"Abu?" a soft voice echoed in the shadowy tunnel. The trampling footsteps of the heartless had died down for over a minute. Hayner and the others were too terrified to move. At first Hayner thought he had imagined the call. But the little monkey chirped and scampered back the way he came.

"Wait!" he gasped before lunging to his feet and following after. Olette and Pence rushed after, pleading him to come back. But Hayner was determined to get to the bottom of this. He turned down the adjacent tunnel in the opposite direction of the horde to see a young man in rags and a fez scoop the monkey up in his arms. His black hair and darker skin-tone almost blended with the shadows.

"Abu! You okay?" he asked the monkey, who chirped in reply.

"Oh! So that's the little guy's name!" Pence gasped. The young man stumbled backwards, seemed to notice the three teens for the first time. His eyes first bulged in fear, then seemed to relax.

"Thank you, Abu," Olette said with a short bow. The monkey replied with a tip of his fez. Hayner shook himself, as if to regain some kind of dignity.

"I take it you're his owner?" he asked. The young man sighed but managed a reluctant smile.

"More his friend. Name's Aladdin, by the way." Hayner and the others introduced themselves.

"We have to do something!" Hayner brought up his fist. "They're attacking the town!" The others looked at him with hesitation. Abu chirped in refusal.

"Abu is right," Aladdin sighed. "I'm no fighter, I had a chance once and I blew it." Echoes of gunfire erupted down the tunnel.

"Maybe we really should let the Infantry handle this," Olette said before laying a comforting hand on Hayner's shoulder.

"I mean what are we supposed to do?" Pence shrugged. Hayner's heart sank, his hand fell to his side. First his friends, now even an adult just wanted to sit on the sidelines and do nothing while their world burned! Memories of the fall of Twilight Town flashed before Hayner's eyes. All those people lost, killed, or enslaved by darkness. All the familiar places; shops, stores, the tram station, the sewer tunnels, their hangout! His fists tightened as red heat seared through his blood. Soon he felt his nails pricking at his palms. His fists shook, then his arms and his shoulders. Olette asked if he was alright. Then stumbled back in shock as he ripped his shoulder free of her grasp and stormed down the tunnel after the heartless.

"IF YOU COWARDS WANT TO HIDE, THAT'S FINE!" he roared as he charged thoughtlessly after the invaders.

…

Philip panted for breath as he rushed down the steps into the square. Minnie gasped nervously as she bounced under his arm with every stride. He wanted to apologize but saved his breath. A siren blared through the air from a series of loud speakers scattered throughout the town. Dubois idea, a signal to warn the civilians to clear the streets. He was almost to the closed-down factory when a surge of heartless rushed over the upper walkway along the adjacent hotels. With a curse he made a b-line for the nearby alleys. Minnie shrieked at the oncoming foe.

"Where in the world did they come from?" Philip growled to himself. Once again he was isolated and unarmed.

"Oh, goodness! They must have come from the aqua duct behind the hotels!" Minnie replied, unaware the question was rhetorical. With no knowledge of where he was, Philip ran frantically. Barged through doors to maintenance corridors, out into alleyways. Always looking back to see the heartless were hot on their heels. Each horrified gasp from the queen in his arm spurred him on faster.

Finally he burst out of an alley and into a familiar street. A residential area, the street was deserted. Gunfire echoed in all directions. Philip sprinted down the road in the direction of the botanical garden. A handful of Infantrymen were kept there at all times. Plus, Cloud and Leon would be itching for a fight. Maybe even the Seifer and his gang. The ground began to rumble from behind and Philip knew the heartless horde was surging behind him like a tidal wave of blackness.

Philip was breathing so hard he almost didn't notice the war-cries sailing through the air. But he looked back to see Cloud and Leon had leapt from the rooftops to splatter the inky monsters with their over-sized swords. Yuffie and Tifa sailed down from above seconds later and sent multiple heartless flying with swift kicks from their lean legs. Philip couldn't help but stumble to a stop, in awe at their fighting abilities, and beauty.

"Queen Minnie!" Aerith's voice cried out. Philip turned to see the girl running towards them with Seifer and his gang in tow. Further down the road, a squad of Infantrymen opened fire into another wave of heartless rushing from another alleyway. Donald Duck cast fire and ice spells rapidly at the encroaching enemies. Goofy rushed to Aerith's side with his shield at the ready. Philip gasped as he realized they'd soon be surrounded.

"Prince!" a young male voice grunted. Philip turned to see Cloud fling a much smaller version of his own sword towards him. He caught it in air and marveled at how light and balanced it was. "Show us your moves!" Cloud challenged with a nod. Without a word, Philip handed Minnie to Aerith and joined the melee.

