Chapter 99

Overreaction

Rufus stepped out from behind his desk and made eye contact with Sora. "I have been informed of the incidents that occurred, and which you quelled, after your arrival," he said. "I would like to thank you for neutralizing the malfunctioning robots, and for disposing of the shadow demons."

"They're called 'Heartless'," Riku corrected. "And maybe you can repay us by telling your troops not to shoot into a busy street, or to try to arrest people without probable cause."

Rufus sighed. "I apologize for that. The Public Safety department has been on high alert for a terrorist cell that has been vexing us for quite a while," he admitted. "But I became rather fascinated when the officer reported that five Keyblade wielders were in my city. So, please, tell me for what purpose you have brought yourselves into Midgar."

Sora and Mickey turned to Riku, indicating that they were deferring the role of expositor to him, figuring that he would best be able to explain as much as necessary. The did not know Rufus' intentions, but they could tell that he was not someone they wanted to tell about the "remake reality" possibility, even though they had summed it up sufficiently for Zack.

Riku let out a sigh. "A coalition of villains from multiple different worlds is attempting to take over all of the worlds," he said.

Rufus smirked. "Haven't heard that one before," he said sarcastically. Riku raised an eyebrow. "I am aware of Maleficent's council and their efforts to swallow the worlds in darkness," he elaborated. "However, they failed to find what they were after, and we forced them to retreat."

Donald crossed his arms and tapped his foot irritably. "And your troops never got the hint that guns didn't work on Heartless?" he asked snidely.

"The SOLDIER operatives were the primary opposition to the dark creatures," Rufus explained. "And I suppose that, until only a few weeks ago, they had not been seen in years. Regardless, the threat of the sorceress had been expunged from this world long ago."

"The same could be said for all other worlds," Kairi said. "Maleficent and her allies were defeated nearly two years ago."

Rufus' eyes widened and he smiled with intrigue. "My, my. And who would be the one responsible for such a victory?" he asked. Donald and Goofy pointed to Sora. "Fascinating. To think such power could rest in the hands of one Keyblade Master…"

"But Maleficent is back, and she has a new club, with twelve other villains as opposed to five," Riku said, redirecting the conversation to the initial subject. "And they're using the Heartless as well as their counterparts, discarded bodies called Nobodies. They're also not looking for the Keyholes, but an item of uncertain nature."

Rufus stroked his chin. "And so you want to make sure they cannot find this item," he surmised. "I notice that you haven't mentioned what sort of power this item offers. You don't want me to use it for myself, am I correct?"

Riku said nothing. The rest of the party held back their surprise at his quick deduction and tried to maintain blank expressions that betrayed nothing.

Rufus chuckled. "I suppose I can hardly blame you," he said. "But you needn't worry. I have a feeling that this sort of thing is a little far out of my depth. And regardless, I doubt you or your enemies would be willing to tell what the threat or promise is."

"But I'm sure you didn't call us up here only to ask what we're doing," Mickey said. "What is it you want?"

Rufus smirked. "A perceptive one, I see. Fine. I'll get to the point." He cleared his throat. "In the past three days, maintenance and security personnel have reported sightings of the creatures you call 'Heartless' roaming three of our Mako reactors on the perimeter of the city. However, the numbers had remained low enough that they did not manage to cause any damage, and the security personnel, armed with melee weapons to avoid causing damage themselves with misfires, were able to eliminate the intruders. However…" He turned to press a button on his desk, causing a holographic model of Midgar to appear in front of the party, aligned so that its southern side faced the office window. He pressed another button and one of the columns adjacent to the split in the city's plate turned red. "Three hours ago, I received an alert that the creatures have appeared in the Sector 6 reactor. When security personnel failed to provide a status update in a timely fashion, I sent a squad of infantrymen to back them up. They have not reported back."

"You want us to do your laundry," Riku surmised.

"It won't be any different from what you normally do, so it shouldn't be a difficult request. I want you to clear out any and all of the dark creatures before they cause any lasting damage. So, do we have an arrangement?"

