Hearts of Avengers

by lyokoMARVELanime

Instead of Traverse Town, Sora lands in New York after Destiny Islands fell and just moments before The Breakout happens. One superhero team-up later, and the Keyblade Hero is now a member of the Avengers. It's the story of Kingdom Hearts with a marvel of a new spin. Just see how Sora and the Avengers will affect both of their adventures, now.

3. Some Assembly Required

AN: Hey guys, welcome back to the newest chapter of Hearts of Avengers, and we've got quite a few reviews that I would like to answer right away before we get started.

Wasp: Considering the content of a couple of those reviews, I'm surprised you didn't finish this chapter sooner so you could answer them.

AN: I actually would've, but I was right in the middle of working on the next chapter in Kingdom Hearts Dual Keys, so I couldn't just jump right into things, and I really don't like posting chapters that are basically just a really long author's note. Speaking of which, in response to guest reviewer "atlas67", when exactly did I ever break the fourth wall during the main story of the last chapter? The only times I normally ever do that is during these Author's Notes, and that's just for the purpose of responding to reviewers like you and others. Doing otherwise would be considered very rude in my book, so if you've got a problem with that, sorry, but that's just how it is. The only way the fourth wall would ever be broken in the main story of any of my works would be if characters like Deadpool were to show up, so you shouldn't have to worry about that, because if you've read any of my other stories, you'd know just how I feel about Deadpool being in my stories.

Deadpool: Aw, come on! What's wrong with me? Everybody loves me! [suddenly gets catapulted through the ceiling and out of the room by AN]

AN: Yeah, I doubt anyone has enough time in anything to answer that question, or point out the amount of wrong in that last sentence. Moving on...

In response to some points made by "sixcats65", or should I say point, seeing as the whole review was about why telling Fury and SHIELD about the Heartless threat was a bad idea. You have to keep in mind that the first time they contacted him about all of this was several years ago, and in my mind, this was at a point in time before Tony Stark had become Iron Man and was still in the weapons business. More to the point, Thor already knew about this simply because Asgard is well aware of the existence of other worlds and the Keyblade, but he was going back and forth between Earth and Asgard so much at the time that he was not the most reliable person to entrust that kind of thing with at the time. And before you mention that Wakanda is a better option, another thing to keep in mind is that this was during the time T'Chaka, aka Papa Panther, was running things, and that said nation did not even trust outsiders that were from their own world. You really think they'd be that welcoming to ones that come from another world? More on that later though. Finally, they did not tell the entire government, just Fury and one or two leading figures, who have kept it under wraps ever since, kinda like how King Triton has kept that kind of thing secret even from his own family in the canon KH story line, if you'll all recall. Beyond that though...it was really just a matter of not having any better options at the time. Really, the only person in my opinion that would've been better to trust with this info was taking a seventy-year-long nap in the ice at the time, and Fury was in charge of an organization that protected the whole world, and unlike some people *cough* Maria Hill *cough*, Fury is willing to go to guys like the Avengers when necessary to save the world. Here's hoping that makes my point on that matter.

Sora: Hey, how about this one here from "10smash3re8" about the development of my powers?

AN: Right, I would've answered that last chapter, but it was already posted by the time I saw that review. Anyways, I'd just like to point out that this story is an AU, as in stuff happens in this story that would not normally happen in canon, and in this case, Ven's heart is having a more profound impact on how Sora's abilities develop than it did in the canon story. Besides, this was honestly the more realistic route to go if you wanted Sora to be able to keep up with the other Avengers, all of which had some way of getting over to wherever Graviton was fast, be it by flight or making long-distance jumps in a single bound. If Sora did not suddenly learn how to summon a Keyblade Glider, he would've been just running the entire time, and likely have not gotten anywhere near the fight until everything was over, and that just wasn't going to fly. Just be glad I went a more realistic route and had him learn how to use the Keyblade Glider, albeit with some difficulty, a point that's going to be emphasized quite a bit for most of this chapter I might add, as opposed to having him learn something like say Flowmotion, an ability that as far as we know, Ventus never seemed to have learned. Sure, we've seen that apparently Aqua knows something like it in Birth By Sleep 0.2 A Fragmentary Passage, but keep in mind, she's also older and more trained than Ven, and she was also the only one of their trio to become a true master.

Iron Man: Wasn't there something else from "atlas67" that you wanted to address?

AN: Right the mentioning of Disney in the story. Just because it never actually happened in the series, does not mean it isn't actually there. As we've often seen, Marvel tends to have quite a bit of a basis in realism despite the fictional and out-of-this-world nature that its characters, stories, and adventures tend to take on, so it's not really that much of a stretch to say that Disney does not exist in this timeline. So yeah, there's your reasoning for that.

Finally, in answer to a question that "Monkey D. Conan" had in his most recent review of this story, yes, Spider-Man will have a very significant role in this story, but you won't find out why for a couple more chapters at least.

Oh, and before I forget, yes, there will still be Disney villains and worlds showing up in this, and the Masters of Evil will have quite the part to play in all of this, though their involvement with the villains of other worlds will not be quite as well known to the members at first. You'll see a hint of what I mean later on in this chapter. Beyond that, again, you'll have to wait and see, because as we all know, I don't do big spoilers like that.

And hey, "sorahearts210", thanks for the suggestions on a codename for Sora, but a couple of them sound a little too similar to that of a character or two from the Final Fantasy series for my taste. Speaking of which, since I know folks are going to wonder about this, the Final Fantasy characters that we've seen appear in KH so far, will have a role in this story, some bigger than others, but I think I'll be keeping just which ones the latter will apply to and what it might be a secret for now. Think of it as something to tease your minds with. Now then, I'd we've spent enough time rambling and ranting here, so...Avengers, to the chapter!...

I do not own anything from either the Kingdom Hearts or MARVEL franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

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Chapter III

A few days had passed since the Avengers caught Mandrill, and unfortunately, neither Tony nor Fury had managed to locate either their world's Keyhole or either of Sora's friends. It was disheartening news to hear, but Tony had quickly reassured Sora that he was not going to stop looking, so the kid should not give up hope just yet. That definitely made Sora feel a little better, but he was still worried about what it would mean if they never found anything regarding Riku and Kairi. Anyone could have seen that fact clear as day all across Sora's face, and Tony was no exception, which was why he had started working around the clock on a special project that he was hoping would brighten Sora's spirits a little. Or to be more accurate, he was hoping that it would have the added benefit of cheering Sora up in addition to what its original, intended purpose was, and a week later, Tony was ready to show everyone exactly what it was that he had been working on for the team.

They were all asked to gather at a three story mansion that sat in what could have been nearly the center of New York early the next morning, and so far, only Pepper and Hulk had arrived. Naturally, the redhead was a little apprehensive standing next to the jade giant, but she was able to keep herself from showing it. Spending years helping to run Tony's company, practically being the company's CEO while Tony was off being Iron Man, really helped her in that regard. After another few minutes or so, Pepper checked her watch once again, confirming that they were now well past the appointed meet-up time, and then turned to the Hulk and said, "Well, thank you for actually being on time, unlike the others."

Hulk said nothing in reply, but did narrow his eyes a little bit, making Pepper feel a little uncomfortable and start wishing that someone else would show up soon. Thankfully, her prayers were somewhat answered when Thor descended upon the area, and called out, "Ho Miss Potts, and Hulk. Tis good to see you again. Are you ready for the upcoming battles?"

"You ready to get a watch," Hulk growled. Clearly, he did not enjoy being kept waiting.

The two just held each other's glare after that comment, making Pepper worried that they would start a fight in the middle of the street, which was the last thing that they needed to happen right now, especially for Hulk's sake. She was not ashamed to admit that she had breathed a sigh of relief when Janet arrived and stepped in before anything could start. "We're here," the Wasp announced. "Sorry we're late. I had to tear Hank away from his lab, and don't even get me started on how hard it was to get Sora out of bed."

"It was an important experiment," Ant-Man protested as he grew to normal size after dismounting the ant he had flown over on.

Thor was about to comment on how he had expected Hank to be at his giant size when he noticed that one of the people that was supposed to have come with Wasp was still missing. "Where is Friend Sora," Thor questioned.

Wasp and Hank both glanced around for a minute in confusion until the former just shrugged and said, "I thought he was right behind us. Guess he's still having trouble with his Keyblade-Cycle."

"Glider. It is known as a Keyblade Glider actually," Thor corrected.

Before anyone could ask Thor if that really mattered or not, they all heard the faint sounds of someone yelling from above them. They turned their gazes upwards in the direction of said cries as they grew louder, and all jumped a little when the young Keyblade wielder himself came falling down from the sky right before their eyes. He probably would have crashed right into the ground too had Hulk not leapt up and caught him before he had come close to hitting the pavement, and the minute that he had been set down on his feet again, Sora looked up to the big guy and panted, "Thanks Hulk. You have no idea how glad I am to have avoided another epic crash landing."

"Maybe you if practiced as much as you slept you'd have been able to keep that bike of yours from disappearing on you in midair by now," Hulk grumbled, still a little ticked that the others were late.

"Hey, can I help it if the bed that Janet's been letting me use is really comfortable," Sora questioned with an easy going tone, resting his hands behind his head in his usual relaxed position with a smile on his face.

"I'm honestly surprised that you have not yet mastered the use of your Keyblade Glider, Friend Sora. From what I've heard, that ability is actually one of the easier powers for a Keyblade wielder to master," Thor remarked.

Sora's grin became a little sheepish at that point. He had a feeling that he was only having trouble because of how he had only learned to summon the Keyblade Glider because of that weird vision of his, as opposed to how the ability was normally learned, and he was about to inform the Asgardian of this fact when Hulk's patience started to wane a little more than it already had and roared, "Where's Stark?"

"Sorry! Sorry, everyone. I got caught up in a meeting," Iron Man called out as he landed before the fully gathered group. Before he could say anything else though, he caught a glimpse of the look Pepper was throwing him out of the corner of his eye and admitted, "Uh…Okay, actually, I missed that meeting too."

