The Azur Key Chapter 18: Specchio di Mare, a Kingdom Hearts + Azur Lane/碧蓝航线 Crossover fanfic

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

*A/N* - Hello, long time no see! You've heard this song and dance before, so I'll cut it short and apologize for the wait. Things did not go as I planned and before you know it, I was left with no time to work on the chapter. Following this, I also have to pin a bit of blame on Writer's Block. That was quite an ordeal. It wasn't anything major, but I just seemed to find excuses for not writing. And then, when I did get to writing I managed to get great work done. Alas, that was soon followed up with good ole procrastination. Nevertheless, this story isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I still have crazy ideas in mind and interactions that'll leave poor Sora confused and conflicted with the ever-challenging task of understanding girls.

Moreover, I'd like to thank everyone for sticking around with me and this story for over two years now. It's seriously crazy to think that I've been working on this story since February 2022. Where has time gone? I also didn't want to do anything exceptional on the anniversary of this story because… I feel like I failed it in a sense. Not updating it as much and only having a handful of chapters. I need to do better and hope to do so, but then I remember that I'm only human and make errors. A bunch if I'm being frank. Therefore, I've rambled on long enough and will probably continue to do so at the end. Thanks again for checking this story out. Feedback is always a joy to read whether it's positive or negative. I like seeing my ridiculous story be viewed and liked by others. Take care and I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!

*Music - Kingdom Hearts III OST – Little Lovely Moments*

"Sora! You must try this!"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you… you have no idea what she put in there."

"Oh, hush you! You're ruining a good thing I have going for me."

"Shouldn't you taste what you just made? Where's Belfast when you need her?"

A cheerful bit of laughter was soon followed by a passionate woman's voice ringing out.

"Ah~ What do you think, Sora? Is your heart pounding at the realization that you are surrounded by fair maidens? Not to mention, one senorita is offering you a special drink made by her own hands. Will you accept her fair offer?"

The person who had said this was none other than the green-haired beauty, Littorio. She was also currently standing right next to Sora as he was sitting down at a small table placed on the deck of King George's ship. She kindly invited the boy to have some tea with her before they reached the waypoint to search for the lost girls.

In addition, the identity of the girl offering Sora a drink was none other than Duke of York who was being ridiculed and cut off thanks to her sister, King George.

"Don't listen to her, Sora. She's just spouting nonsense. Something she always does" George idly added.

"Quite the lie, Your Majesty" Littorio replied, keeping a teasing tone to her voice while eying the blonde. "I'm simply an adventurous woman who is eager to see how this valiant hero will react to a maiden's offering. Nothing more. Nothing less."

A smug sound then came from the pink-haired woman who was described by her friends and colleagues as carrying the charism of a vampire.

"Yes, and that maiden is still waiting for an answer from the dashing hero before her…"

Stuck in the middle of this situation, Sora could only let out an awkward chuckle before nervously nodding. In the back of his mind, he was also thankful that he still had a few spare Ether potions to use in case of anything. Not that he didn't trust Duke of York… he was just… cautious is all.

"Err… I mean, sure… I'll accept your gift of tea" he slowly responded.

"Excellent! I promise you won't regret it."

It was then that the pink-haired girl gently placed a pink beverage right in front of him which caused the boy's eyebrows to shoot up. He'd never had a pink drink like this before.

Off to the side, Baltimore, North Carolina, Washington, Enterprise, Hiei, and Kaga all watched the exchange go down with Duke of York practically strong-arming the boy.

"Should… we step in?" Baltimore asked, feeling unsure of the drink before Sora. "I mean, it would be rude to step in, but it would also be rude to not step in…"

"Hmm… I say, if she keeps demanding that he drink it, we step in. Besides, I also don't like the look of that… tea. I've never seen pink tea before" Washington muttered while also glancing at the strange drink.

"Maybe it's homemade?" North Carolina added before realizing just what that might entail. "Um… if Sora goes limp or anything like that then I'm stepping in to help."

As the three Eagle Union girls said their piece, Hiei and Kaga couldn't help but chuckle. Even Enterprise had to lower her head and shake her head. Her friends' reactions were something else.

"I believe you're all looking at the tea in a bad light" Hiei calmly stated.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" the white-haired Eagle Union girl questioned.

"That tea has a stark resemblance to- "

"Wow! This is really good!" Sora immediately cheered after taking his first sip of the beverage. "It has a rich almost flower taste to it. And… is that cinnamon?"

As he asked Duke of York this question, he also got to see the pink-haired girl's face light up in pure delight. Moreover, she also had a smirk on her face while glancing over at her sister, George, who simply waved her off.

"You're correct, Sora! This tea is better known as Kashmiri Tea. It has a rich, slightly floral, milky tea taste with hints of minced nuts, sweet cardamom, and cinnamon which adds up to a rich taste when mixed just right. I also brewed it with green tea leaves which add a bit of caffeine to the drink seeing that we need to be prepared for the upcoming operation" Duke of York reasoned.

"When did you manage to get your hands on Kashmiri Tea? I don't recall you ordering something like this?" King George questioned her sister with a stern look.

"I received the tea from Formidable as she was into making various types of tea for Her Majesty to try out. It was a while back and I wasn't sure when the right time to use it would be. However, I dare say this is the perfect time for such an occasion, wouldn't you agree?" Duke of York charismatically said while gesturing over to the Keyblade wielder who was sipping away at his tea and left in his little bubble.

Sora's attention had solely been on the taste of the tea and how he was beginning to love the taste of it. He hadn't ever really had a drink like this before and could almost imagine something like this being served at Le Grand Bistrot in Twilight Town with Little Chef being the one to whip this drink up.

A few of the other girls noticed his fascination with the drink and couldn't help but begin to laugh. Enterprise brought her hat over her mouth to hide the laughter coming from her lips. North Carolina and Hiei covered their mouths with their hands as best as they could. While Washington, Baltimore, and Littorio laughed openly at the boy's intrigue in the tea. Kaga on the other hand simply stared at Sora with a half-smile appearing on her face as one she could only imagine Akagi gushing at this sight.

"Huh? Is something funny?" Sora asked, snapping out of his tea-focused bubble.

"No, nothing is wrong. I'm just happy that you've taken a liking to the tea I prepared" Duke of York replied while smiling pleasantly.

"Coy, aren't you?" King George said with an annoyed tone.

Duke of York's only response was to wink at her sister with a smug look.

Confused by the girls' reaction, Sora glanced over at Littorio who simply shook her head with a smile.

"Pay them no attention, Sora. But I would like to pick your brain for but a moment."

"Sure. What's on your mind?"

Taking a seat right next to the boy, Littorio made it quite apparent of her actions. No words were needed to see just what she was doing. Each one of the girls' eyes were focused squarely on her.

"Given that we know about your circumstances, I was hoping you'd tell us a bit more about your adventures. We know a bit about what you've gone through, but I was hoping to hear more about a certain area of your journey" Littorio asked with a sense of truth and genuine intrigue in the boy.

Scratching his cheek, Sora began to see all the other girls get closer to him showing that they were also interested in learning more about him. From obvious looks of curiosity to the girls trying to hide their intrigue, the Keyblade wielder felt happy that his new friends cared about him.

"Of course! What do you want to know? Anything in specific?"

Taking a second to come up with a solid question, Littorio then had an idea come to her which caused a glint in her eye to appear.

"Mm. I do have a question that I'm quite curious about. What has been your toughest fight in all the worlds you've traveled?"

This was a question that several of the girls could get behind as it was something that could have quite the story. Moreover, it would also give them a bit of insight into the kind of trouble that Sora has dealt with.

