*Disclaimer - I do not own the copyright to Azur Lane or Kingdom Hearts

*A/N - Hiya! Hope you're all doing well. Thanks so much for sticking through this hectic story and for all the reviews and messages I've been getting regarding the story. I seriously want to let you know how much I appreciate your feedback and ideas. There are so many crazy ideas I have for this story and how Sora will thrive in the world of ship girls. But enough of me rambling. Let's get back to the show. Got a lot of stuff going on here so hopefully, that'll go over well lol. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter and take care.

Continuing to make their way across the island and toward the central radio station, Sora checked his surroundings for any signs of the Heartless appearing. Shifting his sight left and right the boy found nothing but the surprised and defensive stares from the girls of Sakura Empire.

Mikasa was not that far from the boy and began to alert the girls who looked puzzled about the encounter.

"Girls! We have a situation. I repeat we have a situation! Code Red. Prepare yourselves for an incursion and find your squadron leaders. This is not a drill."

Hearing their senpai and superior alert them to the news all the girls in the area immediately bolted from where they were standing and suddenly began running to prepare for the incoming trouble.

Sora meanwhile looked ahead and could see what appeared to be a large building with what appeared to be a saucer-like dish with multiple antennas around the place.

"Is that the central radio station?"

"Yes. It's under construction for improvements made to be implemented into our riggings thanks to the experimentation of Wisdom Cubes" Mikasa answered.

Nodding at the brunette's words, Sora began sprinting to the building in question with Mikasa following right behind him. Worry was starting to crawl up her arms and she had a nauseous feeling forming in the pit of her stomach.

'An enemy that this boy could sense… just who is he?' Mikasa thought while looking at the spiky-haired man next to her.

Before she could ponder any more questions about Sora, a large purple cloud shot appeared in the sky and instantly lowered itself while being placed out at sea. The duo quickly shot their heads to the purple cloud and were shocked at what was happening.

Out at sea there now appeared to be a large dark cloud that covered a grand area making it impossible to see what was happening. But Sora knew for sure what was happening now.

Once the dark cloud started to fade away there in the water stood an entire fleet of dark ships that he easily recognized. It was the ship that he encountered when he first woke up in this world. The Heartless ship.

Letting out a quick sigh, Sora turned to look at Mikasa who had a confused look on her face.

"What… Those aren't Siren ships."

"Mikasa, get to the radio station and alert everyone. It's the Heartless."

"The Heartless? I thought you said they were monsters? Not ships!" Mikasa exclaimed, confused about the whole situation.

"You're not wrong but I'll explain everything later. Right now, you need to let everyone know and get ready. Things are going to get rough."

"Wait? What are you going to do? Why aren't you coming with me?"

Shooting the older girl with a confident yet collected look, Sora explained his on-the-spot plan.

"The Heartless are attracted to Light and Hearts meaning everyone on the island. And the Heartless ship I encountered a bit ago had an insignia on it which means someone or something is trying to control them. Also, the weapon I wield acts like a beacon that the Heartless hate. I'll use that to draw them away from the island."

"You're going to use yourself as bait? That's ridiculous!"

"Maybe. But I can't let the Heartless start attacking the island while everyone is rushing to get prepared. I'll buy you guys some time!"

Leaving no room for Mikasa to bicker with him, Sora summoned his Keyblade and took off toward the ocean ready to buy some time for the kansens of the Sakura Empire to help him. Besides, if the Heartless were here and in the form of battleships, then the Sirens were not that far away.

Now staring at Sora's form getting further away from her, Mikasa shook her head and began to mumble to herself all while running to the radio station to alert everyone on the island.

"That boy… he doesn't even know us that well but is risking his life to give us some time…"

Mikasa's opinion of the boy didn't really have much merit when she first encountered him. Now, however, it was safe to say that changed for the better.

Narrowing her gaze at the radio station and seeing girls everywhere starting to prepare for battle, she would not let Sora's opportunity go to waste.

Elsewhere on the Sakura Empire Island

Zuikaku and Shoukaku had found themselves chatting away with another friend of theirs by the name of Kongou. They were currently situated outside of a food stall and were discussing where their other friends might be when all of a sudden alarms started going off all around them.

"Huh? Isn't that-" Kongou started saying.

"That's the warning alarm for an incoming attack."

"An attack? Who could be attacking us? Azur Lane?" Zuikaku asked, turning to her sister for an answer.

"I'm not so sure. That wouldn't be a smart thing to do as Sora is still here" Shoukaku responded to the younger crane.

"You mean that boy that Akagi and Kaga brought back from their assault?" Kongou questioned the two cranes.

"Yes, that's him. But I doubt that-"

Before Zuikaku could finish speaking the alarms suddenly stopped and a familiar voice began to play out of the alarm speakers.

"Attention all Sakura Empire! Report to your battle stations! I repeat. Report to your battle stations! We are under attack from a new enemy. I repeat-" the voice of Mikasa was being broadcasted.

"Under attack by a new enemy? What does that mean?" Kongou asked, puzzled about what was going on and turning to the two girls.

"Zuikaku does that mean-"

Wide-eyed, the brunette crane turned to look at Kongou before shifting her attention to Shoukaku.

"Yeah, the Heartless. Sora was right."

As soon as Zuikaku said that the sound of explosions could be heard coming from out at sea drawing everyone's attention.

"Explosions? And he was what now? I'm out of the loop here" Kongou stated to the short red dress-wearing crane.

"We'll explain on the way. But we need to get going and fast, "answered Shoukaku, beginning to move toward the port.

"Mm. Let's hurry, Kongou" Zuikaku said to the blonde-haired girl.

"Right! Let's go."

Rushing to find out how the situation was coming along, the trio prepared themselves for the upcoming battle. However, a certain ponytailed brunette couldn't help but wonder where a brown spiky-haired boy was right now. That thought would soon be answered in what Zuikaku could describe as a large explosion out at sea.

A few minutes prior to the explosion out at sea

Having finally reached the water after rushing past so many ship girls who looked confused about the whole situation. Sora cast the same spell that he used the last time he walked on water and began darting toward the Heartless ships.

The whole situation in front of him was strange, to say the least. None of the ships looked like they would be advancing on the Sakura Empire Island and were merely watching. That is until he raised his Keyblade in the air and summoned a beam of light to shoot at the end of the weapon toward the sky.

Once the light was seen by the ships, every single one of them started to glow red and began shifting their guns and pointing them at the Keyblade wielder. Sora quickly counted how many ships there were but lost count at over thirteen when several ships started firing at him.

Dashing at the closest ship in front of him, Sora began to run in a zig-zag path to try and avoid being hit by the explosions hitting the water. Still moving, he swiped his weapon to the side of him and managed to block a cannon blast causing an explosion right next to him and getting his clothes wet. Grunting at the attack, he continued to keep on charging toward the closest ship and was just about to reach the side when several Heartless appeared over the water and were swinging around on anchors.

A foe Sora recognized from his latest journey to the Caribbean. Anchor Raids.

Counting at least five Anchor Raids, Sora rolled to the side narrowly dodging a slash from one of the Heartless. Back on his feet, he swung upward right under the closest Anchor Raid and managed to force it up but couldn't follow through as he had to block another incoming attack.

Managing to shift his Keyblade upwards, Sora was able to counter the attack and slashed diagonally across the Anchor Raid, hurting it greatly. He then started to commence consecutive slashes at the Heartless before he thrust his weapon right at the head of the Anchor Raid and killed it instantly. Sora then jumped back before another Heartless slammed its sword into the water causing a large splash.

Seeing the Heartless all bunched up, the boy raised his weapon at the group and started casting multiple area-wide spells.

"Thunder!"

Paralysis hit the group and caused the Heartless to slow down allowing for Sora to leap right at the closest one and hit it by swinging his Keyblade horizontally repeatedly until starting a barrage of stabs at the Heartless managing to finally kill it. Without wasting any time, he shot his gaze at another Anchor Raid and activated his Flowmotion causing his entire body to glow blue before he shot like a bullet at the Heartless and managed to bring his Keyblade down in a vertical slash across its body causing it to disappear.

Left defenseless and falling in the air, Sora was suddenly slammed right into the water face first while dropping his Keyblade and letting out a pained grunt at the sudden impact.

"Gah!"

A splash of water covered the area leaving Sora sprawled on top of the water thanks to his water-walking spell. However, he quickly rolled his body to the side barely missing the edge of an Anchor Raider's sword. Jumping to his feet, the Keyblade wielder re-summoned his weapon and countered another incoming strike from the Anchor Raid. This time, Sora was ready as he pushed his Keyblade back into the Heartless' sword and jumped back in the air before flipping his body around and shooting right back at the Heartless but this time kicking it in the face with a drill-like power. The impact threw the Anchor Raid back and killed it before it could hit the water.

Turning to look at the last Heartless in his path, Sora gripped his Keyblade and charged at the Heartless who was also making its way toward the boy. Swinging his weapon to hit the Heartless, Sora was startled when he was now in a blade lock. Pushing back against the one-handed Heartless pirate, the spiky-haired decided to pull a fast one on the foe and loosely let go of his weapon while dropping and rolling to the side. The Heartless lunged forward due to all the force it was giving and saw the boy out of sight but couldn't do anything as the Keyblade was now lodged through its chest with Sora letting out several breaths. The Anchor Raid immediately disappeared after admitting defeat.

Checking his surroundings, Sora took a deep breath before composing himself and getting ready to jump back into the fray.

Finally getting to the side of the Heartless ship, he began activating Flowmotion and started running up the side while preparing himself for any onboard guests. Now at the top, Sora flung himself over and rolled his body until he landed on his feet and readied himself for a fight.

There on the deck of the ship were several Shadows all lingering around almost as if they were waiting for him to arrive. Summoning the Keyblade and twirling it in his hand, Sora ran straight at the expecting party and instantly slammed his weapon down causing sparks to go flying around him. He then swung at one Heartless, killing it. Shifting his body to block a Shadow from leaping at him, this gave him the chance to reprisal the attack and strike back at the Heartless decimating it instantly.

Dashing forward and shoving a Shadow to the side, Sora spun on his back foot and cast a wind spell to send the small fry flying away.

"Wind! Scatter!"

The sudden green vortex began picking up the Heartless and throwing them all over the place. Some Heartless were thrown into the water below while others were slammed across the deck of the ship which managed to kill them with the force of impact. Sora wasted no time and began cleaning up the remaining Heartless until he was scanning the area trying to see if any more would pop up.

To his relief, there were no more Heartless on the deck of the ship leaving him all alone. Wasting no time as he glanced around and saw just how many Heartless ships there were in the area, he began setting his sights on the control room of the ship and pointed his Keyblade at it trying to see if he could cast several Fire spells and blow the room up. But he wasn't sure if that would stop the ship from working.

Taking a look around him, Sora realized that there were many Heartless ships around him and that it wouldn't be long before they started firing on the island. He wasn't sure if his distraction bought the girls enough time to get ready to fight but he'd have to trust his heart that it did.