"And Kairi calls me a lazy bum," Sora muttered. Since they were standing closest to him, Janet and Hulk both overheard him, and the former had to let out an amused giggle while the latter's frown just slightly turned into a small, amused smile.

"I heard that," Tony informed Sora as he removed his helmet, letting the kid see his unamused face. He then cleared his throat and picked up where he left off as he gestured to the mansion that they were standing in front of as he announced, "Anyway, thanks for coming, and welcome to Avengers Mansion. This was my…" Tony was unable to anymore than that due to Hulk knocking the gates off their hinges in a huff before walking into the building. After staring after their gamma-powered teammate for a minute, Tony could only mutter, "You know, that was really rude."

"To be fair, we did keep him waiting for a while, and he was the only one who actually showed up on time, so…" Sora pointed out, trailing off at the end while he followed Hulk into the building, and the others had to nod in agreement with him after a minute as they followed his lead.

The minute everyone was inside, Thor went to inspect an odd device on the wall when a voice suddenly spoke up from out of nowhere, with the speaker nowhere in sight. "Greetings, Thor Odinson. May I offer you a drink?"

"What manner of palace is this," Thor questioned in awe.

"And who said that," Sora asked as he looked every which way he could for the speaker.

"In order, this was a museum for the Maria Stark Foundation; my mother's home. I've had it upgraded since the Breakout, and I thought this could be our headquarters," Tony explained to Thor. He then turned to Sora as Wasp flew around the foyer to take in the sights of the room in awe, and said, "As for who spoke, that was JARVIS, my personal artificial intelligence, who now also runs the mansion. Anything you need, JARVIS will provide. Say hi, JARVIS."

"Indeed," JARVIS replied.

"Cool," Sora breathed in awe, and with that, the tour of the Avengers' new headquarters began.

Over the course of said tour, Tony was basically explaining the rundown of everything in the building, starting with how they had a full kitchen with a chef on call, the former of which Hulk instantly took advantage of by digging into whatever food he could find. Wasp could not stop herself from groaning in disgust when Hulk let out a long, loud belch, but Sora had to grin a little at the jade giant. Moving from the kitchen allowed everyone to discover that the mansion had twelve bedrooms, three of which were quickly claimed by Thor, Hulk, and Sora, along with maid service, laundry, and room service, and finally, they ended in the lounge, which also doubled as a home-theater with satellite TV and movies. Every minute that passed on the tour made Sora and Janet get more and more excited, and they were both eager to see just what kind of cool things they could play around with. Sure, Janet was able to afford a penthouse apartment in the city, but she still found this kind of thing to be really enjoyable. Sora on the other hand had always lived in a home that was typical of the middle-class, so the fact that he was going to be living in a mansion while he was here alone was pretty exciting for him. Hulk just kept a neutral, cross look on his face, not really seeming to care either way about the house, while Thor's expression was just as even. Seeing as the blonde was a prince who had seen many wondrous palaces before in his lifetime, it was really no surprise that he was not as easily impressed as his youngest teammate or his only female teammate.

Hank on the other hand was a bit more vocal in his own thoughts about the mansion. "Are you serious, Stark? This is what you spent a week preparing?"

"Uh, no. I haven't gotten to the good stuff yet. You're gonna need these," Tony corrected, prompting Pepper to step forward and start handing out small white cards with a red bar at the top, a black screen on the upper right corner which displayed an image of each Avenger, and a fancy letter "A" in the center of it on the left side that changed from red to blue when the cards activated. "These ID cards are linked to the Stark Industries satellite network, and will keep us in audio and video communication anywhere in the world."

"Will they be able to work on other worlds too, or even send a signal from another world," Sora asked, prompting everyone to turn a questioning look to him. "What? If I'm supposed to keep all the worlds safe, then that means that I'm probably going to end up going to other worlds sometime soon, so I want to be sure that they'll work then."

"Well…I'd like to say yes, but I doubt we'll really know one way or the other until such a thing actually happens," Tony admitted. "But, given that I've also hooked the ID cards up with their own personal server, they should be able to send a signal without a direct link to the Stark Industries satellite network, but it would only be over a short distance as opposed to worldwide. One last thing you should know about these bad boys is that they also give you full access and control of the mansion, so I'd make sure you have them on you whenever you're here."

"I can show you how it…" Pepper started to offer Hulk, thinking he might need a little extra help learning the card's functions, until Hulk just snatched his away.

"You think I can't figure it out," Hulk demanded.

"I'm sure you can," Pepper nervously reassured him as she slowly backed up a little.

Sora could not help but frown a little in concern. Even without being here for very long, it was clear that Hulk had a hard time trusting people, and he had already figured out part of the reason why just from what Hank and Janet had said after Hulk had shown up during the fight with Graviton. If people really thought that Hulk was a bad guy, they had probably treated him rather badly for a long time, so it would only make sense that Hulk would have a hard time being nice and trusting other people. Sora felt really bad for him knowing that, and he wanted to do something to help Hulk see that he had friends here, but apparently, he was the only one who realized that, because all the others could see was what would happen if Hulk got too upset, while Thor just saw the big guy being rude to a nice lady.

"'Twould be wise to treat the lady with respect," Thor cautioned the big guy once he had marched over with a threatening tone.

"Which lady do you mean, Blondie," Hulk retorted with a growl, getting right in Thor's face to return the Asgardian's glare with his own. Thankfully, Tony made sure to stop any sort of fight between the two by giving a small cough and directing everyone's attention to a secret passage that was opening up in the fireplace.

Everyone immediately followed Tony into the secret elevator, and once they were all inside, they could feel it descending downwards, enshrouding them in darkness for a moment until they could see again, quickly being greeted by the sight of what looked like a large, underground pyramid. "And voilà, the sublevels," Tony proudly announced. When the elevator came to a stop again, allowing them to step out, they all found themselves in what looked like a very impressive laboratory that looked similar to something out of science fiction, making Hank gaze around in awe as he started thinking of the various experiments he could run here. "The mansion's got a beyond-state-of-the-art science lab, space for Hank's modular labs, as well as my armory," Tony explained, having caught a glimpse of the look on Hank's face when they stepped into the room.

When they came into the next room, all they could see was a large empty space with one massive pool beneath them. "Wow, big pool," Wasp commented when she had seen it.

"No kidding. I think it's close to the size of some of the oceans back on my world," Sora commented, exaggerating of course. He knew there was no way that could be possible.

"Actually, the pool's on the roof," Tony revealed. A minute later, the water parted and allowed a large white and red jet with the same logo as the one of the team's ID cards on the sides to ascend up to their level. "This is a fully functional hangar with two prototype, high-speed, aerial shuttles: the Quinjets. Weapons, shields, and an air speed of Mach Eight, for those of us who can't fly." Hulk, Hank, and even Sora all threw a look at Tony for that last bit. Though Sora was only doing so because he was well aware that they all knew how bad he was at flying on his Keyblade Glider, it did not mean he was feeling any less offended. "But they can go into space too," Tony quickly added.

"You mean we could use these to get to other worlds," Sora asked.

"Uh…No, unfortunately not. We haven't really mastered space travel to that degree, Sora. The farthest we've reached is the Earth's moon," Tony revealed, earning a disbelieving look from the Keyblade wielder. "What? We're working on it."

Sora kept his disbelieving gaze up for a little bit longer, until he finally shrugged and admitted, "Well, it's still better than what my friends and I had ever managed before now."

Tony smiled a little in relief, glad to see that Sora was not too disappointed about that, but his smile quickly turned to a smirk when he continued on to say, "Then there's the training room."

"What, like a gym," Wasp asked.

"Well, kind of," Tony shrugged, as his smirk became a little more knowing, making Sora feel like they should probably be a little nervous.

---

As it turned out, Sora was wrong. They should not have been a little nervous; they should have been very nervous and maybe a little afraid. Tony's training room, while very impressive with its state-of-the-art technology, was really more like a death chamber for anyone who was unprepared. Literally everything was trying to kill the heroes as they all found out very quickly. Sora could swear he heard Wasp cry out in fear a few times from where he had been in the room, and he knew that she had started from a different position that was probably somewhere very far away from him. From the sound of things, it did not seem like Thor and Hank were doing much better than her either. In fact, if he had to guess, the only ones who were likely doing well in this thing at the moment were likely Hulk and Iron Man, the latter because he had designed the thing so he most likely knew what to expect. That was a little cheat code that was going to have to be remedied sooner or later, even though Tony did say that the system was designed to be able to adapt for the person running it, not to the point where it was unwinnable, but just to the point where it would be a challenge for whoever was running the gauntlet. Hulk on the other hand barely had to do anything much aside from just standing around, punching stuff, or tearing through it with his bare hands, and needless to say, the big guy was feeling very bored and disappointed by how weak a challenge the thing was.

As for Sora himself, well, let's just say that he had the worst time handling the thing out of everyone there. Sure, he had been through quite a bit of his own training back on Destiny Islands, but a few races around an obstacle course that he and his friends made, some play fighting with friends, and his various sparring matches with Riku were nothing compared to this thing. "Tony! I'm not laughing at all, here," Sora shouted as he ran, ducked, and dodged the lasers, missiles, and whatever else was being sprung on him in the corridor he was in. Occasionally, he was use his Keyblade to deflect some of the things that were being thrown at him, but considering he was still new with using the thing, it was not exactly easy for him to keep up an even pace for long, so he ended up getting tagged quite a few times. He was just glad that these weapons were not designed to kill somebody. A minute later though, he had to skid to a halt when a large, destroyed machine suddenly crashed through the wall and nearly fell down on top of him, and when he glanced up at where the thing had come from, his face fell into an annoyed expression at seeing Thor looking down through the hole that he had just made, indicating what had just happened. "Hey, watch it," Sora shouted up, drawing an apologetic smile from the Asgardian as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

Before Sora could move forward again, another large machine came crashing up through the floor, and into the next room where Iron Man was easily flying around a grid of lasers. A second later, they all heard JARVIS announce that the exercise was done, and everyone who was closest turned to where the last destroyed machine had been thrown from to see a somewhat bored looking Hulk glaring up at Stark as he asked, "That the best you've got, tin man?"