"Will we need any protection?" Donald asked.

"Mako does not emit any harmful radiation, so being near it will not cause any detrimental effects," Rufus explained. "If all goes accordingly, you will not need to worry about physiological damage."

Mickey traded glances with the rest of the party. He looked out the window and saw the reactor numbered "5". It took more of those reactors to power the sprawling metropolis. He did not know what this "Mako" energy was, but he knew that if the reactor that mined and harnessed it suffered any serious damage, the results could be catastrophic.

"Alright. We'll do it," the mouse declared.

Rufus nodded. "Very well. I trust that Mr. Fair will escort you to the site. I will leave the rest up to you," he told them.

Aqua nodded. "Okay, then. Let's go stop the Heartless," she said.

The party stood facing each other in silence as the elevator began its descent. They went down ten floors before Zack spoke up.

"You should be careful when working with Rufus Shinra," he warned. "He's the kind who will do anything to get what he wants."

"I noticed," Riku replied. "He was clearly trying to determine how he could make our arrival benefit him."

Sora crossed his arms. "Then I guess we're going to have to keep an eye out in case he pulls any tricks."

Donald nodded in agreement, then turned back to Zack, his face expressing curiosity. "So, what is Mako energy?" he asked. "Aside from what Shinra uses it for. Where does it come from? How do they get it?"

"Mako is an energy drawn right from the core of the world," Zack explained. "I don't really know how the process works, but the reactors drill into the earth and mine for it."

"When we came to this world, we saw that the soil around the city was barren and lifeless," Kairi pointed out. "Is that what happens when you take out too much of this 'Mako'?"

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Or, at least that's what all the protestors are saying. I haven't really had the opportunity to look into the details. But I have seen the results in the slums."

"The slums?" Aqua repeated, curious.

"The middle and upper-class citizens live above the plate. Below it, on the ground level, are eight… seven more districts, each one less-well-off than the ones above. Plants don't grow in the useless soil except for in a few places, and sunlight normally doesn't reach down there, since the plate's in the way. Beyond that, people are just dirt poor by comparison and they don't get nearly as good supplies as the top half of the city."

"That's… That's horrible," Mickey said in disbelief.

Zack nodded. "Yeah. Not surprisingly, people down there don't exactly have a high opinion of Shinra."

Riku shook his head. "I'm starting to like this less and less, but for the sake of everyone above and below that slab of metal, we have to save that reactor."

Sora nodded in agreement. "I guess we can worry about the environmental issues later," he added.

The party of eight stepped off of the train and made their way out of the station, following the road to the entrance to the Sector 6 Mako Reactor. Looking up, they saw a towering cylindrical building with pipes running around the exterior. A large symbol, which translated to the number "6", was printed on the side facing them. Beneath the symbol, a large, thick pipe stretched from the reactor all the way back to the structures surrounding Shinra Tower, evidently the method by which Mako was delivered to the tower for processing and conversion to electricity and other purposes.

As they opened the heavy metal doors and stepped inside, they took a look at the large pipes, rusting doors, and computerized consoles. An elevator could be seen on the opposite end of the room. On either side wall, they could see a set of stairs.

"If there are as many as Rufus said, we're going to need to split up to cover more ground," Zack advised. "I think we can manage teams of two."

Mickey nodded and looked up at Sora. "You wanna team up?" he asked.

Sora nodded. "Sure thing, your Majesty."

Zack took a step back. "M-Majesty?! Should… Should I have…?" he stammered, worrying that he may not have been showing proper respect around the regal mouse.

Mickey shook his head vehemently. "That won't be necessary, Zack," he assured. "You can just call me 'Mickey'."

Riku and Kairi looked at Donald and Goofy, thinking that their teams should have balance and speciation. "Riku, how about you go with Donald, and I'll go with Goofy?" she suggested.

Riku shrugged. "Sounds fine, so long as no one has any stubborn objections that they refuse to elaborate on," he joked, shooting a smirking glare at Donald.

