The Replica was falling in a pit of infinite darkness. He bore the likeness and memories of the Keyblade Master Riku, but knew he was only an imposter. Had sacrificed himself to defeat Xehenort and secure a vessel for Namine. All the feelings Riku had for the beautiful young blonde were strong in his heart, or what passed as one. But the Replica resolved to bow out. He bowed out of existence. His only comfort was knowing Namine would live, and would be loved.

Suddenly a light appeared in the darkness below. His descent seemed to slow. The Replica blinked down on his own likeness in a shimmering stained glass window. The illustration wore the same body armor suit as he. The same worn by Riku when possessed by Ansem. His booted feet softly settled on the glass floor. Scanning his new surroundings, the Replica found he was perched atop a tall platform. Darkness spanned the distance in every direction.

With a burst light, four floating objects appeared before the Replica. A sword, a shield, a magic wand, and a strange-looking hand-gun. The firearm particularly captivated him. A metallic gray, with a barrel that looked like a soda can or some such. The Replica almost dismissed it as a child's toy, yet something about it told him otherwise. Would it be present among the other three enchanted weapons if it was harmless?

"Well, hurry up and decide!" An impatient voice sighed from the surrounding darkness. The Replica instantly spun into a combat stance. His fists tightened, ready to swing.

"Who are you?" He roared, on silence replied. Though he was certain the mysterious interloper was smirking at him. "What do you want with me?"

"I want you to hurry up and choose," the voice huffed. "Come on, Riku. If I was going to attack you, you think I'd offer you weapons?"

"I'm NOT Riku!"

"You sure look like him," the voice snickered. "Even if you didn't just give your life for his girl, you have to admit, Riku is part of you. No sense in denying it."

"How do you know all that?" the Replica snapped.

"Unlike some people, I pay attention. And that's the best answer you're going to get until you start making choices." A moment of silence elapsed and Riku knew he had no choice but to play his part.

"Fate, it seems," he growled in spiteful submission. Turning to the floating weapons he inspected all four. The sword seemed obvious enough. He'd wielded a keyblade before. Though moments ago he couldn't summon it to face his mysterious captor. Perhaps if he took this sword? Before he even knew it, Riku's hand gripped the hilt and held the blade high above his head, as if in triumph.

An otherworldly vibration shook glass floor beneath him and Riku turned to see a dozen heartless emerge. The twitching, inky figures tensed and lunged for him. Acting on instinct, Riku leapt to meet the attack head on. His sword cleaving through the shadowy assailants. Dispelling them into black vapor. Those who dodged came on again with fury. Riku swung, dodged, stabbed, and rolled. Dispatching each with the practiced swordsmanship of his namesake. Soon he stood alone atop the stained glass. The sword flashed in blinding light, then vanished.

"Not bad, Riku!" the voice said.

"Alright, out with it! What do you want?" Riku demanded.

"Easy! All in good time. Just one more choice to make. Choose wisely…"

Riku turned to the remaining three floating weapons. The shield meant defense, never really his strong point. The wand might give him an edge, but not really his style. Then there was the pistol. Not your conventional firearm, but Riku immediately saw the value of a little ranged firepower. Without another thought, Riku snatched the pistol and spun it on his index finger. He smirked at memories of the real Riku, watching old cowboy movies with his dad. In that moment he envied and resented Riku more than ever. That was the cue for the swarm of heartless to materialize behind him. He could almost feel them coming before the reality-trembling vibration of their approach.

In a fluid motion Riku spun around and opened fire. Struck one of the heartless right between it's glowing yellow eyed. The fallen creature vanished in a black vapor. The other heartless froze in what seemed to be shock. Prompting a menacing smirk from Riku. Instants later the heartless rallied and leapt at their prey in a wave of darkness. Riku pulled the trigger in quick succession, downing one with each shot as he lunged aside and rolled to safety. Quickly recovering, he resumed firing. Whittled their ranks down bit by bit. They ducked low and lunged for his feet. He leapt over-head and spun downwards to open fire from above. Several more went down amid his barrage of magical bullets and suddenly he was alone. It somehow felt incomplete. Like he had missed one. A faint scuttling noise caught his ear and he swung the pistol over his shoulder and pulled the trigger just in time down the last heartless. The monster had flattened itself to the floor and was waiting for the right moment to strike.