Deciding to brute force his way to destroy the ship, Sora began running toward the control room and made it up to the next level of the Heartless ship when he looked back at the deck and tried to see where he should attack. Frowning at his sudden plan, he was about to start making his way higher onto the ship when a voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Hey, need some help?"

"Huh?"

*Ka-boom!*

An unexpected explosion hit the boy causing a cloud of smoke to cover the area as well as the Heartless ship to start lowering into the water. The middle of the ship had a large hole in it due to the blast shooting right through the ship leaving debris everywhere. No trace of the boy could be seen.

The source of the voice that spoke to Sora was now swiping away at the cloud surrounding the area. Standing there with strange black and yellow riggings, bright yellow eyes, and long white hair tied into a ponytail while wearing a white shirt that cut off above the stomach with short black shorts was a girl. The girl also had an unfaltering large smile on her face. But she was better known to everyone as the Siren, Purifier.

"Oh, man! You should have seen the look on your face. Haha!"

Jumping down onto the barely holding deck, Purifier began looking around the place for any signs of the boy. Bringing her hand above her head and mimicking someone looking for something, the chipper girl began pouting.

"C'mon! Don't tell me that was all it took to take you out? Hello! Where are you?"

Upset that there was no sign of the Keyblade wielder, Purifier was about to begin searching the surrounding water around the drowning vessel when all of a sudden she was sent flying back with a kick right to her abdomen making her smile at the impact. With enough speed in the attack, she was sent flying off the damaged ship and several meters across the water.

Rolling her body around across the water, Purifier managed to shift her body so that she now stood up at full attention and looked at whoever attacked her. To her surprise and excitement there in front of her stood Sora who was glaring back at her.

"Oh! Goody! You're still breathing! I thought that blast would've left you down for the count. Had me worried for a second."

Gripping his Keyblade tightly, Sora was now eyeing the girl closely to see what her next move would be.

"Who are you? Why did you attack me!?"

"Well, duh! I'm the enemy. And you're who I need to bring in."

"What… Wait, you're a-"

"Yep! Took you long enough. I'm a Siren! Well, not like these guys over here" Purifier said while pointing out in the distance to what appeared to be a swarm of ships that weren't there earlier.

"I'm more of a cleaner-upper. Taking care of unexpected problems. Like you for example" Purifier added.

"But… what's up with your eyes glowing yellow?!" Sora questioned, confused about the girl's appearance.

The sight of the yellow eyes brought back paranoia to the boy as one of Organization XIII's biggest attributes was the distinctive yellow eyes thanks to Xehanort splitting himself off into thirteen vessels. Now seeing it here made Sora feel anxious and defensive.

"Hey! What are you trying to say?! Making fun of my appearance. Didn't anyone tell you not to make fun of the way someone looks?!" Purifier exclaimed to the boy.

Shrugging off the girl's comment, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the Siren and began questioning her.

"Why are you here? What do you have to with the Hear-"

"I'm here because of you!"

"Why?" Sora responded while having a shocked look on his face.

"Why? Because my boss and my boss's boss want to talk with you. We heard you'd be a big help to us."

Confused about what the girl was saying, Sora realized that he still hadn't gotten her name. If she even had one.

"Who are you?"

"What! You don't know me? Just what have those kansens been doing? Ah. Whatever. It doesn't matter. Not like they're going to be around for much longer."

"You're planning on attacking the Sakura Empire? I thought-"

"You thought wrong. Do you really think we'd want to partner up with them or even the Red Axis? Man, is everyone really that clueless? No way we'd want to partner up with some girls who can turn into ships. Sounds boring. Best drop their hopes now rather than later~" Purifier explained, poking at her rigging.

"You're wrong if you think you can defeat the girls. They'll stop you."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. *sigh* Since no one cares to tell you anything important…" Purifier then struck a pose by waving one of her arms in the air while using her other hand to point it at Sora and shifting it into a gun and making a *pew* sound effect.

"My name is Purifier. Pleased to finally meet you, Sora."

"...How do you know who I am?" Sora asked, puzzled about why she knew him. Maybe someone in the Sakura Empire told her about him.

"Heehee! That's a secret."

Becoming annoyed by Purifier's attitude, Sora shot a look behind her and could see several Heartless ships now making their way toward the island all while preparing their weapons to attack. Another problem to deal with.

"You do know you're making a big mistake working with the Heart-"'

"Ugh! Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?" Purifier stated to the spiky-haired boy.

Extending her arm out and letting her riggings begin to appear out of a purple light and becoming what looked like a shark with smaller sharks on each side with a black and yellow appearance. The smile on Purifier's face grew all while her eyes started glowing.

"That's enough exposition. Why don't we go meet up with my bosses? They'd love to meet you!"

"That's not going to happen."

Twirling his Keyblade in his hand, Sora took an offensive pose and readied himself to fight the mysterious Siren girl. He had no idea how she fought and judging from her surprise attack, cheap shots were not out of the realm of possibility.

"Hmm. Sounds like we're going to be doing this the hard way then. Yippee!"

In a matter of a second, the two were glaring at each other ready to see who would strike first, and in the next instance, the two were now rushing at one another. Sora knew that the Sakura Empire girls would need help dealing with the Sirens and that meant he had to beat Purifier. And fast. Which led to the Siren and Keyblade wielder duking it out all while in the middle of a warzone.

Back on the Sakura Empire Island

Making her way to the port, Zuikaku followed right next to her sister and Kongou who was trying to get as much information as she could about everything going on.

"So, this boy told you about this new enemy that he's familiar with and the Sirens might be using them or in cahoots with them?" Kongou asked the crane sisters.

"Yes. That's the gist of it" Zuikaku replied.

"But-"

"Kongou, I know that you have more questions, and frankly so do I. But now's not the time" Shoukaku stated, stopping the blonde girl from speaking any further.

"...Right. I'll ask later."

"Look! There's Takao and Atago" Zuikaku pointed out the two standing in front of them with all their riggings summoned.

"Takao! Atago!"

Hearing their names called, the two black-haired girls looked at who was calling them and had surprised looks.

"Zuikaku. Shoukaku. And Kongou. Good to see you all. What's going on?" Atago asked.

"I'm not sure. We just heard the alarms going off. Where are our senpais?" Kongou replied.

Before any of them could start asking even more questions an explosion appeared to hit an area on the island that was thankfully nothing but trees in the vicinity. All the girls turned their attention to one side of the island and saw nothing, but Siren ships start firing toward the island.

"Those are…"

"Sirens. What do we do? If we attack that'll be an end to the agreement, right?" Kongou asked, weighing the options.

"I-"

"Then we attack."

Looking behind them, the group of girls was surprised to see one of their senpais.

"Mikasa? What do you mean?"

"The announcement from Lady Nagato that was supposed to be said to everyone was that… due to recent revelations and analyzing the whole situation. Sakura Empire would disband from Red Axis as well as disregard their current agreement with the Sirens" Mikasa explained while watching more explosions rock the area around the island and port.

"So, that means…" Zuikaku said, pulling out her blade and taking on a determined look.

"All units. By the order of Lady Nagato herself, engage in combat. Eliminate all Sirens in the area."

"Understood. Shall we?" Takao asked the others to which they agreed wholeheartedly.

However, while the other girls were summoning their riggings and rushing to meet the water to begin their counterattack. Zuikaku stayed behind for a second and spoke to Mikasa.

"Where's Sora?"

Sighing was all Mikasa could do as she remembered the boy's words.

"He was the first to alert me of an enemy presence. Fortunately, his ridiculous actions managed to buy me enough time to warn the island and the girls who should all be reaching the water and preparing to attack."

"But where is he now?"

"Sora said that he could sense them coming."

"Them?" It took a second for Zuikaku to realize whom he meant. "Wait! Do you mean the-"

"Yes. The Heartless."

Turning on her heels, Zuikaku was about to rush and help the boy when Mikasa called out to her.

"Zuikaku! Wait. Deal with the Siren forces attacking the island first."

"But-"

"We still don't know everything there is about these monsters. Sora is the only one who does. So, let's let him handle them for now. Besides, he doesn't know everything about the Sirens. I say, let's help him there."

Knowing in her heart that her senpai was right to let the brunette crane relax a little. All while feeling a bit off not being able to help the boy in his fight. But… the sooner the Sirens were dealt with the sooner she could help.

Nodding at the older girl's words, Zuikaku began sprinting to catch up with her sister and the others to engage in battle with the invading Sirens. Plus, Sora was a skilled fighter during her short time together with him. He would be fine right?

*Clang*

*Clash*

*Woosh*

*Clang*

From a distance, one could only see sparks flying and guns shooting around two individuals. Those two were Sora and Purifier. The two had been engaged in a nonstop clash against one another. As it was standing now, the Keyblade wielder had done a great deal of damage to the Siren girl given that some of her clothing was cut and one of her small sharks was cut off completely. This also led the once chipper girl to take on a visibly frustrated and angry look on her face.

"Damn you! Why won't you just stay still?" Purifier shouted.

"Not going to happen."

Twirling his Keyblade in his hand, Sora had bruises all over his body followed by his clothes becoming damp and still wet in some areas thanks to having rolled atop the ocean waves and even being thrown into the water multiple times due to being hit by attacks from the girl.

He knew that there was another fight waiting to happen once he was done with Purifier and wanted to defeat the girl before anything else could happen. Hence, he aimed his sights at the girl and prepared to trick her.

Rushing at her with his Keyblade to his side, Sora looked like he was going to slam full force into the girl which forced her to raise her battered riggings but that's exactly what Sora wanted. Casting a Thunder spell in front of him, he then jumped into the still with his Keyblade pointed at her and began locking onto her with his shotlock ability.

Ragnarok.

The Thunder spell hit Purifier causing her to flinch which gave Sora just enough time to finish his attack.

"Gotcha!"

Suddenly, several bright projectiles blasted from the tip of his Keyblade and shot straight at her causing an enormous explosion that sent water flying all over the place along with the outline of the girl's body flying back and landing several meters back.

Purifier could be heard groaning while getting back up on her feet, her riggings glowing an even brighter yellow color. The girl looked extremely pissed now and glared right at the Keyblade wielder.

"All right then, you wanna play rough? I'll give you rough. Don't blame me for how bad this is going to hurt!" Purifier shouted.

Having a crazed smile on her face, Purifier shot forward and began shooting bullets out of her main shark rigging all while getting closer to the boy.

Lunging forward, Sora quickly bolted to the side and raised his Keyblade to defend himself while trying to get some distance between the Siren. However, what Sora didn't account for was the sudden explosion that threw him forward and face-first into the water.

Wincing at the pain, he quickly looked behind him and could see the Heartless ships were now firing on him. Which was different from the Siren ships that were attacking the island.

"Weird. Seems those ships have taken a liking to you. Oh, well. They made my job easier!" Purifier stated while aiming her riggings at Sora and about ready to blast him.

But before she could blast Sora, the girl was sent flying back due to an explosion landing right into her abdomen. Purifier let out a disheveled groan at being attacked.