"It's self-repairing. Thanks for asking," Iron Man revealed, slightly annoyed by Hulk's needless destruction. "By the way, that was level one…of ten."

Hulk crossed his arms at that, feeling a little more impressed while Wasp came to rest on his shoulder, panting hard, while Sora just gaped at Tony in disbelief. That was only level one out of TEN? Now that he knew that, Sora could only think of one thing to say. "I think I preferred fighting the Heartless or sparring with my friends and Riku over that."

Thor looked at the boy in confusion as they all moved to exit the training room, and asked, "I somewhat understand why you would choose to battle Heartless as opposed to Iron Man's room of machines, but why would you desire battling with either a small number of friends or even just one friend over something more challenging?"

"Well, fighting a large group of my friends from back on Destiny Islands is a lot tougher than you think, actually. And besides that, out of everyone back home, Riku is actually the best fighter out of all of us. He's never been beaten by anyone in a fight, fair or unfair. I've only come close because Riku's the one who taught me a lot of what I know about sword-fighting. But when it comes to races, I'm proud to say that the win-loss ratio between us is actually a lot closer, with it currently being in my favor after our most recent race," Sora revealed.

Thor could not help but smirk a little at the pride that Sora's voice betrayed when he spoke of that race, as well as the admiration that it carried when he talked about his friend. It reminded him a little of how he would speak of some of his own friends from Asgard. Meanwhile, Janet had a slightly amused grin on her face that was much clearer when she returned to normal size in order to walk alongside them. "You know, I can't help but wonder if you and this Riku guy are best friends or bitter rivals after hearing that," Janet admitted.

"Honestly, it's a little of both, minus the bitter part," Sora shrugged in admittance. "Me and Riku have always been competing against each other since we met, be it for fun or for some other reason. Most of the time though, it's really more so that we can challenge each other to get stronger, and to make sure we're strong enough to protect the things that matter, like our friends."

Janet probably could have kept herself from asking her next question, but after hearing Sora's story the other day she just had to ask it, if for no other reason than to see if she could actually tease Sora on this particular topic. "I'm guessing you two have also competed with each other for Kairi's attention at the very least once or twice, haven't you?"

"Wha-?! Uh, no! No, we haven't! I-I mean, w-why would we do that? Th-that's just…That's just crazy, Jan. You're crazy. Kairi's my girlfrie…I mean BEST friend! Yeah, my very best friend and Riku's too, who happens to be a girl. Why would we be competing for her attention or anything else regarding her for that matter? I mean, that'd be like treating her like some kind of trophy or something," Sora quickly protested, barely keeping the stutter out of his voice as he spoke, while waving his hands rapidly in denial.

Thor found it rather odd that Sora was suddenly so nervous about this line of conversation, but he was also concerned about the young man for another reason. "Are you all right, Friend Sora? Thy face has turned rather red."

"Nothing! I mean, it's nothing. I'm probably just…a little out of breath after that little exercise in the training room," Sora stuttered, but he still turned away so that no one could see the obvious blush that was still growing on his face.

Even though they were not looking right at each other at the moment, Tony and Janet knew that they both had identical, knowing smirks on their faces that proved they knew how Sora really felt in regards to his friend Kairi, and there was a very likely chance that they were both going to give the kid a hard time in teasing him about this later on. Right now though, they still had one last stop on their tour of the Avengers' new headquarters, and afterwards, there was also the matter of getting right to work in discussing some other details. Thankfully for Sora, they had just arrived at the final destination on the tour, though it was not quite as impressive as the rest of the sublevels, to put it mildly. Yes, it was very large, but it was also very empty. There was literally nothing in the room except for a single, round table with a red outer rim, and a blue center that had the same logo from the ID cards and the Quinjet on the center in black, pretty much cementing that the decorative A was going to be the team's logo.

"And this is the Assembly Hall," Tony announced as the lights in the room came on.

While Wasp cooed in awe and the others looked about in slightly similar states, Sora just glanced around passively for a minute until he finally said, "There's not really much in here."

"Well there's not supposed to be, usually," Tony admitted. "This is more of a place where we can safely gather together for important meetings, discussing various different plans, or even just taking a monitor duty shift."

Sora nodded in consent of this and then followed after Wasp and Thor as they walked up to the table, each ready to start their first meeting as a team. Hank on the other hand had a few words for their leader. "All the money you've thrown into this is very impressive, Tony. Were you bored? Are we your new pet project? Why are we here," Hank asked a bit snidely.

"That's a good question. Kind of angry, but that's okay," Tony informed Hank as he walked over to the head of the table, while Hulk just moved off to the side somewhere with his arms crossed. "JARVIS, bring up the most-wanted list," Tony then requested after he set his helmet down on the table, and a moment later, a large hologram displaying images of all the escaped supervillains appeared from the center of the table. "Seventy-four supervillains escaped the day of the Breakout. Graviton is being held by SHIELD, and we caught Mandrill, but we've got more work to do."

It was at that point that Sora actually started to zone out of the conversation, not really paying that much attention to what the others were saying. He figured he could just look at the team's Most-Wanted List later on and study up then. Aside from that, he figured that everything else being discussed was going to be a matter that seemed to go over his head a little or just involved stuff he did not understand since he was not from this world. He was eventually stirred from his bored stupor when he overheard Hulk muttering something, but it did not sound like he was talking to any of them.

"This was your idea," the jade giant had said, but when Sora turned to look at Hulk, it appeared that he was talking to his reflection for whatever reason.

Feeling curious, Sora discreetly moved away from the table as the others continued to talk to Hulk, only making a mild note of how Hank pointed out that they no longer had a prison to send the supervillains to now that the Vault and the Big House were destroyed, and since no one had heard anything from the Cube. "Hey Hulk, who're you talking," Sora asked once he was next to the big guy.

"None of your business, Spiky," Hulk grunted. He did not really have anything much against the kid, but at the same time, he was still not going to just open up and become best friends with any of these guys in an instant, even if they had stood up for him before. Besides, this kid did not even know him, so why is he bothering trying to act like they are buddies? When Sora just shrugged in compliance and then leaned back while resting his hands behind his head, making no move to go back to where the others were, Hulk figured that the kid had decided to stay put where he was for the moment, and turned back to the others just as Tony brought up something about the Negative Zone. "Too much talking. We should just go get these guys," Hulk grumbled, anxious to get back out where the action was.

"Yeah, I'm with you, but where do you think they are," Sora agreed, while pointing out a small flaw in Hulk's plan. "I mean, it would be nice to know where to find these guys instead of just going around looking for them at random, wouldn't it?"

Hulk had to admit that the kid had a point. Sure, he may like smashing stuff, but he was not one to smash needlessly anymore. Whenever he got into a fight these days, he was always doing his best to try and avoid highly populated areas as a way of making sure no one got hurt by accident during his rampages. He was about to admit that the kid was right when Wasp suddenly yawned and said, "You know, maybe we should call it a day, then concentrate on beating up some bad guys tomorrow."

"At least one of you knows what they're doing," Hulk huffed as he turned to leave. "Even the kid has a better idea of what to do than you guys."

No one was really sure how Sora should take that latter comment from Hulk, including Sora. Had the Hulk complimented him or was it more of a backhand compliment? It was really hard to tell, but when it came to the former statement, Thor knew exactly how he was going to react. "I have had enough of you, creature," the Asgardian angrily declared, and he was soon storming up to Hulk once again. "Your insults end here!"

"You want to go, Goldilocks? Let's go," Hulk challenged, and the two probably would have started duking it out right there and then had Sora not stepped in between them at what was likely the last minute.

"Hey, come on you guys. We're supposed to be on the same team, remember? Besides, if you two want to fight, could you at least take it to the self-repairing training room first? In case you forgot, I'm living here at the mansion full-time too, just like you guys, so I'd kinda like to avoid leveling the place on the first day," Sora reminded the two big guns of the Avengers.

Thor and Hulk both had the decency to look a little ashamed at forgetting that they were not the only ones who would be living at the mansion like it was their own home, and while Sora did not mind staying with either Janet or Tony, he did not want to inconvenience either of them forever, so he was honestly glad that Tony had said that he could stay at the mansion if he wanted too. That was not going to be possible if those two started fighting inside any part of the building that was not the training room, and the two bruisers quickly made a silent promise to pick this up later in said part of the house. Though Hulk still left the room in more of a huff than Thor had, but Sora was still glad that the two were not going to start fighting each other right now. He may spar with Riku and some of his other friends from back home on the islands, but that did not mean he enjoyed seeing his friends fighting each other in the way that Thor and Hulk looked like they were going too.

"Wow, he's gonna be fun," Wasp remarked in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey, you're not the one rooming with both him and Thor," Sora whispered in reminder. "Besides, I'm sure that he's a great guy to be around so long as we don't upset him too much."

"Well, I'll just let you keep playing peacemaker just to be on the safe side, Sora, because I'd also appreciate it if none of you guys level this place on day one. Setting all this up wasn't exactly cheap, you know," Tony informed the kid, though it was pretty clear he was half-joking on that last bit.

Sora just smiled in reply to the armored Avenger, and then turned to head over to the training room with Thor following after him, and the others leaving a short time later. Sora figured that if Hulk and Thor did not end up going a few rounds there, he could use the place to try and get a better handle on using his Keyblade Glider. After all, as had been pointed out earlier, he needed all the help and practice he could get when it came to using that thing.

---

"Argh! Why can't I get this," Sora groaned in frustration as he threw the Keyblade down at the ground out of frustration. The magic blade only clattered across the floor of the training room a few times before it vanished in a flash of light and reappeared in his hand of course, but Sora quickly dismissed it afterwards, not really wanting to continue with his practice right now.

