Back in Traverse Town, the newly formed group of Sora, Ruby, Donald, and Goofy all gathered at the main gates with Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith. "Make sure you're prepared for the journey ahead of you. We don't know how far the Heartless have spread." Leon advised. It was safe to say if there were Heartless here, they could already be in other worlds as well. So they'd need to be as ready as possible for the unexpected.

"Check out the shops here. They've got some pretty neat stuff!" Yuffie suggested, pointing behind herself at Cid's store and another little shop next door to it. As she mentioned the shops, Aerith reached for a little pouch at her waist and handed it to Sora. "This is from all of us. Spend it as you see fit." she said as she lay it in his hand. It was a pouch of some form of currency labeled 'munny'. Sora and Ruby had never seen it before as Ruby was used to lien, and Sora was...well, not used to ANY money. Regardless, while it was not much, it was at least enough for some essentials.

"And this is from Leon." Aerith added as she procured a vial much like what Goofy used, but filled with a yellow glowing liquid. Leon's gaze shifted away, as if embarrassed at Aerith namedropping him as the one giving them this item. While Sora wasn't familiar with the things Goofy used, something about this one felt more powerful than both of them combined.

With their newly acquired funds and contributions given, Sora, Ruby, Donald, and Goofy were ready to go. "Take care!" came a final cheer from Yuffie, "I hope you find your friends." a gentle well-wish from Aerith, "Look out for each other. Keep your spirits up." and a last bout of encouragement from Leon. And with that, they departed, leaving the newly formed quartet of friends to sally forth on their adventure.

Donald turned toward the two younger members of their group, pointing to the double door gates behind them leading out of town."The gummi ship is outside that gate." The name drew a mutual look of confusion from Sora and Ruby who both simultaneously asked, "The what?" The confusion in their voices caused Donald's eyes to narrow. Suffice it to say, he was not very impressed with either a lack of deductive skills, or didn't approve of them mentally making fun of the name. "That's our ship." Goofy much more cheerfully pat them on the back, ushering them toward the gates. "Wait til ya see it!"

"Wait!" Just as they were about to walk to the gates, Donald stopped the rest of the team in their tracks. Waddling up to the spiky haired boy, Donald pulled out his staff and said, "Sora, this is for you." He then raised his staff up in front of Sora, who looked to see the Keyblade suddenly appear in his hand, and as if guided by some unseen force. It seemed to shift toward Donald's staff as if drawn by something. Confused as he was, he went along with it. And the moment their weapons touched, a small stream of flame moved from the tip of Donald's staff to the tip of the Keyblade. A shimmer joined by a small blaze emerged from the Keyblade as Donald pulled his staff away with a small smile on his beak. "Now you can use magic too!"

"Say, Sora? You happen to know any abilities?" Goofy inquired.

"What do you mean?" Sora asked one of his new friends with his head tilted at him.

"Things that can help you in a fight. I'm not actually a fan of fighting but I do it if I need to. Anyway, I know an ability to leap up and strike..." Goofy explained before taking his shield out. "Like this!"

As he turned to his side, Goofy leaped several feet in the air with his shield held in an uppercut move before landing on the ground again, albeit almost stumbling. "Something I picked up during my years of training as a member of the King's Royal Knights."

Ruby hummed. "Is it like some sort of battle instinct you unlock?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure," Goofy said, scratching his head before smiling to her. "But maybe Sora could figure it out along the way. Sometimes you gotta learn stuff on the fly. Considering how Sora handled that big Heartless here, I'm sure he can figure it out. They Keyblade chose him, after all."

Sora smiled, warmed by Goofy's words and felt more driven. He had a group of people to travel with and even if they met trouble along the way, each of them could fight in their own way. Sora made it this far despite having a lack of experience but he could grow stronger if he was learning magic and accomplishing other things along the way. "Okay. Is that it? Let's get going!"

Before the somewhat overeager Sora could march off to the Gummi Ship, a voice from down on the ground caught Sora and Ruby's attention. "Well, I see big adventures coming their way. Looks like it's up to me to keep track of it all in my journal." Sora and Ruby looked around for the source of the voice, not noticing the source leaping towards them until they landed on Sora's shoulder. "Hello there."

When Sora finally saw the humanoid cricket, he nearly jumped in surprise. "What the-?" "ACK!" Both he and Ruby respectively exclaimed from sheer surprise. Thankfully, they had nothing to fear from this fellow as he easily recovered from the mild jostling. "Nice to meet you, Sora. You too, Ms. Rose. Cricket's, the name. Jiminy Cricket." he introduced with a bow and a tip of his hat. Recovering from their moment of shock, Sora and Ruby blinked and straightened back up, greeting the little tailcoat clad cricket with cheerful smiles. "Well, hi there Jiminy." Ruby greeted pleasantly, "Nice to meet you too." followed by Sora.

With the fourth introduction out of the way, Jiminy hopped back up onto Sora's shoulder, and into the hood of his jacket. "I hope you don't mind me taking up residence in here. It's the best place I can think to chronicle our journey." Sora smiled, looking back at Jiminy and nodded. "Go right ahead, Jiminy."