"What the- who?"

To answer her question, standing a few meters away from her and behind Sora was another girl. Upon seeing her, the boy let couldn't help but think about his time in this world.

'Whoa… another really beautiful girl. Just what kind of world did I end up in?'

The had long white hair with a red streak on the right side of her hair followed by her hair reaching to her waist with twin tails that were held up by a red metal piece. She had red eyes with an attire that… Sora could say was very… attractive. Her attire was that of a very short black dress with long grey and red sleeves. She was also wearing black thigh-high tights with red boots. All in all, she was very beautiful which made Sora feel his cheeks warm up even though he was standing in the middle of the water.

The girl then began making her way closer to Sora and was only a few feet away from him when her red eyes matched his blue eyes. It didn't help that she flashed him a very eye-catching smile.

"Oh? I take it you're whom everyone is rambling about. Huh, mister popular~?"

Before Sora could respond, Purifier began to chuckle while getting back to her feet.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Prinz Eugen. I have to say, you don't know a damn about friendly fire."

"I'll have you know I have perfect eyesight. And to be frank… it's not friendly fire if you weren't my friend. Don't you think?" Prinz Eugen replied, crossing her arms while at the same time summoning her riggings which took the appearance of red and black sharks.

"Heh. First Sakura Empire and now Iron Blood. Seems like quite the timing to drop a revelation like this don't you think?"

"Funny. While Sakura Empire's defect is sudden. Thanks to him," Prinz Eugen shot a look to Sora who continued to watch Purifier closely. "But Iron Blood has been considering backing out of the pact for quite some time. It's only thanks to you and your friends for keeping things under wraps."

Chuckling at the Iron Blood girl's comment, Purifier turned her attention back to Sora who glared back at her.

"Well, while it was nice to hear that Iron Blood is back to being our enemies and that you yourself decided to tell us, which thank you for that Prinz Eugen, I fear you're in the way. I've got orders to 'escort' Sora back with me. But you're in the way. So, if you don't mind. Move."

Casting a glance at Sora and then back at the infused ships around the area, Prinz Eugen had a thought come to her.

"Those infused ships. They aren't of Siren making, are they?"

"Oh? Quite the wrong place to be asking about something like that don't you think?"

"Not necessarily. Having dueled a few ships on my way here, I can safely say that they aren't under your orders."

Smirking at Prinz Eugen, Purifier was curious about how things would turn out now.

"What gives you that idea?"

"The ships paid me no mind while I was laying waste to some of their numbers. They just kept coming this way and wouldn't you know it? Their only target so far has been him" Prinz Eugen said pointing to Sora.

"*sigh* I don't think I need to tell you anything. Besides, you're still in my way."

"Sora, was it? While I would love to get to know you a bit better, it seems like you could use some assistance in dealing with her. What do you say?" Prinz Eugen asked the spiky-haired boy who looked confused about the whole thing.

"I… Yeah. I would like some help. The sooner we deal with her, the sooner I can get to destroying those ships" Sora replied, noting the Heartless ships.

"Oh~, think you can take on all those ships alone? You're a confident one."

"If they were normal ships then I'd be for all the help offered. But those aren't normal ships. And if I'm not the one to destroy them, then they'll just come back later."

"Come back later?"

"I'll explain later. Right now, we have to deal with her."

"Uh, hello? Are we gonna keep talking or are we going to get back to fighting? I'm sick and tired of talking. All it is with you people is talk, talk, talk! Let's finish this!" Purifier said, powering up her riggings.

"Mm. Let's get this show on the road. Sora, I'll back you up."

"Got it. Let's knock her out of the picture!"

Twirling his Keyblade, the boy with the aid of another ship girl immediately launched an attack at the Siren girl all while she was smiling widely with her damaged riggings flashing a bright yellow color. Ready to get back to the action.

Meanwhile, back on the island…

Standing outside what appeared to be a fortified building was Kaga who kept her eye out on the situation happening around her. The island had soon turned into a battlefield with ship girls running back and forth while others were now combatting the Sirens. Thanks to Akagi's warning of the attack, Kaga had a better idea of how the plan was coming to fruition.

With the brunette kitsune knowing about the attack beforehand this would provide the two sisters enough time to get to work on healing their older sister. The power of the Dark Wisdom Cube could be felt coursing through Akagi's body and as a result, she felt powerful. More powerful than she ever felt in her life.

Now alone with her sister, Akagi placed her hand on her sister's chest while her body was laying on what appeared to be a pedestal. She began trying to get a read on how damaged her Wisdom Cube was now compared to the last time she checked. The sleeping kitsune's chest began to cast a bright light that lit up the room followed by what appeared to be a cube in Akagi's hands.

To her dismay, Akagi could see her sister's Wisdom Cube right in front of her and it was far worse than she originally thought. The cube itself was cracked everywhere you could see. Lines tracing into other lines and parts of the cube looked ready to fall apart.

How could I let this happen to my sister?!

That was what Akagi was thinking while holding the fractured cube. Now more determined than ever to help her sister, the brunette woman began to channel energy into the cube all while having her entire body covered by dark energy. Purple lightning was soon being shot all around the room and Akagi became startled by the sudden action until she looked to the source of the lightning and realized what it was.

Reaching into her clothing, Akagi pulled out the Dark Wisdom Cube that she received her powers from and saw that it was reacting quite violently. Feeling something begin to trickle down her hand that was holding the item, she could see a dark mist surround her and it came from the cube.

Without even considering the implications or cautions around the cube, Akagi suddenly began imbuing it into Amagi's broken Wisdom Cube. One would think to wait and consider their actions but that would not be the case with Akagi. The reason is that her eyes were now glowing a bright purple instead of red.

With the two cubes beginning to merge, a blast of darkness covered the whole room and shook the place causing a distraught Kaga to come barreling into the room. What she saw left her puzzled.

Standing there with dark energy spewing all around the room was Akagi who was watching as the Dark Wisdom Cube and what she suspected to be Amagi's Wisdom Cube were trying to combine. While Akagi looked over at her sister with a sly smile on her face.

"Amagi. We're so close to saving her, Kaga."

Suddenly a blast of light forced Kaga to cover her eyes while the entire room lit up blinding all from knowing what happened next.

Out at the surrounding sea around the island

Standing out in the water with her rigging summoned and firing away at the Siren ships was Shinano who was being supported by several girls. To name a few, Shimakaze, Noshiro, Yukikaze, and Yuudachi were the closest next to her fighting against the Sirens.

Overall the group was making good progress in pushing back the Sirens but that would soon be stopped as a burst of light appeared a good distance behind the group of Sirens she and the others were fighting.

However, once the light began to die down, Shinano felt anxiousness appear in her heart. Now in the water were more Siren ships that appeared out of what looked like a giant dark portal that summoned reinforcements. It didn't help that when she glanced to the left of her to see the other group of girls fighting against the Sirens she spotted Takao who also had a shocked expression at seeing the reinforcements.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, Shinano was prepared to do her best to inspire the girls around her who had grown quiet at the appearance of more enemies when the sound of planes began to appear overhead. Looking up, the white-haired and eared girl saw that those were Sakura Empire planes now taking aim at the Sirens. The sudden action brought those whose spirits were weakened and now revitalized them to fight even harder now.

The entire area as far as anyone could see now turned into a battlefield. Downed Siren ships were left floating atop the water with random fires somehow staying lit while sitting on the water. Gunfire and explosions were all one could hear, and the once bright sky now had a darkened look. But with the sudden rally call from the Sakura Empire planes, the girls began fighting even harder than before.

However, Shinano could not cast aside the feeling of worry that was still apparent in her heart. It was as if she knew that something bad was about to happen. Turning her attention back to the Sirens, she wondered how Sora was doing or where he was for that matter.

Back with Sora

Heaving his Keyblade down at the Siren, Sora put all his weight into his attack and managed to force Purifier to raise her rigging to block the strike. Forcing the blade back, she managed to send the boy flying in the air which allowed him to flip his body so that he adjusted his landing which led to him diving straight into the water.

However, at the same time, Prinz Eugen started rushing Purifier by landing a kick to the Siren's leg before her sharks could start biting. But Purifier brought her own hammerhead shark to combat the kansen's sharks leading to a fierce sight of the two riggings tearing into each other.

As the sharks were tearing into each other, Purifier landed a punch to Prinz Eugen's face which threw her back a few feet and caused her sharks to back off with her leaving behind one heck of a sight. The hammerhead rigging looked even worse now with only the main shark present and that alone was all battered and part of its face missing. The Iron Blood girl had a sly smirk on her face at the weakened Siren's state.

Groaning at the white-haired smug look, Purifier instantly summoned what appeared to be a large one-handed canon and aimed it right at Prinz Eugen who looked puzzled.

"See ya! Haha!"

Before Prinz Eugen could react and bring her riggings to defend her the blast from the canon was lit and should have hit the lone woman but instead, it did not. Rather, a certain spiky-haired someone was standing in front of her with his weapon held by both hands.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good. Can't tell if her punch left a mark though."

"Doesn't look like it."

"That is good to hear. Can't be looking all disheveled. Would ruin my chance."

"Your chance?"

"To catch y- "

"You two! Think you can take me, Haha!"

"Coming from you who's taken quite the beating, I'd say you're wrong," Sora remarked to the Siren.

"Ha. Just wait. You'll be-"

Suddenly, Purifier stopped talking and her eyes began glowing yellow as if they were flashing. Sora and Prinz Eugen had puzzled looks on their faces. Unsure of what to do the Keyblade wielder was about to call out to the Siren but she suddenly shook her head with a giant grin on her face.

"Hahaha! Oh man, well, what do you know? I'm being told to step back. Said there was something special they wanted to see before we take you away."

Confused about what Purifier said, Sora tried to ask her to clarify.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Don't worry. You'll see soon. See ya later!"

Immediately after Purifier said that the area around her began to change color and take on the form of something Sora knew quite well. A dark portal.

Not like the dark corridors that Organization XIII used but something akin to that. Purifier had one last look at the two with the same crazed smile on her face before disappearing through the portal leaving the two by themselves in the midst of battle.

Turning to look at the Heartless ships, Sora found that they hadn't really changed or even attacked anymore and were just sitting there. Prinz Eugen followed his gaze and had also taken on a thinking pose.

"So, you're from Iron Blood?" Sora asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah. And you're the talk around the town."

"Huh?"

"Don't act all surprised. I had someone fill me in on what was going on. I would've come to see you sooner but got caught up in some things."

"I see…"

"Besides, up close. You're a lot cuter than what I was told~" Prinz Eugen answered while licking her lips.

"Uh…" Sora tried to find a response to the girl's comment but ended up with nothing.

Before either of them could respond an explosion could be seen coming from where the Siren ships were stationed. Sensing that things were going on over there, Sora shot Prinz Eugen a look to which she nodded. Knowing what the boy was thinking before he said it.

