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.

11. Journey Through Spira

AN: It's official. This is the first world in one of my Kingdom Hearts stories to be divided up into more than two parts, since the first visit to Hollow Basiton in Dual Keys. I'm not entirely sure how to feel about that, but I do hope you guys are happy to see that the newest chapter for Hearts of Avengers is now out. Huh? Huh?!

[audience applause]

Yeah, I thought so.

Yuffie: Hey, by the way, how's coming up with a codename for me going?

AN: Not all that well, I have to admit. One person did offer up the idea of having you be called Shadow, but then you have to remember that there would be some confusion from that since most of the Heartless you normally fight are also called Shadows. Although, I have considered the idea of Kage.

Hawkeye: Hey, I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to get on with the main show and see if we get home this chapter.

AN: Weren't you listening earlier? I just said that this isn't the end of the Spira adventure, so of course you're not getting back to Midgard this chapter. But you are right, we do need to hurry this along, so let's kick things off with some review answers.

First off, to "CT7567Rules", sorry that I didn't answer your previous review last chapter. I totally meant to, but it seems that it slipped my mind. Anyways, in answer to that previous review's questions, we will see Star Wars enter this story at a later point. As far as Power Rangers summons go, that would be in my other Kingdom Hearts series, Keyblades Unleashed, not this one. Sorry. Oh, and just for the record, Lightning is from Final Fantasy XIII not X. She will appear later on in this series though, so no worries there.

Next up is a response to "Soulofnone911", you don't have to worry about that. I do plan to have the Organization be a pretty big deal when they show up, which will be in the sequel, and they will leave the heroes with quite a few surprises, but you'll have to wait and see all the reasons for that when it finally comes out. No spoilers.

Iron Man: Not even about how when we do finally meet any members, it'll be at a time when...

AN: DAH! SPOILER! Pull the lever Wasp!

Wasp: [suddenly appears next to two levers and pulls the one on the left]

AN: [has a large ceramic pot drops down on top of him, thankfully with the opening being face down so that he's inside of the pot] (sighs) Other lever maybe.

Wasp: Sorry. [pulls the other lever]

Iron Man: [trying to sneak away] Okay, maybe if I just get to a point where I fly away without breaking the ceiling or any other walls of the place, I can avoid...[suddenly gets swarmed by a massive flock of Harry Potter owls that are all constantly pecking at him while constantly hooting] AW COME ON!

AN: [somehow manages to get the pot off of him] Phew, that was close. Anyways, to the guest reviewer "Johnathen", at the moment, the only thing Fox related that I plan on using, would be the anything involving the X-Men or the Fantastic Four, which are both already part of Marvel, so I wouldn't expect anything from that to show up here any time soon, or in my other series.

Next up is a few comments/answers to "Dragon Rider 66". For starters, I'd just like to clarify that in this series, Tidus's dad is actually from Destiny Islands, but you are correct in assuming that Sora's father is not. Sorry if anything gave you a different idea about that, and as for your request that I try to summarize the original events of Final Fantasy X, I will do my best to go into detail about what changed in comparison to this story, likely when it comes up at the end of each chapter, like I will for this one since we see quite a few of the major changes here, but if you'd like for me to do a full summary after we conclude the Spira arc, I will be happy to do so. I mean, that point's likely going to come by next chapter anyways, so it's not like it'd be a big deal.

Rolling it on over to "UNKNOWN" and the question said guest reviewer posted, I actually do have a few ideas on how Transformers would appear in Kingdom Hearts, but if you mean like a full-blown story and not a chapter that's in a preexisting story, no, I have not thought about that. I will go ahead and confirm now that I do intend for the world of Transformers to show up in both of my current Kingdom Hearts Series though, so have a little fun drawing up ideas on how that will play out, everyone.

"GuestWithIdeas", I will go ahead and confirm now that Gwen's father did NOT give her that bruise. Like I'd ever make Captain Stacy into that kind of parent. The man's too good to ever be like that, but you're right, you probably won't like it when you find out the full story. Thankfully, the resolution to it may definitely be much more to your liking, given how certain events will take place during the lead-up to that resolution. And I will admit, I do have it in my head that Night Hunter is getting at least some training from the villains, but not that much. He's already a good swordsman, but when it comes to things like magic and controlling the Heartless, he would need someone to guide him on that. Aside from that, I don't really see him getting much else.

"Bellatrix Lestrange-TheDarkOne", it's the questionable part that has me concerned. :)

"Dracus6", I am doing my best to get to my other stories as soon as possible, as one could see by how I did at least post a sneak preview for the next chapter of Code Avengers: Cosmic, but right now, most of my focus does center on anything I have that's Kingdom Hearts related. As for your suggestion, while I will admit that I did recently binge watch what is currently the entirety of the RWBY series (and liked it, just to be clear, because I wouldn't have done so if I didn't), I do not plan on starting any new stories at this time, unless they are an idea that I've had in my head for a long time now. Though part of me has considered adding in a chapter to one of my two Kingdom Hearts series where the heroes visit Remnant for a short time to team up with Ruby and her team.

Spider-Man: I feel like you saying that is going to get a lot of attention, and maybe a bunch of reviews that have nothing to do with this story or any of your other ones.

AN: Hey, it's not like I was going to keep quiet about that. I just want people to keep in mind that it's still just an idea for the moment. I'm not committed to it just yet, so no one should go getting their hopes up for now.

Oh, and "Keeper of Worlds", let me just go ahead and say now that we will see the entirety of the Gullwings in the next story of this series, no worries there.

Now then, I think that covers everything I wanted to discuss, so let's return to the adventure on Spira. 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.

---

Chapter XI

While the gang of heroes from Spira and Earth were all very excited at the official start of their team-up, all good feelings seemed to dwindle when they arrived in Guadosalam. That was not to say that the underground home of the Guado made anyone feel depressed or anything like that, but there was a feeling in the air that made a few of them quite anxious. No one could say for sure just what it was about the place that had them on edge, though; there was just something here in Guadosalam that did not feel right, or even welcoming to them. When Tromell Guado suddenly approached the group and stated that they were invited to Seymour's home for some unknown reason, their concerns only seemed to grow, and it did not help when both Peter and Sora said that they could feel something off about the place when they entered the rather lavish mansion that almost seemed to be built into the base of a tree. While some members of the group were a little more worried upon hearing that Peter was getting a bad vibe from the place, knowing that it was likely because of his Spider-Sense, the Avengers all remembered the last time that Sora had sensed something was wrong, so they were definitely more on guard than anyone else at the moment.

Of course, not all of them were able to keep their cool as they waited for Seymour to appear before them, but it was understandable in Miles and Gwen's cases since they were not used to this kind of thing. After they heard Peter admit that something about this place was making his Spider-Sense give off a faint tingle, they both tensed to the point where you would think that they would jump at the slightest sound, but thankfully, there were more than a few things to keep them distracted. One such instance was when Miles was studying some of the pictures that lined the walls of the foyer in the Guado leader's home.

"Hey, how come most of the Guado look so much alike, aside from Seymour, anyway," Miles asked, having taken notice of the fact before, but not really thinking to ask until now.

"Yeah, I was kinda wondering that myself," Tidus admitted.

"I suppose most of you wouldn't know, being from another world," Lulu stated, gazing at one of the pictures that lined the walls as she did. "Maester Jyscal, the leader of the Guado before Seymour and Seymour's father, wed a human woman."

"So Seymour looks…like he does because he's part human," Sora asked. He had hesitated for a minute because he was not sure whether or not it would be offensive to say that Seymour looked human.

"Yes, that is the case," Lulu confirmed.

"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that he wasn't too popular after that, was he," Hawkeye questioned.

"That would be an accurate assumption," Auron confirmed before Lula could say anything. "Though he's still considered to be a great man for bringing the teachings of Yevon to the Guado."

While the history lesson was interesting, some of the group could not help but feel like Auron was not being entirely sincere with his words. It almost seemed like he had something against Yevon, but before they could ask if that was the case, they had already moved on from the topic. In fact, it was shortly after that conversation that they were all brought into the dining hall, and Rikku and Sora were both quick to start sampling the rather lavish spread of food. The rest of them were a bit more hesitant to do so, but the Avengers and their friends from their world all knew that they were going to need to eat in order to keep their strength up, so they cautiously had a few bites as well. Not everyone was so eager to indulge in the Guado maester's hospitality though, as the Spirans were all trying to puzzle out just why Seymour had invited them here. When asked why that was the case, Lulu explained that summoners normally don't stop in Guadosalam for long in their journey, mainly because there was no temple in the Guado home. Just a way to enter the Farplane, a place that the people of Spira considered to be where those who have died pass on to after they have been sent. Hearing that did make them wonder why Seymour had sent someone out to greet them when they arrived, but no one missed how nervous and fidgety Yuna was as she tried to figure out that very same thing, especially in the case of Tidus.

"Kimahri not like Maester Seymour," the Ronso of their group finally growled, startling Yuna a little.

"Ah! Shhh," the summoner hushed.

"No, I'm with him on that," Clint admitted, ignoring Yuna and Sora when they both shushed him afterwards. "I don't need some freaky sixth sense like Spider-Boy over there to get a bad vibe from the guy when we saw him earlier."

"Spider-Man," Peter corrected, only to be ignored by the archer.

"It just seems a little too coincidental that we ran into him just seconds after we arrived on this world, and now, not long after that same moment when we've arrived on his doorstep, we're suddenly being invited for dinner? Something about all of this feels wrong," Clint continued on.

"Should we take that to be a warning from your warrior's instinct," Auron asked.

"I don't know about a warrior's instinct, but when you've lived the life I've led up until now, you do learn how to trust what your gut is telling you," Clint admitted.

"Perhaps Agent Barton's gut feeling is not too far off. I had also felt a similar sense of unease when we met Seymour before, but I had thought that it was merely due to the fact that we were unfamiliar with the people here. Being in his home now, though, I am getting something similar to that same feeling," T'Challa admitted.

"And then there's the fact that both Sora and Peter can sense that something is off in this place, or with the people here," Steve pointed out.

"Hey! Shush! I know that you guys don't think there's a problem with using my real name, but could you please just call me Spider-Man while I'm in this suit? I have a secret identity for a reason, you know," Peter quickly hushed after the captain had spoken.

"Or at the very least, keep quiet about other worlds. Most people are not supposed to know about them," Sora pointed out.

"It's a little late for that in the case of Spira, given that we have been visited by people from other worlds in the past, such as Jecht and a few Keyblade wielders as well," Auron reminded the Keyblade Samurai.

Sora could only shrug in response to that, having momentarily forgotten that detail. At that moment, Seymour finally stepped into the room, and while Peter's trusted sixth sense began tingling a little more, Sora was suddenly overcome with an uneasy feeling that was similar to the ones he had whenever Heartless were around, and when Enchantress had tried to control the Hulk, so both boys were starting to tense up a bit at the sight of the Guado, even as he tried to put up a friendly visage. "Welcome," Seymour greeted.

"You wanted to see me," Yuna asked, being the main reason why the group was invited in the first place.

"Please, make yourselves at home. There's no rush," Seymour insisted, apparently thinking that there was time for some small talk before they got down to business.

"I have to disagree with that," Sora argued. "We've got an important mission to carry out, after all, and for everyone's sake, we probably should be hurrying."

Upon hearing the Islander's voice, Seymour turned and his face seemed to darken a bit before he quickly made the effort to lighten it up again as he spoke to Sora. "Oh, I remember you. The young man with the Keyblade who saved my life," Seymour recalled as he gave Sora a quick bow in recognition. "It was truly a surprise to have been among one of the first to see another Keybearer had graced our world with his presence, but I must admit, I was not expecting said wielder to be so young."

"Um, you do remember that he wasn't alone, right," Clint pointed out, bringing all attention to the rest of his group.

"Yes, of course," Seymour nodded as he looked over the Avengers and their young friends, though his gaze did pause when it fell onto Spider-Man. He quickly brushed it off though, before he carried on, "Now that I think about it, I don't believe I ever learned any of your names back then, but I suppose that the circumstances at the time did prevent us from being properly acquainted."

Sora shared a brief look with the others, wondering just how much he should say to the man, and in return, he received looks of caution that made it clear he should be very careful with what he said. Upon nodding in return to them, Sora looked Seymour in the eye and replied, "My name is Sora, but many people have come to call me the Keyblade Samurai of the Avengers."

"Hmm, a very powerful title to be certain," Seymour nodded in approval, probably thinking that Sora should be flattered by such a thing. In truth though, the uneasy feeling Sora felt in the pit of his stomach only grew at having any kind of approval from this man.

Before he could say anything though, Steve stepped forward and said, "I'm called Captain America, and these are our comrades, Hawkeye, Black Panther, and Spider-Man, and two of Sora's friends, Gwen and Miles."

Seymour nodded to each individual in turn, and was about to say something more when Auron stepped in and said, "Can we please get to the point of why you invited us here? As the young Keyblade master stated, we are in a rush."

"Yes, forgive me," Seymour bowed in apology. "It has been a long time since I had guests. Lady Yuna, this way."

Yuna hesitated for a minute, but eventually did step forward, and when she did, the room suddenly lit up and appeared to change all around them. As the changes took place, they were all amazed to see a brilliant night sky filled with stars passing by them while the image of a bustling city began to take shape, all while Seymour spoke, as though he were narrating a story. "This sphere is a reconstruction created from the thoughts of the dead that wander the Farplane," the Guado maester explained as the images transitioned into the city where people were busily going about their day. "What you are seeing is the city of Zanarkand, as it looked one thousand years ago."

