They arrived in what looked like a tower made from the same dark crystal-like structure as pieces of the gorge they just left. Dark yellow spikes jutted out the sides of the level they stood on. Outside of where they stood were more towers like this one, all surrounded by a dark mountainous landscape that looked as if the earth was broken apart and forcefully shifted from some sort of explosion. At the opposite end of where they stood was a green ball of light. Another was at the opposite end but blue. Sora hummed curiously and approached it.
"Hey! You can't just keep jumping into things!" Donald said as he appeared behind Sora...only to see him and Ruby approach the green light without hesitation. Both youths seemed to get absorbed by the light as the next moment, they vanished...despite Donald's clear warning. Facepalming himself with a sigh, Donald exchanged a weary look with a worried Goofy before both followed them again. The last thing any of them needed was to be separated in a world filled with nothing but the remains of lost worlds and the creatures who destroyed them. Nevermind the possibility of getting ambushed by Ansem.
All four of them eventually emerged at another tower. And like the last tower they stood upon, there was another green light near where they were, but also a large column of what could only be described as dark flame at the center. Donald saw the look in Sora's face as he approached and immediately dashed in front of the boy to stop him. "Just a minute! You need to stop leaping before you look! Honestly, Sora! You can't keep being reckless! Who knows where we're even going at this point!" he said with a vehement shake of his head.
"I know, Donald. It's just..." Sora said, seemingly not paying attention to Donald's lecture. He was far too focused on what he saw within the flaming pillar. He wasn't sure if he was imagining things, but..."I think I see Traverse Town in that fire."
Ruby, Donald, and Goofy perked up at the mention of Traverse Town, all their eyes immediately fixing upon the pillar as they approached it. "Hey, I do too." Goofy said curiously, as he stood with Sora. Sure enough, they recognized the Victorian architecture of their 'home base' as one would simplistically call it, anywhere. "Wonder what it means?" Goofy added, stroking his chin.
Ruby's eyes suddenly widened with worry. "Wait...Traverse Town couldn't have fallen, could it? We sealed the Keyhole there, so it should be impossible. Right?" she asked, unable to contain the horrible possibility that took root in her mind. That somehow the Heartless found another way consume it, while her friends and family were still residing there no less.
Sora's face scrunched with worry as, without an inch of hesitation, he leapt into the dark blaze. "Sora!?" His friends called out as he suddenly dashed inside. Before Donald or Goofy could say anything else, Ruby let out a call of, "Wait up!" before running in herself.
Donald let out a weary sigh as he shrugged and looked up at the ceiling...such as it was. "Why do they never listen to me?" he asked, earning a shrug from Goofy. Regardless, they couldn't well leave them alone, reckless as they could be. So, exchanging a nod with Goofy, both of them followed after the youths once again. Those two once again showed they were way too alike, in all the best AND worst ways.
A bright light flashed before the eyes of those who entered. And as the light cleared...sure enough, they were in the very same district where they first met each other. The place where they slew the Guard Armor Heartless together. "Is...this really Traverse Town?" Sora wondered as he and his friends stepped forward. They didn't feel the familiar pavement that they'd grown used to walking along. It felt like that same, strange, almost wet surface of the dark world they were in. "No...I don't think so." Ruby said. She wasn't sure why, but this place didn't feel anything like Traverse Town. Maybe it hadn't been taken by the Heartless.
"I agree...If Traverse Town was destroyed, wouldn't it be like those little rocks and islands we walked past to get here?" Donald asked. Something about this just didn't seem right.
A sentiment that Goofy shared as he piped up, saying, "Yeah, I agree with Ruby and Donald. Somethin' tells me this ain't actually Traverse Town...but I can't figure it out."
"Hmm..." Jiminy piped up, stroking his chin contemplatively. "Now this is just a hunch, but it could be a reflection of what might be. A reflection of the ultimate desire of the heart of the one responsible for creating all of this."
Everyone looked at the cricket chronicler who looked back at them. "You mean...A reflection of Ansem's desire?" Ruby asked as she looked around the lifeless, empty district. A mere reflection of the world where they first met.
A question to which Jiminy replied, "I'm not entirely sure, Ruby. But if this place was created by Ansem, it could be that this is a reflect of what his heart wants. To make every world be consumed by the darkness."
However accurate Jiminy's theory was, it definitely seemed in the purview of what they knew of Ansem and his twisted goals. "All the more reason we've got to stop him." Sora said, pounding a fist into his open palm. A sentiment everyone agreed with as they nodded. They were going to stop him, no matter what.