However, what the girls didn't account for was the pale look that appeared on the Guardian of Light's face. Along with a sense of confusion etched around his eyes.

"Sora?" Washington murmured.

"…What's wrong?" Hiei quietly asked.

"Are you okay?" Duke of York gently questioned.

"Huh?" Baltimore muttered with a hint of worry.

"Ah…" Kaga's reaction was brief as she watched the boy's reaction.

"Sora…" Enterprise timidly spoke.

"…oh…" King George idly mumbled as she could see something was up with him.

Watching and witnessing the boy's stark reaction, Littorio was quick to offer an apology on her part for asking this kind of question. The last thing she intended to do was offend him.

"I… I'm sorry. I didn't know that question was- "

"No, no! It's fine. It's… It's ok. I just…" Sora tried to explain what he was feeling but kept stopping himself. This topic was something that he hadn't thought about for a while now. However, he knew it was something that he'd have to process sooner or later. "It's a loaded answer."

"If you don't feel comfortable talking about this then- "

Shaking his head, Sora offered the green-haired girl a small smile on his face. He didn't want to appear as if he was offended by her question.

"No… maybe… it would be a good thing to talk about…" Sora spaciously said while looking down at his hands and clenching them with a solemn look. "I haven't really talked about most of the things that have happened to me. Not even to my friends back home. I just… kind of brushed it to the side and moved forward with things.

Genuine interest was now apparent on Littorio's face as she tilted her head to the side. It was also apparent that she wanted to hear what he had to say thanks to her body language being pointed at him.

"In the time that I've gotten to know you… that we've gotten to know you it seems rather weird to hear you being the type to keep things to yourself."

Scratching the back of his head, Sora simply let out a chuckle.

"I'm not usually like this. Holding my feelings back and not letting anyone else know… it's been a slowly growing thing now" Sora answered while reflecting on everything that's happened from the Mark of Mastery to the end of the Keyblade War and encountering Yozora. "I don't really have a valid explanation. I guess… I just don't want to bother anyone else with my problems…"

Before Littorio could speak up, another girl had managed to beat her to it.

"You don't want to bother anyone… what kind of nonsense is that?!" Washington shouted, drawing everyone's attention to her.

"I- "

"I'm certainly not the best person to criticize you on this matter. But I know that holding things for too long will do more damage than good. And knowing your entire situation, I'm betting that you have a lot of things to talk about."

Listening to Washington's explanation, Sora couldn't help but start to truly reflect on everything that had happened to him. Granted, he already knew the big hits he had taken and kept to himself, but he still began to recall everything in his journey.

From receiving the letter from His Majesty to being tasked to complete the Mark of Mastery and earn the title of Keyblade Master. However, the memory of being led astray and into a trap by the real Organization XIII and losing his powers yet again reminded him of his faults. And lastly, the entirety of the Keyblade War and his unexpected encounter with Yozora where… he lost.

"…You're not wrong, Washington. *sigh* Where should I start?" Sora asked, staring at Washington and then Littorio.

"For simplicity's sake, why not go off Littorio's question" North Carolina suggested with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Right… the hardest foe I've faced. Well, I hope you're ready for a strange discussion haha."

Smiling at Sora's positivity coming back, Hiei couldn't help but giggle.

"Stranger than learning that you're from another world?"

Glancing over at the Sakura Empire girl, Sora gave her a knowing look followed by a nod.

"Yes, a lot stranger."

Hiei had a shocked expression appear on her face now.

"Oh… you're serious."

"Interesting…" King George idly murmured.

"How strange can things get?" Baltimore quietly said to herself.

Sporting a small smile, Sora was ready to leave the girls utterly shocked at the variety of foes he had faced before.

"Well, I've fought all kinds of foes before. Monsters, dragons, giant Heartless, dangerous people, armored knights, and foes that I can't even begin to describe. But… the toughest fight I've encountered would be a man called Yoz- "

*Bzzztt*

*Beep*

Everyone's attention was suddenly pulled away from Sora as an electronic sound was coming from somewhere on King George's ship. This caused the blonde-haired woman to jump up, reach into her pocket, and pull out what looked like a receiver.

"Hello? Come in? This is HMS King George V of the Royal Navy. I repeat this is- "

"Geo- *Bzzzt* G- *Bzzzt* Hel- *Bzzt* George!"

Hearing a voice break through the static coming through comms, George began to adjust the radio frequency while also gesturing for Duke of York to come to her for help. The two sisters then began to tamper with the radio device before speaking into the receiver again.

"Hello? Come in. We hear you now."

"Come in *Bzzt* George, can you hear me?"

"That voice… Vanguard?!" George excitedly identified the voice.

Recalling that name, Sora immediately realized that she was one of the girls they were looking for. Vanguard, Nelson, Repulse, New Jersey, Boise, and San Francisco were their names.

"Finally! This frequency is too low. I also have to say that you're late!"

"Ha! You insult me. Besides, things have been rather exciting on our side of things. But we can discuss the details later. What's your status now?"

A moment passed with no response before the sounds of gunfire could be heard through the receiver.

"Ah! These creatures are everywhere! They're putting up quite a fight. Not to mention, the Siren fleet being obnoxious" Vanguard quickly explained.

"What are your coordinates, Vanguard" George called out while gesturing for Duke of York to take note of this incoming information to which she nodded.

"I'm- *Bzzt* at four- *Bzzt* but we're on the move. And George, we're- *Bzzt* a Mirror Sea now."

Frowning at how distorted the call was coming in, George spoke loudly to the receiver again.

"Vanguard! You're breaking up. Where did the Mirror Sea start?"

*Bzzt*

"Vanguard!"

Suddenly, before George could get a response from her Royal Navy friend, the entire area around them started to distort along with a burst of energy consuming the area.

*WHOOSH!*

*BZZT!*

*BOOM!*

"Gah!"

"What the- "

"Huh?!"

"No!"

Shutting his eyes, Sora gave it a second before slowly opening them and seeing a bizarre sight before him. Instead of clear blue skies all around him and calm waters, waves were now splashing in the distance while the sky had darkened explicitly. What was a once calm area was now the exact opposite.

"Where are we…?"

Coming to her senses, Enterprise carefully analyzed the area while summoning her bow. They were now in unfamiliar waters and the last thing they could afford was to be surprised by an attack.

"We're in a Mirror Sea."

"A Mirror Sea? You guys mentioned it earlier when Dido reported to Elizabeth, but what exactly is it."

"I can answer this one" North Carolina instantly said before beginning her explanation. "A Mirror Sea is basically an Alternate reality created by the Sirens to test different things. Simulations if you will on how fights against the forces of this world."

"Or another situation that we've come across before was that the Sirens were running different scenarios against themselves" Kaga suddenly answered making everyone turn their attention to her.

"That's… I don't think I've heard of that before" commented Hiei.

"It's not a common thing to come across. However, while Akagi and I were… working with the Sirens…" Kaga knew her response would negatively reflect on her and her sisters' decision to work with the enemy.

However, what's done is done and now there are bigger things to focus on.

The girls all glanced at Kaga before realizing her actions were now in the past. Attention would need to be paid to what's to come.

"During a brief meeting with Observer, we came across a small Mirror Sea with elite Siren units engaging in combat with smaller Siren forces. We didn't think much of it due to our sights being on helping Amagi, but now…" Kaga continued.

"Now it makes things even more interesting" Littorio finished off that statement while eyeing the area around them. "We need to hurry and find the lost girls. The situation could change at any moment."

"Agreed. Let's make haste and- "

*KA-BOOM!*

The area around them was then suddenly warped once again but this time it was like a veil pulled right from their very eyes. Instead of an empty sea before them, now there were dozens of Siren ships all laying fire to something out in the distance.