That led to Sora sprinting to the other side of the island while Prinz Eugen followed right next to him gliding across the water with her riggings summoned and ready to fight.

However, the Keyblade wielder took one last look at the Heartless ships and saw no action coming from them. While it was stupid of him to leave the ships, he had to make sure his new friends were ok. Once he was sure, he would come back and destroy each ship and make sure nothing would happen.

Consequently, once the two had gotten far enough all of the Heartless ships began to emit a cloud of darkness around each ship. Leaving a dark cloud to slowly appear around the area.

Dashing to the side and swinging her blade across the side of one of the Siren ships, Zuikaku was moving at top speed around the ship causing a great deal of damage. She then summoned her riggings which took the form of a runway where multiple planes began to fly right at the ship and start blasting it with firepower all while she was running around and slashing at the vessel.

Behind her, Shoukaku also had her riggings summoned and was firing at low points on the ship while summoning planes of her own to attack. In hindsight, the two cranes were a duo that meant business dropping one Siren ship after another. Once Zuikaku somersaulted through the air and brought her blade down on the ship it started emitting sparks of light until it blew up throwing the brunette back into the air.

Which was all according to her plan as she maneuvered her body to flip and land flat on her feet all while brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Another down more to go.

Shooting her sister, a nod, Zuikaku also noticed more of her friends all appearing around her. Takao, Atago, Shimakaze, Mikasa, Shinano, Kongou, Noshiro, and Ayanami to name a few. Feeling confident about the support behind her, she turned to look at the incoming Siren fleet that just seemed to keep growing in size leaving her to sigh.

But before anything else, she heard a familiar voice.

"Hey! Zuikaku! Everyone!"

Spotting the source, Zuikaku found a familiar spiky-haired boy grinning back at her with a bright smile on his face.

"Sora!"

The girls familiar with him got closer while the others still kept their distance.

"You're ok?! We thought that…" Mikasa started to say.

"It's all good. I managed to keep the Heartless stopped for now."

"The Heartless? one of the girls questioned.

"Who or what are they?"

"Girls, everyone calm down," Mikasa said, drawing everyone's attention.

"It's good to see you again, Prinz Eugen" Mikasa addressed the white-haired girl.

"Likewise, Mikasa. I take it this is retaliation for defecting from the Sirens?" Prinz Eugen asked.

"We're not sure. Lady Nagato's announcement of leaving the Red Axis and cutting ties with the Sirens was supposed to be now, but with the sudden attack… we aren't sure."

"Mikasa. Just what's going on?" Noshiro asked the brunette with horns.

"We will discuss everything that is going on once things calm down and the threat is taken care of. But for now, we have to-"

Out of nowhere, a sudden blast of light caused everyone to groan and cover their eyes due to the blinding light. Once Sora lowered his arm and opened his eyes was he shocked.

Standing there out in the open was Akagi who had red flames surrounding her with her signature red paper planes in her gloved hand.

"Akagi!" shouted Mikasa.

Shifting herself so that she was looking right at the older girl, Akagi had a strange expression on her face. Something that Sora noticed right away.

"Hold on! There's something wrong with her."

Eyeing the kitsune girl more closely, Sora could see something appearing around her feet. It looked almost like a… dark mist.

Darkness.

Summoning his Keyblade and preparing himself, Sora saw that Akagi raised her gloved hand and pointed it right at the boy.

"Lady Mikasa. Hand Sora over and I will barter with the Sirens to leave."

"Akagi. What are you talking about? And why do you sound so… different? What's going on?"

Smiling at Mikasa, Akagi had the look of someone who had been influenced by Darkness. Something Sora knew quite well at this point.

"Everything will be all right, Lady Mikasa. Once we hand the boy over then things will calm down."

"Senpai… something's off about you" Zuikaku muttered noticing the drastic personality change.

"Yeah, you're sounding very… robotic and flat-toned. Like… you're not thinking straight" Shoukaku added.

"I'm thinking perfectly fine. It's like I said just hand him over and everything will be ok."

"Akagi…" many of the other girls uttered the brown kitsune's name all thinking that something was very wrong.

It wasn't until Sora decided to speak up that everyone had their attention pulled to him.

"Your heart…"

"Excuse me?"

"There's Darkness in your heart. I can sense it."

Scoffing at the boy's statement, Akagi narrowed her gaze at the Keyblade wielder.

"Now you're the one that's speaking crazy. Talking about hearts. Now that's a sign of you not thinking right."

"You can say whatever you want. But I know… without a doubt that your heart is calling out in pain."

"Enough of this! Lady Mikasa, if you would, hand him over so we can get things back to normal."

Every one of the Sakura Empire girls and even Prinz Eugen turned to see what Mikasa's decision would be. The older girl closed her eyes and began walking toward Sora who was unsure of what she'd do.

However, his answer would be presented when Mikasa positioned herself in front of him with her hand extended.

"I am sorry, Akagi. But I reject your idea. If we had him to the Sirens, then we would be handing them something… someone of great importance. Sora has done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong!? Lady Mikasa, he's aligned with Azur Lane. That alone makes him our enemy."

"Are you sure about that?"

Unexpectedly, it was Prinz Eugen who spoke up earning the kitsune's attention.

"From where I'm standing, that would also make Iron Blood your enemy."

"Tch" Akagi scoffed at the white-haired girl.

"Akagi. You're not thinking right. Please. Take a moment to calm down and-"

"Calm down? Would you stop? I… for the first time… I have it… I have what I need to save my sister. To bring my family back as a whole. And now you're saying to stop…"

Widening his eyes, Sora saw dark energy begin to surround Akagi.

"I'm not stopping until I save her once and for all!"

Lifting her hand in the air and sending one of her paper planes high into the sky, Akagi flicked her wrist and suddenly the plane caught fire.

Instantly, the Siren fleet that had been ignored this whole time was now suddenly sending bombardment to the area.

"Dammit! We forgot about the fleet!" Zuikaku shouted, dodging an incoming blast.

Left out in the open, most of the girls began to disperse and take fire against the Siren fleet while Mikasa, Prinz Eugen, Sora, and the crane sisters paid close attention to Akagi.

Seeing a dark portal open up beneath her, Sora shouted at Akagi to get back but was too late as she disappeared. Now unsure of what to do, the boy was about to turn to Mikasa when he spotted something that made his stomach become sour.

The Heartless ships that were left motionless were now covered completely by dark clouds. The sight just screamed something bad was happening and Sora would not let the Heartless attack his friends.

"Sora! Where are you going?" Zuikaku shouted.

"It's the Heartless! I think Akagi is doing something to them. I have to get over there."

"We're coming with you!"

"No. Wait. We don't know what's really going on. The Sirens, Heartless, Purifier, and now Akagi are around here somewhere and we need to be ready."

"Purifier!? She was here?" Shoukaku questioned.

"Yes. Sora and I were able to beat her back, but she suddenly retreated. Said that her higher-ups wanted to see something happen" Prinz Eugen answered.

"Then that's all the more reason to go with you!" Zuikaku repeated.

"Zuikaku, wait. Sora might be right" Mikasa said.

"Huh? What do you- "

"Think about it, the Sirens want him to be split off but at the same time we can't let the Heartless reach the island, and from the looks of things they want Sora as well. We can deal with the Sirens and force their attention on us while he deals with the Heartless" Mikasa explained.

"It's as good of a plan as we can get right now."

Turning to look at the dark cloud, Sora gripped his Keyblade and readied himself. He had a feeling that a fight was going to happen.

"Mikasa, do you think you can hold back the Sirens?"

"Heh. Do you know who I am?"

"Uh… Mikasa?"

Smiling at the boy's answer, Mikasa could only chuckle and shake her head while summoning her riggings.

"I'll tell you all I've been through once we're done here. So, you better not die. Lady Nagato says you're one interesting individual."

"Heh. I must have made quite an impression on her."

"Very. Now, get going!"

"Right! See you guys soon!"

"Good luck Sora!"

"Be sure not to lose. We still haven't properly introduced ourselves, no~?" Prinz Eugen stated while winking at the boy.

"D-Don't you dare die! We still have our duel to get through!" Zuikaku said, stuttering due to hearing Prinz Eugen's comment which was out of nowhere.

"Got it!"

And with that, Sora began sprinting back to the Heartless ships that should have been destroyed in the first place. His mistake was sure to bite him in the butt. However, he would own up and clean the mess up.

Back on the Sakura Empire Island

Standing next to a splintered Sakura Blossom tree, a hooded figure was looking down at the destruction. Taking note of how he was almost hit by a stray bomb.

The figure then looked out to the darkened sky and could see all the ships locked in combat. Kansens fighting against the Siren fleet and off in the distance was another fleet of ships all covered in a dark cloud. And in between the two was a familiar boy wielding a distinct Keyblade.

"Haha! There we go! Man of the hour! Finally, I thought you would manage to talk your way out of the fight. But now we're back to the action!"

In order to understand who this figure was… he was best known as a Lost Master. And right now he was doing nothing more than watching the spectacle happen right in front of him.

"I wonder how that fox girl was able to channel the Darkness in her? In such a short amount of time no less… unless… Ohhhhooo! They didn't!? Did they!? Oh, man!"

The Master of Masters let out a low-toned chuckle while beginning to make a note of something.

"Sora, I wish you luck. That fox girl is high on energy. Which… should make what's going to happen all the more exciting!"

Some distance away from the fighting

Standing on the deck of one of the many ships striding along together, Enterprise was making conversation with Hood and Prince of Wales when suddenly Warspite made her way over to them.

"We have an update on the situation."

"How are things?" Hood asked.

"Not good. It appears that Edinburgh and Sheffield have taken refuge inside one of the Sakura Empire's storage facilities. The island is currently being attacked by Siren forces."

Startled by the sudden revelation, Wales was the first to respond.

"What… Sirens are attacking the Sakura Empire?"

"That's what they've confirmed. A massive fleet is currently invading one side of the island while they also informed me of another fleet in the distance."

"Another Siren fleet?" Hood questioned.

"However, this fleet was not attacking the main island. Rather it was only engaged in combat when someone began making their way toward the fleet."

"You don't think…" Enterprise muttered.

"Sora!"

"Mm. Sheffield can confirm that while sneaking her way around the base for any clues on the boy or Project Oroshi she overhead Lady Mikasa discussing Sora acting as a distraction for them to prepare for combat" Warspite explained while recalling everything Sheffield told her.

"…How long until we reach Sakura Empire waters?" Enterprise asked or rather demanded in the tone of voice she was using.

"About 20 minutes. However, we will be seeing the Siren fleet coming into view soon."

Summoning her bow, Enterprise was already preparing herself for the impending fight to come. She promised herself and Unicorn that she would bring Sora back and that is exactly what she was going to do.

"A fleet that only reacted when Sora made himself known… Correct me if I'm wrong but that sounds an awful lot like-" Wales started saying.

"The Heartless" Enterprise finished.

"And just like Sora said, he wanted to help everyone he could" Hood stated, drawing the girl's attention.