Without anyone taking too much notice, Gwen slowly edged her way over to Lulu and asked, "What's so important about this Zanarkand place that he would show us how it looked a thousand years ago like this?"

"Zanarkand is the final destination in a summoner's pilgrimage. It was once a powerful, machina city, but now, it is considered to be a holy place for where summoners obtain the Final Aeon," Lulu replied, though from the distant sound of her voice, she was just as in awe of this display as the rest of them were.

"The great and wondrous machina city, Zanarkand," Seymour continued, apparently never noticing the interruption. "She once lived in this metropolis."

"She? She, who," Miles questioned, never noticing how Auron seemed to huff at Seymour's remark.

Barely more than a few seconds after Miles had asked his question, the images had changed again to show the bedroom of a very beautiful woman, and while the folks from Earth and Destiny Islands had no idea who she was, the woman sitting on the bed was easily identifiable for everyone that was native to Spira. "Lady Yunalesca," Yuna exclaimed in excitement.

"She was the first person to defeat Sin and save the world from its ravages," Seymour explained, preempting the questions that the folks from other worlds were about to ask without knowing it, despite the fact that he was mainly addressing Yuna. "And you have inherited her name."

"Does that mean that…this Yunalesca person is Yuna's ancestor or something," Sora asked.

"Not as far as I know," Yuna admitted. "It was my father who named me, though I don't really know why."

"Lord Braska was entrusting you with a great task," Seymour offered in explanation. "He wanted you to face Sin, as Lady Yunalesca did. However, Lady Yunalesca did not save the world alone. To defeat the undefeatable Sin, it took an unbreakable bond of love, of the kind that binds two hearts for eternity."

It was at that point that another person entered the room, though they could all tell that he was part of the illusion, even before he had passed through Yuna. A moment later, they all found themselves feeling a bit uncomfortable as they watched the armored man and Yunalesca hold each other close in a way that only lovers could. Sure, it was a replica of events that had taken place a thousand years ago, but that did not mean that anyone felt any less awkward for basically intruding upon what seemed to be a very intimate moment. Thankfully, their unease at watching this came to an end soon enough as the movie came to an end, but when they all looked over at Seymour and Yuna, it looked as though the young summoner was not quite at the point of calm yet.

They all watched carefully as Yuna started to pace around the room before rushing over to the nearest table and gulping down the first cold drink she could get her hands on as fast as humanly possible. Seeing that made them all a little more concerned, in some cases more than others given how Tidus and Rikku were quick to rush to her side in concern. When they did reach her though, they were a little surprised at the look on Yuna's face, among other details that Rikku was quick to point out. "Wow, your face is beat red," the blonde girl noted.

"You okay," Tidus asked, thinking that the things they just saw had left her a bit more uneasy than the rest of them.

Yuna could barely string more than two words together in reply, clearly still flustered by whatever it was that they all assumed Seymour had said or done, and that prompted Gwen to step up and offer some advice. "Easy, just take a few slow, deep breaths and calm down," Gwen coached.

Following the blonde girl's advice, Yuna did manage to eventually settle her nerves a bit, before she finally informed them of the reason why she was so out of sorts, though not without a stutter in her voice. "He…He asked me to marry him," Yuna revealed.

"You serious," Tidus and Sora both gasped in disbelief, while the others were all either quietly gaping in shock or throwing looks in Seymour's direction that were anything but pleasant.

"You know what Yuna must do," Auron coldly told Seymour.

"Of course," Seymour confirmed. "Lady Yuna…No, all summoners are charged with bringing peace to Spira, but this means more than just defeating Sin. She must ease the suffering of all Spira. She must be a leader for the people. I proposed to Lady Yuna as a maester of Yevon."

"So this is just some political thing," Captain America accused, clearly more upset by the idea than his calm voice indicated.

"Or more accurately, you really think that marrying a girl who is most definitely a lot younger than you, and is more than likely too young to be making that kind of commitment is supposed to help her keep people happy or something," Clint questioned.

"This world is not a playhouse in which you can just do as you like," T'Challa stated. "Such a diversion may amuse an audience, but it would change nothing."

"Even so, the actors must play their parts," Seymour countered. He then seemed to finally take notice of how anxious his proposal had made Yuna and stated, "There's no need to answer right away. Please, think it over."

"And what if she doesn't even want to get married? Did you even think of that," Sora questioned. "You can't just spring something like that on someone from out of nowhere. You should at least get to know them well enough first to see if they want to go that far in a relationship with you."

"I did not mean to suggest otherwise, and that is why I said there's no need to answer right away," Seymour reassured him. He then studied Sora for a minute before asking, "Though I am curious as to what you would do if this issue were forced, Master Sora. Did your predecessors not teach you that one shouldn't meddle in the affairs of other worlds too greatly? Then again, considering the things that Master Aqua, Terra, and Ventus got involved in when they were here, I suppose it is no surprise that you would involve yourself so heavily as well."

The minute he heard that last statement, the slight stinging in his head from earlier suddenly returned with the force of a sledgehammer, and Sora immediately let out a small cry of pain as he brought a hand to his head and dropped down to one knee, surprising everyone when he did. He could barely make out the other Avengers shouting his name in concern, Tidus and Wakka's attempts to get an answer from him on whether or not he was okay, or even Peter's encouragement to say just about anything, as the pain in his head eventually became too much for him to really think straight, while a bright light flashed before his eyes, and his mind was suddenly showing him another vision from so long ago.

---

Terra was not sure how long he had been unconscious. One minute he had been fighting off hordes of Unversed, the next thing he knew, one had got him from behind and he was waking up to the sounds of someone talking close by, and from the look of his surroundings, it seemed that he was currently inside of a prison cell. There was little doubt in Terra's mind that someone had mistaken him to be some kind of criminal, and he fully intended to call out for someone that he could explain that to, when one of the voices he had heard earlier suddenly let out a cry of fright. Looking out of the cell door, he immediately spotted several of the wretched creatures he had been tracking through the worlds for a while now racing up and down the halls, while several guards tried with little success to either destroy or drive them back. No longer having any time to waste, Terra sprang from the cot he was resting on, summoned out his Keyblade, and used it to open the door so that he could join the fight.

After eliminating the Unversed in the room, the young man quickly raced out to where he first heard the cries for help coming from, and soon found three men surrounded by several Floods, Scrappers, and a few Archravens. A few quick blasts of Fira easily took out the aerial foes, and that left the young Keyblade wielder free to cut down the Floods and Scrappers with several powerful slashes of his weapon, finishing off the last of them with one of his most powerful moves, Zantetsuken. Breathing a sigh of relief, the young wielder soon dismissed his Keyblade before turning his attention to the three he had just rescued from the dangerous creatures. "Are you all okay," Terra asked.

"Yes, thanks to you, young man," the most regally dressed of the three nodded in reply before giving an elaborate bow of thanks to him.

"Glad to hear it," Terra nodded in return. "But you should probably wait here while I deal with any others that might be outside."

"Yeah, like that's gonna happen," scoffed a man who was dressed in a manner that would make one think he was a real wild type.

"I beg to differ, Jecht. If it means keeping Lord Braska safe, we should heed the Keyblade wielder's advice and let him handle those things, considering that our own weapons had little to no effect on them," the man in red robes with a katana blade insisted, but his words still made Terra pause for a minute in his departure.

"Wait. You know about the Keyblade," Terra questioned, his guard quickly going up at the memory of the last few people he met that knew of the mystical weapon.

Apparently, the one called Braska found Terra's concern to be a little humorous, as he chuckled and said, "There's no need to be concerned, my friend. The people of Spira have all known of the Keyblade for some time, now. Though I must admit, it has been quite a long time since so much as one wielder has appeared on this world, let alone one as young as yourself. To be honest, any who wield the Keyblade would likely be considered just as important as a normal summoner."

"I see," Terra nodded, feeling much more relieved at hearing this. The last thing he needed and wanted was to have to fight someone else who had learned about the Keyblade. He then turned his mind back to his previous task and said, "Well then, pardon my rudeness, Lord Summoner, but I really should be going if I'm to stop those creatures. You should wait at least three minutes after I leave before departing as well."

"Wait, are you seriously just going to take off just like that," the one called Jecht asked. When Terra turned to give him a confused look, Jecht elaborated, "I mean, you just saved the life of someone who may as well be nobility, and you're going walk away without asking for anything in return."

"Jecht," the swordsman admonished.

"It's all right, Auron," Braska calmed. "He does make a fair point, and I would like to thank you in some way."

"That's not necessary your lordship," Terra tried to wave off, but apparently, Braska was not going to hear of it.

"No really, I do insist on trying to find some way to thank you," Braska stated. His eyes seemed to light up with an idea as he stated, "Perhaps you could join us on our journey, and allow us to show you more of Spira."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to impose," Terra tried to say. "Besides, I have an important task that I need to take care of. Those creatures, the Unversed, their being directed by a dangerous individual named Vanitas. I tracked him to this world, but he managed to slip away after unleashing a large number of his Unversed on me. I'm not entirely sure why he's here, or what his endgame may be, but I do know that it can't be anything good, so I have to find and stop him before it's too late."

"Well then, I suppose that may be all the more reason for you to join us," Braska said. When Terra just looked at him, obviously wondering if anything he said had registered with the summoner, Braska explained, "You can't just go roaming about this world when you don't know your way around, or what place you can or can't get into without special conditions, so why not travel with us. You wouldn't be a guardian like Auron and Jecht, but having a Keyblade wielder like yourself to aid us in our journey would be a great benefit, especially if we were to encounter anymore of these Unversed, or this Vanitas fellow you mentioned."

Terra placed a hand to his chin in thought for a few minutes, pondering the summoner's words in his head, before he finally had to admit that Braska did make a good point, and from the looks of things, it did seem like most of the dark creatures were focused on Braska and his group, so there was no reason to think that more would not come for these three. Considering all of that and other factors for a few more minutes, Terra finally conceded, "All right, you've convinced me, but just remember to be careful if we encounter the Unversed, and if we run into Vanitas himself, stay back and leave him to me."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, kid," Jecht huffed. "Let's just get going already. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can try to find a way back home to my wife and kid."

At Terra's confused look, Auron explained, "Jecht here insists that he's from another world as well, like you, but he has no way of proving it or explaining how he got here."

"Hey, if I knew, I'd tell you, but I don't. I just know that I need to get back to Destiny Islands before my family gets too worried. The kid's probably crying his eyes out over something already," Jecht retorted.

As the two commenced with further bickering, Terra started wondering if he should break this up, before Braska just laughed again and said, "I'd say that this is going to be quite the interesting pilgrimage, wouldn't you agree?"

Terra only smiled in reply, not really sure what else he could say at this point. Though a small part of him did find a sort of familiarity watching these three, as they reminded him a little of how he and his two best friends could be at times.

---

Another fast slash through a Bruiser put an end to the Unversed group that was threatening the small island of Besaid, but the young blonde was not going to let his guard down that quickly. At least not until Braska came over to placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder in thanks for aiding his group in fighting off the creatures that were being directed by the masked boy he had been chasing for so long. "Very nicely done, Ven. It seems you're just as skilled as your friend, Terra," Braska complimented.

"I don't know about that," Ven replied as he dismissed his Keyblade and placed both arms behind his head in a relaxed pose. "Terra's had a lot more training than me, and is a lot stronger."

"Maybe, but from what I saw, you're way faster than that overgrown rock you call a friend," Jecht stated. "Bet you'd be one hell of a Blitzer too. You ever think of trying out the sport?"

Before Ventus could reply, Auron came over and said, "Don't go thinking you can just draft him onto some team or something. He can't stay for long, you know."

"Hey, hey, who said anything about drafting? I'm just asking if he's ever thought about playing Blitzball before," Jecht insisted.

"Uh-huh," Auron nodded, not quite believing that, while Ven could only smile at the back-and-forth between the two.

"Well, we'd best make our way to the temple since the way is cleared now," Braska stated as he began to move towards the village. "Ven, won't you join us? I'm sure that you might find passing through the Cloister of Trials a very interesting experience."

Ventus paused to think it over for a minute before he finally shrugged and said, "Sure, why not? From what you guys told me, Terra got to see it at least once or twice, so it would be pretty cool to see it for myself."

The other three all nodded to the blonde before heading towards the village below. Upon reaching said village, Jecht could only think of one thing to say after looking around for a few seconds. "Smallest heap of huts I ever seen! And that's saying something, considering where I'm from."

"You mean the Destiny Islands, right," Ven asked, earning a nod in return. "You know, I'd like to visit that world someday. My friend, Aqua told me that there's a special fruit there that represents an unbreakable connection."

"'A special fruit?' You talkin' about the paopu fruit, kid," Jecht asked.

"Um…I guess so," Ventus shrugged in reply.

"Ah, that old legend's been around for ages, but I've never really seen anything to prove it," Jecht waved off as he and Ven started further into the village. "Most of the women get all hung up on how romantic it sounds, even to the point where some of them insist on sharing one with their husbands on their wedding days, or whatever, even if they had already shared one with the guy before."

"Why's that," Ven asked.

"Apparently, when two people share a paopu fruit, their destinies become intertwined, and they'll remain a part of each other's lives forever. Or so the legends say," Jecht explained.

"Well, I can certainly see the appeal there. Now I suddenly wish I had been given the chance to share one with my wife before she had passed," Braska stated. He then took another look around the village before he said, "That being said, this definitely looks like a fine place to live, especially if it's that similar to your home, Jecht."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Jecht admitted.