"Again!?" Sora shouted, this time summoning his Keyblade.

"The simulation has to be going haywire or whoever is in control here is messing with us. They must have known we'd be here" Kaga reasoned while summoning her rigging.

Glancing at the Siren ships, Littorio also summoned her rigging but had a rigid expression across her face.

"No, I think the Mirror Sea's range was far beyond where we just were. If it was cloaked so well, then it would have been hard for us to notice" the Sardegna Empire kansen reasoned.

"Or… we had our guard down" Enterprise quietly said.

As much as the girls wanted to come out and take responsibility for not paying attention to their surroundings all that much, Sora knew just what everyone was feeling and was the first to speak.

"Guys. Don't feel bad about this. I'm the one that was taking up all the attention."

"Sora- "

"No, it's alright. I should have been more aware of what we were getting ourselves into. But right now, that doesn't matter. Finding the others and then looking for a way out of here should be our main priority."

Looks of agreement were shared with the girls as they all nodded to one another.

"Right. The others need us. Let's get moving," Duke of York responded.

With nothing else needed to be said, the girls and Sora all prepared themselves while King George's ship began to increase in speed. The further the group ventured into the Mirror Sea; the more Sora began to understand just what this special zone was.

All around him, small flashes of lightning appeared while also casting a distorted haze. It was almost as if the longer he stared out in the distance the more things seemed to bend and twist into two visuals. It didn't make any sense, but it still let him know that he was in Siren territory.

"Sora, you alright?" Hiei called out to the boy.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the brunette turned to meet the dark-haired girl. It was also apparent that everyone had sort of taken a step back to prepare themselves with Enterprise chatting with North Carolina and Baltimore while Washington and Duke of York were pointing at something. And Kaga, Littorio, and George were looking down at a tablet.

"Huh? Oh, sorry, Hiei. Just thinking is all."

"Mm. Aren't we all" she replied while holding onto the katana and keeping a calm complexion about her. "Nervous?"

"Not really. But I'm also wanting to stay alert. This is my first time dealing with a Mirror Sea, so I'm not sure what's in store for me. But if the Heartless are said to be here, then things could get ugly."

A reserved look on Hiei's face could be seen but rather than keep him guessing what was on her mind, she decided to come clean with what she was thinking about.

"Honestly, I'm a bit nervous about what's to come. But knowing you and the others are here is good support. Heck, I'm feeling more inspired if you will."

"Really?"

"Yep. While Zuikaku has made it abundantly clear that she now looks up to you and what you've accomplished, she's not the only one. Many of the other girls in the Sakura Empire can't thank you enough for stopping the invasion on the island as well as saving Amagi. In the little time that you've entered our lives, there are a bunch of us who want to be better. I also feel that way as well" Hiei clearly explained with a peaceful look on her face.

Letting out a pleased hum, Sora couldn't help but feel happy. His actions had inadvertently inspired others.

"I'm not that amazing. Even I make mistakes."

"Then that makes looking up to you even better. Knowing that you're able to make mistakes and not get things right the first time is what makes you special."

"…I tend to screw up a lot haha."

"You'll have to tell me about that sometime."

"Mm. Will do. After we get out of this situation, and we have a moment to relax, there's a lot I've got to do. So many of the girls want to chat with me. I'm not sure there's enough time in the day to do that ehehe…"

"Well, we'll need to fix that. Maybe have a group meeting or something like that? Take a few girls at a time and hear what they have to say. I hear you did that back in the Sakura Empire with Atago, Shoukaku, and Kaga" Hiei said, recalling what she heard from her friends.

"Yeah. That was a lot of fun. Being able to sit down and talk with a few people. It's a nice way of getting to know someone faster and really learning about them. I think that might be the best way to go about things" Sora agreed while also picturing that same scenario playing out again.

The day that he spent meeting up with various groups of girls was quite a spectacle, but it also let him get to know his new friends better. Given the chance to do that again, he would gladly do it.

Plus, he was sure the girls also liked it. Hopefully…

"Well, when that time does come again, would you mind if I joined the group?" Hiei carefully asked.

"Not at all! The more the merrier."

"Thanks, Sora."

Nodding at her thanks, he was about to speak up but caught wind of something forming a good distance ahead of him. Additionally, he had a gnawing feeling form in his stomach. Something was off.

"What's that?" the Keyblade wielder said while pointing straight ahead.

It was at this point the strange sight he noticed was beginning to grow and with a strange dark mist. Everyone also began to see the dark mist and felt their battle instincts start to grow.

"That's… not coming up on the radar," said George as she was looking down at the tablet in her hands.

This tablet had been fitted to her equipment and acted as a communications device for her ship.

"Is it a Siren? Or something of theirs?"

Giving the dark mass another moment of his time, he knew exactly what it was. Granted, it was only a guess, but after having dealt with them for so long… that guess was bound to be right.

"No. It's the Heartless."

"Heartless? As a mist? That's new…" Kaga replied while examining the dark mist. "How can you tell?"

"When you've dealt with them as long as I have, you know."

Just as the white-haired kitsune woman was about to talk, the dark mist grew exponentially to the point that a dark cloud expanded across the area leaving a dense fog before them. The girls all knew this spelled trouble and boy were they right.

Once the fog started to die down, several Heartless ships were all present with their black sails and dark-themed bodies. Not to mention, on the deck of the ships were Heartless of varying shapes and sizes. Some looked familiar while others looked completely new.

"Those…"

"Sora, do you recognize those Heartless?" Enterprise questioned, letting her hands tighten around her bow. "A few looked familiar but others…"

"The purple one with four legs and a glowing body is known as a Devastator. The other one with an orange glowing body and pointy body with pointy arms is known as a Surveillance Robot. But the others… I don't know what they are."

The Heartless that Sora was confused about had a humanoid body covered from head to toe in silver and grey armor. The armor on its legs sport white spikes and steel blue highlights. Its helmet sported two short, white spikes and a long, twisted, black antenna. A small opening in the front just barely exposes the Heat Saber's black face and glowing yellow eyes. Its most notable features are the jagged, seemingly molten blades in place of each of its hands. It has two Heartless emblems, one on each of its shoulder pauldrons.

This Heartless was one that he had no direct memory of…

However, that wasn't entirely true… as he did somehow recall encountering this Heartless.

A sudden memory played out in his head as he recalled encountering this Heartless and striking it down with his Kingdom Key. Unable to find a reason for suddenly thinking about this random memory, Sora tried rattling his head and all his thoughts at once before coming to an immediate realization.

This memory of this Heartless… this… Heat Saber… it wasn't his memory… it was his Nobody's… Roxas.

'Roxas… he fought this Heartless while working under Organization XIII…' Sora thought to himself while trying his best to quickly summarize these random memories playing out in his head.

"There's so many of them…" North Carolina trailed off while counting all the Heartless ships that were present.

She accounted for a total of a dozen Heartless ships.

"There won't be once we get to them, right?" Washington added, giving her sister a confident look. To which the blonde girl returned a competitive grin on her beautiful face.

"You're absolutely right."

Seeing the sisterly bonding, the others all donned positive and determined expressions on their faces as they also prepared themselves for battle. Sora did the same while making sure to keep an eye out for any other Heartless that he wasn't familiar with. However, aside from the three he identified, Neo Shadows and regular Shadows all crawling around the deck of the Heartless ships.

"We've got this."

Hearing Sora's confident words, everyone readied themselves. Those with weapons all got ready.