Despite being winded from his run, Philip found his stance quickly and began dishing out deathblows. After bringing his blade down on the head of his tenth heartless and seeing it dissipate into black smoke, Philip grinned darkly and wished those pig-men from the Forbidden Mountain would come along. He had been aching for a rematch since that ambush in the cottage at night.

Seifer and his two companions were fighting with baseball bats, crude but effective. Goofy risked leaving the queen's side and swung his shield into the face of a heartless. They were holding their own. But the heartless just kept coming! Philip chanced a glance down the road and immediately wished he hadn't. The soldiers were being pushed towards them by the heartless and soon they would all be in vice.

"There's just too many of them, you know?" Rai huffed.

"Just shut up and keep fighting!" Seifer snapped. "We win or we die!" he finished with a cocky smirk, betraying an excess of self-confidence.

"Last stand," Fuu mumbled numbly before swinging her bat into an inky face.

The roar of a wildcat split the air and Philip's heart froze at the leather-bound figure that leapt over the heartless horde with a wooden club in hand. Eyes of burning hazel seared through her black mask as they found him. Philip began to shiver. It was her! He found his senses just in time to bring up his sword to block her club.

"Oh, no! It's Lady Laide!" Minnie squeaked in Aerith's arms. Philip summoned all his strength and courage to shove his opponent back a pace. At least he knew what to call her! She rushed back at him with feral fury. She landed blow after blow, each he was barely able to block. Cloud, Leon, and Tifa and Yuffie were busy keeping the enemy horde at bay. Seifer and his gang turned to the ensuing duel, looking for a chance to lend a hand without hitting Philip by mistake. But Laide kept at him! Stuck to him like glue. Philip saw and understood the lightning in her eyes. He was the one that got away, and she wouldn't have it!

Shouts went up from the infantrymen. "AMMO!" "WE'RE RUNNING LOW!" "THEY GOT US CLINCHED!"

Philip didn't fully understand them, but he knew exactly what they were saying. Their time was running out! Was this truly the end? Had he come all this way just to die here? He'd never even get to see her again! Visions of Princess Aurora flashed through his mind. From her angelic voice echoing through the forest, to their chance meeting. Her shy smile, her delicate hands in his. Maleficent's vision of her, trapped forever in ageless sleep. Never to awake.

No! He wouldn't allow it! With a warriors roar he surged forward with a mighty thrust that sent her tumbling backwards. He swung furiously, chips and dents began to show in Laide's wooden club. He kept up a rapid and furious stream of swings. Each she blocked, but not by much. The tables had turned. Her keens seemed to buckle, he had her! In the blink of an eye she parried a downward swing and brought her club up hard between Philip's legs.

Minnie shrieked, or was it his ears ringing? Philip couldn't be sure as the crippling pain of the cheap-shot brought him to his knees with an agonized gasp. He kept enough of his wits to roll away from the next blow. Her swing missed his head by an inch and she stumbled for balance. But quickly righted herself and sent a swift kick into Philip's side. He lost grip on his sword as he writhed on his back. He had never known pain like this before.

Philip looked up into eyes of flaming hazel, helpless to defend himself from the incoming down ward swing. To his surprise, Rai grabbed Laide's arm. "Hey! It's not nice to hit a dude there, ya know?" he sneered. Laide pivoted to swing a foot up into Rai's groin with full force. The teen's knees buckled instantly his hands grasped between his legs. "That's not cool either, ya know?" he squeaked before toppling over. Laide braced to bring her club down on the brave simpleton, but was shocked to see Seifer swoop in to parry her blow in the nick of time.

"Think you can take me, lady?" Seifer snickered. "And don't think I'm gonna take it easy on ya for being a girl." Laide burst into a furious frenzy. Roaring like a lioness as she landed blow after blow on Seifer's bat. The young man couldn't even get a swing in edgewise. Again and again she struck until the bat flew from his hands. Laide downed him with a vicious side-swipe to the face. Fuu rushed up between them and threw her arms out to her sides. Her stoic face twisted into a grimace of fear and concern.

"Mercy," she gasped in her habitual, neutral monotone. After a moment's pause Laide grabbed the girl by her platinum hair and tossed her screaming into the onslaught of heartless. Goofy reached desperately into the fray for her, but her hand was snatched away and she vanished in the inky horde. Minnie and Aerith cried out Fuu's name in vain over the clamor of combat.

With a warrior's roar, the young man Hayner leapt from a nearby alley. He took up Seifer's bat and swung furiously at Laide, who deflected each blow with ease before overpowering and downing him as she did his long-time nemesis. With a pleading cry, Olette rushed to Hayner's aid. Like Fuu she tried begging Laide for clemency, only for the wretched woman to grab her by the throat. Her sharp nails dug into Olette's neck, the girl's eyes bulged as she gasped for hair.