"Hey, maybe you could move here with your daughter after you beat that Sin monster," Ventus eagerly suggested.

Braska could only laugh at the blonde's excitement before he admitted, "You know, I was just thinking something almost exactly like that."

Ven grinned upon hearing that, and then raced up to the temple with Jecht, not noticing until a moment later that Auron and Braska had hung back for some reason. "What're you guys doin'? Let's go," Jecht prompted. "I'm so hungry I could eat a shoopuf whole!"

"Oh, don't mention food right now," Ventus practically begged as he rubbed his stomach. "I'm so hungry I could probably eat two shoopufs whole."

"Sorry," Braska chuckled. "Well, let's go then."

Auron just let out a single huff of amusement while he muttered under his breath, "That boy may not be the same age as his friend, and lack the same refinement as a warrior, but he is definitely a brighter ray of sunshine than Terra seemed to be."

---

After defeating several fiends and Unversed while traversing the Macalania Woods, and then arriving at the trading post that was just before the Macalania Temple, Jecht had suggested that the group all take a picture, and while their blue haired friend had attempted to get out of it, somehow, Aqua had still ended up being roped into the fun along with the other two men. Of course, part of it was because of how Auron had insisted that if he had to get in the picture, than she did too, but to be quite honest, Aqua did find it a little funny to see how camera shy the swordsman was acting. Of course, the problem with getting said picture was that there was no one around to help make sure there was one of all four of them, but no one seemed to mind that much, and Braska had insisted that he be the one to take the first few pictures, saying that he wanted everyone to be able to remember both his guardians and the first true Keyblade master to visit Spira just as much as he would be remembered if and when he defeated Sin. That did not make getting the photo any easier though.

"Auron, could you stand closer to the other two," Braska requested, seeing that Auron was too far from the others for the camera to properly get everyone in the shot. After the swordsman in question had moved over, Braska immediately smiled in thanks before checking the camera. "Aqua, perhaps you could move up some? I can barely see you back there."

"I'm surprised you can see her at all. With that outfit of hers, she practically blends into all the snow," Jecht teased.

"Hey, that's so not true, or are you just trying to say that you think my clothes are horrible," Aqua retorted, though from the look on her face, she was clearly just pretending to be offended to see how Jecht would react.

"What? No! I wasn't saying anything like that at all," Jecht rapidly replied, clearly a little freaked out at the idea of what the Keyblade master would do to him if he really had offended her. He did not miss how Auron was laughing at him though, and he quickly snapped, "Hey, I wouldn't laugh if I were you. Don't act like you didn't see how she tore through some of those larger fiends and Unversed a little while back."

"I'm not. I just find it amusing that the mighty Jecht Stone can be so easily bested at the idea of a woman so much as injuring him," Auron teased.

"Well she ain't just any woman, you know. She's a Keyblade wielder, like those other two guys, only better since she's a master," Jecht argued.

Aqua just laughed at the two's argument as she moved up a little more, and it seemed like neither of the other two really noticed when Braska thanked her for doing so, saying that it was now perfect. He did manage to get them to stop bickering long enough for them to properly pose for the picture, and Braska made it a point to take more than one photo just to be on the safe side. He did not want to find out later on that someone had blinked and ended up looking like their eyes were closed in the picture when it was too late. "Hey, Braska, you really should take one too," Jecht insisted. "It'd make a great gift for little Yuna."

"I suppose," Braska nodded, though still hesitant to do so.

"Lord Braska, we shouldn't be wasting our time like this," Auron tried to argue, but he was soon interrupted.

"Hey, as long as you're making good memories with friends, then you're not wasting time," Aqua disputed as she approached the summoner. "Here, just let me take a few pictures of you three together so that you can have something to show your daughter after you've completed your pilgrimage. I'm sure she'd love it."

"Of course. Thank you, Aqua," Braska nodded, and he then handed over the sphere they were using to take pictures before taking her place between the two guardians.

Aqua happily took a good number of pictures, even a few while the three men were not really paying attention, thinking that they would like to have some photos that were not just them posing for the camera, so when she returned the sphere, she was confident that Braska would have a good selection of pictures to give his daughter when he finally came home from his journey. It was pretty surprising running into these three after she had landed in Macalania Woods a few hours ago, but it was even more surprising to find out that they had run into her friends a short while earlier. She was not surprised to learn that Terra and Ven had helped them out on their journey, but she did wish that they had stuck around a little longer so that they could have met up again. Still, she understood the importance of the tasks that they were undertaking, so she could only hope that she would be able to catch up with them again at the next opportunity.

She was eventually brought out of her thoughts on the matter when she noticed that Braska seemed to be making a video on the sphere, and she could have sworn that she heard him mention his daughter's name once or twice. Judging by everything else she overheard, it did not sound like the type of video that one would make just for laughs, and that made Aqua a little worried about the summoner. She waited a few more moments before she finally approached him and asked, "Is everything all right, sir?"

"Oh! Yes, of course it is. Thank you for your concern, Aqua," Braska quickly insisted, obviously trying to hide something. He then slowly approached Aqua and added, "But if you wouldn't mind…make sure that this sphere will end up with Auron or Yuna at some point before you leave our world. It would mean a great deal to me."

Aqua was silent for a moment, not really sure what to think, but in the end, she accepted the sphere in question, noticing that it was different from the one that they had been taking pictures with earlier, and then pocketed it as she stated, "I'll do what I can to make sure that happens, Lord Braska."

"Thank you, Master Aqua," Braska nodded, and like that, everything seemed to go white.

---

When Sora awoke with a start, jolting upright in the bed he was resting in when he did right when this most recent vision had finally come to its conclusion. It was not until he had regained his breath and registered that his headache was gone that he finally took note of the problem with the scenario he was currently in; namely, the fact that he did not remember being so much as near a bed before he passed out. He also did not remember being in such a small room beforehand either, but thankfully, he was not alone in said room, as the bubbly blonde who he had startled with his sudden awakening proved.

"Well, good morning to you too, sleepyhead," Rikku playfully teased, announcing her presence to Sora in full.

"Huh…Oh, uh…m-morning," Sora stuttered, finally remembering the other details of what had happened before his most recent vision. There was no way his friends were not going to want answers from him about that matter after that episode, but with that in mind, Sora had to wonder why Rikku was the only one here at the moment. "Hey, where are the others?"

"They went to the Farplane," Rikku replied, but she quickly regretted saying that when she saw the look of panic on Sora's face. "No, no, no! Not like that! There's a way for people to go into the Farplane here in Guadosalam without dying, and they went there because Yunie wanted to try and talk to her parents in an attempt to figure out what to do regarding Seymour's proposal."

"Oh…Okay, that's…That's good to hear," Sora breathed in relief, glad to hear that it was not what he had first assumed when he heard Rikku say that his friends had all gone to the Farplane, but it did still leave him a little curious. "How come you didn't go with them, Ri?"

"Well…let's just say that my family has a saying: memories are nice, but that's all they are, and it's better to keep them inside where they should be," Rikku explained as simply as she could.

Sora nodded in reply, not quite understanding it entirely, but getting just enough to grasp a general idea of what she meant by that. With nothing else to be said, he then quickly stood up and proceeded to head out, and said, "I'm gonna go and meet up with everyone else, then."

"Hold on! Are you sure you're up for it," Rikku asked, thinking it would be bad for Sora to rush things if there was a chance he could collapse again.

"I'll be fine, really," Sora reassured her.

Seeing the boy so certain of his wellbeing at the moment, Rikku just sighed and proceeded to lead him out to where the others were, knowing that he was likely going to get lost if left to try and find them on his own. Not that it was going to take too long to get to the entrance to the Farplane though, considering that the inn that they had brought Sora to was practically right next to it, but she still felt that it was better safe than sorry. They were a little surprised to find Auron waiting outside for everyone else, but paid it little mind as Sora parted ways from Rikku and ascended the stairs that led up to the entrance. Just when he was about to pass through the portal, a very familiar voice that he had not heard in ages reached his ears.

"You know, there's something about this place," commented the voice of a certain auburn haired girl, and when Sora spun around to face the speaker, he could have sworn that his heart skipped at least two or three beats upon seeing that it was in fact her. There, walking along the small path to the Farplane entrance, in the exact same outfit she had been wearing when he last saw her, with her auburn hair gently waving in the slight breeze that blew through the room while her violet-blue eyes shined like stars, was none other than Kairi. Why Auron and Rikku had not seemed to have noticed her appearance, Sora did not know or really care. All he knew was that Kairi was here before him. He wanted to say something to her, tell her how happy he was to see her again after so long, let her know how worried he had been, but for some reason, his voice had chosen to leave him in that moment. Apparently, the auburn haired noticed this, and decided to elaborate on what she had been saying before. "It reminds me of the secret place, where we used to scribble on the walls. Remember?"

Seeing that lovely, fond smile on Kairi's face seemed to be the kick-start that Sora needed, because he finally managed to start forming words again, if only barely. Though it was not to admit that he did not need a reminder of the secret place; he had just been there not too long ago, even if it did feel like a lifetime had passed since that day. No, all he really wanted was to let her know how happy he was to see her. "Kairi…" Sora called out while reaching his hand towards her.

Apparently, hearing him call out her name was enough to make Kairi smile a little more before she held out her hand to him, obviously more than eager to take it. Sora could only grin a little more at seeing that, even though he felt that it was silly to be getting so worked up before their hands had even touched one another, but the moment was soon killed when he heard someone calling out to him from behind. "Hey Sora, glad to see you up and about again," Clint shouted, making Sora jump a little in surprise before turning to see said archer and the rest of their friends coming over to him. He was only starting to wonder why no one had seemed to take notice of the girl who was standing in front of him, but he quickly stopped short when he turned back and saw that Kairi was gone; vanished, like she had never even been there. That mere fact alone made Sora start to look everywhere that he could in an attempt to locate the redhead, even though there was literally nowhere she could have disappeared to without anyone noticing, and that seemed to get his friends a little more worried. "You okay, Sora," Clint asked once he got over to the young Keybearer and took note of his surprised, slightly desperate visage. "You almost look as though you've seen a ghost."

"I didn't see a ghost," Sora insisted. "I saw Kairi! She was here just now!"

"What're you talking about," Clint asked. "The only ones that were here with you were Ri and Auron."

"No, I'm telling you, it was her. Kairi was here, right in front of me, and even spoke to me for a minute," Sora insisted. He then looked to the other two that had been out here with him, and practically ordered them, "Ri, Auron, tell them! You had to have noticed her, right?"

Rikku and Auron just looked at one another in uncertainty before the swordsman of the two finally stated, "The only people I saw coming up this way since the others went into the Farplane were you and Rikku, Sora. There wasn't anyone else."

"Yeah, I never noticed anyone coming in, either, and it's a little hard to not see someone coming given that there's only two ways in and out of this place," Rikku added.

Seeing that he was not getting any help there, Sora turned to his fellow islanders and asked, "You saw her, didn't you Wakka? Tidus?"

While they did so with a little more hesitance, Tidus and Wakka still repeated the exact same exchange that Rikku and Auron just had before the blonde boy finally said, "Sora, when we came out, you were just staring off into space with your hand out. There wasn't anyone there as far as I could tell."

"If Kairi was there, I'm pretty sure we woulda noticed, ya," Wakka added with a sad shake of his head.

"But…She was there…I know she was…" Sora continued to argue, but given how his voice dropped down a few notches in volume as he spoke, it was not too much of a stretch for the others to realize that Sora was beginning to question it as well.

"Maybe we should get you back into bed, Sora," Cap suggested. "If you're seeing things, then it's probably better that you rest up for a bit."

"I'm fine, and I'm telling you, she was here. I'm sure that I didn't imagine it," Sora tried to insist. "This wasn't like one of my visions. She was definitely here, talking to me as she looked around at this place and every…"

"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a minute. What visions are you talking about," Peter interrupted, now looking even more concerned for his friend than before.

Sora could only slap his forehead in disbelief, hardly able to believe he had accidentally let that slip, but he figured that it was going to come up anyway after that little episode he had before his most recent vision. He just wished it had not come out like this, but it was out there now, so he was going to have to explain those details in full. He was just opening his mouth to do so when someone suddenly gasped in shock at something that was behind the group that just came from the Farplane.

From where they were standing, it looked like a Guado ghost had just stepped out of the Farplane, and as far as the Spirans were all concerned, that was exactly what had happened, given the name that the Avengers all heard being gasped by several of the surrounding Gaudo. "Lord Jyscal," they heard being whispered over and over again.

"Is that…normal," Peter asked, already tensing up a little in preparation for a possible fight.

"No, it is not," Auron immediately replied. "He does not belong here. Yuna, send him."

"Hang on. What if he came out of there for a reason? Maybe we should ask him why he's here before we do anything," Sora argued.

"If we let him linger in this world for too long, he will likely become a fiend, and that's the last thing that we need to happen in this place," Lulu argued. "Sir Auron is right. Yuna must send him right away."

Yuna nodded in agreement, and the others all stepped back to watch as the young girl began performing a very elaborate dance with her staff. As she spun the staff around while twirling on her feet, the Marvel-topians all could not help but think that the performance they were seeing, while very sad was also quite beautiful in its own way. Maybe it was partly because of the girl who was performing it, or maybe it was because it was the Spiran way of sending the dead on to the next life, but whatever the case, there was a sense of beauty that could not be denied. That was also part of the reason why Sora was the only person to notice when the spirit of Lord Jyscal appeared to have dropped something, aside from Yuna, who had been standing right in front of the deceased Guado while she performed the sending.