Sora had been down in the training room for a few hours now, trying his very best in every way that he could to get a better handle on using his Keyblade Glider, with little to no success at all. He had tried everything he could think of, and while for the most part he could usually summon the thing without much trouble, getting it to stick around or at least not disappear on him while he was very high up in the air was still a very serious problem. It always seemed to vanish and change back into the Keyblade after about thirty minutes at least, with forty-five minutes being the longest time he had been able to keep it out. That was not exaggeration; he had actually timed it with JARVIS's help, and the fact that he was still barely able to control it while in flight was not raising his spirits at all. Sure, he could steer it pretty well now, but it would always shoot straight forward or backwards at uncontrollable speeds most of the time for a few minutes before he managed to get it under control and fly properly, and when that was not the case, he would barely be able to get it going at all before it actually started flying at the speeds he wanted to go. He figured that part of the problem had to do with something in his mind, so he had tried to calm his mind as much as possible, mostly by trying to get used to riding on a flying motorcycle that was normally a key-shaped sword, but that did not really do much more than extend the time it stayed as a Keyblade Glider to what it currently was. When he started out, he could only keep the thing out for twenty minutes at most, so he liked to think that getting closer to having it out for an hour was a pretty big step in the right direction, sort of.

No matter how you sliced it though, Sora's control over the Keyblade Glider was barely any better than what he heard Hulk's temper was said to be, and he had now run out of ideas on how to get it under control. Once again, Sora could not help but feel that his lack of control over the Keyblade Glider was due to the fact that he had learned how to summon it from his weird vision as opposed to how most Keyblade wielders normally learned, but then again, he was really only guessing in that regard since he had no clue how the Keyblade wielders before him had learned how to summon the thing. It was not exactly easy to ask about that since he was the only Keyblade wielder who was around these days, apparently. Still, some of his friends had all mentioned having met Keyblade wielders before, so he had to figure that at least one of them might have some idea on how to better get the hang of using the thing. Tony was obviously out, both because he was currently doing something at his company and because he did not really seem to be one who accepted magic so easily, and he was not really looking to try and contact Fury to see if he could help given what he had learned about the SHIELD director's involvement with Graviton, so as far as he could tell, that just left one person to assist him, and he decided to go and talk with that person right away.

Making his decision, Sora quickly rushed out of the training room and up to the main floor of the mansion in the hopes of finding Thor, and in a stroke of luck, he actually found the Asgardian sitting comfortably by the fire with a slightly cross look on his face. No doubt he was still a bit upset about the previous incidents with Hulk, but Sora was sure that the two would have headed down to the training room to get it out of their systems by now. Maybe they had while he was not paying attention and Thor was dissatisfied with the outcome, but right now, Sora did not really care too much. He wanted to get some help with learning how to use the Keyblade power he had been struggling so much with. So, he just strolled right into the lounge with a smile and said, "Hey Thor, is there any chance you could help me out with something?"

Thor turned his gaze from the fireplace and over to Sora, and his scowl faded a little as he replied, "I may not be a Keyblade master or expert on the matter myself, but I will happy to provide what assistance I can to you, Friend Sora. What is it you need?"

"I was wondering if you had any tips on how I could get a better handle on using my Keyblade Glider. I just can't seem to get to it to stay out for as long as I want it to, and the best I've gotten is keeping it out for forty-five minutes at most. Any chance you knowing something that could help," Sora explained.

Thor hummed in thought as he placed a hand to his chin, and then looked back to Sora as he inquired, "Hasn't thy own master told you anything of how to use the glider form of your Keyblade?"

"No, I never had a master, remember," Sora reminded the Asgardian. "The thing just appeared in my hand while my home was falling to darkness."

"How is it that you learned to summon the Keyblade Glider at all, then," Thor asked.

"I'm…not really sure," Sora admitted, and he then went on to explain what allowed him to learn about the ability. Everything from the strange headache after Fury had mentioned it to him during the fight with Graviton, to the strange vision, and even the description of the three people he had seen in his vision.

By the time Sora had finished his explanation, Thor's eyes had widened a little in awe, and he quickly said, "Truly, an unexpected development indeed. Friend Sora, I believe I know of the ones you saw in your vision. From the descriptions that you have just provided, it sounds as though you saw the Keyblade wielders Terra, Ventus, and Master Aqua. I could not say why Ventus' parts of your vision were through his own eyes though, but the fact that you had such a vision at all is very surprising indeed."

Sora perked up a little bit when he heard that, but then hummed in thought for minute. He was wondering about why that part of his vision was from a first-person perspective as well, but he could not really think of any explanation, and from his standpoint, it did not really seem all that important. He still had something much more important to ask about right now, and anything else would have gotten them off track. "Did any of them really talk to you about their abilities while they were in Asgard?"

"Ventus and Terra were always fighting alongside myself, Lady Sif, Balder, or the Warriors Three, so we did not have much time to discuss the abilities they possessed. Master Aqua on the other hand did indeed share a few things about her abilities while she was there, including some knowledge on the ability you are struggling with," Thor admitted. He then crossed his arms for a minute as he recounted what he had been told. "Master Aqua explained to me that in order to truly master the use of a Keyblade Glider, one must be able to relax themselves, allow the sensation of the wind in their face to calm their minds, and let the freedom of flight take hold of them. More than that, they must be able to fully trust in their blade, and believe that it will safely guide them to whatever destination that they are traveling to, just as they would entrust it to guide them and keep them safe in battle."

The first part of that was somewhat easy for Sora to understand, after all, since he did not really have to worry about running across any supervillain attacks after the fight with Graviton, he knew just how great it felt to be flying in the air, when he was not falling from the sky after the Keyblade Glider had transformed back to normal on him in mid-flight. Maybe since it had happened so often now, he was still a little worried that it would happen, so that was what was giving him so much trouble. The other part though was where he became completely lost. "With the way you're talking, you almost make it sound like the Keyblade has a mind of its own. Like it can think and feel."

"Aye, that would actually be very correct in a way," Thor confirmed. "As I had mentioned previously at Iron Man's tower, the Keyblade chooses its wielder. Even when a master passes the power onto another, that person must still wait until the Keyblade that would be theirs chooses them. The ability to wield a Keyblade may be inside of a person, but it is the Keyblade itself that chooses who its wielder shall be, and when it shall appear before that wielder."

"So then, are you saying the Keyblade is alive or something," Sora asked, summoning out the aforementioned weapon so he could study a little in awe as he did.

"Perhaps not quite in the sense that one would normally think when saying that, but in its own way, yes, the Keyblade does possess a will and a light of its own that allows it to exist," Thor simplified as best as he could. "Your Keyblade is no more a mere tool than Mjolnir is simply just another hammer. It is as much your ally as I am and as the other Avengers are. Perhaps once you fully realize that for yourself, you will truly be able to use the Keyblade Glider to its full extent, or at least without it returning to its normal form while you are in mid-flight."

To anyone else, nothing Thor said would have made sense, but for some reason, Sora could see a bit of logic behind what the Asgardian was saying. In the past fights, there were a few times when Sora felt like the Keyblade was trying to lead him in another direction than the one he wanted to go, especially whenever they encountered the Heartless, and that sense seemed to become a little magnified when he was flying on his Keyblade Glider, like someone was trying to argue with him on which way he needed to go in order to reach his destination quickly. With that in mind, Sora could kind of see what Thor was getting at when he said that the Keyblade had a mind of its own, so maybe, he did need to do what Thor suggested and figure out a way to learn how to treat his Keyblade as more of an ally than a weapon. Already he could tell that was not going to be easy. After all, how do you condition yourself to think of something as anything but what it normally is? Then again, there was something about his Keyblade he still felt like he had not yet learned, and it was something that he felt that he should have known by now. The only question he had was just what was that thing? Maybe if he learned that answer, he would be able to do as Thor suggested, and learn to treat his Keyblade as an ally.

Sora was about to ask Thor some more questions, just to see if there was anything else that could help him, when JARVIS suddenly interrupted. "Pardon me, sirs. There would appear to be something…wrong," the computer butler announced to the two.

"What be thy concern, ethereal voice," Thor asked as he and Sora looked up to the ceiling, feeling that it was a bit appropriate when talking to JARVIS when they were not near one of his terminals.

"I have no physical evidence of this, but I believe the mansion's systems are being tampered with. I believe there is an intruder," JARVIS explained.

"Any ideas where," Sora asked.

"No."

"Well, that's no help," Sora muttered just as the sounds of heavy footsteps thundered from the hall, drawing his and Thor's attention to the jade giant that was passing by. "Hey Hulk. I thought you went to sleep already or something."

"Tried to. Couldn't," Hulk grunted, shortly.

If Sora was bothered by that reply, he just shrugged it off and moved on to his next question. "Well, did you happen to see anything strange anywhere in the mansion while you were walking around?"

"No, why," Hulk asked.

"The house believes we have been infiltrated," Thor informed him as he stood up and spun his hammer around his hand with an excited grin on his face. "If that is true, then let us patrol the grounds. Perhaps if we are lucky, we will find battle this night."

"You think we'll be lucky to find someone to fight," Sora muttered in wonder. If the intruder had gotten past Tony's defenses, then that likely meant it was either the Heartless or something else that was almost if not just as dangerous. Sora was not one to run from a fight if one needed to be fought, but he would have preferred to settle things without one if possible. Unfortunately, it seemed that there was going to be a fight soon enough, but not with their possible intruder.

Hulk had just been glaring at the two of them for a minute, until he finally growled and stomped up to Thor angrily and snapped, "I don't battle. I smash, and if you talk to me again, Hammer Face, I'll smash you!"

"Whoa, calm down, Hulk! Thor was just saying that we need your help to figure out if there really is an intruder or if JARVIS's scanners are just on the fritz or something," Sora attempted to placate, but his efforts only seemed to have the opposite effect.

"No one's talking to you, Key Boy, so unless you want to get smashed too, you'd better back off," Hulk snapped. Sora instantly recoiled a bit in surprise when Hulk snapped at him, but despite all appearances to the contrary, it was not just because of how Hulk had responded to his attempts at playing peacemaker. In reality, for some reason, Sora felt like he could sense something coming from the Hulk when he had turned his anger on him. Something…dark and evil. Sora had no idea how he was suddenly able to sense something like that, but at the moment, he was more concerned about the current situation to really care that much.

His concern only grew when Thor marched up Hulk again and said, "I suggest that whatever problem you have with me, you leave Friend Sora out of. He has done nothing to insult or harm you since your first meeting, so he is undeserving of any such insults. Though if you wish to test your mettle against an Asgardian, I am happy to oblige."