"NO!" Philip croaked for breath as he tried to stand up. But his strength failed him and he tumbled to street with a pathetic groan. Hayner, barely conscious, coughed blood and reached up with a trembling hand, begging for Olette's life. Minnie and Aerith cried out with identical pleads. All in vain. Laide seethed into her victim's eyes with inconsolable rage.

Olette's eyes began to roll upwards when a mighty, feral roar echoed through the sky. Philip looked up to see a massive beast descend from the rooftop. Laide dropped Olette to dodge aside. A truly breathtaking sight, this beast was. It wore silken trousers and the purple cape of nobleman, but was covered in thick brown fur from it's bison horns to it's canine paws for feet. It's claws and figure crossed those of a bear and a gorilla. The fangs of a wild boar punctuated face of a lion. It's furious eyes were a deep blue and looked almost human. With a guttural roar it sprang upon Laide.

Laide swung her club in calculated strikes at her new foe. Most swings landed, but did little but further agitate the beast. Eventually the beast began slashing it's claws, most she dodged, others she blocked. Finally the beast grasped and held her club with both hands. She grappled for control of the weapon and their faces drew near. Suddenly the beast froze, his eyes locked with hers and widened. For a few moments Laide went on on struggling, then she stopped, and the two of them stared deep into each other's eyes.

With surprising swiftness, the beast's right hand released the club and snatched the tight leather mask from Laide's face. Both opponents let the club drop to the street with a clang as their eyes stayed locked on each other. Philip couldn't help but gawk at the miserable maiden's beauty himself. Fair skin, brown hair, an intelligent face. The beauty and the beast clearly recognized each other.

"Belle?" the beast gasped in a gruff voice. "It's you!" Laide stumbled back a pace and began to shake her head in disbelief.

"No!" she gasped. Then grasped her head with both hands and squeezed here eyes shut as she repeated the word in whispers to herself.

"Belle! It's me!" the beast insisted, reaching out to her. His continence changed to that of a man rather than a wild beast.

"NO!" Laide wailed to the sky at the top of her lungs. At that moment a deafening stream of thunder claps blazed through the air. Blue bolts of lightning sailed through the air in all directions. It seemed to Philip, this was a sign of the End Times.

…

Riku led Kaiser and the clones through the vacated streets of Traverse Town. It had only taken a moment for the clone troopers to right themselves at the fountain square. Those who landed in the fountain itself weren't too annoyed, having been trapped on a desert planet for months. Riku was in the middle of explaining the situation the best he could when the alarm went off. The local residents quickly retreated into their homes. Even Riku knew what it meant, the clones were already checking their weapons, correctly devising the alarm's purpose. The town was under attack.

Beast, who was knocked unconscious in the fall, snapped awake and sprang to his hind legs. Scanned the unfamiliar area frantically. Riku tried to calm him down but feral instinct kicked in and he rushed from the crowd of white-clad soldiers. Leapt atop a vendor's stand and sprang up to rooftops and took off with the strides of a leaping panther.

"Now where does he think he's going?" one onlooking clone trooper huffed.

"When you've gotta go, you've gotta go," another shrugged with a chuckle.

"I sure hope he'll be alight," Riku sighed.

"You can't reason with an animal, son," Kaiser sighed. "He'll be lucky if he gets himself killed. Speaking of which, I take it that alarm doesn't denote a wave of clankers?"

Riku shook his head. "No, heartless."

"Clankers don't have hearts," the same clone as before giggled.

Riku sighed. "Trust me, you'll know them when you see them," he said before motioning them to follow and taking off toward the town's main gate. Soon gunfire echoed and he knew he had guessed correctly. He led the clones through the passages, just outside the aqueducts and sewer tunnels. Riku and Zeta Company came to a sudden halt as they approached the uphill path leading to the 1st District. Out of a recently breached hole in the city wall flowed a river of heartless, all swarming towards the 1st District. That part of the wall housed a section of the sewers. Riku hissed as he realized they hadn't breached the main gate at all, then summoned his keyblade and pistol.

"Let me guess, heartless?" Kaiser needlessly shrugged before barking the order to open fire. The clones opened up on the enemy, who curved their tidal horde down the rise towards the clones. The blaster rays singed through their tar-like flesh and downed them quicker even than the Mobile Infantry's upgraded bullets! In a manner of moments, the heartless dispersed towards the 1st district.