Before anyone could question what it was that Yuna had seen Jyscal drop, or even think of asking Sora about his earlier episode, or why he was so insistent that one of his missing friends had been here when she was not, Auron spoke up again, saying, "Talk later. We leave now."

Despite the fact that some of them disagreed with the swordsman, no one could deny that something in Auron's voice said that leaving now was not negotiable, so they just did as he said. All the same, it did not stop anyone from giving Sora worried looks, or Sora himself from glancing over to Yuna in nearly equal concern and confusion, as he was just as curious as Yuna probably was about whatever Lord Jyscal had dropped before she had sent him.

---

The group ended up going over various ideas and reasons as to why Jyscal would have come out of the Farplane like he had, but no one was really able to come up with anything solid, other than the idea that he had likely died an unclean death, and was not properly sent afterwards. Then again, the idea that he did have something that he needed to convey before he fully passed on was a likely scenario as well, but Lulu dismissed that when she revealed that even that were the case, those who were sent did not come back, even if they did have some form of unfinished business. The topic did not drop until they had finally exited the chamber to the Farplane and made their way back to Seymour's manor, where Yuna revealed that she intended to give Seymour her answer. As she led the way forward, Sora could not help but notice that Tidus seemed to look pretty happy about the matter and from the glances and smirks that he exchanged with Wakka, the Keyblade Samurai knew that they were both thinking the same thing on what the reason for that could be. Sora's crush on Kairi may have been obvious to everyone who ever saw him around the girl or heard him talk about her, but Tidus was even more transparent when it came to what he thought about the young summoner.

Yuna had to put her answer to Seymour's proposal on hold though, because it turned out that Seymour had left his home to head for Macalania Temple at some point. They all figured that he had not expected an answer so soon, but it was still a little suspicious that Seymour would just up and leave like that without really telling anyone. Either way, they all knew that they would be seeing him again very soon, because that was the next destination on Yuna's pilgrimage, so they quickly set out once more. At least, they would have, but it was a little hard for them to get very far, given how Rikku seemed determined to hang back in Guadosalam for a longer time, and it was not until Clint had ran out of patience and threw her over his shoulder that they finally got her to leave Guadosalam and enter the area known as the Thunder Plains.

Barely more than a few minutes after entering the Thunder Plains, the Midgardians all quickly found out why the place was named as such. The entire area was blanketed in thunderstorms with lightning strikes that hit the ground almost as often as the rain that fell. Thankfully, from what they could see, most of the strikes seemed to hit the massive towers that lined the path forwards, so they made it a point to avoid any large, open areas while sticking as close to the towers as they could. As they moved forward, they could not help but marvel at the impressive feat of engineering that they had not expected of this world that seemed so against most technology, and some of them could not help but wonder just what kind of improvements that Tony would make if he ever found his way to this world, assuming he did not end up getting hit a few times by the lightning due to his armor.

Not everyone was so fascinated by the Thunder Plains, but then again, it was only natural to be at least a little weary of lightning strikes, hence the reason why they were doing their best to not stray too far or too close to the lightning rod towers. Eventually though, they soon discovered that one member of the group was much less fond of this place than anyone else, namely when very girlish shriek followed after a particularly impressive flash of lightning as the bolt hit the nearby tower. "Whoa! That was a close one," Wakka laughed in amazement.

"Stop kidding around," Lulu lightly scolded.

"Yes ma'am," Wakka immediately apologized, earning him strange smirks from some of the other guys. "What?"

The only response he received was when Hawkeye made a slight whipping motion with one hand while making the accompanying sound effect, earning laughs from Tidus and Sora, while Auron and T'Challa both let out amused huffs. The rest of the group did not vocalize their amusement, but you could still see it somewhere on their faces, until a much less amused-sounding laugh reached their ears, making them all turn to the blonde that Clint was still carrying over his shoulder, just to make sure that she would not do anything stupid. When another lightning strike came, the girlish shriek from earlier came again, and this time, they all saw that it came from Rikku. The only thing that was more amusing was that she had freaked out so badly that it actually made Hawkeye drop her a little unceremoniously so that he could quickly draw his bow and an arrow, while several other members of the party drew their own weapons, thinking that she had seen an approaching threat.

"Uh…Everything okay," Clint asked when he saw no signs of any form of bad guy or monster in the area.

"Eh heh heh heh heh heh heh…" was all Rikku could get out in response.

"Ri? What's the matter," Tidus asked, feeling a little weirded out by the way she was laughing.

"Yeah, come on. You're creeping me out, Ri," Sora admitted.

The only answer she could give was to duck her head down as another flash lightning strike split the sky, with a loud boom of thunder following soon after. Barely seconds later, the blonde had crawled over to Miles as fast as she could, and latched onto his leg like it was the only life-line she had to keep her from drowning, much to his shock. "I wanna go home," Rikku whimpered. "I hate lightning! I hate thunder! Can we just rest in the nearby inn, please? Just for a little while?"

Now it made sense as to why she was so hesitant to leave Guadosalam, but that did not make things any easier. Auron had already explained to them earlier that the storms in the Thunder Plains never stopped, so they knew it was better to cross them quickly. However, judging by the fact that Rikku was shaking like a leaf, they could tell that just coming into this place was very hard for her, and it did not look like she was going to be doing too well without taking a break as soon as possible. No one was too eager to stop and rest just yet though, because just about everyone else wanted to get on with their respective missions. They probably would have continued onward regardless of Rikku's fears of lightning and thunder, but sadly, they soon realized that was a bad idea, because the girl constantly whined and begged for them to stop and rest at the inn, and increasingly so the closer they got to said inn.

Eventually, Rikku's whining would have gotten to be too much for everyone, had Steve not started to sympathize with the poor girl a little and said, "It probably would be best for us to rest up for a little while in a safe location. At least if we do so here at the inn, we'll be sure to be at something closer to full strength when it matters most."

"Yeah! Exactly! Please," Rikku immediately begged, glad to hear that at least someone was on her side.

"Fine, we'll rest," Auron irritably sighed. A minute later, he could not help but mutter under his breath, "She's worse than the storm, anyway."

"I'd say that it's more like she's worse than Clint," Sora corrected, having overheard the swordsman.

"Hey," Hawkeye snapped in return.

"He is not wrong, you know," T'Challa informed his friend. "You have been the most vocal out of everyone about the problems we are currently dealing with. If anything, I would say that our young friends are faring better than you."

"Yeah, and that's saying something, considering that two of us are just regular, high school teenagers, while the third one is just a street-level crime-fighter that isn't used to all this crazy Avengers stuff you guys get into," Spidey pointed out.

Clint could not really argue either of these points, but that did not mean he liked it any better, as the begrudging huff he let out while crossing his arms proved. That did seem to at least distract Rikku a little from the storm around them, at least until the next clap of thunder, but thankfully, she seemed to calm down a lot more after they had all gotten into the inn. Panic attacks from long-time phobias aside, stopping to rest at the inn did allow the team to finally get around to a topic that they had been putting off for far too long in a few people's opinion, and they were all determined to get to the bottom of it. That was why, nearly everyone in the group had settled into a comfortable seat while Sora attempted to get into contact with Donald and Goofy, hoping that the two would be able to lend some kind of assistance to them.

"Well, that was a bust," Sora ended up informing the group after he finally pocketed the Kingdom Caller once more. "I couldn't get through to Donald and Goofy, which means that they're either out of range, or they're busy with something else. I did get the voicemail for their Caller though, so I made sure to leave a message. Here's hoping that they get it before things get too crazy for us here."

"You think none of what we've dealt with so far since we landed here is too crazy," Miles questioned, half humorously.

"Maybe on some scale, but there's at least one bit of that craziness that we can get to the bottom of, starting with a simple question," Hawkeye pointed out.

Steve nodded in agreement before they all fixated their gazes on the Keyblade wielder of the group, making Sora shift in place a little out of discomfort. He knew what was likely coming, but hearing the super soldier ask the question only drove the point home for him. "Sora, what happened back in Guadosalam," Steve asked. "One minute you were fine, and then the next, you were screaming in pain before you finally passed out. Do you have any idea why?"

Sora glanced around at everyone in the room, took a deep breath, ignored the small shriek Rikku let out at the sound of another thunderclap, and said, "I'm not sure if you guys would believe me if I told you."

"A great deal has happened recently that many of us would not have believed possible before now. I don't see how anything you say could change that," Lulu pointed out.

Sora could not think of an argument for that, but that did not make him any less nervous about what he was going to reveal. Hence the reason why he said it all as quickly as he could and in one breath, much to some of the group's amazement. "I've been getting visions of the past; namely of Terra, Aqua, and Ventus's adventures from ten years ago. It's completely random, so I have no control over it, but nearly every time it happened now, I've been able to pick up a few new tricks, like how to summon the Keyblade Glider, how to better control my magic, my short-distance teleporting, and even how to use healing magic, but other times its just random stuff, like seeing them hanging out together or just some of the things they did on a specific world that they had each visited at one point. I didn't say anything about it to anyone, because I figured you guys would probably think I was crazy or something, or ask me to try make the visions happen so we could figure out where the three were, or some other thing, and there's also the fact that in some of the visions, it looked like I was seeing them through Ventus's eyes, almost as though I was Ventus when those moments had happened."

The others just looked at Sora in silent disbelief after they heard all of that. Partly because of how he had said all of that in one breath, and partly because they were waiting for Sora to regain said breath once he had finished. When he finally stopped panting, T'Challa asked, "Are you sure that these are visions of the past?"

"Positive," Sora confirmed. "I mean, Fury said that Ventus was hidden away somewhere in a comatose state at the moment, and he was definitely fine in all of the visions I've seen so far. And that's without including the ones I saw from his point of view."

"Why would you be seeing these things through this Ventus person's eyes in the first place? I mean, that seems more than a little weird if you ask me," Tidus questioned.

"Hey, maybe for all we know, Sora was actually Ventus in another life," Hawkeye joked.

"Dude, come on. This isn't Avatar the Last Airbender. There's no way that's the case," Spider-Man scoffed in reply, sounding like he had just heard the most ridiculous thing ever.

"Wait, you actually watched that," Hawkeye asked, sounding a little excited when he did.

"Yeah," Spidey confirmed. "I think one of my favorite episodes was when Zuko and Aang went to find the Sun Warriors."

"Nice! Though I kinda preferred the one where we met the Yuyan Archers," Clint admitted.

"Hold on, you watched that show," Miles asked in disbelief.

"Duh! It's a great show," Clint defended. "I mean, Legend of Korra was good, too, but you can't beat the classics, even if seeing how that world got a little more modernized in Korra's time was pretty awesome."

"Right," Peter agreed in excitement before he shared a fist bump with both Clint and Miles.

"Ahem, boys. Can we focus? You can compare notes on your favorite cartoons later," Gwen admonished the two. She then smirked a little as she quietly muttered, "And for the record, Korra was way better than Last Airbender."

"We heard that," all three of the fan-boys chorused to the blonde.

"Sora, about these visions…can you tell us anything that happened in them to help us believe this," T'Challa asked. "Maybe describe the people you saw?"

"Well, in the most recent one, I definitely saw Auron and Tidus's dad a lot, and Yuna's dad too," Sora revealed, turning towards Auron as he continued. "You guys all traveled together with Terra, Ventus, and Aqua at some point during Braska's pilgrimage. You first met Terra at some kind…prison or something similar to that, when you were attacked by monsters that Terra called the Unversed; you first visited Besaid with Ventus; and you all took pictures at some kind of inn on a snow covered mountain with Aqua."

"Many people know that Lord Braska, Jecht, and I were joined by those three at one point or another during Braska's journey," Auron countered. "We never encountered all three at the same time, but it is still pretty common…"

"Mr. Stone asked Ventus if he ever considered playing Blitzball after seeing him action and told you all about the legend of the paopu fruit while you were in Besaid. Terra did not want to join you because he was tracking someone named Vanitas, but Braska talked him into doing so by pointing out that traveling with you would keep him from getting too lost or turned around. You laughed at Mr. Stone when he freaked out at the chance that he might have upset Aqua while you were taking pictures on that mountain. And finally, Ven was the one who suggested to Braska that he and Yuna move to Besaid," Sora interrupted, revealing information that he was sure that only Auron could confirm.

The Keybearer's hunch was right, as Auron was struck silent in disbelief, until Yuna and the others all asked him if that was true, to which he could only give a minute nod in reply. "So you really have been seeing visions of the past," Auron whispered a second later.

"Maybe, but that's still not a guarantee that he's been seeing the Keyblade wielders that Fury mentioned to the Avengers, or the ones that came here," Steve pointed out.

"Only Keybearers to come to Spira before Sora were Terra, Aqua, and Ventus. Not likely to be anyone else," Kimahri revealed.

"All the same, could you describe the three for us, Sora? Maybe a distinguishing feature that they each possessed at the very least," T'Challa asked.

"Sure," Sora nodded. "Um…They all had a piece of armor somewhere on their left arm, usually near their shoulders, but Aqua had an armor piece on her other arm to match it. Ventus looked like he was about a year older than me, and had blonde spiky hair." Sora paused there for a minute when he noticed the odd looks he was getting at that point, and he quickly figured out what they were thinking when he mentioned that detail. "Not as spiky as my hair, but it was still pretty spiky. Let's see…Um…Terra, also had additional armor on his left arm…Aqua had blue hair…Oh! And they all wore the same badge, though Terra's was gold while Aqua and Ventus's wore silver."