The duck jumped slightly in surprise. "Uh, no objections…?" he murmured.

Aqua turned to Zack. "Then I'm with you," she said.

Zack nodded. "Okay, then. We'll take the bottom floors. Sora, Mickey, Riku, Donald, you take the upper levels, and be sure to go all around. Kairi, Goofy, start at the next floor down. When we're done, we'll meet back here. If one group doesn't catch up, we'll go find them and see what's wrong. Sound like a plan?" Everyone nodded. "Great. Well, let's go.

Zack and Aqua ran to the elevator while the other six took the stairs. Once inside the elevator, Zack pressed a few buttons on the console and pulled a lever, and the metal box began a squealing, rickety descent. Aqua was quick to notice his familiarity with the systems and layout.

"You've been in here before?" she asked.

"A few times, though it was a couple other reactors," he answered. "There were remnants of an enemy army that Shinra conquered, Genesis' forces, and an old eco-terrorist group, all attacking Midgar at one point or another."

"Must be tough fighting so hard for a system you know is immoral," she said sympathetically.

Zack shrugged. "I mainly focus on what would happen to the people if I fail," he admitted. "Besides, it's not all bad. Most of the other SOLDIERs are good people, and our old director was a pretty cool guy. We just do what we can to keep things bright, you know?" He removed his sword from his back and leaned it against the wall, then began to do squat exercises, a trait that Aqua remembered seeing him do when she had met him so long ago.

"So, do you have any way to find that Xehanort guy, now that you're out?" he asked, changing the subject.

Aqua shook her head. "The others defeated his Heartless and his Nobody, but there hasn't been any sign of him, even though the other Organization members returned to human form," she replied.

"Weird. You think he's got something up his sleeve?"

Aqua shrugged. "After everything he did with Terra, Ven and Vanitas, it seems strange that he would just cut all of his pawns loose like that. But from what I've heard, it sounds like there was supposed to be something happening, but he just dropped off the face of the Earth without anyone expecting it."

Zack finished his squats. "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out. Just like I'm sure you'll find Terra, and wake Ven up."

Aqua blinked in surprise at the statement, but saw in his eyes that he was earnest about his faith in her. She smiled. "Thank you, Zack," she said.

At that point, the elevator ground to a halt. Zack put his sword on his back again as he and Aqua turned to face the door as it began to open. They saw red emergency lights illuminating the hallway. When they stepped out, four Soldier Heartless materialized. Zack pulled his sword free while Aqua summoned her Keyblade. They vanquished the creatures in a few swift blows.

"Let's get to work," Zack said, his mouth widening into a grin.

Sora blasted a Neoshadow with a Blizzaga spell while Mickey performed a spinning slash to defeat a Yellow Opera. A Tornado Step spun itself at Sora and hit him from the side, but he promptly retaliated and cut straight through it. They ran out onto a catwalk and saw an Aerial Master hovering above them.

Mickey looked up at Sora. "Give me a boost," he said. Sora nodded and stooped down, cupping his hands in front of him. Mickey ran a short distance away, then turned around and ran toward Sora. He stepped into Sora's hands, and the boy stood up quickly, pushing him up as Mickey launched himself into the air. The mouse flew straight for the Aerial Master and proceeded to engage in midair combat with it.

Looking ahead, Sora saw a whirl of black-and-white thorns swirl about before vanishing to reveal a trio of Dusks. Sora brandished his Keyblade, daring the Nobodies to enter the fray. "You don't show up for the heck of it," he mused, recalling how Nobodies usually only show up in a world when their commanders are around and give them orders. If that was the case, then that confirms that someone from Maleficent's group was already in this world. So, then, who was it?

Sora ran up to the Dusks and slid around them, confusing them with the reversal, then hit one of them with a combo attack. He pulled a few more Reversals when they figured out where he was and found himself in the middle of the group, but he still found them looking away. He promptly destroyed them with a revolving Fira spell. A few seconds later, Mickey dropped from above and landed on his feet, having defeated the Aerial Master.