"Guys, seriously, calm down! How many times do we have to say 'we're on the same side' until you both get it and stop trying to fight each other like you're archenemies? Besides, we've got more important things to worry about than whatever grudge match you two have going on right now, so can you please try to get along until we find out if someone has broken into the mansion or not," Sora pleaded, but he was not entirely sure if his words were heard by either of the two, given how intensely they were glaring each other down, and how they had become so tensed up, almost as though they were ready for the other to make any kind of aggressive move against them.

After another minute or so, Hulk finally seemed to settle down a little, but not quite enough to be thinking straight, because the next thing he said was, "I don't need this. I don't need anyone. Tell the others I quit!"

With that, Hulk stomped out of both the room and the mansion, with Thor just glaring after him, while Sora only gaped until he started to go after the jade giant in an attempt to convince him to rethink that decision. He probably would have too if he had not been stopped short by hearing Thor say, "Good riddance."

That caused Sora to turn his own glare on Thor, and he was just about to tear into the Asgardian himself, despite whatever help the blonde had given him, when JARVIS announced that Pepper was calling the mansion. A second later, the portrait that hid the television screen lifted up to reveal the screen itself, and Pepper's face appeared on it, and she did not look too happy at the moment. "JARVIS just told me the Hulk left. Thor, Sora, you guys have to bring him back," Pepper informed the two, though one could detect a bit of begging in her tone.

"Why would we do that," Thor asked in disbelief. He saw no reason to bring someone as rude, insulting, and disrespectful as Hulk back.

Sora on the other hand was of a different mindset, and he proved it by giving an answer in Pepper's stead. "Because he's our friend, and if he's out there by himself, those guys from the other day might try to hurt him or arrest him like they had before. Besides, I can't explain how, but when Hulk was talking with us earlier, I…sensed something coming from him. It felt really bad too, which means he definitely needs our help."

"And that's all the more reason to bring him back, aside from what I was going to say," Pepper nodded in thanks to Sora. She had no idea how the kid was able to do it, but from what she could tell, he had been able to get the Hulk to open up to him more than anyone else since joining the Avengers, so it was safe to say that Sora's feelings of friendship towards the Hulk were probably not one-sided. She then went on to add, "Besides what Sora said, there's also the fact that he's our responsibility, and with the mood he's in, he's liable to tear down this entire city. Please, go get him."

"Don't worry, Pepper. I'll go get Hulk back, and figure out what's causing him to act the way that he is before you know it," Sora reassured Tony's redheaded assistant, and before anyone could say anything, the kid was out the door and chasing after the Hulk.

Pepper just stared after where Sora had run off to before looking back to Thor with a meaningful look, silently questioning if the Thunderer was really going to let Sora try and calm the Hulk down on his own, since there was a very likely chance that the kid could still get smashed by the big guy. It was barely even a minute before Thor conceded to the redhead's demands with a grimace, and he then stomped out of the house to follow after Sora. Though his pace was a bit more sedated since he was still not as eager to bring Hulk back as Sora was, and in his frustration, he completely missed the beautiful, blonde woman who suddenly appeared on the couch as he left, and how she was watching after them with a small, wicked smirk on her face.

---

It was really nothing new for people to be running away scared, screaming their heads off, and all because they just caught a glimpse of him walking in their direction. Honestly, you would think that after seeing so many actual villains and monsters, people would be a little more accepting of someone like him, and that was without considering the fact that he had just helped save these ungrateful, puny little sheep from Graviton just the other day. Sure, he knew that he was not the only person to get that kind of criticism, as a nearby Daily Bugle newspaper proved by once again slandering Spider-Man in its headline, but still, the fact that it was happening to him right at this moment made it hard to remember that. Of course, the fact that Hulk was still in a very bad mood right now was not much help either, but honestly, he just did not care. These people acted like he was going to start smashing up the entire city at any second, which was starting to seem like a pretty good idea if it would get them to shut the hell up with all of their screaming, when all he wanted to do was just go for a little walk. He knew that this whole attempting to be a hero thing was a waste of time, and he had no idea why Banner was trying to convince him otherwise in the first place. Sure, it was more of a mystery as to why Banner was now saying the exact opposite of his usual spiel and going back on his encouragement to join the Avengers, but Hulk was just too mad to care about anything beyond getting away from all these puny idiots, and putting some distance between himself and the mansion.

His plan seemed pretty sound in his rage-clouded mind for the most part, at least until something unexpected happened. That something being the sounds of Sora's Keyblade Glider flying overhead, and since the brunette was most likely barely controlling it again, Hulk immediately turned his gaze skyward to see Sora riding after him on the flying motorcycle, wobbling in the air as he went. On the bright side though, it looked like he had slightly better control now, since he was clearly able to maintain a set speed as opposed just rocketing or slowly crawling in one specific direction or another, but that did not make his flight path any less stable. Still, Sora seemed insistent that he was able to handle this even after he saw he had Hulk's attention and that the jade giant was ready to leap up and catch him at any moment. "It's okay! I've got it! I've got it," Sora called down to Hulk, sounding a lot more sure than he likely was in reality, and definitely a lot more sure than Hulk was feeling about it. A second later, Hulk's concern was proven true when the bike vanished and returned to its Keyblade form once more, and Sora was once again dropping from the sky, all the while shouting, "I don't got it!"

Hulk instantly sprung up into the air and caught Sora for the second time today, and after setting the kid on the ground, watching as Sora got his breath back, Hulk just had to comment, "You need to find a better way of getting around, Spiky."

"Hey, I didn't…know for sure…how far you had gotten. And I was…positive that…I'd find you faster…from the air," Sora panted. When he was finally able to breathe normally again, he straightened up and looked Hulk dead in the eye and asked, "Are you okay though? You seem to be in a really bad mood. Well, more than you usually are."

Hulk just crossed his arms and turned away as he huffed, "Like you would know about how angry I usually am. You said it yourself that you've barely been in this world for a little more than a week."

"Well yeah, but I'd like to think that's enough time for me to figure out what qualifies as a normally pleasant mood for you. Besides, I can't help but think that there's something wrong with you, Hulk, and that's got me a little worried," Sora admitted. When Hulk just looked at him questioningly, the young man explained, "When you were shouting at me and Thor earlier, I think I sensed something weird coming from you. Don't ask me how I could sense anything, because I'm not entirely sure how I'm suddenly able to do stuff like that, but besides that, it was also the first time you seemed to really get so much as annoyed with me at all. You've been a lot friendlier with me than any of the others, so to suddenly see you turn around and act like a jerk to me is a little worrying."

Sora's words did hold a ring of truth to them, now that Hulk thought about it. Why had he gone off on Sora like that when the kid had not even done anything to offend him? More to the point, Hulk actually did find Sora to be the only one out of all the others that he did not mind being around, and like the kid was the only one he could trust. The fact that Sora was so quick to help him during the fight with Graviton and had done nothing but try to be friends with him ever since definitely helped quite a bit in addition to being from another world, but all the same, Hulk was not normally one to just shrug off that sort of kindness from others so easily. Why was it that he had suddenly done so to Sora barely more than five minutes ago? It did not make any sense. In that instant, Hulk wanted to apologize to the kid, something he never really did to anyone before, but before he could utter even a single syllable of the words, he suddenly felt something slink through his head while his vision turned slightly green for a minute, and he was right back to being extremely ticked off again.

"Get it through your head. We're not friends, I don't need anybody, and I'm not letting some puny little kid and Hammer Face tell me otherwise. Now get lost," Hulk growled as he started to move past Sora.

Sora was surprised by that sudden outburst. He really thought he was getting through to Hulk for a minute there. He could see it in Hulk's eyes that his words were having an effect, but then it seemed like someone had flipped a switch and Hulk was back to acting like he had been back at the mansion before he stormed out. Still, Sora was not one to call it quits just like that, and he immediately went after the big guy, as he called out, "But Hulk, what if SHIELD or those Hulkbuster guys come after you again? I don't want them to hurt you or lock you up for no reason."

"Sure you don't," Hulk huffed in disbelief. "No one wants to take down the big bad monster. The Avengers are no better than Ross or SHIELD, except they're honest about it. Now go home and leave me alone!"

Now Sora was positive that something was wrong. Where had all of these ideas come from? Sure, Thor had done a lot to antagonize Hulk today, but none of the others had done anything of the sort, so why was he suddenly shifting so much hatred onto the Avengers? Maybe all of those years being hunted had more of an effect on Hulk's trust than Sora originally thought, but he was still convinced that this was something much more than that. He was about to try something else when they both heard thunder crash above them, and Thor suddenly dropped down into Hulk's path. Just from one look at the Asgardian's face told Sora so many things, and none of them were going to be good for this situation.

"You are to come back to Avengers Mansion with us, Hulk," Thor ordered, proving Sora right in an instant. Hulk did not seem interested and just brushed past Thor, angering the blonde a little more, and prompting him to latch onto the Hulk's large arm as he growled, "'Twas not a request."

Sora just knew that was not going to end well, and he hated it even more that he was proven right, because Hulk's first and only response to Thor's actions was to punch the Asgardian as hard as he could. Said punch had sent Thor flying into a nearby construction site, and while it looked like the Asgardian was okay, from what Sora could tell at his current distance, it did not stop Thor from charging back in with his hammer raised. As the blonde passed by him, Sora could have sworn he saw an excited smirk on Thor's face, making the Keyblade wielder's worry sky-rocket right out of the atmosphere. He then watched as the two exchanged a few more blows, barely even paying attention to him as he tried to at least get their attention in the hopes of calming them down, until Hulk finally punched Thor all the way over to Central Park, leaping after him a second later.

Seeing this, Sora instantly knew one thing: he was going to need a lot of help. With that in mind, it was no surprise that his hand immediately reached into his pocket and retrieved his ID card so that he could make the necessary call. "Hey Pepper, remember when you told me and Thor to bring Hulk back to the mansion," Sora started, getting a wary positive reply soon afterwards. "Weeeell…Let's just say that Thor's methods of persuasion kind of caused the two of them to start a little bit of a brawl in the middle of Central Park."