"You're right. That boy certainly is noteworthy" Warspite said, recalling the spiky-haired boy.

"Which is why we need to get there as soon as possible. He needs our help" Enterprise said which was something all the girls agreed on.

With the mood switching to that of one being determination, Azur Lane was ready to save their new friend and bring him home.

Back with Sora

Having finally gotten closer to where the Heartless fleet last was, Sora now saw the dark cloud up close and couldn't really see anything behind the dark wall. He was about ready to walk into the wall and see what the situation was on the other side when all of a sudden somebody landed right behind him.

Spinning around to see who was behind him, Sora was startled to see a familiar face.

"Kaga! What are you doing here? Where's Akagi?"

Not answering the boy's question, Kaga suddenly summoned her riggings and pointed a stack of blue paper planes right at the Keyblade wielder.

"Huh?! What are you- "

"You've been nothing but a problem since you got here."

"A problem? You've got to be kidding me" Sora retorted.

"Enough! Akagi told me that they wanted you brought in and since I don't see Purifier here, then I'll be the one to stop you" Kaga exclaimed while having her eyes glow blue.

"That's not going to happen, Kaga. You and Akagi have no idea how dangerous working with the Sirens is."

"And you do!? You have no idea who they truly are or what they can accomplish. And yet here you are spewing nonsense!"

"Call it whatever you want. But I know for a fact that if the Sirens are working with the Heartless then that's all I need to know. The Heartless are not a foe you should be underestimating" Sora said, seriousness written all over his face.

"Tch. I care not about these Heartless. The Sirens have given my sister what she needs to make things the way they once were. That's all that matters now."

Realization slowly dawned on Sora as he heard what the white-haired fox said.

"Wait… did you just say the Sirens gave Akagi something to save Amagi?"

"…I'm done talking."

And with that, Kaga angrily raised her hand and threw several of her blue paper planes into the air which immediately turned into small planes that started flying higher and higher until a flash of light turned them into regular-sized planes.

Not letting her get the first move, Sora sprinted at her while keeping an eye on the incoming planes which were now firing rounds at him which caused the boy to dash side-to-side and block any incoming shots. Frowning at his situation, the Keyblade wielder rolled to the side and aimed his weapon at the planes, and started casting multiple Fire spells which managed to cause two planes to explode.

Getting desperate now, Kaga threw the rest of her paper planes into the air and commanded them to target the boy who was getting closer to the point that she had to start moving away from the boy while directing her planes to shoot the boy down.

Seeing his chance to attack the white kitsune girl, Sora while still running activated his Flowmotion and locked onto her, and shot right at her with his Keyblade ready to strike her when out of nowhere he was slammed into a blue plane. The collision sent him and the plane slamming across the water leaving Kaga to smirk at the sight.

However, what she didn't account for was that Sora quickly got up and activated his Flowmotion ability again which caused a blue glow to surround him and shot him straight at the girl heaving his Keyblade right into her side.

"Aaahh!"

The blue skirt-wearing girl was sent flying back and slammed right into the water managing to cause her body to go flopping across the water. The blue planes flying overhead suddenly began fading away in a blue light. Struggling to get up, Kaga lifted her head but suddenly saw black boots in her vision followed by a giant key being pointed right at her by a stern-looking boy.

"It's over, Kaga! Stand down."

"I… I can't…"

"Can't? Or won't?"

"Both! You don't understand! My sister… we are so close to saving her! Akagi just needs a little more time."

"More time to do what?" Sora asked, confused about what she meant.

"Time to- "

"Time to stop her from leaving us!"

Snapping their heads to the side, the two say the woman of the hour.

"Akagi! What are you doing here!? Where's Amagi?" Kaga questioned the brunette kitsune.

Pointing her gloved at something in the distance, Sora squinted his eyes and saw something that left him beyond puzzled.

"A sphere?"

Kaga, however, knew exactly what that was and showed a relieved smile on her lips to her sister.

"Is it almost done?"

"We're nearly there. She just needs a little more time. Which is why I made sure to give us enough space to work…"

Analyzing what Akagi just said, Sora took a moment to dissect every word until he had a frustrated look on his face. Even gripping his Keyblade tighter in his hand.

"You…"

"Kaga. Make sure that everyone is busy while I deal with him" Akagi commanded.

"Understood, dear sister. Make sure he doesn't get in our way again."

Taking off at a high speed, Kaga was now moving toward where the others were still engaged in fighting the Sirens which made Sora get ready to chase after her.

However, Akagi began twirling her right index finger and addressed the boy.

"I don't think so. I was told these ships had a certain… affinity to you."

"Who- "

"Purifier sends her regards. She's around here somewhere. Said you two had unfinished business to get to" Akagi commented, recalling the Siren's words.

"Figures."

"But… she did say that her higher-ups wanted to see something. Which is what I leave you to deal with."

"Ngh. Quit with the secrecy and just say what you mean!" Sora exclaimed, getting tired of all the cryptic statements.

"Heh. Very well. Have fun!"

Raising her right gloved hand above her head, Akagi created a flame and shot it into the dark cloud that was covering the area where the Heartless fleet was last spotted revealing something that made Sora lose his breath for a second.

Where the Heartless ships were last stationed now there was nothing. Nothing but numerous dark portals beginning to spew out Heartless in large groups. Sora began to look all around him and soon found himself surrounded by dark blobs beginning to take shape.

Akagi on her part merely looked at the boy with a crazed look before raising her hand into the air again and summoning a red plane to appear overhead which she grabbed on and began flying away. But not before Sora caught one last look into her eyes and saw the once-red eyes now glowing purple.

Throwing his attention back at all the Heartless around him, Sora threw his right arm back while twirling the Keyblade and keeping his other hand to his side. The once-dark blobs coming out of the dark portals were now taking on the form of a Heartless that Sora hadn't really seen since his time in Hollow Bastion.

Armored Knights.

Shifting his head around and noticing how many Heartless were now visible, Sora had a feeling that the number was reaching past 500. Quite possibly 1,000 Armored Knights were surrounding him now. A sense of déjà vu hit him as he remembered his fight in Hollow Bastion with the King, Donald, and Goofy chasing after Xemnas.

Smirking at the memory flashing before his eyes, Sora closed his eyes and calmed his nerves while evaluating the entire situation going on around him.

'Akagi and Kaga. Those two are working with the Heartless to try and save their sister, Amagi. The Sirens… Purifier and her leaders are trying to destroy Sakura Empire and using the sisters. And now the Heartless… Haha… today's been one crazy day. But… I'm not gonna let it end here. I'll find a way… I'll find a way to save everyone!'

With newfound conviction and determination swelling in his heart, Sora opened his eyes and confidently looked at all the Armored Knights surrounding him. Bringing his free hand to his heart, the world-saving boy knew what he need to do.

Bolting toward the army of Heartless, Sora knew one thing that let him know he would win and get back to the others. And that was that he was not alone or afraid anymore.

With Azur Lane

Standing and gazing at the sight in front of her, Enterprise was wide-eyed at all the fighting going on.

The sight in front of her was showcased with dark clouds swarming the sky and gunfire and explosions rocking her ears. So many Siren ships were fighting back against the Sakura Empire kansens who were doing their best to push back the enemy. Enterprise easily recognized a few girls from where she was standing.

The Auspicious Crane, Zuikaku, was seen sprinting toward a Siren cruiser and spinning around the ship's backside managed to slash at the ship while having planes firing at the top of the ship. It wasn't long until the ponytail-haired girl jumped into the air and began spinning before striking one more time down the side of the ship causing it to explode instantly.

Enterprise looked over at her allies and saw that they were also watching the fight play out. The next thing to happen was that everyone summoned their riggings and looked ready to fight. Suddenly, Queen Elizabeth appeared right next to Warspite with her riggings summoned as well.

"I say, this is turning out to be a lot worse than what Sheffield and Edinburgh described" Queen Elizabeth stated.

"However, nothing we can't handle" Warspite added, gripping her sword.

"If I may, what's the plan now? We walk up to the Sakura Empire and say that we are here to help?" Hood asked the group.

"Why not? We all share a common enemy whether we are Azur Lane or Red Axis" Wales commented.

"Besides, they might like the surprise" Belfast replied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Enterprise questioned before jumping off the ship and dashing to where the fighting was happening.

The rest of the Royal Navy girls soon followed suit and started firing away at any Sirens in sight. Turning this fight around on its head.

Shrugging off a shot to the shoulder, Zuikaku let out a pained grunt as a Siren vessel managed to hit her while she was caught off guard. This led to her looking back at her sister who was working with Takao to take down a group of Sirens that was firing heavy roads at the two. The crane gritted her teeth and wanted to rush to aid her sister and friend, but before she could the sound of a projectile being fired could be heard and it sounded like it was getting close.

Turning her head to the side, Zuikaku saw what was coming toward her. Time seemed to slow down as the brunette saw a missile coming from a Siren ship making its way toward her. She knew there was no time to dodge the attack or try to counter it and could only watch as it gets closer. Hence, she threw herself back to try and get away from the incoming projectile.

However, out of nowhere the missile that was heading straight for her suddenly blew up causing the crane to cover her eyes from the bright explosion. Left confused, Zuikaku began looking around her to see what happened when her eyes caught sight of someone she did not expect to see anytime soon.

"Grey Ghost?! W-What are you doing here?"

Making her way to the fallen girl, Enterprise put her bow to the side and lent Zuikaku a hand to lift her up. Shocked at the gesture, the brunette crane decided to take the offer and was now back on her feet.

"We're here to help."

"We?"

Enterprise gestured her head to the side which Zuikaku followed and saw several Royal Navy girls fighting back against the Sirens. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. But before she could say anything, the crane knew better than to let this chance go to waste.

Looking back at Enterprise, Zuikaku took on an appreciative look while having a small smile start forming on her lips. She also reached out her hand to offer the Grey Ghost a handshake.

"Thank you, Enterprise."

"Don't mention it, Zuikaku. Besides, what's that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend" Enterprise replied.

"Heh. That's one way to put it."

"Mm. Tell me, what's the situation here?"

"Well, most of the girls on the island are out here fighting against the Sirens who appeared out of nowhere. More appeared on the other side of the island which is where most of our forces are now. It also appears that Akagi and most likely Kaga have decided to side with the Sirens."

"Akagi and Kaga? Why?"

"She confronted us not that long ago about handing Sora over to the Sirens. For what reason I don't know. But she helped the Sirens attack and also did something to the Heartless" Zuikaku explained to her rival.

"The Heartless? Where are they?"

"Over…there…"

Zuikaku pointed to where the Heartless ships were last spotted which was also where Sora ran toward. But now the area had taken a darker atmosphere in that the water looked black now.

"What happened?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"I mean, there were ships over there but now… they're gone."

Growing concerned by what Zuikaku was saying, Enterprise suddenly grabbed her bow and shot an arrow forward which spawned a plane covered in light. Running up to the plane, she jumped onto it and began flying to the area where Sora was at.