Littorio glided her gloved hand along her sword with a daring glint in her eyes, Duke of York tapped the tip of her sword on her gloved hand with a smirk on her face, George unsheathed her rapier and took on a proper stance while keeping her head on a swerve, Enterprise pulled back on her bow and set her sights at the middle Heartless ship in the fleet, Hiei had her katana by her side with an intensifying stare, and Sora twirled his Keyblade in his hand while holding onto the handle tightly.

Everyone with a weapon was ready for battle.

As for the others who didn't have a weapon, Baltimore, North Carolina, and Washington, they were also ready with their riggings summoned and prepped to unload a barrage of fire upon their foes.

This group that had been formed together on a whim was now united on one front with a main goal on their minds. Find the lost girls and help them get home.

And there was no way they would lose.

*Zzzttttt*

*PEW!*

*BOOM!*

"HUH?!"

"WHAT THE HECK!?"

"CRAP!"

"The Mirror Sea! It's changing!?"

All around the group, the water beneath them was now parting while also explosions were happening right under the water causing large splashes of water to rain down on them. The area around them had also begun to distort in a fog with electricity flying all over the place.

*KA-BOOM!*

However, what caused things to take a turn for the worst was a large explosion that rocked right beneath King George's ship which caused everyone to become defensive and watch their surroundings.

Duke of York and George were now rushing to each side of the ship to get a clear visual of what was attacking them from a blind spot while the others all kept their eyes trailing around. Sora, on his part, stumbled on his feet to balance himself before looking all around him and once he did… he knew things were going to get bad.

"MOVE!"

"SORA!"

*PEW!*

*BOOM!*

Right above the Keyblade wielder and kansens was a large menacing automaton with a saucer-like bottom that connected to a robotic body with a head that had two orange horns. The shoulders of this foe were large and spherical but each arm had a different weapon in its hands. On one hand, a rocket blaster with four barrels could be seen smoking from the shots it fired, and the other hand had what appeared to be a claw-like hand with a rocket-themed base around its limb. The color of this enemy was orange and black causing the girls to be utterly confused by this random antagonist.

"An Astrowarrior!" Sora shouted, easily recognizing this Gummi Heartless.

"A what now?!" George shouted, glaring right at the large foe floating right above her and her ship.

"It's a boss Heartless that I've encountered while venturing to different worlds! This guy is tough. Don't let him intimidate you. Keep up your attacks and you'll take him down before you know it!" the Guardian of Light rallied to the others.

"Oh? The bigger they are the harder they fall… this will be interesting!" Littorio cheered, pointing her sword at the massive Heartless.

"Hey! Hey! We've got trouble! The fleet is preparing to barrage us with fire!" Baltimore yelled while pointing to the Heartless fleet in the distance.

*WHOOSH!*

*BOOM!*

*SPLASH!*

An explosion of water appeared several meters from the group as they were hit with water. The situation was escalating at an astounding rate.

"George! Get your ship out of here!" Duke of York shouted to her sister.

"Already on it! Everyone! Hit the water!"

Not needing to say anything, all the girls leaped right off George's ship while Sora did the same but not before flipping himself off the ledge of the ship and into the air. While airborne, he cast the Float spell upon himself to be able to stand atop the water just like the previous times.

Now on the water, Sora turned to look at George's ship and was left amazed at seeing the once large mass of metal now glowing blue before flashing away. Even though he knew of the girl's unique ability to summon their riggings and ships, seeing it up close was still amazing.

"Get ready! It's coming down!" Enterprise shouted while watching the Astrowarrior lower itself to the water.

With its arm pointing right at Sora, the Keyblade wielder got into his signature battle stance and was ready to jump into a fight. Plus, with his friends by his side, he had nothing to worry about.

*SCREECH!*

*BZZZTTT!*

*BOOM!*

*ZAP!*

A flash of light appeared off to the side causing everyone to wince and try to see what was going on. And to the best of Sora's ability to see, he saw what could be described as a mirror appearing right in front of him. The mirror showed only him and the sea and dark sky surrounding him. It made no sense at all.

Left confused by the mirror, he reached his hand out to see what would happen and expected his hand to touch the mirror and nothing else.

However, that did not happen.

Instead of his hand hitting the mirror, his hand caused a ripple effect to appear almost as if he dropped a rock in a still body of water. And the feeling of the mirror felt quite unreal which caused him to feel that things were wrong.

With the situation still at an all-time high, Sora decided to move headfirst into the unknown and walked into the mirror with no expectations at all.

*FOOSH!*

As soon as he stepped through the portal, he was then met with a bright flash of light hitting him which felt bothersome and then… painful. It was then that he realized that he was now suspended in the air and flying back and hitting the water with a thud.

*THUD!*

*SPLASH!*

"GAH! Ngh! What the- "

"Sora!" someone called out to him.

"Get up! Please!"

*BOOM!*

*BANG!*

*THWIK!*

Shaking his head and clutching his chest, Sora rattled his vision and saw a better picture of what just happened to him.

Standing several meters ahead of him, the Astrowarrior was now engaging in combat with Washington, Kaga, Hiei, and Duke of York with the two white-haired girls firing their riggings right at the Heartless while Duke of York was dashing forward and striking at the large foe while also shooting her rigging. Meanwhile, Hiei appeared right behind the armored Heartless and began slashing it before being forced back. The group was making sure to keep the dangerous Heartless focused on them.

In addition, his eyes shifted to the side and could see North Carolina, Baltimore, and Enterprise engaging in distant combat with the Heartless fleet. Enterprise was firing high-speed arrows from her bow followed by her rigging sending a barrage of fire against the Heartless. Carol on her part was dashing from side to side while making sure her ranged attacks were hitting the ships head-on. Baltimore was firing rapid rounds from her riggings

Everyone seemed to be engaged in combat of some kind.

However, two girls were not seen to be with-

"Sora! Are you okay?"

Turning his head, he saw Littorio and George standing next to him with the green-haired woman's hand extended out to him.

"You good?"

"Y-Yeah… what just happened?"

The Keyblade wielder responded while accepting her hand and winding himself back to his feet. A look of hastened concern was crossing his face.

"The last thing I recall was watching the Astrowarrior and then... I was staring at a mirror…"

"That's a Mirror Sea for you. They're all different based on the simulation being run by the Sirens" George explained while readying herself with her rapier. "In one minute, things can seem normal, the next you'll be stuck in an unbelievable situation. And the worst part is that Mirror Seas can almost spawn anywhere."

"Really? Anywhere?"

"Not exactly. It's just you're more likely to find them out at sea. Especially in areas sighted to have Siren activity" Littorio added to the topic.

Realizing that there was more to a Mirror Sea than he thought, Sora marked it as a topic he'd have to ask more about later. Right now, his concern was focused on the Astrowarrior who was putting up a fight to the girls.

"I'll have to ask more about this later, but first that Astrowarrior needs to go down!"

"Well then, what are we waiting for?!" George shouted while dashing forward at the large foe.

Sora and Littorio didn't need to say anything else and joined the fight.

*Music - Kingdom Hearts 0.2 OST - Wave of Darkness Phase 1*

*BOOM!*

A blast of light had been directed at Washington which forced her to jump back and send another barrage of gunfire right at the Heartless which ended up doing minimal damage.

"Seriously?! What the hell is this thing made of? That armor is taking everything we're throwing at it!"

Waving her hand through the air, Kaga had cast several small blue paper planes that immediately flashed a blue light before appearing as several large planes soaring overhead and targeting the Astrowarrior. The planes flew at an incredible speed while keeping a distance from the large foe.

*BANG!*

All shots fired from the planes were taken at face value before the Astrowarrior's shoulders started glowing a bright orange color followed by small orange pill-like beams being hurtled at the planes.