"What did the badges look like," Cap prompted.

"Well…it's kinda hard to describe," Sora admitted as he thought it over in his head. He glanced around for a minute before he finally asked, "Does anyone have a pen and paper or something? Maybe I can try to draw it out."

Rikku quickly retrieved said items from her pouch before huddling up in her corner again, and the others all watched as Sora attempted to sketch out a somewhat sloppy looking image of the symbol that the three Keybearers all wore as badges. When he was finished, they were all treated to the sight of an image that was very angular and squared, and looked like a heart with a sharp cross at its base, with the cross's points were very compact and close together. "Now bear in mind, I'm not the best artist, but this is definitely really close to what I saw the three of them wearing. Ven and Aqua both wore it on their chests, over a set of crisscrossing straps, while Terra wore his and his belt," Sora informed the group after he had finished his sketch and allowed them to study the image.

"I would say that you are much better than you give yourself credit for, because that looks almost exactly like the badge that I saw Terra wearing during his time in Wakanda," T'Challa revealed.

"And you say you have no way to stop these visions from happening," Clint asked.

"Yeah," Sora confirmed. "The only sign that I ever get of them coming is a slight or intense headache, and by that point, it's already about to happen."

"Has this ever happened while you were on mission, or in the middle of a fight," Cap asked.

"Yes, it has," Spider-Man answered for Sora. "That is why you suddenly seemed to blank out when we were fighting that one big Heartless, Kraven, and Mysterio on your first day at Midtown, right?"

"Uh…Yeah, pretty much, but from what I could tell, I was only out of it for a few minutes," Sora tried to insist. "That last blast was the first time that it lasted longer than normal. The only other time that one of my visions took so long was when I was sleeping on our flight to Wakanda."

"First you can't control when your Keyblade zaps you to another world, and now you've got visions that you can't control at all? What next, a crazy spell that just goes off whenever it feels like it," Clint asked.

"Well when you think about it," Gwen started to say, already preparing to reference Sora's world-hopping ability.

"Shush," Clint immediately interrupted, not wanting to hear it.

"Sora, I understand being a little worried about telling us this, but you still should've come to us about this sooner. What if you had blacked out like you had in the middle of a fight? None of us would've known what was wrong or how to react it that was the case," Steve stated, getting them back on track again.

"I know, I know, but…I was scared of what you guys would think. I don't have the slightest clue about why I'm having these visions, or if they're trying to tell me something other than small hints about how to control my powers. Besides, like I said, I can't control when they happen, so…" Sora started to say, only to stop short when he found that there was nothing else he could say in his defense.

In point of fact, no one could really think of something to say for a few minutes. For the most part, it was because well over half the group was made up of people from Spira, namely Yuna and all of her guardians, and while Tidus and Wakka were Sora's friends, they had been separated from him for quite a while now and had no clue as to what he had been going through since gaining the Keyblade, so they did not feel like they could really offer up much help in this department. As for Sora's fellow Avengers, they were just as hard pressed to think of some way to make this right by Sora as everyone else. After all that they had been through alongside of him, from freeing Wakanda of Man-Ape's tyranny, to the conflict with Zemo, and all the way up to the trials of the Gamma World incident, they had not really considered the idea that Sora could have been having a harder time dealing with his own problems than they did. They had been so impressed by his coolness under fire and how much power he possessed that some of them did forget that Sora was still a kid, and that meant he likely had a hard time really figuring out how to deal with some of the stuff that came with the world that he had been dropped into.

The silence lasted for what felt like an eternity, and Sora was starting to think that he should have tried a little harder to come up with a better excuse so that he could keep his visions to himself, until he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder. Turning to the person attached to said hand, he ended up setting eyes on Peter, who slowly removed his mask so that Sora could better see his rather stern looking face as he spoke. "You're a smart kid, Sora, but keeping quiet about all of this was just plain stupid," Peter stated.

"But I…" Sora started to argue.

"Just hear me out," Peter interrupted. "I get what it's like being a teenager and a superhero at the same time. You feel like you've got the whole world on your shoulders, and you've gotta juggle that with all kinds of other drama in your life, thinking that if you mess up in either one, you're likely going to face some pretty tough consequences. I know that because I've been where you are. Don't forget, I may have been Spider-Man for a little over a year now, but I'm still just a teenager myself, and in my first few months of wearing this suit and slinging webs, I had to figure out all of this superhero stuff all by myself. Literally nobody else knows my secret identity aside from all of the people in this room, so imagine what it was like for me, learning how to juggle two entirely different lives, trying to find some type of balance between them, and making it all work in a way that doesn't make me give up one or the other. It's probably the toughest part of being Spider-Man, and it only got harder when I found myself having to cut ties with a lot of my friends for one reason or another, be it because I wanted to keep them safe, or because my actions had made them want nothing to do with me, Spidey, or both for one reason or another. But unlike me, you don't have to do any of that."

"Huh?"

"I doubt that I need to remind you that you don't really have a secret identity back on Earth, or whatever fancy name other people use for our world, but it's not just that. You've got teammates, friends who have your back no matter what. Not just in saving the world, but in everything else, too. What, you think it isn't obvious that Mr. Stark is paying for you to go to school, or that I didn't think you might get some tutoring from some of the other Avengers? Heck, Yuffie admitted that she and Black Panther were helping you learn how to fight better, and that Cap was too from time to time. If none of that is proof that you can go to them about stuff, no matter how big or small it might be, then I don't know what is. Plus, you have to also remember the fact that they made you some armor, including a gauntlet that would warn you about when the Keyblade was going to take you another world in advance, so that you could make sure that others wouldn't be pulled along for the ride. Sure, that last one might need a little work, but it doesn't change my point. Don't be like me and try to take on all the responsibility by yourself. If there's something wrong, you can turn to your friends for help, no matter what it is. After all, sometimes, following through the responsibility that our powers come with, means that you need to know when you can share the load."

"Or to put it another way, sometimes, you just need to learn when to swallow your Parker Pride and let others help you out," Gwen cottoned on with a sly smirk being thrown at her best friend since childhood.

Peter could only sigh in response before he asked, "Are you sure it's been a while since you last saw Aunt May, because that sounds way too much like something she would say to me."

Sora could only smile at the two, partly because he was amused at the way they were interacting with each other, and partly as thanks to them for their words. The only problem was that seeing them interact with each other like this made him wonder once again why they were not together. It was obvious that they had feelings for each other, so why was it that Gwen was with Harry Osborn and not Peter? There had to be some kind of explanation or a deeper story there, and Sora was now more determined than ever to figure out what that was. Of course, that also made him wonder if it was related to the bruise that he saw on Gwen's arm the other day, or if it had anything to do with that scarf she still had wrapped tightly around her neck, but that would have to wait until later. Right now, he just settled for keeping his smile up as best as he could, and said, "Thanks you guys. That means a lot."

"It better, because Spider-Boy isn't wrong," Clint promised, ignoring the subsequent name correction that Peter grumbled out seconds later. "You trusted me enough to let me help you with stopping the Leader, and to convince me to join the team, so why not let all of us help you deal with whatever wacky dreams you may be having."

"Hawkeye is right," T'Challa agreed. "We would be more than happy to help you discover the answer to this mystery as soon as we can."

"Besides, we're already helping you out with a lot of other things. What's one more mystery at this point," Steve finished with a determined smile.

"Hey, don't think we're just going to sit back and watch, man," Wakka interrupted. "Sure, we may not be able to help for long, but we're still willing to do something to help, too."

Sora's smile widened at that, and when he found his voice getting caught in his throat at hearing everyone else offering up similar agreements, he simply nodded his thanks once more, glad that he had so many friends willing to help him with this. He did feel bad about dumping this on them, since, like Cap said, they were already helping him with a lot of other things, but it was still good to know that they were so willing to offer and give that aid if he simply asked. With that little moment over, everyone agreed that it was time for them to get some shut-eye before they continued heading towards Macalania Temple, and they all quickly broke up into separate groups so that they were not all cramped into one room. Everyone except Rikku, that is, as she was still huddled over in an attempt to block out the lightning and thunder that continued raging outside.

Seeing the state of the Spiran blonde, Peter felt that he had to do something for her too. Luckily, he had a feeling that helping her would be a little easier than helping out Sora. "Hey, Rikku," Peter called out before she disappeared upstairs, getting the attention of said blonde, Miles, and Gwen when he did. "Do you have any small hobbies?"

Rikku did not really understand why he was asking that, but still answered all the same. "Well…I do like to tinker around with various different things like weapons or various machina."

Peter could only smirk at seeing that his hunch was right, and he then quickly removed one of his gloves and the web-shooter tucked underneath it as he asked, "Would you like to take a closer look at one of my web-shooters?"

"What? Really," Rikku asked, barely even registering the most recent thunderclap from outside after hearing that offer.

"Sure. I mean, if you're any good at tinkering, maybe the two of us could come up with some modifications I could make that will guarantee I won't run out of webbing before we get back home," Peter shrugged.

That earned him an excited cheer from the girl, and the two quickly set to work, with Miles offering to lend a hand a few seconds later. Gwen on the other hand, could only smile in awe at Peter coming to the rescue once again in another way. Sure, she knew that Peter did a lot of that as Spider-Man, but she always admired the fact that Peter could save the day without a costume or powers, even if he did not realize it. Of course, that same quality was also why she was keeping something pretty big hidden from Peter, and now that she had learned he was Spider-Man, she had to wonder even more if it was wise to tell him about it or not. Gwen just was not sure, and that question continued to bother her, even as she joined the other three in their little bit of brainstorming, all the while, thankful that Rikku was not jumping and squeaking every time thunder clapped or lightning flashed from outside.

---

Later that night, sleep proved to be very elusive to Sora, and he figured that all the excitement they had been through, coupled with the rather long nap he had in Guadosalam had left him with a little too much energy to properly fall asleep. No surprise really, as he had been in similar spots in the past after napping on the beaches back on Destiny Islands, so he did what he would always do back on his home world whenever he had a moment like that: he took to roaming the halls in an effort to work off the excess energy. It drove his mom crazy sometimes, assuming that she was still awake when he took those strolls, but it had also proven much more helpful than just reading a book or a glass of milk for Sora, and at the moment, neither of those things were readily available to him as far as he knew, so he resolved to apologize to his friends and any other patrons in the inn later if he woke anyone up.

As it turned out, Sora soon learned that he was not the only one awake, because he could hear the sound of a muffled voice coming from one of the rooms. When he drew closer to where the voice was coming from, Sora recognized it to be Yuna's room, but it was definitely not Yuna's voice that he was hearing. That made the Keybearer a little worried for the summoner, and Sora quickly made his way over to the door and knocked, intending to make sure that Yuna was okay. A minute after he knocked, Yuna had yanked the door open, and from where Sora was standing, she looked very troubled about something. A simple glance to the desk that was in Yuna's room quickly told Sora what the likely cause was, but he was not too surprised by the fact that the likely culprit was the sphere that Jyscal's spirit had dropped when he came out of the Farplane a few hours ago.

"Everything okay, Yuna," Sora asked, feeling that he should still extend the courtesy of asking even if he already had a good idea what the answer was.

"Um, yes, everything's fine, Master Sora," the summoner quickly insisted. When the look of concern Sora held did not show any signs of disappearing, Yuna immediately added, "Really, there's nothing to worry about."

Sora did not let up his concern, but instead, he simply said, "And people say that I'm a terrible liar." Before Yuna could protest and say that she was being honest, Sora went on to say, "You know, what Peter said about letting your friends help you didn't just apply to me. Your friends are just as willing to help you too, Yuna, and that goes for me and my friends too. Whatever is on that sphere, if it's important, than you should let us know before you do something too crazy."

Those words hung in the air for a minute before Yuna waved for Sora to come in, let him take a seat, and began to explain herself. "This sphere that Lord Jyscal dropped has me really worried, and after I saw what was on it…I feel like I can't ignore it," Yuna admitted, presenting the sphere to Sora so that they could watch it together.

The minute that Yuna hit the necessary command to play the sphere, the two were greeted with the image of Jyscal, and the message that he relayed to them left Sora very shocked, and a little worried about what Yuna was planning to do with it. "What I am about to tell you is the unclouded truth. I swear it on my honor as a Guado. Listen to me very carefully, for I shall tell you the truth about my son, Seymour. His mind is closed even to me, a maester of Yevon, but I can feel flames of darkness burning in his heart. He is using Yevon, the Guado, and even the summoners, and if they were here, he would likely be attempting to use the legendary wielders of the Keyblade as well. If he is not stopped, he will surely bring destruction and chaos to Spira. I will leave this world soon, killed by own son and the dark allies he has made, but I do not fault Seymour. Because I was not wise enough, he has suffered, and become twisted. Perhaps it is due in part to the masked boy who wields such dark powers, including the ability to summon the vile fiends that he called the Heartless, but it does not change the facts. I could not protect Seymour and his mother from the world and its cruelty, so I will accept death as punishment for my deeds. But whoever is watching this, I implore you to stop Seymour! Stop my son, and the masked man who allied with him. You will know him by the blade he carries, as it resembles a demon's wing, and has a blue, slitted eye in the hilt. Please stop them, for the sake of Spira and her future."