Not wanting to be left behind, Zuikaku followed suit and summoned a plane of her own and hopped onto it, and flew right behind the white-haired and cap-wearing girl.

The rest of the Royal Navy girls shot a glance at where Enterprise and Zuikaku were heading and decided to meet up with the Sakura Empire girls. Time to let bygones be bygones.

Destroying a Siren vessel and leaving nothing behind, Mikasa checked her riggings and could see that she was running low on oil to keep her weapons functioning and turned to call out Kongou and Noshiro to cover her. However, when she shifted her head to the side, she saw someone that left her puzzled.

"Queen Elizabeth?"

"Ah, Mikasa. Tis good to see you."

"Likewise. But what are you doing here?"

"Originally, we came to bring back our dear friend. But along the way, we were alerted to the sudden attack and figured why not lend you a hand."

"But…"

"And before you say anything about us being on opposite sides, I would like to concur that isn't our responsibility to get rid of any and all Sirens? For the betterment of our homes?" Queen Elizabeth commented which left the older girl stunned.

But a second later, Mikasa could not help the grin that she had on her face. A new feeling of confidence appeared to flow through her body.

"You are definitely right, Your Majesty. And might I say, the Sakura Empire wishes to speak with you about quite a trivial decision we've made. If you're willing to listen?"

"Why of course! But at the moment we have quite the predicament to deal with, don't we?"

"Yes, yes we do" Mikasa replied while preparing to jump back into the battle. The sensation of hope could be felt in her heart. Royal Navy and Sakura Empire arm-in-arm fighting back against the Heartless.

In the air with Zuikaku and Enterprise

Dodging any incoming explosions being shot at the two, Enterprise and Zuikaku continued to get closer to where Sora was last seen heading when the two of them were now shocked at what they were seeing.

"No way… you've got to be kidding me…"

"This… This is the Heartless…"

The sight below them was something that nobody could have guessed in their wildest dreams.

Sora was seen surrounded by an entire army that was at least more than 500 hundred. The dark monsters around the boy were covered in knight-like armor with a sharp pointy tip on their head and sharp-looking feet. In addition, the monsters were carrying a mid-sized sword in one hand. But the most distinctive feature about the knights was the strange-looking emblem on their chest which looked like a heart with a red x on it.

But the girl's focus went back to the one they were looking for and that was Sora who looked to be fighting with everything he had against the army.

Slamming his weapon into one Heartless and managing to throw it back into another before swiping his blade across and killing the monsters instantly. But not before slashing at another Heartless and stabbing it with his weapon before jumping into the air and beginning to strike at any other monster close enough to him.

Sora then pushed himself forward and landed on several other Heartless before raising his key-shaped weapon into the air and yelling something. Right then, lightning strikes began hitting Heartless everywhere which gave him enough time to leap into the air and twist his body so that it looked like he was spinning in the air while attacking at the same time. The boy managed to kill a group of Heartless that way and once he finished his last slash, he rolled to the ground and spun around using his back foot to swing his weapon in a wide area.

The wide-sweeping attack managed to give him some room which also made him look up at hearing the planes getting closer. The boy's face switched from confusion then to happiness and then back to shock all within a matter of a second.

"Zuikaku! Enterprise! What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to help!" Enterprise said back to the boy.

Before he could respond, Sora saw an Armored Knight lunge at him with a sword which forced him to block the attack and shove the weapon back allowing him to slice the knight's head clean off letting it disappear instantly.

Drawing his attention back to the two girls flying in the sky, Sora was glad to see that they were coming to help but remembered how grave the situation was becoming.

"Wait! Zuikaku! Enterprise! Get back to the others!"

"Huh?! Why? We came to help you and that's what we're going to do!" Zuikaku yelled back.

"It's Akagi! She's planning something with Amagi!" Sora shouted.

"Where is she?" Enterprise asked, taking aim with her bow and firing at an Armored Knight killing it with a clean shot.

"Over there!" Sora said while pointing out in the distance.

Following the direction he pointed, Zuikaku and Enterprise were surprised to see even more Siren ships appear but they looked to be forming a wall of some kind. That is until Enterprise caught a quick glimpse of what appeared to be a giant sphere in the water with what looked to be several brown tails. Akagi.

Turning to look at Zuikaku who was confused about the whole thing, Enterprise nodded which immediately let the crane know that Sora was right.

"Please! Stop her from doing anything too crazy! I'll finish dealing with these guys and join you soon!" Sora replied while at the same time slamming the guard of his Keyblade into an Armored Knight and then slashing across its chest killing it.

Not wanting to back off from the fight happening in front of her, Zuikaku summoned several more planes to fight the Heartless before looking over at Enterprise who did the same thing while sharing an understanding nod with her. The two would go to stop Akagi while leaving Sora to fight the army of monsters.

Without anything else needing to be said, the Grey Ghost and Auspicious Crane began flying to where Akagi was located to stop her from doing something drastic.

This left the Keyblade wielder to gaze around him and see that compared to before the quantity of Heartless left was far less than before.

Confidence was now swelling with Sora to the point that he felt that enough energy had been stored up and he was now ready to finish the army off. Grasping at his chest or more specifically his heart, the boy felt energy ready to be released and immediately a blast of light surrounded him which even hit some Heartless.

Now, Sora was in his Second Form and dashed at the closest knight while striking at its chest and heaving his Keyblade up through its body which killed it. He then shot forward at another Heartless this time slamming his weapon down which caused several balls of light to explode and surround him hitting a large quantity of Heartless.

This led to a fierce montage of the Guardian of Light slashing against every Armored Knight he could get close to. Dodging and blocking swords left and right and counterattacking every chance he got.

Firing off spell after spell and causing flashes of Fire, Water, Wind, Thunder, and Ice to hit groups of Heartless leaving nothing behind. Along with explosions of light to cover the battlefield and throw Armored Knights across the water.

Even Flowmotion was being used to let Sora bounce against multiple knights letting him kick them in the face before jumping high into the air and come slamming his Keyblade down in the middle of a group causing an explosion to kill any nearby Heartless. Without wasting any time at all, the boy would also use Flowmotion to find a lone knight and shot straight at him while twisting his body and slashing in a circle around the monster managing to hit other knights before he rolled to the ground and stabbed the lone knight in the head killing it swiftly.

Rolling across the water, Sora then spun in a circle with a spiral slash causing multiple knights to go flying back before firing off a Thunder spell which caused the knights to disappear. However, the boy was forced back when several knights got the upper hand and managed to hit him causing Sora to grunt out in pain but quickly get in a Payback Strike by heaving a horizontal slash across the knights' chests.

Moving his body through the air, the spiky-haired boy began barraging another group of knights with stabs across their bodies at the arms and legs before striking at the Heartless and slamming his Keyblade with force into the ground causing a giant beam of light to appear better known as a Flash Step.

Twisting his body to the side, Sora narrowly dodged a sword that was being thrust toward his shoulder and quickly slammed his weapon under the knight. This gave him the chance to perform a Radial Blast by once again slamming the Keyblade back down toward the water which caused a small area around him to burst into light while also killing the knight.

Seeing that he had a second to breathe, Sora looked around himself and could see that not that many Armored Knights were now in the area.

However, in what seemed like time stopped moving, Sora quickly felt dazed and began shaking his head and looking around the area nonstop before realizing that there were no more Heartless around him. Confused, the boy began to freak out and checked began rubbing his eyes and pinching himself to see if he was really seeing things correctly.

Deciding to try and calm himself, Sora took a deep breath and closed his eyes before opening them and still seeing no more Heartless around the vicinity. He then glanced at his hands which were shaking while holding onto the Keyblade. Taking another deep breath, the boy realized that a chunk of time seemed to pass while he was fighting and that adrenaline was rushing through his body.

At that moment, all he wanted to do was fall back into the water and relax due to the sudden wave of exhaustion flowing through his body. But the sound of gunfire and explosions happening in the distance is what forced him to keep on standing. His friends were in trouble and… there was no way he would abandon them now.

Pulling his tired body to where he told Zuikaku and Enterprise to go, Sora had to stop Akagi from being taken away by the Darkness.

Running across the water and past the debris of many destroyed Siren ships, Sora could see two individuals that looked to be in a stand-off. Those two being Kaga and Zuikaku.

"Zuikaku! What's going on?"

Glancing out of the corner of her eye, Zuikaku saw Sora and felt better about the situation now.

"Sora, Akagi is over there with Enterprise, but Purifier showed up leading to the three fighting."

As if by coincidence, explosions could be heard not that far away from the three. Sora turned and saw Enterprise dashing across the water while firing shot after shot at Purifier who looked like she did when he first met her almost like their fight didn't happen. And Akagi was seen crouched on the water right next to a weird-looking sphere that was glowing.

Unsure of what was going on, Sora then looked over at Zuikaku who had her blade pointed right at Kaga who was acting strange.

"What are you doing, Zuikaku? What happened?"

"Enterprise and I got here after you told us to check on the situation which is when we found Akagi about ready to open the sphere. But before she could, Purifier showed up and started antagonizing her about Amagi which led to the two fighting. Soon after Enterprise joined the fight. And Kaga over here wanted to help her sister but I fought her back to try and knock some sense into her!" Zuikaku explained.

"Ngh…" Kaga could only groan at the situation in front of her.

"Kaga… please stop. This isn't going to solve anything!"

"Shut your mouth! What do you know? Akagi and I are so close to saving our sister… so close… and yet you and everyone else is getting in the way" Kaga explained to the boy.

"But siding with the Sirens will get you nowhere! They are working with the Heartless and that alone is bad news. The Heartless could destroy this world if given the chance!" Sora exclaimed, gaining the two girl's attention.

"Sora… what are you- " Zuikaku started saying.

"I know because I've seen it. I've lived through it." Sora began closing his hands into a fist while recalling the travesties he's gone through in his life. "The Heartless and Sirens need to be stopped. Just because they gave Akagi power to save Amagi doesn't mean you'll be really saving her."

"What…" Kaga muttered.

"The Darkness in Akagi's heart will begin to take over… leaving her heart open and for the taking. Which will cause her to succumb to Darkness and turn her into a Heartless."

'Followed by a Nobody' Sora thought to himself but didn't want to make things complicated.

"No… You're wrong!"

"I'm not! Kaga! You know it yourself. Akagi has been acting differently for quite some time now, hasn't she?" Sora questioned the white kitsune girl while knowing within his heart that Kaga knew as well.

The sound of explosions could be heard as Kaga had nothing to say. Nothing to retort to Sora's claim. Everything he said was to some degree true.

Akagi was not the same. She had grown more… distant. Even though she stood right next to her, Kaga knew that her sister was putting up a façade.

Left with nothing but the truth, the white-haired girl could do nothing but start tearing up. Causing her vision to become blurry. Zuikaku seeing her senpai letting her feelings show decided to lower her blade and give Kaga some space.

Sora began walking closer to the white-haired girl until he was right in front of her and giving her a sympathetic look.