*KA-BOOM!*

One of the planes had been shot down while the other flew back in the air to make another attempt at weakening the armored foe.

"Tch. Aerial shots aren't doing much either. That thing's attacks are quite strong. Stronger than most Siren ships."

"Don't think about it as a Siren!"

Hearing a new voice join in, Kaga turned to see Sora running up to her with his Keyblade held in both hands. A battle-stoic look graced his face as she had recognized when the boy had become serious.

At the same time, Littoiro and George began firing their own riggings at the menacing Heartless while Washington and Duke of York joined in the attack. This then forced the Astrowarrior to raise its left arm which was the barrel arm up to block the gunfire and explosions hitting it.

*BOOM!*

*BAP!*

*BANG!*

Just as Kaga was about to summon another set of airplanes to take to the sky, Sora dashed to her side and caught her attention.

"Heartless are going to act and behave differently than a Siren. No matter how small or big the Heartless, don't underestimate it!"

"Hmph. Our attacks aren't doing much to it. So, since you're the Heartless expert, what do we do? How do we take it out?"

"The last time I dealt with this guy, I was in a Gummiship and had several guns equipped. A few were fire-based while the others were- "

"A Gummiship? What even- that doesn't- what?!" Kaga repeated while being at a total loss.

"That's another topic for another- Look out!"

Leaping right at the kitsune woman, Sora jumped on Kaga and pushed her to the ground while coming seconds away from being hit by something large and fast.

"What was that!?" Kaga shouted while realizing that Sora was so close to her.

The sound of a projectile flying extremely close while moving so fast caught everyone's attention as well as forced them to move.

"Sorry! That was- "Sora started to say.

"Wah! Watch it!" North Carolina shouted.

"Gah!" Washinton lunged down while yelling.

"Where did that- "Littorio began to ask before turning her head.

*CLINK*

*CHIK*

The object that had just flown past everyone turned out to be the Astrowarrior's right arm which had a claw-like hand with the rocket-designed arm. With a simple injection, the arm that had been launched like a missile was now back on the armored foe's arm.

"That was the Astrowarrior's arm. That Heartless can do other dangerous attacks that we need to be careful of."

As Sora said this, he got back to his feet and offered a hand to Kaga to which she accepted the offer and was standing next to him.

"So, what's its weakness? You said you've dealt with one before in your… gum ship as you said" Kaga reiterated while glancing at the armored Heartless engaging in combat with the others.

"We strike quick and at its blind spots. It's able to move around fast, but there's more of us than it. We've got the upper hand and with the others keeping the Heartless fleet off our back there's nothing to worry about."

Coincidently, as Sora said this the sounds of explosions could be heard from a distance as well as the sight of Enterprise, Baltimore, and North Carolina moving along the water with impeccable speed. The Heartless were unable to hit the three women as they made sure to keep the creatures' focus directed at them.

"Good enough for me. Let's finish this pest."

"I'm with you on that!"

Together, the two dashed forward and joined the group of girls all engaging in fighting against the Astrowarrior.

Duke of York, Hiei, Littorio, and George were all focused on close-up attack while striking their blades against the foe's body. While Washington was providing support by aiming her weapons at the armored enemy's head causing it to shrug off each hit its face took.

Once Kaga was close enough, she threw several more paper planes in the air before they flashed and appeared as full-sized planes that took to the sky. She then aimed her rigging and began laying fire on the Astrowarrior to support Washington's efforts.

However, before he joined in on the fun, Sora quickly let go of his Keyblade and immediately flicked his wrist to then summon a weapon that might just prove to be effective in this fight.

*FLASH*

Now in his hand, he was holding onto the blade that took on the appearance of Unicorn's charm that she had given him. The purple and white themed Keyblade with an anchor on it was now in his hands and he was ready to see how well this weapon worked in battle.

"Let's go!"

Dashing forward and aiming straight for the Astrowarrior's left side, Sora instantly swiped the Keyblade but was forcefully met with the armored Heartless left arm pushing him. The Heartless then fired more projectiles from its shoulders at the boy causing him to roll to the side and break into a sprint to avoid being hit.

Hiei and George both sprinted and leaped into the air to strike at the boss's back but were met with the Heartless spinning around rather quickly and hitting them back into the water. Littorio then jumped into the fray and landed a barrage of stabs at the Astrowarrior's shoulder causing it to slightly tweak and activate its shoulders immediately.

"That bothers you, huh?" Littorio gloated to the Heartless.

To answer her remark, the Astrowarrior lifted its left arm with the four-barrel canon and had the barrels start revolving before pointing it directly at the green-haired woman.

"Ehe. Spoke too soon."

*PEW!*

"Hah!"

Rotating her foot and dipping out of there, Littorio narrowly got out of the way of a barrage of pill-like beams being shot out of the Astrowarrior's weapon. The beams of light were not as fast as other weapons using beams, but what they lacked in speed was replaced by in number.

The barrage of beams even forced a few of the other girls to retreat and get some distance from the attack. However, that didn't stop a certain someone from rushing straight forward into the attack.

"Hyah!"

With agility and dexterity on his side, Sora quickly deflected and blocked as many beams as possible that got in his way, and before he knew it, he was a few feet away from the Astrowarrior.

"That does it!"

Throwing his arm out, the Keyblade then transformed into a shield that featured a center insignia of the Azur Lane logo. In addition, the Keyblade flashed back into his other hand which allowed him to strike a quick pose against the bothersome Heartless.

Banging the Keyblade against the shield, Sora caught the Astrowarrior's attention.

"Hey! Pick on someone your own size!"

The armored Heartless then launched its right rocket arm at the boy without any warning whatsoever.

However, Sora quickly adapted to the sudden attack and instantly held the shield in front of himself and successfully blocked the rocket arm.

*BAM!*

Once the arm encountered the shield it bounced off and landed right into the water before blasting off and returning to the Astrowarrior but not before leaving a large splash of water behind.

"Bah! That was rude!" Washington shouted after being soaked from the splash.

As the Astrowarrior latched its arm back into itself, Sora immediately set forth to push the Heartless back. However, he had a sudden thought on how to do such a thing.

"Guys! Give me an opening! Please!" Sora shouted aloud for everyone to hear.

Sporting smirks on their faces, the girls were immediately all in favor of helping the Keyblade wielder with that favor.

"Ask and you shall receive!" Littorio cheered excitedly.

"We've got you covered!" Enterprise fired back.

"Leave it to us!" George added.

This was then followed by the girls all breaking into a dash across the water and beginning to lay wave after wave of gunfire and explosions against the Astrowarrior while making sure its attention was away from Sora.

Seeing his opening before him, the brunette smirked widely before grabbing hold of the blade and shield while making sure his wit was about him before striking back.

Stepping forward once and then adjusting his upper body, Sora chucked the shield right at the armored Heartless causing it to slam into its head before hurtling back to him. Alas, instead of grabbing the shield, Sora decided to deflect it with the Keyblade causing it to go flying at the Astrowarrior. This once again slammed into the Heartless's head and sent the shield back to its wielder who then deflected it again.

*BANG!*

*WHACK!*

*BANG!*

*WHACK!*

*BANG!*

*WHACK!*

After the third time this attack happened, Sora grabbed onto the shield instead of deflecting it and lunged himself forward toward the Astrowarrior. With enough energy stored in his shield, he then thrust the shield forward which instantly summoned a large glowing cannon and fired an explosive round at the Heartless which caused a massive explosion.

*KA-BOOM!*

The others who were provided cover fire against the Astrowarrior were left in awe at the incredible power of Sora's abilities. Granted, this had not been their first time seeing this special attack before, but it was the first time against an actual foe and the impact it had was even greater than they thought.

