings of guilt and reluctance swirled through Sora's mind as he began to imagine what he was about to do.

"So, Sora..." Riku raised an eyebrow mockingly. "Are you ready?"

"I...I don't know about this, Riku," Sora stammered.

"Would you rather I do it?" Knowing Sora would rather give up his Keyblade than pass up an opportunity like this, Riku smiled serenely as the bushy-haired youth carefully handed him his Keyblade so the Magnega spell would stay active.

Sora walked up to the Kairi on the right first. As he looked into the seemingly genuine fear and sorrow in her eyes, Sora couldn't help but feel extreme guilt rise up inside him. "Hey! Look sharp!" Roxas said. "Don't think about it and just do it!"

Kairi's betrothed took a few deep breaths while this Kairi closed her eyes and braced herself. The Keyblade master reached out with trembling limbs. As soon as his hands made contact with her body, she immediately stiffened up. Sora's face was full of shame and embarrassment. "Please forgive me, Kairi," he muttered. Sora knew how unbearably ticklish she was, so he tried to be as gentle, but thorough. Unfortunately for her, his definition of "gentle" meant moving as slowly as possible.

This Kairi struggled to keep her body as still as she could. Her chest heaved with deep breaths and her face was scrunched up with concentration. As his fingers began traveling down her ribcage, she bit her bottom lip to prevent herself from screaming. She instinctively stopped breathing with her ribcage expanded and puffed out like a parade balloon. Her expression seemed to say "Quit being slow and gentle and get it over with already!" Sora struggled to keep his hands steady, but out of pure nervousness, they would vibrate a little, causing her to squirm and shake from holding in her breath. He was hoping that he would find something as he patted down near her hips, but to his dismay, he could feel nothing but her wiggling form. As soon as Sora removed his hands from her lower half, a giant burst of air blasted out from her lungs as she exhaled in relief.

"This one doesn't have it," Sora stated to Riku.

The Dawn wielder only shrugged. "Well, what are you waiting for? Try the other one," he calmly urged.

As Sora began patting down the other Kairi, he noticed that her reaction was slightly the same, except she didn't seem to be holding in any laughter. There was an almost relaxed expression as if she were more into it than the first Kairi. When Sora began patting down her hips, a quiet moan escaped her lips and she bucked slightly. The first Kairi's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh my gawd!" she exclaimed. "Are you...getting aroused by this?!" As soon as he heard this, Sora's hands snapped back to his sides.

"I'm pretty sure that this one doesn't have it either," Sora said quickly.

"I don't know whether to be disturbed about this situation or disturbed that I'm not disturbed about this situation," Roxas commented.

Sora gave Riku a pained look. "Neither of them have the good luck charm. What does that mean?"

"That Kairi secretly loves your touch," Riku chuckled.

"Riku!" the Kairis shouted in unison.

"It looks like your idea failed," Sora said hopelessly. But instead of being disappointed, Riku had a wicked smirk plastered on his face.

"First of all, it was Roxas' idea. And second of all," Riku's smirk rose higher, "I only agreed because I thought it'd be funny."

"WHAT?!"

"The way all three of you were blushing and quivering was priceless!" he laughed.

"RIKU!" Sora, Roxas and the Kairis all shouted in embarrassment.

Riku shook his head and immediately became characteristically solemn again. "In all seriousness, though," Riku pointed toward the second Kairi, "that's the clone."

"What makes you say that?" the Kairi he accused asked.

"The darkness," he stated promptly. "You reek of it."

The Kairi he accused didn't say anything at first. But then a tiny smile appeared on her lips. "Never could fool you, emo boy," she said quietly. A giant explosion of energy burst from her body as she freed herself from the restraints, knocking Sora and Riku a good distance away. Fortunately, the shockwave freed the real Kairi from her bondage as well. She dove for her discarded Keyblade and flipped up into her battle stance.

"Anti-Sora...Dark Riku...Shadow Roxas..." The clone's outfit dissolved from the usual pink cotton to black leather. "All of the boys have had their own dark halves. So why not you?" She looked horrendously beautiful with an aura of darkness that seemed to wisp from her very presence. "Call me...Yamikai."

"Yamikai?" Kairi repeated. "What kind of stupid name is that?"

"Mock my name all you want, girlie," Kairi's doppelganger chortled. She raised her hand and blasted two Dark Firagas at Sora and Riku, knocking them away out of attack range. The impact forced Riku to release his grip on Sora's Keyblade which clattered to the ground. Before they could recover, barriers of light surrounded the two girls, preventing the boys from helping Kairi. The Princess of Heart looked longingly at her two friends, helpless to assist her. Yamikai giggled. "What's wrong, Princess? Afraid to take on the darkness within by yourself?"

"She's not alone!" Kairi felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her body and heart. "Kairi's still got me!"

"Naminé!" Kairi cried with relief.

"D'ya miss me?" Naminé asked.

But Yamikai wasn't fazed. "Big deal. So you've got your partner back. Too bad all she can do is cower in the back of your mind."

"Girl, I don't know how you came to exist," Naminé snapped, "but we're going to send you back to the oblivion from where you came from!"

The Princess of Darkness giggled again. "Funny you should mention that." She held the Keyblade in front of her, feeding dark energy into it. After wrapping it in darkness, the shadows shattered revealing the Oblivion Keyblade.

"What?!" Kairi couldn't believe her eyes. "Oblivion?"

"I don't like the looks of this," Naminé stated nervously.

Another dark object began to form in Yamikai's free hand. It was twice as big as the Keyblade and looked hauntingly familiar.

"Saix's claymore?!" Kairi and Naminé exclaimed.