"Nice work, Sora," Mickey commended.

Sora grinned. "Thanks, your Majesty."

Mickey sighed. "You know, you don't have to keep doing that," he pleaded.

"Doing what?" Sora asked, confused.

"You don't—Look out!" Mickey leapt over Sora's head and deflected a bolt that had been fired by a Trooper Heartless. When he landed, he launched a Pearl spell that sent the Heartless flying, then charged after it and slew it with a Keyblade combo. Sora followed after him and passed through the door to the next room, only to find that they were surrounded by more Heartless.

"We'll continue this later," Mickey said. Sora nodded. They each threw themselves at one of the Heartless.

Riku and Donald fought Soldiers, Armored Knights, and Yellow Operas. Riku locked blades with the Knights and cut through them while occasionally throwing balls of dark fire at distant foes, while Donald almost exclusively kept to a decent range and fought with his magic. The duck found the Yellow Operas to be more manageable than usual due to his newfound understanding of Agua magic, and he used a single stream to short out and drown all but one of the floating Heartless. To his annoyance, the spell dispersed and collapsed before he could reach the last one, and he realized that he was out of mana. Grumbling, he reached for an Ether in his pocket. A Soldier attempted to sneak up on him, but he turned around to see it and backed away. It closed in on him, so he swung his staff and hit it on the head. He continued to hit it until it became dizzy. When his opponent was unable to attack him, he opened the bottle and drank the Ether. Invigorated, he cast a Blizzard spell to destroy the Soldier.

Donald turned to Riku and saw the Armored Knight slash him across the chest, sending him tumbling backward. Quacking in shock, Donald cast Stopra on the Knight and ran over to Riku. He raised his staff and cast Curaga. Using his Keyblade as a support, Riku stood up, then dealt a slashing combo to the immobilized Heartless. A few seconds later, time resumed for the Heartless and it reacted to all of the attacks instantly, exploding into smoke.

Riku turned around to face Donald. "Thanks," he said, smiling. He glanced up and his eyes widened. "Behind you!"

Donald turned around and saw the last Yellow Opera making its way toward him, its body enveloped in wild electricity. Before it could hit him, however, Riku raised his Keyblade and sent a Blizzara spell cutting straight through it.

The duck turned back to Riku. "Thanks," he said, grateful for the assist.

Donald nodded. With the floor cleared, they made their way back to the stairs to go to the next floor. However, Donald frowned as he thought back on what Riku had said before they began their ascent. It had only been a joke, but it did allude to something Donald had done and said to his spite, something of which he was not proud. However, before he could think more on it, he and Riku found themselves fighting more Heartless in the stairwell.

Several floors below, Kairi and Goofy fought through Troopers, Red Nocturnes, and Blue Rhapsodies. As Kairi's swiftness and magic proficiency balanced out Goofy's brute force and stalwart defense, they moved together as a single unit, either one covering whatever bases the other left open. Kairi used her magic to defeat the floating spell-casters with their opposing elements while Goofy blocked the Troopers' bolts and inched toward them, taking each one out once he was within range.

When the room was cleared out, Kairi turned to Goofy and let out a laugh. "We're doing a pretty good job, huh?" she said.

Goofy smiled and nodded in agreement. "A-hyuck! We work pretty well together," he replied.

Kairi looked around in dismay. "You know, we haven't seen any sign of the infantrymen that Rufus sent, or anyone else who works here," she said.

Goofy nodded. "You're right," he agreed somberly. "Though, they could be further down, but considering all the Heartless we've seen right now, it doesn't look like it."

"So they all had their hearts taken by the Heartless," Kairi realized.

"Gawrsh, you think their Heartless might be here?" Goofy asked. "If we beat their Heartless and their Nobodies, they might come back."

"Assuming they have Nobodies. What happens if you don't have the strength of will to make a Nobody? If a Keyblade wielder defeats your Heartless, do you still come back to life?"

Goofy shrugged. "I dunno. We never actually knew you could come back from that until Axel and the others."