Rubbing her eyes to get rid of the tears that were beginning to flow down her face, Kaga looked at the Keyblade wielder right into his blue eyes and spoke what her heart was telling her to say.

"…Please. Help me… Save my sisters!"

Bringing his hand over his heart and offering Kaga a calm yet confident smile, Sora nodded his head at the girl's plea.

"Don't worry. I'll bring them back. Both of them."

Hope could be seen appearing on Kaga's face from the boy's conviction.

Turning to look at the fight happening between Enterprise and Purifier, Sora knew that his chance to strike was now.

"Kaga. Zuikaku. Help Enterprise deal with Purifier. I'll stop Akagi from falling any deeper into Darkness" Sora affirmed.

"How? How will you stop her?" Kaga asked, wary of what the boy would do.

Walking a few steps away from the two, Sora then turned around and gave Kaga a thumbs up.

"By listening to my heart…I've got this!"

Not hearing what either of the girls had to say or if they said anything, Sora began sprinting toward Akagi and the strange sphere she was next to while Zuikaku and Kaga merely looked at each other before running to support Enterprise with her fight.

'Maybe I should've stopped to think about this?' Sora thought to himself while continuing to run to Akagi's location.

'Getting through to Akagi might be a lot easier than saving Amagi. But… how could I help her? I mean, she has her heart, but it's damaged from what everyone has told me. So… would I be able to heal it? Wouldn't that be using the Power of Waking?'

Snapping out of his thoughts and seeing that he was close enough to Akagi, Sora put his thoughts to the side and decided that things would be ok. Hopefully.

"Akagi!"

Moving her head to the side, Akagi looked over and saw Sora calling out to her. From when he saw her earlier, the brown-haired kitsune girl looked tired. Beaten down. Wincing at the weakened girl, the Keyblade wielder was a few feet away from her when she suddenly threw out several red paper planes.

Sora easily countered the planes by slicing through them without letting them become a nuisance. He then watched as Akagi pushed herself to stand up almost losing her balance but thanks to her tails pulling her back she was now on two feet.

"Akagi. Please, you have to stop."

"Stop… I can't… I'm too close…"

"Your body can't handle any more strain. The Darkness is crawling deeper into your heart."

"Tch… What do you know…"

"I know a lot more than you do when it comes to dealing with the Darkness. It sounds appealing having all that power. But it takes time. You can't expect to know everything about it in such a short amount of time. The power will overwhelm you and soon… it'll creep into your heart" Sora explained to the girl who seemed to be listening.

"…It doesn't matter."

"Aka- "

"I don't care what's going to happen to me. As long as Amagi is safe… As long as she gets to see tomorrow and the day after and so on. It'll be fine."

"But… you won't be there" Sora stated.

"That's fin – "

"No, it's not! I promised Kaga that I would save you and Amagi and that's exactly what I'm going to do" Sora affirmed to Akagi.

"What gives you the right… to save both of us. We're not even close… I don't know anything about you."

"Then let's change that! We might have not started on the right foot, but I still consider you and Kaga my friends. And friends help friends."

Now, Akagi could be seen using her right hand to grip her left arm. She must've been hit there. And now she looked like she was truly considering something because her hair covered her eyes. It wasn't until she shifted her head to stare right at Sora did he realize what her next move would be. And it was thanks to her eyes glowing purple again.

"Akagi. Don't."

Without saying anything else, Akagi suddenly summoned a flame into her hand before waving her hand at him which suddenly caused several fireballs to come flying at him.

Sora hesitantly swung his Keyblade through each fireball destroying them without much hassle before he dashed right at Akagi. The kitsune couldn't do much except throw out as many paper planes to attack him but they were completely demolished due to the boy raising his weapon and casting a vortex of wind that threw the planes into the water.

What happened next left Akagi both shocked and at the same time… relieved.

The Keyblade wielder had now found himself in front of the girl with his weapon pointed right at her chest more specifically her heart. The tip of his Keyblade was glowing as a beam of light shot right into her heart.

The girl's eyes widened and tried looking down at what the boy just did to her. However, something didn't feel right as the world around her was starting to become dimmer and darker. Her vision was starting to leave her as the last thing she saw was Sora reaching out to her and feeling one of his hands on her back while the other went to comfort her head from falling.

"Sorry, Akagi. But I promise that Amagi will be ok."

"Am…Amagi…"

That was the last sound Akagi made before letting sleep take hold of her. Sora felt guilt starting to appear in his consciousness. But letting the girl rest, would give him the chance to save Amagi.

Besides, all he did was follow his heart and give her heart the light needed to clear her mind. The Darkness within her wouldn't be completely gone but… that would be a later problem. Right now, he had to worry about Amagi.

Resting the brown-haired kitsune's body atop the water, Sora now directed his attention to the sphere where Amagi was. But before going ahead to open it he took a quick glance and tried finding Enterprise. To his relief, he saw her along with Zuikaku and Kaga firing planes against the gleeful Siren who was dodging all their attacks. Providing him with enough time to act.

Placing his hand on the sphere, it started to light up with a red color that spiraled all over until the sound of locks could be heard moving. Suddenly, the top of the sphere started to slowly break apart and dissolve until there was only a platform left. And laying down on a pedestal in the middle of the platform was a brown-haired girl with fox ears and tails. Someone that Sora had not seen in his time within the Sakura Empire.

Amagi.

Next to her on the pedestal was what looked to be a Wisdom Cube only that it had a different color and vibe to it. Almost like… it was spewing malicious intent.

Picking up the dark cube, Sora examined it closely and could feel traces of Darkness coming from it which resulted in him putting the cube down on the platform and focusing back on Amagi. Looking down at her, Sora would've figured that she was just sleeping. Sort of like how he was back after falling to the depths of sleep back during his Mark of Mastery.

But now he had no idea what to do next. How would he be able to help her?

Letting out a sigh, the boy looked down at the sleeping girl and then up at the sky. Dark clouds were still blocking the once calm and clear blue sky. Sora had no idea what would happen once he helped Amagi or if he even could help her. But…

Taking one last look at his friends who were fighting against the Sirens or dealing with Purifier, he made his decision. A rash decision but one he would not regret.

"I promised I would help you and Akagi, Amagi. But if anything happens… I don't even know if you can hear me but… just tell everyone that I will never forget them and they are now a part of my heart."

And with that, Sora summoned his Keyblade and pointed it right at the sleeping brunette kitsune's heart which caused a small beam of light to spew out of the Kingdom Key and hit her chest. Instantly, a blast of light covered the area enveloping the two and leading Sora to close his eyes taking one last look at the sky…

Unknown Area

Upon opening his eyes, Sora was amazed at what he was looking at in front of him.

The sight was that of a large Sakura tree with pink petals falling gently to the ground while the area around the tree was nothing but water as far as the eye could see. It sort of reminded him of the Final World and yet… it wasn't.

Beginning to walk closer to the tree, Sora soon spotted a figure leaning against the tree holding what appeared to be an umbrella. Getting closer, he soon realized who it was by the tree.

"Amagi?"

Pulled out of her trance-like state, the older girl simply looked over at Sora and had a startled look on her face.

"Huh? Who are you?"

"My name is Sora. I… I'm a friend of Akagi and Kaga."

"Oh. I didn't know that. It's nice those two are making more friends."

"Mm. Do you know where we are?" Sora asked, taking another look at the Sakura tree.

"We are…"

Amagi stopped herself from saying anything else and began to have a puzzled look on her face. Sora was worried for a second but it looked like she had something to say.

"We're somewhere special."

"This place? Or… this tree?" Sora questioned while looking up at the beautiful pink tree.

"Hmm, This tree is where Akagi and Kaga, and I would enjoy picnics or come here to get away from the world" Amagi explained.

"It's a very beautiful place. Cozy and peaceful."

"It is… I have many happy memories here."

Sora looked at the girl and couldn't help but feel sad. The wonderful smile that she had displayed on her face. He didn't want to take that away from her. But he had to save her. Break her from her peace.

"Amagi. Do you know what's going on right now?"

"What do you mean?"

"I… I don't know how to explain this but we're inside your heart."

"What?"

"Right now, you're asleep. And… Akagi was trying to help you. Fix your damaged Wisdom Cube so that you would get better."

"But… that's… how long have I been asleep?" Amagi asked, her words becoming shaky.

"I don't know. But all I know is that your sisters love you, and… they wanted to help you on their own without anybody else."

"Akagi… Kaga…"

"But it's ok now. Because I'm here to help."

"How? My Wisdom Cube… it's badly damaged. I fear that… I don't have much time left."

Suddenly, Sora summoned his Keyblade and held it right in front of him to showcase the weapon to Amagi who looked startled by the weapon.

"I have the ability to help connect people's hearts together. I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing. I don't even know if I'll be able to heal your heart. But…" Raising his Keyblade so that it was raised to the sky, Sora felt his heart soar with hope.

"I know that by following my heart, I can help you get back to your sisters. You don't have to worry about leaving them any time soon."

Tears could be seen now flowing down Amagi's face as she had her mouth open and tried to form words, but nothing was said. She closed her eyes and tried calming herself down before looking at Sora with a bright smile on her face.

"Sora… thank you."

With newfound conviction, Sora knew that whatever happened next… he would not fail her.

"Amagi, it's time."

Nodding at the boy's words, the brunette kitsune closed her eyes and lowered her arms. Waiting for whatever was to come next.

Gently pointing his Keyblade at her, Sora did the only thing that he could do now.

Follow his heart.

Right then, a small beam of light was shot right at the kitsune girl leading her to gasp at the sudden impact. The light that hit her chest suddenly began glowing brighter and brighter until it covered not only her chest but her entire body lighting up the area.

The Sakura tree that was once behind Amagi was now beginning to fade away while the light continued to grow until… what happened next caused Sora to have a sad smile.

A small ball of light could be seen floating above Amagi until it began manipulating itself to form what appeared to be a small cube. A Wisdom Cube.

The sight brought back memories of when he helped Roxas. It also made him realize that things... wouldn't be the same and that this might be his last time in this world. He still had no idea how the Power of Waking worked or how much of his power he could use rightfully, but if he was going to be punished then...

The last thing Sora saw before being enveloped in light was the sight of the Wisdom Cube floating higher and higher into the sky and disappearing into another flash of light. Making him smile one last time…

Shifting his body to the side, Sora could feel something under him. Something… soft? Forcing himself to open his eyes, the brunette boy had to cover his eyes as the first thing he saw was a bright light.

Refocusing his eyesight, the boy soon found that what he felt was actually a pillow. This realization made him begin to start taking in his surroundings and found that he was in what looked like a hospital bed.

Confused about what was happening and what happened, the boy began to get up and lift his feet off the bed he was currently in when all of a sudden a door could be heard opening followed by a loud gasp and multiple people running over to him.

"Sora!"

"Sora!"

"You're awake!"

"S-Sora!"

Shaken by the sudden barrage of voices, Sora turned to look at who was coming to him and he now had even more questions than before.