When the message finished playing, Yuna quickly figured out that Sora had a good idea who the masked man Jyscal was talking about was just from how Sora's fists clenched and tightened. She was not wrong, as all the details that Jyscal described were ones that Sora knew to be ones that he associated with Night Hunter, but at the same time, there was still more to Sora's anger and frustration than the fact that his new arch-nemesis was on Spira. In point of fact, Sora was probably more upset over learning that Seymour had killed his own father, and was now manipulating everyone into doing whatever he wanted them to do. Needless to say, Sora did not need Jyscal to ask for him to decide that he was going to stop Seymour, but before he could run out and tell the others, he remembered that Yuna had most likely already watched the video on this sphere at least once, so he had to assume that she had a plan of her own in mind. When he looked to her and saw that Yuna looked more than a little nervous, Sora quickly got the feeling that whatever Yuna was thinking was probably not a plan he and the others would have agreed with.

"So…what were you planning to do with this," Sora questioned, and his posture showed that he was not going to take anything but the full, honest truth. It was a little scary to see Sora being so serious, at least for anyone who knew the boy who was usually so cheerful and smiley, but even though she had not personally known him that long, Yuna was still pretty intimidated at the sight, and could not keep her plan quiet at seeing him like this.

"I was…I was going to tell Maester Seymour that I would accept his proposal," Yuna started to explain, earning her a disbelieving look from Sora. Seeing that and knowing what it meant, Yuna picked up the pace in her explanation before the Keybearer could make any outbursts from a mistaken assumption. "I would only do so in order to get close enough and confront him on the matter. If there is a chance that he can be redeemed for his crimes, then we should at least give him the chance to do so. It may be risky, but it is a risk I'm willing to take."

"And what if you're wrong, Yuna? What is Seymour doesn't regret what he did to his father or anyone else," Sora questioned. His answer was nothing but silence, and he knew that he had made a point. "Trust me, if he's willingly working with Night Hunter in the way that I think he is, then he's beyond redemption. I've seen the kind of people that Night Hunter works with, and most of them are not the kind of people who care about anything other than getting what they want. Besides, don't forget that me and Peter both sensed that something was off with the guy right from the moment we met him. I'd say that's a pretty good sign that he doesn't want to atone for any crimes he's committed. He needs to be stopped by any means necessary. Besides, you can't put yourself at risk like that. What if you do go through with this, and when you try to back out, Seymour does something to force you to see the marriage through? Do you really want to be stuck with that guy as your husband?"

"I…I don't, but…What else can I do," Yuna stuttered, now really confused.

"That's easy. Let us help you," Sora replied. "Like Peter told me earlier, you've got friends who are willing to have your back, so you shouldn't shut them out if there's a chance they can help."

"But I don't want them to get involved in this," Yuna argued. "I know that they're willing to risk their lives to protect me, but they're not just my friends or guardians. They're like my family, and I don't want to lose any of them."

"You won't. We'll all stand by you and make sure that we're there with you until the very end, because that's what real friends and family always do," Sora promised. He then placed a hand on her shoulder with a reassuring smile, as if to make her better understand what he was saying, and in the end, Yuna could not help but return his smile with a small one of her own. "Get some rest for now. We'll show the others the sphere in the morning and start coming up with a plan then."

Yuna agreed to that, and with that settled, Sora turned to head back to his room, now feeling tired enough to fall sleep. Proof once again that his little late-night walks do in fact help him to work off any excess energy that was preventing him from getting some shut-eye.

---

True to his word, when everyone had woke up the next day, Sora had Yuna show the group Jyscal's sphere, and the group's reactions to the revelation from the deceased Guado as the two had expected. Naturally, they were upset that a maester would ally with such dangerous creatures like the Heartless, but more than that, they were outraged to find out that Seymour had killed his own father, right to the point where they almost missed the part about how the current Guado leader was now trying to use the other maesters and followers of Yevon and the summoners for his own purposes. Just what those purposes were, they could not say, but they did have a few words on what Yuna had originally planned to do with that information. Needless to say, none of those words were in agreement with her plan, though no one failed to notice how Tidus was the most vocal about how it was a bad idea. What was even more surprising was how against it Gwen appeared to be, almost like she knew exactly what kind of consequences would await if Yuna's plan did fail. No one really thought to question her on the matter, but only because of the more pressing matter that they were facing at the moment.

"You know, for once I would agree with the big guy's go-to plan on how to deal with this: we just kick Seymour's butt," Hawkeye half-joked.

"Technically the Hulk would say that we should just smash Seymour," T'Challa quipped in return. "Either way, while a conflict may be inevitable, we should go in with an intention to fight. If we are the ones to strike first, we will be seen as the aggressors, and Seymour will have more credibility to his name; credibility that he will no doubt use against us and to assist both his own goals, and those of Night Hunter and the Heartless."

"Maybe, but most of the methods we have available to us in trying to trick him into revealing his crimes have too great of a risk factor to them as well," Captain America argued.

"And most of those risks would fall on Yuna, Sora, or both," Spider-Man added, having already thought about those very scenarios as well.

"Plan that put Yuna at risk is not option," Kimahri stated in a tone of finality, and no one was going to argue with the Ronso on that, even if they wanted too.

"This all feels wrong," Lulu muttered under her breath, not liking the fact that they were planning to most likely battle against a maester of Yevon like this.

"I know," Wakka whispered, having been the only one to overhear her. "But if he is guilty, then we should at least confirm that and give him a chance to really explain himself. Besides, if he is guilty, then do you want him anywhere near Yuna, or anyone else for that matter?"

Lulu could not deny that Wakka had a point there, so she made no effort to do so. That did not mean that she joined the others on forming a plan on how to deal with the situation, though, but that was mostly because they were not having too much success in thinking of anything concrete that they could go forward with. Their brainstorming lasted all throughout the remainder of their trek through the Thunder Plains, even as they fought both Heartless and fiends of various shapes and sizes, and at least halfway into the Macalania Woods. None of them were able to come up with something that seemed doable or even certain to guarantee that they would be able to expose and stop Seymour without some form of casualty or serious injury to their group, and they were quickly running out of time to come up with something, considering that Seymour was likely waiting for them at Macalania Temple.

It was at that point that Gwen finally stepped forward with an idea of her own. "We know that Seymour's waiting for us at the next temple right," the blonde asked. When the others all nodded in reply, she then asked, "Well is there anywhere he can go after that?"

"No. He would have to go back the way he came once his business was finished at Macalania Temple, just like the rest of us and anyone else visiting that temple would," Auron replied.

"So then, why don't we just corner him there," Gwen suggested. "It'd be the perfect place to get some answers, or even a confession, and, assuming Pete has his camera on him, we would be able to record it and show it to the proper authorities. Not only that, but if he did try to escape, he would have no choice but to try and force his way through us, and if Seymour's like any other supervillain, he'll likely try to attack us to get do that, meaning the only reason we would have to fight would be in self-defense."

"Yeah, that makes sense to me," Miles agreed. "Besides, I'm sure at least one of you Avengers has a camera or something in your mask, right?"

"Well…I've got one in my helmet, so we could probably use that," Sora admitted.

"And Gwen…I'm a little offended you would think that I didn't have my camera with me," Peter joked as he retrieved said device from his belt, and even with his mask on, Gwen knew that her friend had that cheesy grin on his face that she had come to love.

"There's still one small problem with that," Lulu revealed, getting everyone's attention. "Tradition states that the summoner must be escorted to Macalania Temple with one of the Guado, while their Guardians are only to follow after they send someone else later on. Aside from that, you forget that your cameras may be viewed as some of the forbidden machina."

"Please. My arrows and T'Challa's daggers being viewed that way, I can understand, but how could someone see a fancy helmet or a regular old digital camera as bad," Clint asked.

"She still brings up a good point," Steve cut in before anyone could get into a needless debate. "And if that's what tradition says, then we don't really have any choice but to let Yuna take a risk like that."

"Maybe not," Spider-Man countered, and somehow, they all had a feeling that he was still smiling. "After all, the tradition says that only the guardians have to wait behind before being allowed through, but not all of us are Yuna's official guardians, remember? And besides, it's not like we don't have some people that can't follow without being noticed, right?"

When they heard that, everyone had quickly come to the same conclusion, and could only grin as Sora stated it aloud for everyone. "Spider-Man, it sounds to me like you've got a plan."

"And it might even be a good one, too," Peter joked soon after, motioning for everyone to gather around in a group huddle so that he could better explain it to them.

---

"This is place is really cold," Sora shivered while rubbing his arms in an attempt to warm himself up a little. "Seriously! How is it so cold here when we were just in a forest that was really warm?"

"If Sora think this cold, Sora should wait until arriving at Ronso home, Mount Gagazet," Kimahri teasingly grinned.

"P-Please don't even joke about that," Wakka stuttered, mainly because he was shivering even more than Sora.

"Sheesh, man up you guys. This isn't that bad, and this is coming from the guy who didn't wear the thermal version of his suit," Peter remarked, adding into the teasing.

"Guess they're just too used to the beach or something," Clint said, poking fun at the two as well.

"Hey, islander, what can I say," Sora shrugged in response.

"Yeah," Wakka agreed with grinning pride. A minute later, he was exchanging a quick low-five with Sora, and Tidus joined in soon after, only for all three of them to start shivering like crazy again when a particular cold wind blew past them.

All joking was brought to an end when Yuna alerted the group to someone approaching them, and they all turned to see the Guado that had greeted them upon their arrival into Guadosalam walking up to them. "Lady Yuna, we've been expecting you," the Guado happily greeted. "We were surprised you decided to come so soon. Pleasantly surprised, of course. And might I be so bold as to say that it is quite joyous to see that you are still traveling with the young Keyblade master, and even more so to see that he's doing much better after his sudden…collapse in Lord Seymour's home."

"Uh…Tromell, right? Sorry if I worried you or anything. I guess I was just feeling really tired or something," Sora quickly fibbed. It took a great deal of restraint on his part to not shoot a cross look in Clint's direction when the archer rolled his eyes at the rather pathetic sounding excuse, but it did seem to have convinced Tromell.

"Think nothing of it. You are young, and bear an even greater responsibility than anyone else on Spira, even the summoners and maesters of Yevon. I think we would be more worried if you did not eventually find yourself in need of resting at all," Tromell happily waved off, though it came across as too happy to be genuine in the eyes and ears of the Avengers and their friends. "Lord Seymour also sends his apologies for having left without notice," Tromell think quickly added, apparently having noticed the suspicious looks that he was getting from his last comment.

"It's quite alright," Yuna reassured him. "I have one question, if I may, sir."

"My lady?"

"I want to keep journeying, even if I marry. Do you think that Maester Seymour would let me?"

"But of course, My Lady. Lord Seymour wishes nothing else, I'm sure," Tromell immediately replied.

"Well, that answer came pretty quickly," Hawkeye whispered.

"Yeah, a little too quickly," Miles agreed, with the others all silently confirming a similar suspicion.

Yuna just smiled in response before nodding to the group and approaching Tromell, knowing that he would lead her to Macalania Temple, but just as the Guado in question was about to lead her away, he was surprised to see that Sora was moving to join them as well. "Just a moment, young man. I understand that you wish to aid Lady Yuna however is possible, as is the duty of a summoner's guardian, but we still must follow Guado tradition. I'll have to ask you to wait here a little while longer, and I'll send someone to escort you."

"Maybe, but I'm not an official guardian, remember? I'm a Keyblade master, and we're the exception to those rules," Sora reminded. "Besides, no offense, but you don't exactly strike me as much of a fighter, so wouldn't it make sense to have someone who can fight to look out for you two as you head for the temple?"

Tromell could not think of any argument for that, as he knew that Sora was correct, so he simply nodded in reply and allowed the young man to join them, never noticing the discreet nods that the Avengers were giving their young teammate. He did notice how Yuna had hesitated in their departure for a moment though, but before he could say anything, Tidus beat him to the punch. "We're all with you, no matter what, Yuna," the blonde promised. "And don't forget…" He then put two fingers in his mouth and let out a loud whistle.

That brought a bright smile to Yuna's face, and she immediately nodded and replied, "Yessir, and thank you."

With that, the summoner and Keybearer turned to head out with Tromell, while the latter just quirked an eyebrow in confusion, curious about the last bit of Yuna's exchange with Tidus. The young lady easily caught on to that, and seemed happy to explain it to him. "Tidus told me that if I was ever in trouble, I should just whistle like that, and he would come running."

"Oh, gotcha," Sora nodded in response. "He told me something pretty similar once, a long time ago when we were little kids, but I could never get it right, so he told me to just stick to shouting out for my friends if I ever needed them."

Yuna only giggle in reply to Sora's recollection of his childhood memories, but before they could exchange anymore words or stories, a loud noise greeted their ears, and they both turned with Tromell to see squadron of people racing over to them on what looked like large snowmobiles. Out of instinct, Sora summoned his Keyblade, thinking that these people were not here to help given how they were surrounding the three of them, and from the look of things, his instincts were good, because the guardians and the Avengers were all quickly jumping down to form a defensive perimeter around the three. That did not stop the strange newcomers from getting jumping off their vehicles and drawing what appeared to be rifles to fire at a moment's notice.

"Stay back," Auron cautioned Tromell. He then looked to the Avengers and added, "Be on your guard. The Al Bhed are not to be taken lightly."

"You mean these guys are the Al Bhed you told us about," Clint questioned.

"Yep, this is them," Wakka confirmed.

"Well then, they picked the wrong team to mess with," Sora stated with confidence, activating his helmet and gauntlets as he did, while Hawkeye notched an arrow, Captain America moved his shield from his back to his arm, and T'Challa drew a pair of vibranium daggers.