Before Riku could call out to his mysterious captor, a keybalde appeared in his right hand. He gasped in shock at the weapon. Not just any keyblade, the Kingdom Key! Sora's own fated weapon! How could this be? The floor rumbled and a massive blob of inky black materialized. The blob grew taller and soon a gigantic humanoid heartless towered over Riku. The Replica sneered in defiance and rushed the monster head-on. He fired the pistol rapidly with his left and brought the keyblade down hard on it's foot as he closed in. The giant recoiled but quickly recovered and raised it's wounded foot only to bring it down on Riku with a furious stomp. The young man lunged to safety only barely roll aside in time to avoid a downward punch from an oozing black fist.

Taking advantage of the foe's stoop, he fired the pistol into it's glowing eyes at point-blank range. It reared up with a roar of agony and Riku closed into swing at it's opposite leg. The limb gave way and the giant toppled over to writhe on it's back. Riku leapt atop the monster's torso and rushed up to the height of it's chest. Sensing it's enemy, the giant brought up it's hands and swung them together to catch him like a fly in a clap of it's palms. Riku leapt high and spun to fire several times into the face of his foe as he fell towards it. He raised his sword high mid-fall and brought it down hard on the heartless' head as he landed. The inky giant dissipated into a black mist, then vanished.

A soft clapping of hands was heard and Riku turned to glare at a cocky smirk beneath gray eyes and a head of pale blonde hair. "Bravo, Riku! Bravo! Just like your namesake, you're a true warrior!"

Riku took a combat stance. Brought up his sword as a guard and leveled the pistol at the young man's head. "For the last time, who are you and what do you want?" he demanded.

The young man, unintimidated, chuckled. "Come on, let's not fight. Right now all I want is you're attention. The name is Joshua by the way."

"You HAVE my attention!" Riku snapped. "And you seemed to like fighting a moment ago!"

"Relax! It was just a test, to see I'd you had what it took."

"For WHAT? And don't tell me to relax!"

The smirk vanished, replaced by a frown. "YOU!" Joshua's voice shook the glass floor beneath them, though his voice wasn't particularly loud. Something inside Riku forced down his defensive rage. He lowered both his weapons. "Simmer down," Joshua ordered firmly. Riku found he was calm again, if still not trusting this powerful young man.

"What are you? A wizard?" Riku asked, with only a slight edge.

The cocky smirk returned. "Not exactly. I'm more a musician. Though not your conventional music." Riku suppressed a growl. Could this kid please start making sense?

"Are you with the organization?"

"Not on their lives!" Joshua snorted. "Besides where you're going they don't even exist."

Riku sighed. "Where exactly am I going and why?"

Joshua snapped his finger and pointed to him with a wink. "Finally asking the right questions! You're going first to Traverse Town, somewhere your namesake once visited. Well...in your realm anyway. There you'll find lots of people who need help. The kind only a warrior can give. One in particular, a prince named Philip. You'll help him find other princes. You'll help them build an army, and restore light to Kingdom Hearts."

Riku stood dumbfounded as he took in the wave of information. It was true he had all of Riku's memories, those before his creation by the organization, but he'd never heard of Traverse Town. Restore Kingdom Hearts? But Sora and the others had already done that! They defeated Xehenort! He had helped to make sure they would! "My realm?" Riku repeated in confusion.

"Correct!" said Joshua. With a snap of his fingers two hearts appeared floating in the air above him. One radiating light, the other doused in oily blackness but with a few scattered shinning lights blinking within. "With free-will comes endless possibilities," explained Joshua. "Sometimes these choices climax in the triumph of light, others end in descent into darkness. In your realm, events transpired to bring victory to light. In this one darkness prevailed. There's no Organization XIII, but Maleficent and her cohorts pooled their resources and combined forces to sweep the worlds. Corrupting all they touched. Those they couldn't corrupt, they soiled. Those they couldn't soil, they killed. Alas, in this realm the keyblade wielders never came to be. The wizards Merlin and Yen Sid tried their best, aided by that mouse-king Mickey, but their efforts have proven next to useless. That's where you come in!"