Right away, Shadows and Soldiers emerged from the reflective world. Realizing they still needed to conserve their energy or maintain their stamina, Sora decided to get extra help since they didn't have as many allies as normal. Summoning Simba, Sora turned to him. "Can you make the loudest, strongest roar you possibly can?"
Simba didn't need to be asked twice as he nodded to Sora and turned toward the Heartless with a rumbling growl. A roar of that strength would require a lot of power. Power that Sora did not hesitate helping him channel
Goofy stood in between Simba and the Heartless, raising his shield. "We'll cover ya, both!" he promised.
Donald was by Sora's side, witholding his magic for the time being to not waste his magic. It helped these were lesser Heartless compared to the others they mostly faced and Ruby made sure to have Crescent Rose in scythe form while keeping any blindspots for their group from any harm. The whole time everyone else did their best to protect Simba as he reached deep within, concentrating every ounce of power he could channel with Sora's help. Just as the Heartless fully surrounded the circle of friends guarding him, Simba raised his head and let out a roar so powerful that it echoed throughout the district of Traverse Town. Shockwaves of radiant energy make all the Heartless dissolve away, with the hearts they captured now free to leave. It was all clear as Ruby smiled at Simba, saying "Thanks a lot!" With a smile and a terse nod, the lion once again vanished into the summon gem.
"I think we'd better get out of here." Donald said...only to realize that the lights were no longer visible like back at the dark towers that brought them here. So that begged the question in everyone's minds. How WOULD they get out of here?
As they tried to figure something out, Goofy turned around and noticed the door that led to the hotel district. "Why don't we just use the door?" he suggested, pointing to the large, wooden double door with the keyhole next to it.
As everyone turned toward the door in question, Donald looked up at Goofy with an unamused frown. "You really think we can just walk through that door and find our way back in that-" Before he could finish, he noticed out of the corner of his eye, Sora and Ruby already moving toward it and pushing it open. The instant they did, Donald would find himself standing corrected as a great flash of light encompassed everyone's vision. Sure enough...they were back in that bizarre tower.
They looked around, trying to see if anything changed. And sure enough, the blazing pillar vanished, and now there was a small twinkling light at the edge of the tower. "Look." Ruby called out, pointing to it. The light seemed to face out toward an identical tower with a beam of flame emerging from it as well. Looking out in that direction, the four friends saw another tower not too far away from that one as well, veiled in the dark clouds that surrounded them.
"Looks like we'll have to do more than just that one." Goofy observed, tugging the collar of his sweater nervously.
"Alright, let's go!" Donald said, suddenly much more determined as he puffed out his chest and marched toward the light at the other end of the tower.
Without further ado, they stepped toward the light, and just as they had hoped, they were at the other tower, before another blazing pillar. And reflecting within it...was the entrance to Wonderland. The first world they traveled to together. And as they entered, together this time, just like before, Heartless materialized behind them. They quickly reacted, pivoting on their heels, weapons drawn. They were the specific element utilizing Heartless flanked by Wizards. The smaller ones fell easily, though the wizards proved as much of an annoyance as before. Thankfully, with their experience dealing with these Heartless, it didn't take much to destroy them.
It was then that they realized something. "Wait a sec. Are we going to have to go through all the worlds we've been to, fighting Heartless in every one of them?" Ruby asked.
If the pattern thus far held up...The thought of that made Donald sigh. "This is going to be a long day." he groaned. Even though he knew it was asking a lot, just once he'd have liked things to be simple. Just. Once.
"But we gotta do it, right? We gotta get through em to stop Ansem!" Goofy reminded Donald, who frowned at him with an indignant grumble. One statement sounding vaguely like him calling Goofy a 'big palooka'.
Sora stopped their little argument as he walked past them, toward the doorway that would have led to the room with the talking doorknob. "Let's keep moving guys." Thankfully it seemed to work as they turned toward him and followed suit, with Ruby following close behind.
Instead of emerging from into the room with the talking doorknob like before though, they wound up in another tower with a dark blazing pillar in the center. As they entered this one, they found themselves entrance of the Coliseum. But unlike before, it seemed night had fallen, and the torches were lit to give them some source of light. This time, they were greeted with the unwelcome presence of Air Soldiers, Wyverns, and a few Defenders. Wasting no time leaping to action, Ruby took care of the aerial enemies with Sora and Donald's aid. All while Goofy kept the Defenders' attention on him.