"With all that energy building up within your heart, you failed to realize that the Organization was just giving you more than just power..." Yamikai raised the claymore and slammed the ground, releasing a mild shockwave that blew Kairi's hair back. "They were giving you THEIR powers. Which means..." The anomaly gave Kairi an evil grin. "...I can wield all their weapons too."

"Cloud!" Tifa and Aerith watched in horror as a Berserker's weapon finally managed to slam into Cloud's stomach that sent him flying across the hall. For the allies, the battle was taking a turn for the worse. Most of the fighters were exhausted and/or knocked out. The only ones left standing were Yuffie, Tifa, Aerith, Mulan, Ariel, the Prince, Peter Pan and King Mickey.

"This is bad!" Yuffie cried. "There's too many of them!"

Tifa spun around and Water Kicked a couple of Soldier Heartless. "We've got to keep fighting or else-" She was interrupted by a glancing blow from a Hot Rod.

"Tifa!" Aerith and Yuffie ran to help her, but a half-dozen Dancers barred their path.

"Get out of our way!" Yuffie shouted. From out of nowhere, she pulled out a green Materia orb and held it in front of her. "ULTI-" Before she could finish her chant, a Dragoon's lance came rocketing through and knocked the Materia out of her hand, causing the spell to be ineffective. "No! My Materia!" She dove for her precious cargo, but she was intercepted by Neoshadows that began to lay the smackdown on her.

Aerith was struggling herself as she couldn't get enough breathing room to cast any spells of her own. She could only swipe her staff futilely and dodge under blades and appendages. A few feet away, even though Ariel and the Prince were equipped, they were forced to take the back row as Mulan and the King fought up front doing their best to knock back enemies that dared to get past their defenses.

The situation seemed so hopeless that even Peter Pan didn't display his usual childish bravado. The sky was no longer the safe haven he was used to as Dragoons and Air Pirates both swooped in from every which way. "Hey! No fair!" he complained. "I'm the only one who's supposed to be able to fly!" He didn't see the incoming Air Pirate zooming in behind him. It raised its sword for a killing blow...

TWINK! Tinker Bell flung her entire body at the Heartless, giving Peter a chance to turn around and destroy it. Unfortunately, she rebounded into a Berserker's path and was swatted across the room.

"TINK!" Peter zoomed as fast as he could to catch the little pixie. "Tinker Bell! Are you alright?" The fairy's luminosity flickered as she struggled to stay conscious. On closer inspection, two of her wings were bent out of shape. "Tink, just hang on!"

A few feet below him, the remaining fighters were forced into a tightly knit bunch as the creatures corralled around them. "Don't give up!" King Mickey yelled. "We need to..." His voice trailed off as the sight of something horrendous came into view. A giant tidal wave made up of Dusks and Shadows filled the hallway, enveloping anything and everything in its path. Sora's friends braced themselves for impact.

"Well, it's been nice knowing you guys," Yuffie said hopelessly. The mass of Heartless and Nobodies rushed as one and...

SHWIINGG! A floor-to-ceiling wall of light erupted in front of the fallen heroes, forcing the creatures to bounce off into a pile of tangled limbs. Before the group could ponder what happened, the double doors behind them burst open.

"Everyone get inside!" Hayner yelled. "Hurry!" Both the Destiny Island and Twilight Town kids helped the remaining fighters to carry the unconscious into the room before shutting the doors with a dull THOOM! As soon as she was sure that they were safe, Aerith wasted no time in casting Curaga on her fallen comrades. Everyone else began applying Potions on the wounded.

Yuffie clutched her chest as she finally caught her breath. "What...just happened?" She leaned against the curved wall to keep herself upright.

"I activated the security system," Tron explained. "Nobody else should be able to get in through those doors."

"But how do we get out?" Mulan asked.

Tron shook his head. "Unfortunately, that was the only available exit. The other door's still inaccessible."

"I can't believe we were beaten so badly," Ariel sighed.

Mulan walked up and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "At least we're all still in one piece."

"What in..." Pence suddenly gasped. Mickey and Hayner ran up to the console tree.

"Pence, talk to us," Hayner prodded. "What happened?"

The computer geek began rapidly typing. "Something just popped up on the monitor." The screen he was looking at had random numbers and images scrolling quickly in random directions. "It looks like..." He leaned closer and squinted. Then his eyes shot wide open. "No way."

"What is it?" Hayner asked impatiently.

Pence blinked a couple of times as if confirming his eyes. "Sora, Riku and Kairi are all back in the real world, but..."

"But?" Mickey repeated.

"According to this, their location is a hundred feet below this room." He pointed at a monitor that seemed to hold stats on any subjects that managed to occupy the computer's cyberspace.

Hayner's eyes narrowed. "You mean to tell us that there's actually another room even deeper than this mineshaft?"

"Can you get us there?" Mickey asked.

Pence licked his lips slightly. "I could try. But right now all the power's being diverted to the security wall."

Hayner gave him a friendly punch to the bicep. "We believe in you. Just get us there and we'll handle the rest."

Mickey sighed with relief. "Welp, at least we know they're okay."

"Actually, that's not the strangest part," Pence said. He pointed toward another monitor. "For some reason, the system is reading Kairi twice."

Hayner furrowed his brow. "A glitch?"

"Maybe..." Pence didn't look convinced.

"By the way..." Tidus looked around the room. "Do you know where those faeries went? I haven't seen them since everyone grouped together."

"I think they said they were going to bring some extra help," Olette answered, "just in case."

"Huh." Tidus raised his eyes to the purple-hued sky above them. "I hope Yuna's okay..."