Riku swallowed hard. It was a lot to take in, his heart began to pound and his breathing grew heavy. He froze with an intense gasp as he realized what he was feeling. Heart pounding? Breathing? He felt a cold sweat and it dawned on him that he had never felt these things before. Though somehow he knew what they were. Again Joshua chuckled and met Riku's wide-eyed gaze with a knowing nod.

"My body," Riku gasped. "It's real! But how? I saved the last vessel for Namine!"

"I had no trouble getting another one for you," Joshua shrugged. "I guess some of us are just a little more resourceful than others."

"But why?" Riku demanded. "Why would you give me a real life and drag me away to some...parallel realm to fight a war that's already practically lost?"

"It's not over until it's over. I just figured it was about time the light was given a little handicap. A little something to even the odds. Besides why waste a perfectly good warrior? And like you said, you're not the real Riku. There's nothing in that other realm for you. Who knows, you just might find something, or someone, worth fighting for here."

Riku was lost for words. What the youth was saying made sense somehow. It's true he wasn't looking forward to vanishing out of existence. Now he had a heart and a body to back it up. Of course his few conversations in the past were less than sociable. Could he really make a life for himself here? Assuming he was even able to defeat the darkness!

"No more questions? Good! Well off you go then…" Joshua said with a mischievous grin before snapping his finger. The glass floor gave way beneath Riku's feet and he plummeted into darkness.

Prince Philip groaned as every muscle in his body throbbed. Light pierced the veil of darkness around him as his eyes blinked open. His eyes squeezed shut against the overwhelming glow. It felt like an eternity since he had seen any real light. His mind stumbled out of it's daze, was surprised to feel comfort beneath his back. As if he had been transported home to his own bed.

"He's waking up!" a soft feminine voice gasped hopefully.

"About time!" a more excited and forceful voice, clearly female. Philip forced his eyes to blink open and adjust to the light. A lovely feminine face with long hair met his gaze.

"Ah...Aurora!" Philip gasped his love's name. A name he never knew until hours after meeting and falling for her. He shot up to a sitting position and grimaced in disappointment as his vision cleared. The young woman stumbled back a pace in shock. No, not Aurora. She was quite lovely and had Aurora's pale green eyes, but her hair was brown.

"Uh...no, I'm Aerith. Pleased to meet you," she said with a slight bow.

"Mistook her for your girlfriend did ya?" giggled a girl with short black hair at Aerith's side.

"Yuffie!" Aerith gasped at her thoughtless tease.

"Aw...that's too bad, he's already taken," Yuffie fiend disappointment. "You're definitely my type as far as looks go though," she leaned in close to examine Philip, who leaned away awkwardly. Yuffie's face was inches away from his when she closed with eye in a wink. "Just kidding! I'm not THAT easy!" she chuckled before bouncing backwards. Philip blushed crimson as he noticed how revealing her garb was.

"Never mind her," Aerith soothed. "She doesn't mean anything!" Yuffie folded her arms and playfully groused that the older girl was spoiling her fun.

"It's quite alright," Philip waved her off. "And I beg your pardon, my ladies, but where am I?" He paused to scan his surroundings, some kind of cheerful bedroom. Perhaps an inn or the young ladies' house. Again Philip blushed at the thought of lying in a woman's bed.

"Welcome to Traverse Town!" Yuffie announced, with her hands held high. As if in some grand celebration. Philip stopped himself from giggling at the girl's enthusiasm.

"We all saw you fall from the sky," Aerith said. "Merlin was able to slow you down with his magic but you still landed pretty hard. Cloud and Leon carried you here. Yuffie and I have been looking after you, Mister?…"

"Prince," he corrected, "Prince Philip," he paused to clear his throat and curse himself, knowing what he said might come off as pompous. "I was being held captive by the enchantress Maleficent at the Forbidden Mountain. A mouse named Mickey bestowed a magic spell on me to bring me here," he explained as his memory returned.