"Are you serious," Pepper asked in disbelief. "What did he say to him?"

"I think the more appropriate question would be 'what's wrong with Hulk?', because I'm now positive that there's something wrong with the big guy. If he was in his right state of mind, he would have taken his problems out in the training room with Thor like I had suggested they do earlier. I'm positive that someone or something has done something to him," Sora insisted. He did not want Pepper to know that he was only half-sure about the idea that Thor and Hulk would have tried to settle their grudge in the training room, but right now, a little fib was nowhere near as important as the fight happening right now.

"I'll let Tony know right away, but you need to do what you can to slow them down, or least make sure that it doesn't get out of the park," Pepper informed Sora.

"You've got it, but I think Tony's going to get the idea as soon as I call the others," Sora nodded to Pepper, and with that, he switched over to the general frequency that the ID cards used, and uttered two simple words. "Avengers, assemble."

A few seconds later, Sora was in the air again, racing over to the park as fast as he could on his Keyblade Glider, but not before he heard Tony's voice muttering something over his communicator. "I feel like that should've been my line."

---

The fight between Thor and Hulk was certainly getting intense, but thankfully, no bystanders were around to get hurt, so the two were not hesitating to go all out for their own reasons. If you were to ask either of the two, they would both say that they were easily beating the other, but in reality, Hulk was the one who was easily winning at the moment, as evidenced by how he knocked Thor back several feet after tackling the Asgardian. The result of Hulk's attack ended up creating an impressive trench in the ground, while apparently knocking Thor out, and Hulk was just about to deliver a few more punches that make sure of that when Wasp suddenly flew right up to him from out of nowhere. She had been the closest one to the area when Sora made the call, and made a beeline for the park once she had fully learned about the situation, but that did not make seeing it any less worrying or confusing for her.

"Hulk, stop! Why are you doing this," Wasp pleaded, while Hulk just panted angrily.

"Yeah, pal. Just calm down and think for a minute. We're your friends; we're not attacking you," Sora added as he arrived on the scene. His arrival being on foot since he had actually just flown to the edge of the park, and he did not even want to try and kid himself into thinking that his Keyblade Glider would have stayed out for the entire flight over there. A second later though, Hulk was blown a few meters away by a hard right hook from Thor. "THOR," Sora irritably groaned as he nearly glared at the Asgardian.

"Well, I guess Thor is," Wasp quietly muttered.

"That's not helping, Jan," Sora reminded the size-changer, hoping that Hulk had not heard her.

Thankfully, it looked like Hulk was too mad to have heard or even cared what Janet had said, but the bad news was that Hulk was still really angry, and getting angrier by the minute, even as he stomped towards the three. It was just at the moment that Hulk had gotten halfway back over to the other three that Iron Man had flown in and tried to gently push Hulk back in an effort to calm the big guy down. "Hulk, Hulk! Stop this! You have to listen," Tony shouted.

"Alert: Unknown energy detected," JARVIS suddenly announced. Tony barely even needed to glimpse at his scanners to know where said energy was coming from, and he needed even less time to figure out what that meant.

"Hulk, wait! There's something…" Iron Man started to say, but he never got the chance to finish. Hulk just grabbed him and slammed him into the ground, prompting Wasp to take action and start firing her stingers at the big guy in an attempt to get him to back off of the Avengers' leader. While Hulk was most likely not hurt by Wasp's attacks, they were still rapid enough to disorient him and make him back away from Tony, giving the billionaire hero the chance to stand up again and turn to his other two teammates who had just run over to him. "Looks like you were right about something effecting the Hulk, Sora," Tony informed the kid as he turned his gaze on both Sora's Keyblade and Thor's hammer. "There's some kind of weird energy around him. It's similar to what your Keyblade and Thor's hammer gives off, more so in the case of the latter though."

"Tis dark magic. The Hulk has been enchanted," Thor exclaimed the minute he heard Tony say that.

"Well that's not good. Not good at all," Sora pointed out. It was somewhat unnecessary, but Sora was too worried at the moment to care. The fact that someone was using Hulk to attack them was far from good news, and the only way that they could possibly knock him back to his sense was not really one that seemed any better.

Unfortunately, the bad news only got worse, because somehow, Hulk managed to finally shrug off Wasp's stinger barrage, and was now charging towards the other three once more. He would have succeeded in his charge too, had he not suddenly been stopped by Giant-Man grabbing him mid-charge. Once he was sure that he had the big guy secured in his grip, Hank looked down at the others and joked, "I'm guessing this isn't a team trust-building exercise."

Hank really should have kept his attention on Hulk instead of stopping to joke, because the next thing he knew, not only had Hulk gotten free, he was now flipping Giant-Man over until the size-changing scientist had crashed flat on his back. When Hank managed to sit up again, he suddenly found the Hulk landing on his head, and he had no doubt that the gamma hero was going to try and give him one serious headache in a minute, so he instantly raised his hands up to try and swat Hulk off. Before he could though, Sora suddenly shouted out, "No, wait! Something's controlling Hulk! He's not himself! Don't hurt him!"

Hank would have just thrown a disbelieving look in Sora's direction had he not realized that the boy was not just speaking to him. He was also addressing the Asgardian who came charging in to try and deliver a hard hammer blow to Hulk's head. Thor's efforts did not go as planned though, as the Hulk easily batted the blonde's attack aside, then grabbed him by his cape, and sent Thor flying away with a hard throw. Seeing all this unfold as he made his own charge, Iron Man just had to quip, "Yeah, I'm not so sure we're the ones you should be saying that too, Sora."

Tony's point was quickly proven when Hulk spun around and clothes-lined him down into some nearby trees, leaving him free to jump down onto Giant-Man's shoulder, and when Hank turned towards him, he was quickly met with the sucker punch that Hulk's fist delivered straight into his face. The result of Hulk's blow sent Hank crashing down to the ground, while Hulk just landed on Giant-Man's chest, ready to take advantage of the situation, until a voice cried out, "Get away from him!"

That angry shout was followed by another barrage of bio-stinger blasts, courtesy of Wasp, who was none too happy about that attack on the man she cared about so much, but her rage was still nothing compared to Hulk's. As such, this time, her barrage did barely anything more than the last one did, and unlike the last time, Hulk was able to shrug her strikes off much more easily, right to the point where he even clapped her hands around her, knocking Janet out, and leaving her completely vulnerable to any action that Hulk would take next as she lay in his open, left palm. At least that seemed to be the case, until Sora rushed in and slammed the Keyblade right into Hulk's head, making him drop Janet and turn away, more due to the unexpectedness of the attack than anything else. When he turned back to Sora, he just glared at the kid for a minute before he turned away again and angrily spat out a tooth.

Seeing Hulk do that and then thinking about what he had just done, Sora instantly paled a lot and found he could only mutter two words. "I'm sorry."

It came as no surprise that Hulk was not accepting apologies at the moment, and it was even less of a surprise that he charged Sora once more, fist raised and ready to strike down the Keyblade wielder. Sora on the other hand was still a little too freaked out to react fast enough or even properly, because all he was able to do was raise the Keyblade in front of him, defensively out of nothing but pure instinct. What Sora did not know was that somehow, when he had hit the Hulk, his Keyblade had weakened whatever spell was keeping the real Bruce Banner from communicating with Hulk, and after seeing Hulk charging the kid in the way that he was, Bruce finally managed to find the extra strength he needed to break free, releasing the Hulk from whatever mind control he was under at the very same moment. Thankfully, they had both broken free just in time too, because Hulk's fist had stopped short just a few inches shy of Sora's Keyblade when the big guy had broken free. When he looked up at Hulk again though, Sora could see a whole marathon of emotions running through the big guys eyes, with the most notable being shame, guilt, and sadness.

Sora would have said something to the big guy, but before he could, Hulk had turned and started jumping away as fast as he could, clearly unable to face the kid or any of the others right now, and Sora was sure that Hulk was thinking he and the others would see the big guy as a monster. He knew that was not true, as evidenced at how no one seemed to be showing any signs of being angry at the Hulk as they started coming around, but there was still the problem of convincing Hulk about that. Well that, and the large axe that suddenly struck Iron Man from out of nowhere startling everyone still present. "The Avengers. How unimpressive," a female voice mocked, drawing a glare of recognition from Thor while Sora and the others could only turn in shock to see who had spoken. When they spotted the person in question, they were all shocked to see a large, bald man with a goatee and strange armor standing over Iron Man, no doubt being the one who had attacked Tony, and a rather stunning woman with long blonde hair in a green outfit that left her shoulders bare smirking down at Tony with a glint in their eyes that could only be classified as evil. "You had better hope someone more capable chooses to avenge you," the woman finished.

A moment later, the woman had fired a blast of energy right into Thor, causing him to lose his grip on his hammer, and giving her the chance to encase it in a field that prevented Thor from retrieving it, much to the Asgardian's displeasure. Sora then took a chance and prepared to charge, only to be blasted back by the woman as well. Unlike Thor though, Sora's Keyblade did not get trapped in any magic fields, so he was able to keep a hold on his weapon, much to the blonde woman's scowling displeasure. "How dare you attack us, Enchantress," Thor accused the blonde woman as he stood up again.

"Wait, wait, wait. You know these people, Thor," Tony asked.

"Aye. The Enchantress and her Executioner. They are Asgardians," Thor revealed enlightening all of his teammates on the two's identities. He then returned his attention to the sorceress and asked, "Why have you come here, Amora?"

"Oh, you love Midgard so much, Thunderer, we thought we would come and see what all the fuss is about," Enchantress mockingly replied before turning another blast of magic on Thor, trapping him in an instant. She probably would have been able to focus on Thor completely had she not suddenly been struck from behind by the Avengers' resident Keyblade wielder, and she could not help but sneer a little at the sight of him before it became an expression of humor. "And apparently, our timing could not be better, seeing as the newest Keybearer now stands alongside you. Still, he is far from being even a smidgen as impressive as even the youngest of the last three."