Sora ended up getting surrounded by five of them at once and unfortunately they were beyond range of his Stun Impact ability. He managed to block one of the Air Soldier's kicks, but as he went to strike back, something unexpected happened. Sora's chest suddenly illuminated as streams of light suddenly emerged and flowed out around his weapon. He didn't notice it at first as he made his swing, until the lights from him and the Keyblade expanded out, taking the form of a semitransparent sphere made from what looked to be ethereal squares. The blow knocked the Heartless back and seemed to damage his initial target as well as the rest of them.
As Ruby shot one of the Air Soldiers out of the sky, she turned and jumped backwards with surprise to see Sora unleash yet another brand new technique. Donald, though surprised at this, quickly followed up the opening he was provided with a Thundaga, followed by Goofy whirling around and striking the last Defender from behind with a Goofy Tornado. With their foes defeated, Ruby, Donald, and Goofy looked toward Sora, who was just as surprised as they were. "Sora, did you learn another new attack?!" Ruby asked with amazement.
Sora looked down at his Keyblade, blinking rapidly as he answered, "I...I guess so." He had no idea how he kept pulling these moves out of nowhere, or more accurately from the Keyblade, but he wasn't complaining.
Goofy clapped Sora on the shoulder encouragingly, jovially saying, "Way to go, Sora! Yer gettin' stronger even now!" If he was still learning these kinds of moves, then they'd defeat Ansem for sure!
They didn't have time to hang around and digest it however. "Well nice job, Sora. But we've gotta keep going!" Donald ushered, pointing to the door. True enough, they needed to hurry. Ansem still needed to be stopped. "Right. Let's go." With Ruby, Goofy, and Donald following behind him, they emerged back in the tower, and sure enough, the pattern repeated as expected.
The next tower they hopped to, they found themselves in the bamboo thicket of the Deep Jungle where they fought Sabor. And just like the actual jungle, they were faced with the simian Heartless that attacked them when Clayton went mad. Fortunately their antics did little to save them from the determined team, before they moved on to the next tower.
That one's blazing pillar led to...the marketplace of Agrabah. Still as tragically empty as it was when they were first there. A state that would be even worse than it was under Jafar's thumb if they didn't stop Ansem. A goal they wouldn't let the Bandits they faced here stop them from fulfilling.
The tower after that took them to...the caves on the outskirts of Atlantica. Even complete with the four of them taking on their acquatic forms with the aid of Donald's magic. Fortunately with their muscle memory for swimming still fresh in their mind, lest they get overwhelmed by the acquatic Heartless.
The next tower they found themselves in...was Oogie Boogie's lair in Halloween Town. Ironically, spooky atmosphere of this world was like a reprieve compared to the chills they felt in the world they ACTUALLY were in. Whimsical spookiness against foreboding finality, one might describe it as.
And sure enough, as the pattern suggested, the next place they found themselves in...was the hold of Captain Hook's ship in Neverland. One might ask why they hadn't found themselves in Monstro's belly, but perhaps it was because, as big as the whale was, he was a whale, not a world. Team SRDG certainly didn't feel like questioning it, and that wasn't just due to the Pirates they had to deal with.
But as they emerged from the simulacrum of the Jolly Roger's hold, they moved to the next tower...only to be met with something different. The pillar of this tower, rather than the dark foreboding shades of purple, was instead an oddly comforting...bright, twinkle accentuated green. "Whoa. This one looks kinda nicer than the other ones." Goofy observed with a tap of his chin.
"I don't trust this thing. We've been doing nothing but fight Heartless since coming here. Why is this so...nice looking?" Donald said, much more suspicious about this. It certainly LOOKED pretty, but how could they know whatever wasn't more dangerous?
Sora and Ruby however both had soft, nostalgic smiles on their faces. The instant they saw the world reflected in it, they recognized it and didn't hesitate to step inside. "Wak!" Donald cried out with surprise as they stepped inside without hesitation...again. "What did we JUST talk about?!" he yelled indignantly. Why did NOBODY ever listen him at times like this?!
Goofy peered into the flames more closely and realized why the youths entered with less hesitation than before, "Hey, that looks like the pictures from the book they went into! We can see it for ourselves now! Let's go, Donald!" Goofy said excitedly grabbing Donald by the hand.
"Hey! Let go!" He didn't have time to finish the protest as he was pulled in. It seemed recklessness was fated to win out over caution in the end with this group...again.