"KING MICKEY!" Yuffie gasped. "MINNIE'S MAN?"

"I know of no 'Minnie' but yes he did call himself a king. And he did say he had friends here."

"Oh wow! She'll wanna hear this!" Yuffie bounced up and down. "I'll get over to Minnie's place lickety-split!" The girl was off with a flash.

"Be careful!" Aerith called after her as the door slammed. It seemed futile, her voice was much too soft to carry far. "Oh, I hope she's careful! The heartless attacks keep getting worse!"

"Heartless?" Philip blinked in confusion. Aerith turned to him in surprise.

"You've never heard of them?" Before Philip could answer the door flew open and a wide-eyed Yuffie burst back in.

"You're never going to believe this! Someone else just fell from the sky!" Yuffie squeaked with sheer excitement. She turned to Philip, instantly calm with folded arms and a sly smile. "Friend of yours?"

Riku landed with a splash in a pool of cold water. He quickly recovered from the shock and jolted upwards to take in a deep breath of air. To his visible shock, he found himself standing in a waist-deep fountain the bustling plaza of a some kind of village. All around him passersby gaped in astonishment. Riku could only roll his eyes in annoyance, wade to the ledge and climb out of the fountain with as much dignity as he could manage.

"HEY!" called a young man, about Riku's age, rushing towards him. A blonde haired kid with an x-shaped necklace pendent and camouflage-patterned trousers. The defiant glare on his face betrayed his ambitious but protective nature. To the boy's right ran a cute brunette, on his left a short, chubby lad with black hair pressed up in a band. "Another one, hugh? Who are you and what do you want?"

Riku replied with a blank stare and silence. After a moment convincing himself not to lash out at the kid, he turned to walk away. "HEY!" the punk snapped after him.

"Um, Hayner," the brunette said timidly. "Maybe we should leave him alone?" Riku snickered; beauty and brains.

"Yeah, he doesn't look too friendly," said the chubby one to Hayner's left.

"Oh come on, Pence! You need to man-up!"

"Well obviously he's not a heartless!"

"For all we know he could be a SPY!"

"Seriously?" Pence hissed. "If you were trying to spy on someone, would YOU walk around dressed like that in public?" Riku couldn't help but chuckle.

"HEY!" Hayner snapped. Moments later Riku spun around to the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. The punk was sprinting after him. "Who are you laughing at?" Hayner seethed. Pence and the brunette rushed after, their faces twisted in concern. Riku sighed, could tell the kid was no real threat but didn't want to make his first impression any worse.

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" a slightly older voice called. Riku turned to see a tall young man, at least his own age. With short blonde hair buried beneath a black stocking hat. He wore what looked like a white trench coat with the sleeves cut off and a shirt underneath that exposed his belly. Riku barely suppressed a laugh at his get-up. Beside him stood a tall thin girl with jaw-length steel blue hair and a sleeveless zip-up turtle-neck. On his other side stood a tall, muscular, sun-tanned young man with black hair and what looked like a red sport's jersey. Again Riku sighed; not more of them!

The thin girl stabbed a finger towards him. "Intruder," she stated in a dull, indifferent voice.

"YEAH! I sure never seen him around here, ya know!" the bulky boy in the jersey huffed.

"That's two invaders in one day!" said sleeveless trench coat. "And while the adults are busy, it's left us, the Traverse Town Disciplinary Committee, to dispense justice!" he ended his speech with a firm finger pointed at Riku, his two posse members struck cheesy tough-guy poses on either side. Clearly they had high opinions of themselves. Holding in another laugh, Riku satisfied himself with smirk not unlike Joshua's.

"You stay out of this, Seifer!" Hayner snapped. "This is between me and him!"

Seifer chuckled. "Well if it isn't the losers! You kids can run along and play while the adults handle intruders."

"Who are you calling losers? And you're only a year older than me!"

"Old enough to arrive in time to handle the last intruder! Unlike the losers who arrived too late."