Sora just growled a little in response before charging again, only to have his Keyblade intercepted by Executioner, before he was pushed back once more. Sora would have charged again, but his charge was cut off when a number of Shadows suddenly materialized around him, much to his surprise. "Not now," Sora groaned. "Why'd the Heartless have to show up here at this moment?"

"Well, I see you're well acquainted with my newest minions," Enchantress commented. "I suppose that will spare you of worrying about who it will be that will end whatever threat you could ever hope to pose, assuming you even pose one at all now."

Thor was now a bit confused as to how Enchantress had managed to find a way to command the Heartless, but given their current situation, worrying about such matters was of little consequence. His friends had no idea what they were up against, even as they charged into another battle once more.

---

Somewhere far from the battle that was taking place, Hulk had finally stopped in his running to sit down and brood over what had happened. He had really thought he was starting to change his situation for the better, and look what happened: he was used against the Avengers, some of the first people to stand up for him, and attacked Sora, the first person who had not hesitated to try and befriend him since that kid, Rick Jones. Maybe he was a monster and deserved to be locked up like everyone seemed to think. Unfortunately, Hulk was not going to be allowed to wallow in peace, because his mind's roommate was not going to have any of that. "You have to go back," Bruce Banner insisted. "Someone was manipulating you. They wanted you to fight the Avengers! You have to go back and make sure they're okay."

Hulk only growled in annoyance before he sighed in defeat and said, "Everything you said was true. I am a monster."

"It's only true if you let it be. Walk away now and it will be," Bruce told him. Seeing that was not helping him get through to Hulk, Banner went on to add, "From what I could tell, if no one else, Sora definitely believes in you. He never once showed any sign of being afraid of you when you were not being controlled, and he honestly wants to be your friend. He believes that you can be a force for good, just like I still do."

Hulk just sat there for a few more minutes, letting that sink in, until he finally made his decision on what he should do.

---

When you factored in the fatigue that the Avengers were feeling from the earlier fight with Hulk along with how they had been drawn right into another fight just seconds later, it seemed pretty needless to say that their battle with Enchantress, Executioner, and the Heartless was pretty one-sided, especially with both Iron Man and Thor unable to do anything to help. If his armor had not been so damaged by Executioner's sneak attack, Iron Man likely would have been able to help at least even the tide of the fight, but unfortunately, that was not the case, and his suit was now leaking energy faster than it could recharge. Somehow, Wasp, Giant-Man, and Sora had managed to hold their own for a decent while, but given how overwhelming the villains' numbers were, it was only a matter of time until they were pinned down like their other two teammates, Wasp being captured by the same magic that Enchantress used to imprison Thor and his hammer, Hank being pinned down beneath Executioner's boot with his mask showing a few burn marks from the earlier fireball that he had taken to the face from said Asgardian, and Sora just barely keeping the Heartless at bay with his Keyblade. Sure, Sora was still standing, but given how the Shadows were not giving him any openings to break through and help his friends, it did not seem like he was going to be able to stop Enchantress and Executioner from doing whatever they pleased.

Eventually, Sora's own tiredness got the best of him, and made him slip up on one of his attacks against the Heartless, and as a result, he was soon dog-piled beneath the Shadows that had surrounded him, barely even able to lift himself up as they kept him down. Say what you would about these things, but even though the Shadows were the most common and weakest of the Heartless, they were certainly strong little buggers when there was a large enough number of them, as Sora was currently finding out firsthand. "Foolish child," Enchantress mocked. "You may be one of the Keyblade's chosen, but you pose as much of a threat to me as a mortal infant." She then shrugged off the glare that Sora threw at her in response, and then turned to Executioner and said, "Finish off the Giant Man first. His head will make a good trophy on my wall."

"Hank," Wasp gasped, feeling a tear begin to fall from her eyes as she was forced to watch Executioner raise his axe in preparation to chop off Hank's head. Just before he could bring it down though, a loud roar suddenly echoed throughout the area around them, and a massive figure crashed down before the Executioner, knocking him away from Hank, and throwing Amora off her feet due to the shockwave of the impact. That same shockwave also served to destroy the Heartless that had dog-piled on Sora, and it allowed him the ability to stand up straight again, just in time to see the dust clear away and reveal who had just saved them.

When he saw just who their rescuer was, Sora instantly grinned as widely as he could, and said, "Thanks for that, Hulk."

Hulk said nothing in reply, but he did let out an enraged roar to show that he was very pissed off at the moment, and that scared the two, villainous Asgardians a little. Being so caught up in the Hulk's sudden return, Enchantress failed to realize that the spells she had cast to restrain Wasp and Thor had been weakened until it was already too late, and the two were ready to enter into the fray again. Thankfully, she did realize it just in time to avoid having her head lobbed off by Thor's hammer as it spun through the air and back into his waiting hand. The minute that Mjolnir was in his grasp, Thor immediately called down a powerful storm of lightning that seemed to light up the night sky like fireworks, seemingly as a show of intimidation. One which Enchantress barely even batted an eye at as she stood up and proclaimed, "I do not fear your lightning, Odinson. Your magic is nothing against mine."

"You are not my target, witch," Thor retorted with a small hint of a smirk. A minute after he said that, Iron Man stood up, his armor more than fully recharged thanks to Thor, and he immediately blasted into the air before Executioner could cleave him in two.

After firing off a quick repulsor blast at Executioner, Iron Man landed before the other Avengers who were still standing and shouted, "Take them down!"

Those three words were all the Avengers needed to charge in and throw everything they still had left at Enchantress, Executioner, and their remaining Heartless. While Iron Man and Thor focused all of their attention on Enchantress, Hulk and Wasp concentrated on Executioner, and Sora put most of his attention into destroying the Heartless, easily dusting the shadowy creatures with a single swipe of his Keyblade. Sure, the kid would assist the others wherever he could, but since he was not able to do that much to help against the two Asgardians he found those moments to be few and in-between. He really did wish he could help a little more though, as he saw Enchantress easily avoid Thor's strikes and Iron Man's repulsor blasts by teleporting all around the field as though she were the mole in a game of Whack-a-Mole, while Executioner managed to constantly freeze Hulk as the gamma hero was in mid-charge before batting him away with his axe.

It was at that point that Sora felt like there was nothing he wanted more right then than to make the two villains freeze in their tracks so that his friends could stand a chance, and then suddenly, without even realizing what he was doing, he suddenly found himself aiming the Keyblade at Executioner after spinning out of an attack on a Shadow, and releasing a blast of ice shards from the tip of his blade that caught Executioner off guard. This sudden development definitely came as a surprise to Sora, since he was not expecting or planning to do that at all, but given that it allowed Hulk the chance to knock Executioner out of the fight, he was certainly not complaining. Seeing that the larger villain was now out of the way and the last of the Heartless were destroyed, Sora made to either join Iron Man and Thor in fighting Enchantress or help Wasp with pulling Hank out of the lake after he had been knocked into it because of one of Amora's attacks on Thor, until he saw a faint aura of energy appear around Hulk's head, while the gamma giant turned towards the blonde woman.

"Destroy them all, my creature," Enchantress commanded, and for a moment, it looked like Hulk was going to do as she ordered, until he suddenly stopped in his tracks and seemed to struggle in an attempt to keep her out.

Seeing Hulk's distress, Sora immediately turned the Keyblade on Enchantress, intent on blasting her like he had Executioner, but he only succeeded in making himself look ridiculous as nothing happened. "Come on, Keyblade," Sora muttered to the thing as he gave it a few shakes, trying to make it work. "Hulk needs our help, so please just ice-blast Enchantress like before." Sora pointed the Keyblade's tip at Enchantress again, thinking with all his might about how he made it blast Executioner before, until finally, he could feel something happening through his grip on the handle. Barely a minute later, a small fireball erupted from the tip that struck Enchantress dead-center, breaking her concentration, and allowing Hulk to break free of her spell completely. "Not quite what I was going for, but that works," Sora smiled.

Hulk on the other hand, still had something very important that he needed to make sure that the witch understood as clear as day. "NO ONE CONTROLS THE HULK!"

The minute that Hulk had shouted that, he slammed his fists into the ground, creating a small earthquake that threw Enchantress off her feet once more, further disorienting her as extra insurance for when Iron Man and Thor flew up and blasted her with everything they had. When the dust settled, Enchantress was revealed to have been knocked out cold, despite not having a scratch on her, aside from a small scorch mark on her tunic where Sora's fire blast had hit her. Sora was just about to wonder aloud how he had even managed to do that, when they all suddenly heard Wasp shouting, "Watch out!"

Janet's warning had come a little too late though, because Iron Man, Thor, and Sora were all batted aside by Executioner, leaving the large Asgardian free to scoop up Enchantress and then retreat through a portal he formed with a swing of his axe. After a minute or so, when everyone was on their feet once again, Hank finally asked, "Does somebody want to explain what that was all about?"

Looking over to the scientist, everyone could tell that Hank had probably gotten the worst of the injuries, given how he was only able to stand upright thanks to Wasp at the moment, and while they were concerned about him, they did still want to know the answer to his question, and only one person present could adequately provide one. "Old enemies from Asgard," Thor solemnly revealed. "The Enchantress has ever found joy in causing me pain. Though I do not recall her ever possessing the ability to command the Heartless before."

"So then how come she was able to now," Sora asked.

"I do not know, but I fear the answer will not be to any of our liking," Thor admitted. He then smiled as he walked over to the jade giant of their group and said, "You have won the day, Friend Hulk. Truly, thou art a warrior to be reckoned with, for few can resist the Enchantress' charms."

"Not to mention we all would've been toast if you hadn't come back to save us, so thanks for that too," Sora added on with a smile, but Hulk did not seem like he wanted to hear any of it.

"Nothing's changed," Hulk growled as he brushed off Thor's hand of thanks. "You all thought I was a savage monster. You were gonna take me down."

"No we didn't," Sora protested. "It's like I was trying to tell you earlier, Hulk, we knew that something was wrong with you, and we just wanted to try and help break whatever was messing with your head."

Hulk just stared at Sora for a minute before he stomped away from the kid and said, "I'm done."