Apparently seeing the Avengers threw the Al Bhed off a little, as some of them slowly began stepping back, while others just turned to retreat, but that assumption turned out to be false, as they could all soon see a massive, heavily armed tank-like thing rising up from over the hills, while the apparent leader of these Al Bhed simply stood there looking smug. "Rikku! Tuh'd ehdanvana un oui kad drec," the man in question shouted, making everyone pause and stare at the blonde girl in question, wondering why she had been singled out. They did not have to wonder for long, as the machine suddenly ejected a pair of small drones that began to glow a little, while the man chuckled, "Ouin bnaleuic sykel yht yauhc yna caymat!"

"Oh, no," Rikku gasped in shock.

"What? What did he say," Tidus asked.

"How should we know? That didn't exactly sound like any language I know, and I know a pretty good number of other languages," Clint replied.

T'Challa was about to say something similar, but before he could, Rikku showed she was capable of understanding what had been said, by exclaiming, "He's gonna use an anti-magic field on us!"

"KAD DRAS," the Al Bhed leader shouted, and like that, the tank-like machine raced forward and dropped down in front of them before opening fire, forcing everyone to either dodge or duck behind Captain America and his mighty shield.

When he finally found a break the machine's attacks, Sora quickly turned his Keyblade towards the sky, and attempted to cast Thunder, thinking that the Al Bhed machine would not be able to block his magic, but he was soon proven wrong, as absolutely nothing happened, no matter how hard he tried. Normally, he would have laid the blame for that on his own magic abilities, but when he found himself unable to call on any of his spells at all, or his teleportation magic, or even his ability to either dismiss or summon the Keyblade to his hand, Sora knew that he was just as vulnerable to the anti-magic field as the rest of the group. Luckily, he did not need magic to deal with that problem, and neither did his fellow Avengers, as Hawkeye and Black Panther both proved when they shot off an arrow and a vibranium dagger at the two drones maintaining the anti-magic field, disabling the drones when they did, while Captain America tossed his shield into the gatling gun, damaging it quite a bit when the shield struck.

When the tank deployed another set of drones to reestablish the field, Sora immediately aimed his off-hand's repulsor gauntlet towards it and fired off the energy blast, destroying it before it could activate, and surprising the others a little by his attack. Sora just shrugged in response and said, "What? Just because I can't use magic, doesn't mean I don't have other abilities to help with that. Besides, do you guys really want to complain right now?"

No one could really argue with that, though that was mainly because they had to dodge more enemy fire from the massive machine, and the few Al Bhed that had decided to stick around and help fight. Two of those Al Bhed were quickly taken down though, surprisingly, by Gwen and Miles. The minute that the two teens had knocked out their targets, they quickly grabbed the weapons that the Al Bhed had been using and opened fire on the machine, hoping to disorient its systems long enough for the others to initiate a second wave of counterattacks. Wakka was easily able to join the two teens in their long-ranged attacks, utilizing his Blitzball to knock out the newest drones, while Rikku tossed a grenade to finish off said drones, freeing Lulu up to use her magic on the machine, while Tidus, Auron, Kimahri, Cap, and T'Challa all charged in to attack the machine in a frontal assault.

Sora would have joined the five in their charge had Clint not suddenly stopped him with one arm. "Don't worry about us. We can handle this rolling scrap pile. You just get Yuna and Tromell to the temple," Clint ordered before he reached into his quiver for another arrow.

"Do you really think we're going to just leave you guys here," Sora questioned, thinking Clint had forgotten who he was talking to for a minute.

"I didn't say that. Besides, you've got a mission of your own to worry about, remember," Hawkeye quietly reminded the kid, his eyes moving off to the side in a silent reminder of some things that had already been put into motion.

Sora caught the message easily enough, and just nodded in return before he turned to Yuna and Tromell and said, "All right, you guys heard the man. Let's get moving. The others will catch up once they're done here."

"Very well then," Yuna agreed, and with that, the three all turned and quickly made their way down the path. She had expected Tromell to argue and say that they should still wait for that escort he mentioned earlier, but it appeared that he was too freaked out by the surprise attack to think about that, because he just simply ran for it as quickly as he could, while still making sure to stay close to Sora and Yuna.

Throughout both the departure of the Keyblade wielder's group and the battle that the rest of their allies were getting into, no one seemed to take notice of the red and blue clad wall crawler that had slipped out of the fight during the confusion, and was now following after the departing trio as stealthily as he could, even as he shot hesitant looks of worry back over his shoulder towards his two friends.

---

The trek to Macalania Temple was rather long and passed in a silence that put Sora and Yuna both on edge. Sure, they knew that they had a plan in place and the others would be able to deal with the Al Bhed well enough without them, but there was still no hiding the fact that they were walking into the lion's den with so little backup. All the same, they needed for this to happen if they were to expose Seymour and his crimes, and if all went well, they would more than likely get out relatively unscathed. All the same, it would have made both summoner and Keybearer feel a little more at ease if they knew that the rest of their friends were not being held up by the fight that they had been forced to leave them in earlier.

Such worries had to take a backseat, as they soon arrived in the temple, and with Sora's help, Yuna easily managed to make it through the Cloister of Trials and to the Chamber of the Fayth, where they found Seymour waiting for them with an unsettling grin on his face. They did not exchange very many words with the leader of the Guado, aside from Yuna being very careful in how she worded her response when Seymour asked if she had made up her mind about his marriage proposal. Sora was just relieved that she did not say anything that would imply if she was leaning one way or the other in that answer, and that Seymour did not seem to upset by her supposed indecisiveness, and with very little else to be said, Yuna calmly stepped into the chamber so that she could pray to the Fayth and acquire another summon, leaving Sora alone with Seymour. The two remained silent for a few moments, with Sora glancing around the room in an attempt to keep from going stir-crazy, until finally, Sora received his cue to act on his part of the plan, and turned to speak with Seymour.

"So Seymour, you said that you wanted to marry Yuna because you think it would help bring happiness to the people of Spira, right," Sora inquired, attempting to make small talk as best as he could.

"Indeed, my boy. After all, as a maester of Yevon, it is my sworn duty to always think of the people. Though I will admit, there is a part of me that is quite taken with Lady Yuna," Seymour replied.

"Still, it's interesting that you would want to do something like that just to make people happy. Kinda like your father and what he did by introducing the Guado to the teachings of Yevon, right," Sora pointed out. When Seymour gave him a surprised look, Sora explained, "My friends told me a few things about Spira while we were traveling, and I was curious about this world and its customs."

"I see. You did not strike as the type to be so willing to learn about intricate and historical matters," Seymour admitted.

"Hey, when it comes to stuff about other worlds, of course I'm interested," Sora replied while resting both hands behind his head. "Ever since I was a kid, I've dreamed about seeing other worlds, not just because the idea was so exciting, but also because I wanted to know what they were like, and after I go the Keyblade and starting visiting other worlds, I got to experience and learn so many things that it really helped drive home the idea that every world is unique. Now, I want to learn everything I can about each and every world I visit, even if it's something that some would think isn't important or just plain silly."

Seymour seemed to find Sora's words to be either humorous or entertaining, because he let out a soft chuckle in response before he finally stated, "You are certainly a bright young man, Master Sora. I think I'm beginning to see why the Keyblade chose you as its wielder."

"Well, if you really care as much about the people of Spira as you say you do, then I guess I can see why you were chosen as your father's successor, even if he wasn't too popular with most people for a while," Sora remarked.

"Whatever do you mean by that," Seymour inquired.

"Well, didn't marrying your mother make a lot of people really upset or something," Sora asked. "And besides that, it couldn't have been easy for him to have to deal with losing her, being a maester and raising you all by himself."

"My father did not spend that much time raising me. I grew up away from Guadosalam in one of the distant temples," Seymour revealed. "I had intended to become a summoner like Lady Yuna, but after what happened to my mother, I could not carry on, so I abandoned my pilgrimage. It was a deep shame that I was forced to carry for many years until I finally returned home."

"Did that play any part in your decision to kill your dad," Sora then asked, his tone taking a full 180 from cheerful to serious and demanding.

"I beg your pardon," Seymour asked, trying to sound innocent and surprised.

"Don't bother trying to pretend. I know that you did, and that you had help from a certain hunter," Sora revealed, but he had to stop himself from revealing how he knew this fact.

Seymour just stared at Sora for a minute before he finally let out a deep, sinister chuckle and said, "Perhaps I should have had you dealt with while you were unconscious earlier. You are far more troublesome than I gave you credit for. Though I wonder if Night Hunter himself knows just how much of a problem you can be."

"So you do know him," Sora stated. "You know that Night Hunter's a dangerous criminal who has attacked many innocent lives and endangered other worlds by allying with the Heartless, right? Or does that even bother you since you let yourself be attacked by the Heartless when we first met?"

"I assure you my boy, I had not faked that attack. Some events that occurred prior to your arrival caused the Heartless to slip from my control momentarily and then attack me, but you are correct when you say that I am aware of what kind of man Night Hunter is. That is the whole reason why I am his ally, and part of the same group that he works for. With the powers that I have gained access to through working with them, including the power of the Heartless, I will be able to achieve all of my goals. After all, I've already managed to usurp my old fool of a father's position, and gained myself a position of high authority among the maesters of Yevon, and now, all that remains is my final goal," Seymour revealed.

Sora was a little surprised to hear that Night Hunter was working with a larger group, but he put that aside for now, because there were more important things to deal with at the moment. There was no telling how long he had before Yuna acquired her next aeon, and he had to get all of the information that they needed out of Seymour before that. Not only that, but he also needed to stall for time until the others arrived in case Seymour decided to attack him in order to keep him from talking, so he kept on prodding as carefully as he could. "And just what does Yuna have to do with that," Sora asked, confusing Seymour as to why that was being brought up. "I'm not stupid enough to think that she doesn't play some part in your little scheme, and that you're really trying to marry her out of genuine love or something like that. Anyone with half a brain would know that someone like you would only propose out of the blue like you did if the girl in question had something to do with your grand scheme."

Seymour looked a little insulted at first from Sora's accusations, but he quickly collected himself so that he could calmly answer. "Why Lady Yuna is the final key to achieving my ultimate goal: control over all of Spira. With her power, I will be able to take full control of Sin for myself, and from there, it will be easy for me to establish a new world order. Any who oppose me would be subject to destruction at my hands."

"Are you seriously telling me that your killed good people and are now just using Yuna as a means to an end so you can take over the world like some cliché comic book villain," Sora asked in disbelief.

"Oh no, Sora, I'm not any cliché villain, for I will succeed, and I am very much real," Seymour dismissed, clearly not finding it necessary to deny the facts. "With the powers of Heartless and Sin at my command, there will be nothing that anyone can do to stop me. Not even you, little Keyblade Samurai."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Sora stated, his Keyblade popping into his hand in the usual flash of light while he put some distance between him and the half-Guado maester so that he could fully drop into his battle stance. "My friends and I will stop you and defeat Sin for good."

"Others before you have tried and failed to stop Sin, but you will soon see that my plan is the more realistic goal. After all, the power I already have as a maester of Yevon make me untouchable just because you and your friends can't do anything to me without facing dire consequences in turn," Seymour stated in confidence. That confidence quickly started to waver though when Sora started to laugh in response. "What's so funny?"

"Oh nothing. Just that your 'power' as a maester of Yevon didn't let you catch onto the fact that everything you and I have been saying was being recorded the whole time," Sora revealed, startling Seymour when he did. To better explain the revelation, Sora tapped the side of his helmet as he said, "My helmet has a built in camera that records everything I see and hear when its activated, and it also has a projection function on it that would allow me to show everyone the conversation we just had. Combine that with the sphere that we received from your father after he momentarily appeared from the Farplane, and I'd say that there's a very good chance that you'll be facing serious charges."

"Why you little…give me that sphere and that helmet, now," Seymour growled, charging at Sora as he did in a clear attempt to attack him. Sora just jumped back and dodged the villain, and continued to do so as Seymour pressed his attack, blocking with his Keyblade when he needed to, which became a little more frequent when Seymour started shooting magic spells at Sora. "Is this how you intend to stop me, boy? By running away and blocking?!"

"No, I just had to make sure that we got enough photographic proof that showed you had been the first to attack before I made any move to strike back," Sora replied.

"As if anything that is recorded on the helmet could help prove…" Seymour started to say before Sora's words registered in his mind. "Did you say 'we'?"

"Yeah, I did," Sora confirmed as he stood down and then pointed upwards.

When Seymour looked to where Sora had pointed, he was quickly greeted with a single pellet of webbing that quickly expanded to encase him in a massive spider web, while the spectacular Spider-Man himself dropped down from the ceiling, holding a camera in the hand that had not just shot off the newest variant of his webs. "Guess I should've known that bad guys being gullible idiots no matter how crafty or clever they may be is a universal constant throughout all the worlds," the web-head quipped. "Well that, and the fact that people never think to look up anymore until someone points something out to them from that direction."

"And I think it's safe to say that the new Impact Webbing we cooked up worked like a charm, didn't it," Rikku's voice piped up, informing everyone that the girl in question had just arrived along with the rest of Yuna's guardians, the Avengers, Miles, and Gwen, the two last of which were still wielding their borrowed guns from earlier.