"Leon and Cloud handled that! You three just showed up after they dragged him off and took all the credit! You couldn't handle an intruder if your lives depended on it!"

Again Seifer laughed. "Oh and you think you could? Beat it, this intruder won't be the only one getting a beat-down!" Hayner rushed past Riku with balled fists. Pence and the Brunette sprang upon him to hold him back.

"Why not make that threat again to my face?" Hayner hissed in his friends grasp.

"I already have. Not my fault you hang out with a pair of wimps!"

"What did you say?" Riku smirked as he casually strolled back the way he came. The two gang leaders were still arguing even as their prey slipped away. Most of the towns people had either lost interest or turned to the gang fight about to break out. A few still eyed him with suspicion though. All different kinds of people dressed in various different garb. Riku figured this was because of all the worlds fallen to darkness. Now all he had to do was find out who was in charge there, presumably this Prince Philip.

"HEY! STOP!" Hayner and Seifer's voices merged as one. Took them a less time than Riku thought. Perhaps he underestimated them. He turned to see the six youths all rushing towards him. He folded his arms and decided to hear them out. Even all together he figured they were about as threatening as six termites. His body tensed as more figures of about equal size emerged from behind them to join their race. He couldn't see them clearly but passersby where beginning to shriek and run, and the movements of the shadowy figures were less than natural. With a flick of his left wrist Joshua's pistol appeared in his hand. All six of his initial attackers froze in horror.

"GET DOWN!" Riku roared. All six obeyed. Flattened themselves to the cobblestones just in time to reveal the grotesque scarecrow-like heartless twisting and writhing behind them. Riku opened up with rapid fire, downing several. With a flex of the fingers on his right hand the keyblade reappeared and he rushed forward to obliterate another heartless with a single swipe. He blocked a potentially lethal blow and sent his opponent flying backwards with a gunshot. Spun around to down strike the head of another and put another shot in the head of the heartless behind it. Turned on his heel to press the side of the keyblade to the neck of a heartless, keeping it's arms just out of grasping reach. He calmly brought up the pistol to fire into it's temple before spinning with outstretched blade to send a surrounding swarm sprawling. And then it was over.

The fountain plaza was empty, save for Riku and six startled youths. The triumphant warrior turned to look down on his awe-struck attackers-turned-audience. Both his weapons vanished with a flick of the wrists and he crossed his arms with a look challenge on his face.

"Uh...something tells me he's not with the heartless, ya know?" the one in the Jersey said.

"Good point, Rai," Seifer said, rising to his feet and brushing himself off with delusions of dignity. "Since you're new around here, I'll let you off with a warning for trespassing."

"Misunderstanding," said the skinny one. With that Seifer and his gang turned to stride away. Hayner, growled after his rival.

"This is not over between us!" he hissed after the three of them. He stood and turned to Riku with sigh. "I guess he has a point about you. Thanks for save there!" he finished with a smile and a thumbs up!

"We never would have made it without you," the brunette beamed. "I'm Olette, this is…"

"Hayner and Pence. Yes, I heard," Riku gently cut her off with a nod.

"Oh! So he speaks!" Hayner snickered.

"When he wants to," said Riku.

"But who are you? And if you're not with the heartless, where did you come from?" asked Pence.

"The name is Riku," the Replica had made peace with calling himself that. He was, after all, his own person now. Body and heart. "I'm looking for a prince named Philip, I'm assuming he's your leader here?" Riku frowned at the puzzled looks on their faces.

"No, doesn't ring a bell," said Hayner.

"Our leader is Queen Minnie," explained Olette.

"And who better to escort you to her than the royal guard and court wizards?" an elderly voice said from behind. Riku turned to see an old man dressed in blue with a tall, pointy hat. A white beard hung down to his feet. Beside him stood Donald Duck with his faithful companion Goofy beside him. Two other men, a few years older than him, stood with stern faces and crossed arms. One with brown hair and a scar on his face, the other with blonde spikey hair and more boyish features. "So you really are a keyblade wielder, are you not?" the old man asked.