"*whistle* Damn" Washington muttered while watching the Astrowarrior be flung back and fall into the water. "That's some cannon."

"I think you mean shield, Wash" Enterprise said, sporting a smile.

"True."

Meanwhile, Littorio and George had their eyes trained on Sora as he landed on the water and managed to land on his feet. He then twirled the Keyblade and held the shield by his side managing to strike a pose without even realizing it.

'Wow…'

At that moment, the two shared the same thought while observing the Keyblade wielder. Hearing about the boy's power was one thing, but to see it for themselves and how quickly he was able to go from a happy and friendly guy to a powerful foe on the battlefield was something else.

Moreover, it wasn't just Littorio and George who were captivated by Sora's actions, off to the side, Washington, Hiei, Enterprise, and Duke of York were all thinking the same mind. Amazement was written all over their faces along with the swelling of other emotions. Some lingering on appreciation or invested interest in the spiky-haired boy.

Other emotions that most of the girls had lingered on an increased beating in their chests at seeing the heroic boy before them.

Sora, on the other hand, had his focus directed toward the downed Astrowarrior. It would only be a few moments before the Heartless got back up and started attacking them again. Hence, the Guardian of Light made a swift assurance that it would not be getting back up.

"Not this time!"

Dashing in front of everyone and right toward the Astrowarrior, Sora hurled the Keyblade right at the armored foe's head before leaping into the air and slamming the shield at its body.

*WHAM – BAM!*

*BANG!*

*SWISH!*

"HYAH!"

As soon as the shield was slammed into the Astrowarrior, a blast of water shot around the shield which was due to the Keyblade's elemental attribute. He then slammed the shield against the Heartless to make sure it wouldn't be getting up again. At the same time, Sora swiftly extended his left and summoned the Keyblade before slashing at the armored enemy's chest.

Like the practice attacks, he displayed back on the island, with every slash of the Keyblade and shield, torrents of water were instantly cast after every attack. What seemed like an aggressive onslaught of attacks left the girls momentarily paused before realizing that this was their opening shot to which they immediately joined in.

*SWOOSH!*

*CLINK!*

*BANG!*

*BAM!*

*POP!*

*BOOM!*

Everyone joined in on the attack against the large meddling Heartless as Sora remained on top of the foe while the others either fired point-blank rounds from their riggings or used their weapons to strike against the heavily armored fiend.

"Keep it up!" Kaga chanted.

"This guy's not getting up!" George roared.

"There's no escape!" Duke of York stated.

"Strike it down!" Littorio yelled.

"Pass on!" Hiei shouted.

"Bite the dust!" Washington called out.

"You're through!" Sora declared.

With everyone's attacks being directed at the Astrowarrior, the armored Heartless was left with only one option in its arsenal to fight back against its aggressors.

*BZZT!*

*CLINK!*

Moving its body back, the Heartless lifted its bottom half and pointed it right at the group before firing up a bright beam.

"That thing's getting something ready!" Washington yelled.

"Get back! It's going to start firing like crazy!" Sora shouted before getting into a defensive pose with the shield held in front of him. "It's getting desperate!"

"How far back do we have to- "

Before George could finish asking her question, the Astrowarrior's bottom half started firing a multitude of beams at everyone in sight. There was no time to get out of the way.

"Everyone! Behind me now!"

Not needing to be told twice, all the girls instantly leaped behind the Keyblade wielder as he continued to block every single beam of light directed toward him and the girls. As ridiculous as this plan seemed, it was working, and no one was hurt by the desperate attack coming from the Heartless.

*BANG!*

"Hah!"

Putting his weight in every step he took, Sora slowly moved closer to the Astrowarrior while everyone else stayed right behind him. Before they knew it, the group was only a few feet away from encountering the armored foe. This was the perfect opportunity.

"Now! Attack it!" the Keyblade wielder shouted while holding the attack back.

In a swift strike, all the girls who wielded a blade dashed to opposite sides and immediately began slashing at the Astrowarrior. The attacks on its side caused the Heartless to turn its body to the left which was just the opportunity that Sora wanted.

"It ends here!"

*WHOOSH!*

Leaping into the air, Sora thrust the shield forward which caused a massive cannon to appear and blast the Astrowarrior square in the chest causing a massive explosion.

*KA-BOOM!*

Everyone was now on guard as the cloud of dust from the explosion blocked their view of the Heartless. It wasn't until the cloud faded away that they could see the Heartless start to fade away into nothing meaning that they had achieved victory.

"Yeah!" Washington cheered loudly.

"That was… a lot more difficult than I thought it would be…" Kaga muttered while letting out a sigh.

"No kidding. That foe… whatever armor it was wearing proved to be a pain" Hiei added.

"Heh. But with our glorious might, we achieved victory. And it's all thanks to our hero!" Littorio chanted while gesturing over at Sora.

However, as everyone looked at the spiky-haired boy, Sora leaned down right where the Astrowarrior was and found him leaning down on the water holding something strange.

"Sora? What's that?" Duke of York called out to the boy while also growing curious at his action.

Standing up and turning to the girls, the blue-eyed hero had a giant yet dorky smile on his face as he was holding what appeared to be an item of some kind. A few of the girls wondered if it was part of the Heartless.

"This…" Sora replied while holding up what appeared to be a strange-looking key. "Is something I lost a while back. I don't know how the Heartless had it, but it's back in safe hands and that's all that matters."

Once he said this, Sora held out his Keyblade and immediately attached the weird-looking key to it which caused a flash of light to appear before everyone. It was then that another flash of light appeared only this time something new happened.

In the boy's hand was a new weapon or at the very least a blade of some kind with a general focus on wood and in a predominantly dark grey color. There was a simple handle with a guard engraved with various designs along with the base bearing a pirate skull with a red bandanna. What could be described as a mast of some kind was attached to the bladed part and was surrounded by two climbing nets that converged on three red flags. Near the top of the weapon was a steering wheel giving it a ship kind of them. All in all, the weapon looked to be complex in nature but also beautiful in design.

The first one to speak up was Washington who let out a whistle before speaking up, "That's one hell of a weapon."

"No kidding. It looks to be completely made of wood" Hiei commented while examining the boy's new blade.

"Can… does it even cut?" Kaga questioned with curiosity.

Hearing the girls all question his new weapon, Sora twirled it once before letting it rest on his shoulder and offered a confident smirk.

Unaware of how he appeared now, several of the girls all had the same thoughts bouncing around their heads.

'That was cool…'

Duke of York was the first one to break the silence while keeping a close eye on the wooden weapon.

"Sora, mind explaining how you happened to get that… weapon?"

"It's just like before when Unicorn gave me her gift which was the charm. Certain items like that can change the appearance of my Keyblade" he explained to the pink-haired woman.

"Interesting. Should I be afraid?"

"Huh? Why?"

With a glint in her eye, Duke of York winked at the boy before gesturing to the wooden weapon.

"You know how it is with vampires. A wooden stake to the heart will be the end for dear ole me. But you wouldn't want that, would you, Sora~?"

An eye roll was immediately acted upon by George who stared at her sister with an annoyed expression.

"Well, actually, funny story. You see I've talked to a vampire before and- "

*BOOM!*

Just as Sora was about to diverge the conversation, a loud ringing could be heard before a large splash of water hit several meters away from the group. Everyone then turned their attention to the fight currently going on out in the distance. The brief moment of respite had been broken and reality settled back in.

"Enterprise and the others are still fighting" Washington muttered while watching the gunfire between the kansens and Heartless ships play out.