Kairi sighed. "I guess we can only hope. And if that doesn't work, pray."

A moment later, six Creeper Nobodies appeared in a line in front of them. The small creatures, glinting like blobs of silver mercury, waddled toward them on their small shoe-arms. Kairi and Goofy raised their weapons to continue the fight.

Aqua and Zack ran across the walkway leading to the Mako energy core. Zack cut through Heartless and Nobodies with his sword while Aqua disposed of distant enemies that flew over the abyss with her magic. When she cast several spells, she began to glow with a pink-magenta aura. She let go of her Keyblade, allowing it to float in midair. She pushed outward to send it spinning toward a Paratrooper. She pulled it back and threw it in a horizontal spin, then drew it back to her hand, pointed it, and shot an orb of magic, which hit the aerial gunner square in the chest and destroyed it.

When he saw Aqua in her Spellweaver Power Style, Zack whistled. "Haven't seen that in a while," he said, impressed.

Aqua smiled with pride and cast powerful Blizzard and Fire spells at the flying fiends. However, there were still dozens more flying all around the wide chamber.

With each strike and spell, Aqua built up magic energy. She knew that she would need to gather more than she was used to in order to clear out the swarm of Heartless. Zack, meanwhile, was running out of enemies to fight on the ground, and had begun to throw Fire spells from his hand, a circle growing scarlet on his arm. However, he quickly ran out of juice for that and returned to waiting for something to come close, or blocking attacks with his sword.

Finally, Aqua felt a massive surge of magic power weaving through her body. Smiling with euphoria, she turned to Zack. "Wish me luck," she requested.

"What?" the SOLDIER asked suddenly, confused.

Without answering, Aqua leapt off of the walkway and started spinning, glowing with a large flare of pink-white energy that spiraled around her. She floated in midair, spinning like a figure skater, her arms and Keyblade raised high as she maneuvered through the air at an incredible pace, the pink magic dancing around her and burning through the Heartless that were around, above, and even below her. She whirled around all over the place, revolving around the core and either blasting Heartless or pulling them into a vortex above her. At the end, she hovered above Zack and, swinging her Keyblade outward, released the last of her energy in an explosive burst, obliterating the last of the Heartless in a final blast. As the last of the magic aura faded, she dropped out of the air and landed on her feet next to Zack, who could only stare in awe.

"Whoa," Zack exhaled. "You've definitely gotten stronger."

Aqua nodded, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "I had to if I was going to survive in the Realm of Darkness," she replied. "I even managed to teach myself some fourth-tier spells. Speaking of which, when did you learn magic?"

Zack looked at her, perplexed. Then he remembered the spells he had cast and looked at his arm, which were marked with two faint red and yellow circles. "Oh, that? I just drew from the power of Fire and Thunder Materia," he explained. "It's not really magic by my power, although it takes some of my energy to use it."

Aqua nodded, understanding. "Oh, yeah. I remember that Turk girl mentioning that. What was her name, Elena?"

Zack nodded. "Yep. The leader's Tseng; the bald guy's Rude; the guy with messy red hair is named Reno; and the other girl is Cissnei. Or, that's what she goes by, at any rate."

"Got it."

"Now, let's see if there's anything wrong here," Zack muttered as he turned around and made his way down the walkway.

Aqua raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked, following him.

"Until now, the Heartless appearances have been sporadic at best, aside from when Maleficent first showed her pale green face. They haven't even done much in the reactors. But here, not only did they overrun the place, but they camped out in the lowest, most critical chamber as if guarding something. Now, what might that something be?" He reached the core's maintenance console and gasped, horrified. "Oh, that's not good."

"What?" Aqua asked, coming up behind him. She leaned to the side to get a look past him, and saw a large metal box with red blocks on all four sides, and a screen and a series of buttons on top. Pink-colored numbers appeared on the screen, apparently counting down.