And with that, Ruby turned toward the gate and pointed theatrically with an equally theatrical proclamation of, "Alright! Onward to new worlds, Team SRDG!" Rather than bravely rush toward the door like she probably expected, Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked at Ruby with befuddled expressions.

"Team..."
"Surge?"
"Huh?"

Sora, Donald, and Goofy's respective expression of confusion was quite the bubble burst for Ruby. She only just realized they likely didn't really know that particular custom from back home. "Oh, uh...It's a uh...bit of a tradition among my people. Huntsmen and Huntresses in training, like myself...when we're in school, we're put into a team of four after our first test. And the teams are named after a combination of our first initials with the leader being the first initial." Sora, Donald, and Goofy didn't quite understand it, but they nodded regardless.

It was then Sora's eyes widened, realizing what she meant. "W-Wait a second. Would that mean you're calling me the leader?" he asked with surprise. Ruby blinked, scratching her chin before realizing..."Oh. Yeah, I guess it would. Heheh. Congrats, Sora!" Sora suddenly felt more than a little anxious at the implication. "I uhh...Are you sure though, Ruby? I don't really have a lot of experience fighting. Especially compared to you." he said uncertainly. "Yeah. He's just a kid." Donald's interjection however was not something he needed on top of his already existing nerves. Thus the comment earned Donald an indignant glare and a protest of "Hey, 'm not a kid! I'm fourteen years old!" Donald simply gave a derisive huff and turned his beak away from Sora.

"Actually, I agree with Ruby's sentiment." The voice of Professor Ozpin drew everyone's attention, and sure enough he was standing right where Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith previously were. "Professor!" Ruby exclaimed, earning a smiling nod from Ozpin who looked back at Sora. "It is true that Ruby has more experience in combat, both as a warrior and a leader, but the Keyblade has chosen you for a reason Sora. Whatever it may be, I've no doubt in my mind, that is more than enough to believe you are up to this challenge, and the ones on the horizon. You're young but that means you have room to grow. And the best way you can do that is from first-hand experience, as Ruby did. You need need only have faith in yourself, Sora."

While Donald and Goofy looked a bit uncertain, they decided to acquiesce to the wishes of the King's friend. Donald with more reluctant sighing than Goofy, of course. As for Sora, he lowered his head thoughtfully, deeply considering Ozpin's words, and the faith Ruby seemed to hold in him. Despite his initial reservations, Sora smiled and nodded to Ruby, saying, "Alright. I'll try not to let you down, Ruby." Ruby felt a little awkward having Sora say that to her when Ozpin was the one to put it into better words than she, but she smiled back and said with a cheery grin, "E-Eheh. Thanks, Sora. And don't worry. I'll be right there to help you all the way. Okay?" Sora couldn't help feeling a little flushed at Ruby's cheerful enthusiasm. She almost reminded him of Kairi in some ways, just with a lot less teasing. He had a feeling that when they met, they'd likely become fast friends.

With that, Ozpin smiled and clacked his cane against the pavement with a smile. "Well then, I suppose it's only right to make it official." Clearing his throat, the Headmaster's eyes shifted along the four companions, fittingly with the pride of a teacher. "Sora, Ruby Rose, Donald Duck, and Captain Goofy." he began as the foursome straightened up at the more powerful, attention grasping tone he gave his voice. "The four of you carry a great burden upon your shoulders. Not just the burden of your respective homes, but of all the worlds out there, and all the people within them. But I have faith that together, you shall find a way to set things right, and restore what has been lost. Henceforth, the four of you shall be known as...Team SRDG. Led by...Sora."

With the impromptu ceremony complete, Sora, Ruby, Donald, and Goofy looked to each other, then at Ozpin with a grateful unanimous nod. "Safe journey to you all." Ozpin said as he turned on his heel to go back into town. "And Ruby...Try not to get in too much trouble." But not before delivering that final word of wisdom to the briefly sputtering huntress. "Wh-Bw-Huh!?" His final comment took Ruby by surprise, and but before she could ask why he singled her out, he already walked away with a knowing chuckle.

As Ruby let out a pouty, embarrassed grumble, the newly formed foursome marched toward the gates where the Gummi ship awaited. The moment Sora pushed the big wooden double doors open, he found himself gasping with surprise as he was suddenly enveloped by a beam of light. Ruby let out a gasp of her own when she saw that the moment the light faded, Sora was gone! "Sora!? What the-" Before she could finish her worried inquiry, she suddenly found herself being engulfed in a similar light, only to vanish too.

A moment later, both of them reappeared in the cockpit of...what they could only assume was Donald and Goofy's bizarre, colorful gummi ship. "Whoa. This was...not what I was expecting at all." Ruby said, adjusting her position in her seat.

"Ahyuck. Pretty spiffy, isn't it?" came the cheerful voice of Goofy to Sora and Ruby's right. "Okay, enough gawking. Let's get going!" and the voice of Donald at the controls. Sora and Ruby looked at each other and gave a mutual nod. It was time they got going at last.

As Donald took to controls, he immediately blasted off. Sora lurched in his seat, not expecting the sudden rush that came with the ship's engines igniting to life and blasting off into the distant stars. "Woo! New worlds, here we come!" Ruby cheered enthusiastically as the ship rocketed off into the great beyond toward whatever may lie ahead.