"It… doesn't look like they've destroyed any of the Heartless ships" Littorio grimly noted.

"Something is off" claimed Kaga.

Alas, Sora could also agree with what Kaga said and began to contemplate something that didn't seem so obvious at first, but now considering what was happening with Enterprise, Baltimore, and North Carolina it was starting to make complete sense.

'The Heartless appeared in forms that I didn't expect and with the Mirror Sea being a simulation of some kind… could that mean that the Heartless are part of the simulation? And if that's the case, then wouldn't that also mean that- '

"Hey guys! Heads up!" Washington yelled, causing the Keyblade wielder to snap out of his thoughts.

"What's going on?"

*BZZT!*

*WHOOSH!*

"Not again!" screamed George.

The entire area before them was becoming distorted again leaving the water and sky to change from a blue sky to a darkened sky. One second there was not a cloud in the sky, and in the next, dark clouds were casting a blanket over them with lighting striking across the sea. Moreover, a fuzzy haze was dampening their vision forcing everyone to squint and try to make out what was happening.

"Is the simulation breaking?!" Littorio yelled.

"No! It's changing again!" Duke of York answered while trying to stand up straight.

"Look out! It's- "

*BZZT!*

*SWOOSH!*

*KA-BOOM!*

"Ngh! Gyah!"

"Sora!?"

A few moments later

Hit by an unknown explosion, Sora was sent flying back and landed right into the water. The confusion surrounding this Mirror Sea followed by not understanding it clearly could be felt in the boy's chest. A sense of annoyance was growing in him as he was getting tired of being attacked unfairly.

"Enough with the explosions! If you want a fight, then face me head-on!"

"Heh! I couldn't agree more with you!"

Taken back by what was said, Sora did not recognize the voice that just spoke leaving him to perk up and look around for whoever spoke. As he turned around, he noticed that a girl he had never met before was standing there and looking right at him.

This girl had a slender figure with a medium bust and short brown hair tied in a short ponytail with bright blue eyes. Her outfit consisted of white thigh-high boots that had a blue outline around her thigh, a short blue mini skirt, a white top that appeared to reach just above her stomach, and two arm sleeves that went up to her shoulders. Two white gloves could also be seen on her fingers. Another characteristic of this girl was that she had a set of riggings also out.

"Uh… Hi?"

"Hello. I take it that you're surprised to see me."

With a chuckle, Sora couldn't help but wholeheartedly agree.

"Yep. You read my mind."

"Well, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Sora."

"Huh? You know me?"

"I mean, you are the only boy I've seen in… well, ever" the brown-haired girl replied with a friendly smile. "Besides, your name has been ringing off the radio repeatedly."

Realizing that should have been obvious, Sora scratched his cheek but not before recalling another important factor in what she said.

"Wait. Does that mean you're one of the girls we've been sent to help find?"

"Yes. You've got that right. My name is Repulse. A Renown-class battlecruiser for the Royal Navy. It's nice to finally meet you!"

Offering the girl a friendly smile, Sora straightened himself up.

"Same goes for you. You wouldn't happen to know where we are now, would you?"

A sigh left Repulse as she shook her head with a slight bit of distraught.

"Well, I don't think this will come as a shocker but we're inside a Mirror Sea," Repulse said while carefully analyzing how the boy would take this news.

"I knew about that already. As soon as George heard Vanguard's voice coming into her radio, we were then flashed or teleported into the Mirror Sea."

A look of surprise crossed Repulse's face as she processed what Sora had said.

"You managed to hear Vanguard… that's good news."

"Why? Shouldn't she be with you?"

With a shake of her head, the brunette answered.

"We got separated a while back. After New Jersey, Boise, and San Francisco entered the scouting zone, they were then pulled into the Mirror Sea where they encountered Sirens. We also lost solid contact with them leaving us in the dark."

Listening to Repulse and visualizing what she was describing, Sora could picture the moment the two groups lost communication with one another.

"We then encountered some Sirens which were nothing more than grunts messing with us. However, the others and I were separated and dropped somewhere in the Mirror Sea."

"How large are the Mirror Seas? I mean, I get that it's called a sea but… "Sora reasoned to the girl while looking around.

"Well, it depends. As weak of an answer as that is, Mirror Seas vary based on the location and whoever is manipulating what goes on in the simulation. The Royal Navy has recorded a few examples of Mirror Seas that encompassed so much area that it was a real hassle to keep track of."

"Huh… So, how do you go about getting rid of a Mirror Sea?" the Keyblade wielder asked while taking in his new surroundings.

While the sky was still darkened with storm clouds, the wind had picked up and lightning randomly struck in the distance. The atmosphere conveyed a sense of dread, mystique, and darkness all in one.

"Either you take out the one controlling the simulation, or you wait till the Sirens finish doing whatever experiments they have planned" Repulse answered while looking out at the sea with a sour expression. "There's still a great deal that we don't know about regarding the Sirens."

Understanding just how she felt, Sora couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"You could say that again. But change Sirens with Heartless."

"Heartless… those are the creatures that have popped up suddenly, right?" Repulse asked.

"Yeah. Even though I've dealt with them for a few years now, there's still a great deal that I don't know about them. And now that they've appeared and are working with the Sirens…"

"That only spells more trouble…"

Nodding at her words, Sora gave her another look before speaking up.

"You didn't seem all that surprised when I mentioned the Heartless, why is that?"

With a shrug of her shoulders, Repulse could see that it was an interesting point to make.

"We were briefly filled in on the situation developing on the island. From your first arrival to being taken as a prisoner, many of the girls in Eagle Union and the Royal Navy are aware of you and your situation. And let it be known, you've realistically only encountered a small number of girls."

Hearing that there were many more girls to meet, the Keyblade wielder decided to let that bit of information reside in the back of his mind and focus on the situation at hand.

"I see... That makes things not so chaotic anymore" Sora replied, feeling a bit of relief while recalling his first encounter with the girls of Azur Lane and the Sakura Empire.

"I won't lie, there are many things I wish to ask you about about your entire situation, but now doesn't seem like the right time. Right now, we need to find a way to regroup with everyone. And then we need to put a stop to this Mirror Sea."

Agreeing with what Repulse was saying, Sora nodded while summoning his Keyblade.

"Right. Do you have any leads or ideas on what we should do next? I'd rather not go wandering around and get stuck in some loop."

"I do. See that haze in the distance?" she asked while pointing to something odd in the east. "I've been in this area for a good hour and that area has not changed at all."

Glancing at the area she pointed out, Sora gave it a close look and couldn't really see anything happening there. However, he did feel like his eyes were being strained while staring in that area. Almost as if it was a hallucination.

The best example Sora could think of at the moment would be his time back in the Caribbean when he, Donald, and Goofy ran into Captain Jack and his ship, the Black Pearl, being carried by crabs. The heat was getting to him and causing his vision to blur and questioned if what appeared in front of him was real at all. That same feeling was how he felt staring at the area Repulse pointed out.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it out. Shall we?"

"We shall."

The two then began to walk right to the hazy area and kept their guards up. The chance that they could be attacked at any moment was something very likely. Sora could vouch for that. His entire time in the Mirror Sea had ended up with him being hit by random attacks.

"So, you don't know where your friends are now? The girls that were with you?" the spiky-haired brunette questioned.

"No, I have no idea where Vanguard or Nelson are now. I hope that they're alright, but I know those two. If anything, there's nothing to be worried about" Repulse sincerely answered.

"Mm. The same can be said about George and the others. They're strong."

"Mm. That they are."

As the two continued to approach the haze, it became abundantly clear that something was up. The entire area was now beginning to distort once again and show something abnormal.