"Huh? Enterprise? Zuikaku? Wales? Hood? Mikasa? What's going on? How did- "

"It's all right now, you're safe. Calm down" Enterprise said to the boy.

"But what happened?"

"After you met up with Akagi, Kaga and I managed to beat back Purifier. Thanks to Enterprise" Zuikaku replied which made the white-haired girl look distant for a second before she responded.

"No, it wasn't just me. You and Kaga helped me greatly, Zuikaku" Enterprise stated.

"How did Purifier come back? I thought Prinz Eugen and I dealt with her?" Sora asked, remembering the war-torn Siren girl.

"It's likely she returned to her base of operations and got an upgraded body" Hood added to the conversation which made Sora turn to look at her.

"Hood! It's great to see you again. Oh! Right, sorry. And you too, Enterprise and Wales" Sora said, realizing that he hadn't greeted the girls yet.

"Likewise, Sora. I'm glad to see you too" Wales said, happy about the boy greeting her.

"Same to you, Sora" Enterprise replied.

"But wait, what about Purifier and Akagi? And what about Amagi?!"

"Once Purifier had taken enough damage, she mentioned something about the higher-up Siren leaders having enough sufficient data and said she would see everyone later" Enterprise informed Sora which made him grunt in annoyance.

"Akagi along with Kaga are now speaking with Lady Nagato about their actions. I'm not sure what is exactly happening in there, but I can assure you those two are getting heavily lectured and reprimanded" Mikasa explained.

"And… what about Amagi?" Sora asked.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Zuikaku commented to the boy which left him confused.

However, the door to the room soon opened, and in stepped an older girl with brown hair, tails, and ears while adorning a bright smile on her face.

"Hello, Sora. It's nice to see you… in person that is. Haha."

"Amagi! You're awake. Are you feeling ok?" Sora asked, sitting up straight.

"I'm *cough* *cough*" Amagi tried saying but started coughing.

"Huh? What's wrong!?" Sora exclaimed, worried about the girl.

"It's…It's all good, Sora. I'm in perfect health… ok. That was a lie. But I'm doing far better than I was before. And it's all thanks to you."

"But that cough…"

"I believe it's something more complex than what we are aware of now. But that's all it is. My Wisdom Cube is healed and repaired. And it's all thanks to you" Amagi stated, expressing gratitude by bowing her head.

"Thank you, Sora. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"Heh. Don't worry about it, Amagi. Besides, we're friends, aren't we? Friends help friends." Sora said, flashing the girl a friendly smile.

Taken back by what the boy said, Amagi couldn't help but begin laughing. Laughing with absolute joy.

This peaceful moment could have lasted a bit longer, but Mikasa drew Sora's attention.

"Sora, after we managed to defeat the incoming Siren fleet, we made our way over to where Zuikaku said you were and found you floating atop the water asleep. All while Amagi was beginning to wake up. What exactly did you do to help her?"

"Uh…"

Unsure of how he should answer her question, Sora was about to say something, but Wales decided to help him out.

"It was your power wasn't it, Sora?"

Confusion began to appear on the Sakura Empire girls' faces as they weren't sure what the blonde Royal Navy girl meant.

"His power? What does that mean?" Zuikaku questioned Wales.

"He… actually, should we wait for everyone to hear this? It might be… a bit easier to hear from him" Wales clarified.

Both Enterprise and Hood nodded at Wales' suggestion and decided to support her idea.

"Mikasa. Zuikaku. Amagi. I believe we should wait till we have Lady Nagato in our company. Sora's tale is… quite a lot to take in, to be honest," Hood stated while flashing Sora a warm smile to which is returned a smile of his own.

"*sigh* I guess that's all right. Besides, Lady Nagato should be done talking with Akagi and Kaga now" Zuikaku replied, feeling a bit left out of Sora's secret power.

"*nod* I agree. Lady Nagato will want to hear this along with thanking him for all he has done in his short time here" Mikasa said.

"Well then, shall we get going to the council room? Amagi spoke up, gaining everyone's attention.

"Sora, are you able to stand up?" Amagi added, making note of the boy still in bed.

"Yeah. I'm good. I was just tired. Today's been… quite busy. Haha."

Beginning to move the blanket over him, Sora found his feet touching the cold floor and soon put his boots back on before following behind the group of girls and heading to wherever Nagato and the others were.

But not before he took a glance at one of the posters on the wall that showcased what this world's landscape looked like. He would have liked to study the map more but his eyes did catch something that made him double-turn. There was also a star on the spot that he was looking at.

And he could feel his breathing starting to pick up.

However, before he could stare any longer, Wales had gently patted him on the shoulder waking him from his daze.

"Sora? Are you ok?"

"Huh! Oh! Yeah. I'm good. Sorry was just looking at the map."

"I see… well, once things calm down. I could show you a map of the world. Give you a bit of insight on everything" Wales said, tilting her head and smiling at the boy.

"I'd like that! Thanks, Wales."

"Not at all, Sora."

Zuikaku couldn't help but eye the blonde Royal Navy woman closely while also feeling a twinge in her heart. Not sure what it was, she merely shook her head and continued to follow the rest of the girls to the council room.

Sakura Empire Council Room

Making their way into a large room with many chairs scattered throughout the place, Sora immediately spotted Lady Nagato and a few other girls that looked familiar while others he had not met yet. And sitting nearby was another face he recognized.

"Ah! Your Majesty. What are you doing here?"

"Sora! I mean… Hm. Sora, it's good to see you again" Queen Elizabeth corrected herself from almost breaking character.

"Likewise, Your Majesty. Thank you for coming."

"Not at all. Besides, while there is much to discuss why don't we let Lady Nagato take over at least for now."

Nodding at the blonde-haired girl's suggestion, Nagato waved at everyone to find a seat to sit which they all did except for Sora. It was at this time that he caught sight of two familiar kitsune girls and another white-haired girl who had a red streak in her hair and had their eyes glued to him.

Akagi, Kaga, and Prinz Eugen.

However, there was something different about the two fox girls. For starters, Kaga looked at him with a strange expression. It was something akin to gratefulness while also being timid. And Akagi… well, she was looking right at him. Not blinking at all. She was looking at him with an even stranger expression.

Prinz Eugen merely winked at the boy before licking her lips which left Sora too stunned to react.

But before Sora could analyze the three any longer, Nagato began to speak up gaining everyone's eyes and ears.

"Thank you all for coming. Things have been not easy for us. And today could not have proved that anymore. But… I would first like to thank Azur Lane for supporting us when they did. While the Sakura Empire would have been able to deal with the Sirens… we do not know what the cost might have been."

Nobody said anything as every girl in attendance knew that the fight had caught them off guard. The amount of destruction could have been even more drastic let alone the possibility of casualties. However, that was not the case.

"Which leads me to finally announce that…. After much consideration, the Sakura Empire will no longer be a part of the Red Axis and instead like to ask that we be reconsidered to join back into Azur Lane."

At this point, Queen Elizabeth and Enterprise stood up from their seats.

"I, Queen Elizabeth, have already discussed with Lady Nagato all of the necessary agreements and reconciliations that the Sakura Empire will need to go through to make amends for their decision to side against Azur Lane."

"However, it is with great interest and approval that we accept the Sakura Empire back into Azur Lane" Queen Elizabeth affirmed for everyone to hear.

"I am Enterprise acting as a representative for the Eagle Union. I also approve of the Sakura Empire's request to join Azur Lane" Enterprise stated.

"And while actions speak louder than words, I would still like to thank you two for accepting our proposal. We have much more to talk about but…" Taking a look at the spiky-haired boy who looked surprised at all the attention he was suddenly getting. Nagato began speaking once more.

"For now I would like to address the man who not only helped defend our island during its time of need but the hero who saved our dearest Amagi."

Feeling the spotlight land on him, Sora looked around the room and saw many ship girls all greeting him with warm smiles and appreciative looks compared to when he first got to the Sakura Empire.

"Sora. You have undoubtedly helped the Sakura Empire in ways that… we never thought possible. And for that, I would like to reward you."

"That won't be necessary, Lady Nagato."

"Nonsense. No matter what it takes I would like to reward you for your hard work in helping not only save my friends but my home. Whatever it is you wish for I will do my utmost to make sure it comes to fruition."

Too stunned to speak, Sora began looking at Nagato and then Queen Elizabeth who both shared the same appreciative expression. That did not help his situation.

"Whatever you ask for I will approve. Money. Weapons. Land. Secrets. Anything" Nagato continued to say.

"Or anyone" Prinz Eugen stated for everyone to hear while smiling dangerously at the Keyblade wielder.

Taking a second to calm himself down from blushing and the overall situation he found himself in, Sora began thinking of things he might want.

However, before thinking too long his mind did begin to wander. The sudden realization of what he wanted most began to form in his mind.

To go home.

But before he was about to open his mouth to respond…

A lone tear slipped down his face.

All the girls in attendance had worry flow through their hearts and widened their eyes at the sight of the boy crying. Hood and Wales brought a hand up to their mouths. Belfast and Enterprise's faces softened. Zuikaku and Shoukaku had puzzled expressions while feeling sad suddenly. Prinz Eugen stopped her flirtatious actions and looked worriedly at the boy. Queen Elizabeth and Warspite both were beyond surprised and felt melancholy as well. Mikasa and Nagato felt a twinge of sadness at seeing the once lively boy crying. And Akagi, Kaga, and Amagi felt uneasy and sad at the same time.

Hence, at that moment every girl in attendance felt dismayed at seeing the boy who had done so much for them in such a state. It was a feeling that hurt each of them no matter what their relationship was with the boy.

In a hurry to wipe away the tear, Sora lightly slapped himself with both his hands to snap him out of the sad state he was in.

"Ahaha… Sorry about that."

"Sora… are you ok?" Nagato asked, unsure of what was happening.

"Y-Yeah! I'm good. Just got to thinking about something. But I promise everything is all right" Sora reasoned, hoping he didn't cause any more trouble.

Every girl that had a relationship with him realized that there was more than what he was saying but now would not be the time to ask him about it. Instead, the boy tried to move the conversation forward while thinking about something to ask for as a reward.

While scrounging up an idea of what to ask for, Sora suddenly remembered the map that he saw on his way to the council room. How there was something there that drew his attention away from everyone and made him remember a certain duo.

Realizing that's what he wanted to ask for as a reward, he cleared his throat getting everyone's attention on him now.

"Lady Nagato, I know what I would like to ask for as a reward now."

"I'm glad you've decided. Now, please, tell us what it is that you would like."

Bringing his right hand over his heart, Sora then asked the question that now eating away at him.

"What can you tell me about Shibuya?"

*A/N – Hey there, long chapter huh? If you could believe it, I originally had the chapter run even longer but decided to push a few things into the next chapter. There's a lot of stuff to cover but I can't wait for what's to come. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will stick around for more to come. And once again sorry for the wait. Take care and stay safe out there wherever you are.

*P.S. - Azur Lane came out with a valentine's day short with Essex and Enty and holy crap. It's good. Too good. Essex stole my heart lol.