"Someone's planted a bomb here," Zack answered. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number. A short moment later, he began to speak into it. "Hey, Tseng. We're in the core. We cleared out the Heartless, but there's a bomb on the console. I'm going to try to disarm it, but I need you to get people to evacuate the surrounding area in case I fail. Yes, everyone. For, like, two miles away, at least. And make sure to get the people downstairs, too! They're going to be where it hits hardest… Alright, thanks. I'll do what I can." He hung up and put the phone away, then turned to face Aqua. "I'm gonna try to disarm this. If this doesn't work, then we'll need to get out of here fast."

Aqua nodded. "I'll cover you," she said.

Zack nodded in reply. He studied the buttons on the bomb's face. The screen read 10:27 and counted down. He sighed. "Not gonna make it that easy, huh?" he muttered. He reached into his belt and took out a screwdriver. He removed the screws and lifted the plate, exposing the wiring and circuitry.

"You have experience disarming bombs?" Aqua asked.

"I had some training. It's not really my specialty, but we don't have the time to get an actual specialist." Zack pulled out some wire cutters and tweezers as he examined the circuitry to see what he could work with.

Aqua sighed. "I wish I could help, but I don't know how to do what you're doing, and I don't know what I'd do with the bomb if I could move it."

Suddenly, they both heard a booming noise and felt the ground shake beneath their feet. They turned around to see a giant monster that resembled a robot, but it had a Heartless emblem on the front. Its torso was funnel-shaped and it had a short and wide cone on top with a smaller cone of normal proportions on top of that. A slot was opened at the top of the funnel to reveal glowing yellow eyes. A black rectangular gun was mounted on either side, so that the two weapons resembled boxy arms. It had four legs resembling those of a crab, spaced evenly around the base. The main body and the upper parts of the legs were colored a dull red while the bottoms of the legs were of a bronze color. The Heartless was large enough that its legs were contained barely between the railings on either side, allowing some wiggle room to let it walk.

Zack's face fell. "Things just got more complicated," he said.

Aqua summoned her Keyblade and held it down at her side. "I'll take care of it. You just focus on the bomb." She ran toward her foe and pointed her Keyblade forward and cast a spell, causing bolts of lightning to strike one after another in a line, closing in after the robot. When the lightning hit the robot Heartless, it stopped progressing and stayed in the same place, hitting it with several bolts of lightning in sequence.

Unperturbed, the robot fired a laser at her from both of its guns while the spell was still in effect. Aqua was hit and thrown back several feet. She returned with a reprisal, throwing her Keyblade at the fiend's hull, causing it to momentarily lurch backward. She landed on her feet and ran up to it again, hitting it with her Keyblade and casting Thunder spells. After a few combos and spells, she felt a power surge and burst with electrical energy crackling around her in a yellow aura. She attacked ferociously, each blow fueled by the power of lightning. She continued attacking, only interrupted when the giant knocked her back with lasers. She finished off the lightning-charged assault by raising her Keyblade and unleashing all of the power in a Thunderbolt storm.

The relentless assault seemed to hurt the Heartless greatly, but it still fought back. After a moment, it scuttled back and shot a volley of lasers from both its guns and its eyes. Aqua raised a barrier to block each of the shots, but the moment it dissipated, the Heartless blasted her with another bolt, knocking her down. The Heartless scuttled forward and aimed its guns at her, but it was interrupted by a Keyblade bouncing off of its head.

Sora caught his Keyblade out of the air and jumped on the side railing, sliding across it to slip past the Heartless, then landed beside Aqua. He extended his hand. "You alright?" he asked.

Aqua took his hand and he helped her up. "Yeah. Thanks."

"We all met back up at the entrance, but you weren't there. We decided to come down and check on you," Sora explained. As if on cue, Mickey came into view, slashing at the Heartless' legs. He ducked under the Heartless and joined Aqua and Sora.

"What's Zack doing?" Mickey asked.

"There's a bomb here," Aqua explained. "He was trying to deactivate it when this thing showed up."

"Then let's bring it down!" Sora declared. "Looks kinda like the Surveillance Robots, except big and with legs.