With that, he gave a mighty leap and took off into the night once more, intending to leave the Avengers for real this time. That did not mean he could not feel Sora and Wasp's sad expressions watching his back as he leapt away. Sora barely even registered as Tony suggested they all head back to the mansion to get some rest before they tried to follow after Hulk and convince him to come back, so instead of returning with the others, he just stayed where he was until he decided to go after Hulk on his own. Sure, he may have to struggle to catch up, but he needed to get Hulk to see reason and stay with them. His decision made, he summoned out his Keyblade, staring at it for a minute as he thought about what he had learned today regarding the mysterious, mystical weapon, and after a minute or so, he felt as though someone or something was whispering a strange combination of words into his ear, until he finally gasped a bit in surprise at realizing what that was, because it also helped him to finally realize what it was that he was missing about his Keyblade.

"Please…I need your help to get my friend back. No, to get our friend back, so let's go and get him together," Sora whispered to the Keyblade, and a moment later, he spoke two words that together, formed what he now knew was the name of his weapon. "Kingdom Key."

The minute Sora had uttered his Keyblade's name, he felt like some kind of road inside of him had just been completed and fully opened up to him, and a second later, the Keyblade Glider appeared before him, and Sora was flying off after the Hulk with absolutely no trouble at all. Realizing this, Sora could not help but grin in excitement, because he knew that this meant he had finally started to master this particular power, and that he was finally starting to better understand his Keyblade, just like Thor said he would be able too.

---

Hulk had not stopped jumping until he was several miles north of both New York and any other form of civilization. In fact, he only stopped when he had landed up in the Arctic Circle, and after walking through the snow for a short while, feeling the cold, freezing wind blowing against his green skin, Hulk finally allowed himself a chance to allow the events of the day catch up to him. Everything from Enchantress' manipulations, to his being forced to attack the Avengers, and even how the Avengers had fought against him. All of it just made him angrier and angrier by the minute, both at the other heroes and at himself, until finally, he just could not keep it in any longer, and he did the only thing he could really think of to do: he screamed as loudly as he could. The sound of Hulk's anguished roars echoed for miles, causing a few icebergs to come apart and collapse, while even the ice beneath his feet crackled until it fell away a little, creating a small crater beneath him.

Afterwards, Hulk was ready to move on again, until he heard a sound that he was starting to become very familiar with. He turned around looking towards the sky, and was not disappointed to find that Sora was in fact flying towards him as fast as the kid could, and much more easily than Hulk had ever seen the kid fly on his Keyblade Glider until now. That did not mean that Sora's landing was the smoothest, because instead of coming to a slow, steady stop, Sora ended up flying towards the ground far too fast, and crash-landed before Hulk once again. When the cloud of icy air that was stirred up from Sora's landing finally cleared, Hulk could see Sora lying on the ground, his Keyblade Glider already dismissed, and one of his hands rubbing his head as he groaned a little in pain. "Still need to work on the landings, but at least I'm not having any trouble flying with the thing now," Sora groaned as he stood up.

"What're you doing here, Spiky," Hulk demanded, though it was tinged with far more confusion than it was frustration.

Sora was soon on his feet again, brushing snow off his clothes before he smiled up at Hulk and said, "I'm here to get you to come back."

Hulk had to admit this kid was determined to get something done when he set his mind to it, but right now, that was a lot more annoying than it was impressive. "I told you I'm done. I'm not going to waste my time with the Avengers when I know that they won't ever trust me or see me as anything but a monster."

"Hulk, that might've been true for the others before the Breakout, but they all know better now. You helped us save New York, and when Enchantress and Executioner attacked, you came back and saved us. Besides, I never thought of you as a monster. If anything, I only think of you as my friend," Sora admitted, surprising Hulk a little.

"Just like that," Hulk asked, honestly surprised.

"Well, yeah, why not? And, as your friend, I don't want you to go off on your own like this, because I know it'll just get you into trouble with SHIELD and the Hulkbusters. Being with the Avengers is a great thing for both of us, so could you at least try and give it another chance? I know you didn't get off on the right foot with some of them, but after what happened, I think we've all learned that we can count on each other a lot, including you," Sora shrugged, his hands resting behind his head in his usual relaxed manner.

There was just no way around it, and Hulk knew it. The kid was right. If he left, Ross and SHIELD would be on his tail again, and he was sick and tired of always being hunted. At least with the Avengers, he could live a somewhat peaceful life that included three meals a day and a comfortable bed, and besides that, he did feel like he could use a few more friends. The fact that Sora already thought of him as one was definitely a bonus in Hulk's book, so it was only natural that he ended up sighing in defeat as he finally made his decision on what he should do. Before he could give voice to it though, Hulk noticed something shining in the ice, and immediately glanced over to see what it was. When he did see it, he had to blink and look again, only to gasp in shock at the realization that he was not seeing things, and he immediately ran over to get a closer look, with Sora hot on his heels. When he came to a stop before a section of ice, Hulk could only gaze on in awe until he finally found his voice again, and spoke in an awestruck way that Sora would not have expected from the big guy until now.

"Sora, call the other Avengers. Tell them they need to get up here, now," Hulk ordered.

The fact that Hulk had addressed him by his real name was enough to show Sora just how serious this was, never mind the tone of his voice, but Sora was still confused on two things. "Why, and why can't you call them?"

"I might've smashed my ID card earlier during the fight with Thor, and the reason why is because…we found him," Hulk explained, pointing to the ice.

Sora turned his attention to where Hulk was pointing, and gasped in surprise at what he saw. There in the ice, was a man who looked to be in his mid to late twenties at least, clad in a red, white, and blue suit with a large white star on his chest while red and white stripes circled his mid-torso and waist, red gloves and boots, and a brown utility belt. His head was covered by a blue mask that left only his eyes and the lower half of his face visible, and possessed a pair of white wings that extended up and back on the sides, and next to him, was a circular shield that had red and white stripes, a blue center, and a white star emblazoned on the center. Just from the look of this man, Sora could tell that whoever he was, he was most definitely a soldier, but judging by Hulk's expression, he was so much more than that, which quickly prompted Sora's next question.

"Just who is he," Sora asked.

Hulk's response was simple, yet it seemed to hold a great deal of weight that just resonated with what could almost be described as reverence and respect. "Captain America, the one true super soldier, and the man that many have called the world's first superhero."

Now Sora was left in awe, and he quickly whipped out his ID card so he could call the mansion and let them know what he had found. Like Hulk, the other Avengers all gained disbelieving looks of awe on their faces before Tony assured him that they would be up there as soon as possible. With the call made and nothing more to do than wait, Sora looked to the Hulk again, and asked a simple question that he hoped would keep Hulk from taking off on his own again until the others arrived. "So just who is Captain America?"

---

AN: Well, that all happened. For those of you who were pleading so much, yep, Sora is indeed convincing the Hulk to stay. Admit it, I had you guys worried that I was going to make Hulk leave again for a minute there didn't you? Well don't worry, the big guy's going to stick around and appear in the next chapter. After all, Sora makes it hard for anyone to really argue with him most of the time without them being a villain, Yen Sid, or some other person like that.

Oh, and by the way, yeah, Enchantress can control the Heartless. What, did you think that someone like her wouldn't be able to or something? So guess what that means regarding what other Marvel villains can control the Heartless. Hint, hint for a little peak at the future. Speaking of which, the decision to have Sora sense her magic affecting Hulk was sort of split second, and before anyone goes off on me again, just think of it as a similar way to how Ezra could sense things through the Force without knowing it before he met Kanan and the others in Star Wars Rebels, so he's not really doing it of his own violation, and thinks that's really more of a gut-feeling type of thing. Also, regarding Sora's sudden use of ice and fire magic, again, his powers are not totally in control, so he's not entirely sure how he made it happen. Yes, he's gotten better at handling the Keyblade Glider, and part of that was because he's now learned that his Keyblade is named Kingdom Key, but he's still got a long way to go before he's able to do things like blasting bad guys with magic like you normally see him do in the games.

Sora: Hey speaking of controlling the Keyblade Glider, how come you made it so that I only got a handle on it after I learned Kingdom Key's name? That seems a little cheap, doesn't it?

AN: Names are powerful things, Sora. They're not just something that gives one a sense of identity, but they can also hold great power. I'm sure if you've seen series or even an episode of a series that places emphasis on that sort of thing, you know what I mean by the kind of power a name can hold, and as previously mentioned, Sora did not even know that his Keyblade had a will of its own, let alone its own name, until just that point. That little talk with Thor proved to be something of a catalyst for his learning that knowledge, and really, if you don't know the name of your partner, you can't really say you can work well together. It just makes sense in my mind how that would allow Sora, who's still in the early days of his Keyblade wielding adventures, to suddenly gain a better handle on things like that.

Also, sorry to disappoint, but that little tidbit that Thor gave Sora is really all the help that he's going to be in Sora's training with the Keyblade. If you were expecting him to suddenly be able to teach Sora more about magic, then you're sadly mistaken. Thankfully, the Marvel universe is not short on magic users that could teach him a few things, and one such magic-user will be appearing soon enough to help him with that. Think about your Marvel Heroes, and I'm sure you guys will be able to come up with one or two guesses as to who that might be.

Oh yeah, for those of you who were hoping the Quinjets would help Sora get to other worlds, sorry to disappoint. Don't worry, Sora will be going to other worlds, but you'll soon see that he won't necessarily need a ship all of the time for such trips. More on that later, namely when we finally come to the first chapter where Sora travels to another world. Now then, as I'm sure we've all guessed both by the knowledge of Avengers EMH episode order/list, and by that little bit at the end, Cap's making his comeback next chapter, and if you want to know more, either you haven't seen this series, or you just haven't skipped all of this boring stuff before moving Onto the Preview!...

Sora finds himself witnessing history being revived as Captain America returns to the world, but evil forces seem to be intent on soiling the captain's triumphant return, and Cap's own resolve to continue fighting the good fight may be more than just a little shaken after waking up in a world that has changed so much since his time. Can Sora help the captain find a reason to keep going, despite all that had changed, and just what is it that Zemo wants from the super soldier hero of this world's Second World War? Find out the answers to this and more in the next thrilling chapter.

Please read and review, and see ya real soon, fellow true believers!