"We've got em on the run, troopers!" Kaiser called. "Charge!" Riku and the clones surged up the bluff after the routed foe and curved left through the entrance to the 1st district. Gunfire was beginning to die down as the town hall came into view. The stairway filled with Infantrymen in defensive positions. Dubois stood erect with smoking pistol in hand. The last of the heartless went down in a hail of bullets. One soldier at the front of the defense was still trembling and snapped towards the newcomers with a scream and burst of bullets. Riku leapt into the line of fire and deflected the projectiles with a magic shield, summoned with his keyblade.

"WATCH IT!" Riku snapped.

"Holy shit, it's Riku!" the soldier gasped. Claps and cheers went up as the rest of the men recognized their savior.

"Private," snapped Dubois at the trembling soldier, who looked at Riku with painful remorse. "You're lucky I don't have you flogged for that! Check your target next time, or I'll check you but good!" His gaze softened as he turned to Riku and strode up to meet him. "Good to see you, son. We need to stop meeting like this. And I can see you brought reinforcements. Rather...fancy ones at that," he nodded to the clones with a playful smirk.

Kaiser stepped forward and snapped off a quick salute. "Captain Kaiser. Zeta Company, 501st Clone Trooper Legion." Dubois blinked in surprise, some of the infantrymen behind him whistled and chuckled.

"Clones, is it? That's a new one," Dubois huffed. "Major Dubois, Earth Federation Mobile Infantry," he returned the salute.

"Fancy suits, you have there!" one infantryman giggled.

"Are those laser guns? Like in the Space Operas!" another soldier cooed with a toothy grin.

"Are those gunpowder weapons?" huffed one of the clones. "This lot is stuck in the stone-age!"

"Speaking of which, you got you some stones!" one particularly macho Infantryman stepped forward with a knife in his hand. "Maybe I'll make a trophy out of em!"

"ENOUGH!" Dubois and Kasier barked in unison. Their men slumped back in defeat. Dubois held a had up to his earpiece and his face straightened.

"No time for chit-chat, ladies! The queen is in danger! Let's hull ass to HQ! Captain Kaiser, if you would kindly divide your company between myself and Lieutenant Jelal," he paused for the lieutenant to step forward. "Our queen and a platoon of my men are caught in a pincer and we are going to pince-back. Jelal will lead one way, you and I the other." With an understanding nod, Kaiser divided his force with instructions to obey the lieutenant. The clones gave no argument to their new orders and the combined force of Clone Troopers and Mobile Infantry were off.

Riku stuck close by Dubois and Kaiser as they wove through alleys and narrow streets. The rattle of gunfire grew louder as they drew near. The gaggle of gray and white-clad soldiers rushed into a wider street and saw a mass of heartless swarming Cloud and Leon. Gunshots came from beyond, the infantry was holding off the opposite wave from the other direction. Dubois held up a fist, a signal to hold, before snapping at Jelal over the radio. A moment later, Dubois gave the order.

"All units, watch your fire. We have friendlies ahead. ATTACK! ALL UNITS ATTACK!" a mass of cheers went up as clones and infantrymen rushed forward and opened fire. The blue beams of blasters were the most prevalent but the bullets did the job in equal measure. Riku fired calculated shots with his pistol, as did Dubois. A smirk spread Riku's lips as he shot a clinging heartless off of Goofy's face.

The gun and blaster fire died down as the last of the heartless vanished. The infantrymen on the other side of the fight turned to level their guns at a woman, dressed in tight black leather. Olette lying unconscious in her grasp. Her hand clenched around the girl's throat.

"BELLE, DON'T!" Riku blinked to see that the shout had come from Beast. Reaching out in desperation to a woman he recognized from the true Riku's memories. The princess of heart known as Belle. Though her wardrobe and disposition was drastically different from the few memories Riku had of her. Queen Minnie, in Aerith's arms, begged for Olette's life. All eyes and weapons were soon trained on Belle.

"Take a look around you, ma'am, you're caught!" Dubois snapped, his pistol trained on her head. "Let the girl go and you have my word you won't be executed," his eyes were cold but his tone sincere. Belle's eyes were wild with fear and fury. Olette coughed awake in her grasp but was still dazed and confused.

"Olette! Let her go!" cried a battered Hayner from the roadside. Belle hissed at the lad like a wildcat and backed against the wall of a nearby building.

"I'm not going to ask you again, ma'am," Dubois glared down his sights. Belle shook her head furiously and let out a banshee wail as she reached into a hidden pocket to produce some kind of dark amulet. A sudden burst of blackness enveloped her and her hostage, and both vanished in a puff of black smoke. Beast fell to his knees in despair.

Hayner held out a trembling hand in vain. "Olette?"

"Belle?" Beast gasped, almost a whisper.

"So it talks after all?" huffed a clone trooper. Beast slowly turned to him with a weak glare.

"When it wants to!" he snapped with a trembling voice.