"It's trying to stop us from disarming the bomb and getting out of here," Mickey added. "What's the time on that thing?"

"Seven minutes!" Zack answered without turning around. "So, if I can't figure this out, you'll need to stop that thing fast so we can scram!"

Mickey nodded. "Then let's shut down this Impedance Machine!"

Sora nodded. "Not bad," he said.

"Thanks."

The three Keyblade wielders fought the Impedance Machine with fierce combos and magic spells, mostly consisting of Thunder and Pearl (particularly on Mickey's end). Whenever one of them was injured, one of them cast a Cure spell.

Less than a minute in, Riku joined the fight, attacking from behind with his Keyblade. Because it was stuck between the railings, the Impedance Machine could not defend its rear, and even if it could turn around to fight Riku, that would only leave it even more open to its first three adversaries. It suffered even more when Kairi, Donald and Goofy joined the fight and had it surrounded on both sides, one of which being defenseless. It got to the point where the only thing it felt it could attempt in order to protect itself was to unleash an endless barrage of lasers at the enemies in front in hopes of dispatching them. The lasers from its guns and eyes got numerous hits in, while Aqua, Sora and Mickey blocked as many as they could.

Zack, having spent the last few minutes cutting safe wires and searching through the circuitry to find something that would stop the bomb from going off, checked the timer, which read 3:02. "Tch!" he remarked in frustration. He stood up and turned around. He blinked as he felt something click in his mind and a ripple go through his body. "Everyone, get out of the way!" he shouted. He turned sideways and held his arms to the side at right angles, his right arm pointing up and left arm pointing down. He put his legs in similar positions, to the best of his ability, with his right foot pointing down and left foot pointing backward. As Aqua, Sora and Mickey backed to either side, Zack pushed himself forward, balancing on his right foot, and rattled his arms. The three Keybearers could faintly see thin, transparent streaks fly past them at a rapid pace and hit the Heartless, leaving visible indents, as if one-thousand steel needles were flying through the air at it. When Zack ceased his action and once again stood on both feet, the Impedance Machine faded away, the armor around the kinetic stab points disintegrating first.

Everyone looked at Zack in amazement. "What was that?" Mickey asked.

Zack shook his head. "No time. I can't take care of the bomb. We need to get out of here. We only have two-and-a-half minutes left," he told them.

They required no further prompting, particularly once everyone had looked past Zack and gotten a glimpse at the bomb. They all whirled around and ran as fast as they could, Sora and Kairi casting Haste on the eight of them on the way. They climbed up the ladders and piping and ran up the stairs, bolting up every single flight, not stopping for a moment. Finally, they reached the floor leading to the entrance, though Sora nearly went up an extra flight, having lost count, before Kairi stopped him and told him that they were there.

They ran out the door and were several yards away when fire roared out of the stairwell and elevator shaft and poured out the door, releasing an explosive force that sent everyone flying. When they landed, they rolled onto their backs to see debris falling through the air and clouds of smoke and fire pouring from the top of the reactor.

Sulking back through the train station, the party stopped when they saw what appeared to be a short gumball machine hopping around the platform. Letting out a laugh, Sora ran after the Bulky Vendor, which scurried away when it saw him. He pursued it all over the place, squeezing past confused passerby and running behind benches and fences. As time went by, it picked up the pace, sometimes jumping to another area on the platform, where his friends had started to space themselves out to try to grab it. When Kairi managed to catch it, Sora shouted "Not yet!" She let go, and Sora chased after it for a little longer. Finally, he dashed up to it when it leapt into a corner and turned the dial on its face. Gears turned and the capsules held in its glass ball head spun around. Its mouth opened and a green pod fell out into Sora's hand. The Bulky Vendor hopped up and down, moving out into the open. It then exploded into fireworks launching up into the air. White Mushrooms appeared around the station, dancing in congratulations, tossing sparkles into the air. Sora looked up in wonder as he saw the fireworks take the shape of letters and numbers.

HAPPY 100TH CHAPTER!

(Including the prologue, since it certainly counts as one on )