At that moment, the door into the Chamber of the Fayth opened, allowing Yuna to step out with a disappointed look on her face. Though everyone could tell that it was not because she had failed in acquiring another aeon; no, it was because she had heard everything from the other side of the door. "A part of me had hoped we were wrong, Maester Seymour, but it would seem that you really have fallen into as deep a darkness as your father's sphere had indicated," the young summoner declared while readying her staff for battle. "I suggest that you surrender peacefully. We will be taking you to face charges for your treason."

"My treason," Seymour asked, and he then laughed like he had just heard a good joke, putting everyone on edge.

"Is it just as bad here on Spira when a defeated bad guy starts laughing as it is back home," Clint questioned of anyone who was from Spira.

"Yes, it is," Auron confirmed.

"Okay, just wanted to make sure."

"You truly don't realize that you've already lost," Seymour informed them. "There are no other higher ranking maester anymore. I've already seen to it that I am the one the highest position."

"Are you saying that…?" Lulu gasped in shock, hardly believing what she was hearing, while praying that it was just some form of cruel joke.

"Indeed I am," Seymour confirmed, dashing all of those hopes in an instant. "The Grand Maester has already been slain by my hand, along with any of his immediate successors. The only maesters remaining are all ones that are beneath my level of authority, and they all know better than to challenge me. The Heartless help see to that."

A moment later, several of the very dark creatures that Seymour mentioned materialized into existence and surrounded the group, with a few larger, more human looking versions of the Shadows, cutting Seymour free of the webs that Spider-Man had captured him in. These new versions of the Shadows, which Sora identified as Neo-Shadows then proceeded to close in on the group while making sure that none of them could get to Yuna, even as Tidus and Kimahri tried their best to break through the ranks. Before anyone could take more drastic actions to get rid of the Heartless, Seymour began to recite an incantation, calling on what was doubtlessly a powerful spell, and one by one, the guardians and Avengers all began to pass out. Tidus and Sora tried their best to stay conscious, but in the end, they were soon slipping away just like the others, unable to do anything to stop Seymour as he scooped an unconscious Yuna up over his shoulder and proceeded to flee from the Macalania Temple.

---

No dreams or visions came to Sora's mind this time while he was out, but a part of him almost wished that they did, because then, he might have been able to better block out the yelling that eventually woke him up. He was not sure what was being said, only that it was being said in very loud voices. At first he thought that he could not tell what the two people were saying because of how groggy he was, but as he slipped fully into the world of consciousness, he started to realize that the real reason was because the speakers were both just talking in another language that he had never heard before. Reaching that conclusion, Sora's mind immediately went back to the Al Bhed that had attacked him and his friends before, and he quickly sprang up from the bed he had found himself on, ready for another fight. It was only after he was on his feet with Keyblade in hand that he realized that there was no one to fight, and that the two voices were coming from the next room.

Thinking that his friends were in trouble and he was going to have to fight his way out, Sora immediately crashed through the door, or at least as much as he could considering that said door opened on its own, and prepared to shout for everyone to surrender, but he was quickly met with an even more confusing sight. There, standing along the hallway, were all of his fellow Avengers, Spider-Man, Gwen, and Miles, all right as rain save for the dejected looks on their faces, and without a single sign of ever being restrained. The six all quickly took notice of Sora's arrival, and seeing that he was armed, they were all immediately saying various things in an attempt to calm him down, thinking he was going to attack at any second, but really, the only thing that was on Sora's mind right now was one simple question.

"What is going on," Sora finally asked when he found a chance to speak.

"Seymour hit us with a sleep spell or something, according to Lulu, but as it turns out, we had someone ready to come in and save our skins before Seymour could send anymore Heartless or Yevon soldiers after us," Clint replied, sounding more than a little annoyed when he spoke.

"Isn't that a good thing," Sora asked.

"Yeah, it is. Hawkeye's just annoyed by the fact that the people who saved us were also the ones that attacked us when you and Yuna were heading out to Macalania Temple," Captain America revealed.

"Well there's also the fact that Rikku turned out to be an Al Bhed as well, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't play as much of a part in it as the other thing," Miles added.

Sora breathed a small sigh of relief, glad to hear that they were safe for the moment and not prisoners, but he knew that could likely change if they really were with the Al Bhed at the moment. After dealing with so many bad guys now, Sora knew better than to assume that they were safe in an enemy location, even if said enemy had done something to help them. With that said, he and the others all quickly turned to head onto the bridge, and the minute they did, the yelling Sora heard earlier ceased to be muffled, and they were all treated to the sight of Rikku arguing with both the Al Bhed leader from before, and an older, bald man that seemed to be running the show. Looking off to the side, they quickly spotted Tidus, Wakka, Lulu, Kimahri, and Auron all just watching the feud, either unsure of who to side with or just not wanting to get in the middle of it, and made their way over to the five so that they could let them know that Sora was awake. Not that they really had to say too much, as their arrival on the bridge was announced the moment that the door slid open.

"Hey sleepy-head, good to see you up and about, ya," Wakka teased Sora.

"Well what do you expect? Sora's always finding some way to take a nap no matter where he is or what he's doing," Tidus joined in just seconds later.

"Ha, ha, ha," Sora retorted in good nature. "What about you guys, are you all okay?"

"Aside from the fact that it would seem we have failed as guardians," Lulu pointed out, reminding everyone of the fact that Yuna was currently missing in action.

"Wait, what," Sora gasped in disbelief.

"By the time Rikku's family arrived, Seymour was long gone. There's little doubt that he's heading to either Bevelle or Zanarkand now in order to get whatever it is he wants," Auron revealed, and while his voice retained its usual calm, cool tone, it was clear that there was a hint of anger and a growl underneath it.

"Then we will rescue her, and defeat Seymour in the process, if we must," T'Challa decided.

"And after that, then what," a new voice interrupted, bringing everyone's attention over to the three Al Bhed who had apparently stopped arguing long enough to overhear the conversation. "You plan on taking my niece to finish her little trip to becoming a sacrificial lamb like her father and every other summoner before her?"

That surprised and confused everyone from Marvel-topia and Destiny Islands, but not to the point where they were all rendered completely silent. "No, we're going to help her defeat Sin," Tidus corrected.

"Oh yeah? And how're you going to do that, boy," the Al Bhed man questioned.

"By getting the Final Aeon of course. How else," Sora questioned.

That answer did not seem to satisfy the man, as he angrily huffed, "And here I thought you Keyblade wielders were supposed to be better than those Yevonite dogs that would rather kill off good, innocent people than try to find another way to beat that monster."

"What's that supposed to mean? I mean, no one's killing anyone innocent. We just gotta get the Final Aeon, and then Yuna can use it to destroy Sin, right," Sora asked, only to pause in his challenge when he noticed the somber looks on the faces of Yuna's guardians. "Right guys?"

When no one answered Sora's question, Wakka could not help but nervously ask, "Uh…why do I get the feeling that there's something that was left out about this whole thing?"

A minute later, everyone who was not from Spira found themselves wishing that Wakka had never asked that question, because the answer that Rikku gave them, while important, was anything but reassuring or good. "Summoners journey to get the Final Aeon, and with it, Yuna can beat Sin, but then…But then…if she calls it, then the Final Aeon's going to kill her, just like every other summoner that's ever used it! Even if she defeats Sin, it will kill Yunie too!"

---

AN: I'll be honest, I can't remember a time where I had ended a chapter on a character's dialogue like this. I mean, I might have, but I can't remember it right now at this time. Speaking of which, I'm sure we can all only think of one reaction to that last bit there...

Dun, dun, DUUUUUUUUUNNNNNN!

Rikku: Really?

AN: What? Don't tell me that it isn't appropriate. Besides, everyone who's played Final Fantasy X must have known that was going to come up at some point. Speaking of which, let's go over the details of what changed in comparison to said game's storyline, aside from the fact that Sora, the Avengers, and the Spider-Clan were present. Yes, Yuna revealed Jyscal's sphere to everyone sooner, while in the game, she kept it to herself and simply said that she intended to accept Seymour's proposal. Not a great idea, by the way. Of course, that still would've happened if Sora hadn't caught her viewing the sphere, but thankfully, he did, and with that, everyone was able to get in on planning how to help expose Seymour's crimes.

Next change: The battle with the Al Bhed...well, the only change there was that Sora helped Yuna to duck out so she could get to the temple, but aside from that, everything went the same. Well, there's also the fact that Wakka did not get really upset over finding out that Rikku's an Al Bhed, but that's only natural seeing as in this story, he's not from Spira, so he wouldn't have any beef with the Al Bhed.

Third Change: Sora and Spider-Man exposing Seymour for his crimes and getting it all on tape, so to speak. The man's backed into a corner, even before the rest of the team and Yuna arrive, but it turns out that anyone that they can take the evidence to is already dead and gone. In the game, they did get a chance to expose Seymour to his superiors, but it turned out that those same people were part of a larger conspiracy to keep control over Spira, and did not need to be removed by Seymour before that, and even if they did, Seymour did not see any reason to. That was kind of weird if you ask me, because if Seymour really was as committed as he seemed to be, I feel like he would've gotten rid of all the potential obstacles in his way. Also, another change from that moment was that the team did have a full battle with Seymour at Macalania Temple, which ended with the other Guado taking Seymour's dead body away before Yuna could send him, and then revealing that they were in league with Seymour just before Tromell destroys Jyscal's sphere. This time, he simply used a spell to knock everyone out and then kidnap Yuna.

Final important change: the rescue by the Al Bhed. Yes, the team is in fact aboard the airship that Rikku's dad commanded in the game, those other two are Rikku's dad and brother, (does anyone else find it strange that the latter's name is literally Brother, or that it seems like people got lazy with naming at that point?), and yes, they had the big reveal about the consequences of a summoner's pilgrimage aboard that ship. In the original story, that reveal was given in the Al Bhed home in Bikanel Desert, before the team had gotten onto the airship, and Rikku made that reveal in a similar manner after it was revealed that the Al Bhed were kidnapping summoners to stop the pilgrimages. Only Tidus did not know about it until that point, but is it really surprising that he was not the only one left out of the loop in this version? Of course Sora and the others from Marvel-topia wouldn't know about it, but since he's from Destiny Islands like Tidus and Sora, it made sense that Wakka wouldn't know too.

Is that everything that I needed to mention?

Sora: As far as the important stuff goes, yeah that about does it. Every other change falls under the minor notice. You know, aside from the changes we saw in my most recent visions.

AN: Right, and speaking of which, the secret of that is out, and the Avengers are more than happy to help him figure out why he's getting them. Be honest, did anyone think that they wouldn't want to help him with that problem, or that they wouldn't question him about it until something like this occurred? And speaking of which, hope you all enjoyed that little peek at how the BBS Trio's journey went in this continuity, namely when they arrived on the world of Spira.

Riku: Hey, you know I've gotta ask, have you ever thought about doing a chapter or two in this story that specifically geared towards explaining the full details of what happened to Terra, Aqua, and Ven when they were on Marvel-topia?

AN: Once or twice, but I feel like that would be something that I would put into a one-shot series similar to the Keyblades Unleashed Series Extras one-shot collection. Aside from that though, the only one that I've really put that much planning into would be Aqua's story, mainly because I got a lot of ideas for it from the movie Captain Marvel (really great movie, by the way, and the perfect thing to set up Avengers: Endgame if you haven't already seen it yet).

Oh yeah, and we do indeed have Rikku to thank for helping Spider-Man come up with Impact Webbing in this story. Pretty cool, huh? You can expect a few more Spidey gadgets to be added to the web-head's arsenal pretty soon, too, so don't think that this will be the end of those.

Kairi: Let's not forget a very memorable Kingdom Hearts moment happened here.

AN: Oh, right, thanks for that, Kairi. Yes, she's not wrong, as I'm sure you remember that moment from the first game when Sora saw Kairi in Merlin's house. It has definitely been way too long since we saw any sign of Sora's two best friends, especially in the case of his beloved auburn haired, Keyblade wielding princess, and I really wanted to work that particular scene in as soon as possible. When it came to this world and the matter of the entrance to the Farplane, or really any part of Guadosalam, I felt that there was no better time to bring that scene into play, and so...ta-da! Here it is! We finally saw Kairi appear in the story in person (sort of), and she finally got some dialogue in it as well. Cool, right?

Kairi: It'll be even cooler when I finally get some more screen time, if you ask me.

AN: Yeah, okay, that's fair. I will do my best to get Kairi in here some more later on, so don't worry about that. You'll know when it's likely about to happen again, I can promise that. Here's something else I can also promise: it's to move Onto the Preview!...

The truth about the summoner's pilgrimage is revealed, and those who were previously unaware are left feeling distraught, upset, or just flat out angry over the fact that they had not been told before. Sure, those who did know had their reasons for not telling, but that does little to make it better. More than that, it also makes them all wonder just how Seymour could possibly think that allowing Yuna to acquire the Final Aeon would help him gain control over Sin, but that's not considered to be nearly as important as rescuing Yuna from the evil maester. Even so, Sora and Tidus are both determined to do whatever they can to stop the vile monster in a way that won't cause Yuna or anyone else to die, and the rest of their friends and teammates are all right there with them in the hopes of achieving that goal. Just what could they do to stop Sin, though? How will Seymour's plans play into all of that? And when the final battle to save Spira commences, just what consequences will unfold afterwards? The conclusion to the journey through Spira is here at last, in the next thrilling chapter.

Yeah, we're aiming to make the next chapter the conclusion to the Spira arc, and from the look of things, there will be more than just changes to the Final Fantasy X story in it. Wait, why am I saying that it just looks like that? I know it's going to be like that. Oh well, either way, you know what to expect for next time, so for now...

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