*ZzZz*

*BZZT*

*WHOOSH*

*ZING*

*SWOOSH*

Suddenly appearing right in front of them was a structure that had not been there before. A sense of eerie aura could also be felt emanating from the area's atmosphere causing the two to stop walking and take in the sight.

"Repulse?"

"Yeah?"

"Was that… castle there before…?"

"Nope…"

A frown could be felt appearing on Sora's face.

"Are buildings like this common in Mirror Seas?"

"In a Mirror Sea, anything is possible with the- "

*BZZT!*

*ZAP!*

*WHOOSH!*

Before Repulse could finish what she was saying, a burst of light blinded the two leaving Sora to cover his face.

"Gah! What's going on!?"

"Sora! Run!"

"Repulse!? What's happening!"

*BZZT!*

"Huh!?"

The light had now faded leaving the Keyblade wielder to be standing in what appeared to be a large empty white room with nothing in sight. There was also a strange sound coming from somewhere. Almost like electricity was running from one power source to another. In the corner of his mind, Sora couldn't help but think back to the Grid and how that place was all technology-based. An area where he was not the most proficient.

Left with no one by his side, Sora's eyes scanned the area and tried to find anything that could give him an idea of where he was now.

"Hello? Repulse?"

No response was given.

"Anyone? Hello?"

No response was given.

"Grr. Come on! What's going on now!?"

"Boy. Do you talk a lot?"

A response was given. This time by an unknown voice.

"Huh? Who is there?"

*BZZT!*

Out of nowhere, a girl with long white hair, bright yellow eyes, thigh-high black metal boots, short underwear, a top that showed much of her slime figure, and a smug smile appeared right before him.

"Huh… you're a lot less intimidating up close. Purifier said you were this tough fighter and based on the footage capture of you I thought you'd be more… well, I'm not sure what I thought. But you're not up to my expectations" the elite Siren said to the Keyblade wielder.

"Are you this rude to everyone you meet for the first time?" Sora angrily questioned while pointing his Keyblade at her.

"For your information, I'm being nice. But where are my manners? My name is Tester. I'll be overseeing your trial to completion. Whether you live or die is up to you. But I'll be making sure I get the proper data from this project."

"Project? What are you talking about? Why are you and the Sirens so mysterious?"

A smug smile appeared on Tester's face as she tilted her head and stared bluntly at the boy.

"Tired of it? Who isn't? We don't have to tell you anything. All you need to do is sustain our needs. And right now, our main need is to run this project on you."

"Yeah, no thanks. I'm not going to go through whatever you have planned for me!" Sora countered.

"Hehe. Don't worry. You'll involve yourself in our project without any hassle. I just need to tweak a few things…"

"What are- "

*PEW*

*BZZT*

*BOOM*

The environment had now changed from being an empty room to now becoming a space with purple lighting in the distance striking the ground followed by advanced technology displayed all over the place. Purple glowing lights could be seen diverting in various directions along with the place having a futuristic feel to it.

Moreover, the more striking part of this whole situation was that Sora found himself standing on a large circular platform with Tester simply standing right in front of him. It was almost as if she had no care in the world.

"Welcome! To the testing ground! Hrm… I don't really have a name for this place. I usually just run experiments on a close basis here. Getting recording and detailed analysis on the scenarios I operate."

As Tester said this, multiple screens popped up out of nowhere and in front of her. Her hands then went to work tapping away at a console keyboard that appeared before her in an illuminated state.

"Let's see… for starters, I'll have you fight some Enforcers. That should help get you limber and prepared for the fights to come."

"I told you. I'm not getting involved in whatever tests you plan to run on me!"

"Mm-hm. How about now?"

With her hands rapidly tapping away at the console, Tester had now caused a part of the platform to glow a bright purple color before something was digitally placed. That something… happened to be two girls who were bound in digitized chains. Their arms were bound behind their backs and their feet were forced together. One of the girls looked annoyed while the other had a stern expression written all over her face.

"Where are we now, Tester? questioned one of the girls.

"Unhand us now! How about you put up a fair fight instead of using cheap tricks!" yelled the other girl.

Tester shifted her body to look at the two girls and simply feigned a concerned look on her face.

"Hmm… You're right. I should have given you a fair fight. But…" Lowering her eyes toward the two girls restrained, Tester grinned with malicious intent. "I don't fight fair. Honestly, I'm not usually on the front lines. I'm more of a backup support if you will."

"Grr! Let us go!"

Getting a better look at the restrained girls, Sora could easily see he had not interacted with or even met them and that they must have been more of the lost girls. The situation was quite dire now that these two were here and it was hard to get a clear read on Tester. He would have to play it safe for now.

"What's your goal, Tester? You clearly have a plan to take them hostage. What are you after?" Sora carefully questioned the elite Siren.

"I already explained it to you. You're not very smart, are you?" Tester rudely replied with a smirk. "My main goal for this entire Mirror Sea… is you."

The two ship girls were now left shocked by this sudden announcement.

"What? This whole Mirror Sea is- urgh! " one of the girls shouted.

"Yes. Granted, the entirety of this whole simulation project was also to test the commencement of Heartless and Sirens together in combat. Which reminds me…"

Suddenly, a dozen monitors appeared out of nowhere around Tester while she furiously started typing away at her main console monitor. The Siren's eyes were also bouncing around at an incredible speed with her attention being on one monitor before being shifted to another and then another all while her hands were typing away and never stopping at all.

*BZZT*

A strange chime appeared out of nowhere and seemed to come from one of the monitors. However, bright flashes began to appear on all the monitors leaving Sora and the two girls confused on what exactly was happening.

"And… there… we… go!"

"What did you do?" the Guardian of Light directly asked, trying to keep up with whatever she was doing on the monitors.

"I decided to raise the stakes" Tester casually stated while typing away at her monitor. "This should make things more interesting. Here- take a look."

With a swipe of her hand, Tester had now caused several monitors to appear right in front of Sora as well as the restrained girls.

Upon a closer look, he could see Enterprise in one monitor while George, Littorio, Hiei, Kaga, North Carolina, and Baltimore were spotted in other monitors.

On the restrained girls' monitors, it showed Repulse and the other Eagle Union girls all showcasing weary expressions on their faces. It was quite evident that they had been fighting for their lives.

"Repulse! Where is she!?" one of the restrained girls yelled.

"Oh, don't worry. She and the others are still in the Mirror Sea. Think of it as the lay of the land separated into different quadrants. Each quadrant will be running an experiment and I'll be the one overseeing it all!" Tester excitedly replied while her eyes seemed to glow brighter.

Flustered and beyond upset at what was happening, one of the girls started wiggling her body around to try and break the electric binds around her but was stopped when she saw Sora step forward.

"Hm? Is something the matter, hero?" Tester antagonized the Keyblade wielder.

Rather than give a verbal response to the Siren, Sora decided to go for a different kind of reply.

Before either of the girls could react, he aimed the Keyblade right at Tester and chanted a magic spell that would prevent the elite Siren from continuing her plans.

"Stop- "

"Not so fast!"

*PEW*

Without any warning, the area around Sora's body was soon digitized leaving him utterly shocked by how fast Tester had acted. Alas, upon closer inspection he also found himself staring up at the castle from a different point of view and could see that he was now at the entrance of the structure.

"Haha! That was a close one!" came Tester's voice through a speaker somewhere in the area. "If I hadn't prepared for a rapid attack like you just tried, my plans and the project would be in shambles. I have to say, that was a good move, Sora!"

"Grr! Enough with the games!"

"You're right. I've dilly-dallied long enough. It's time to get the project rolling at full speed. I wouldn't want to keep my superiors waiting any longer."

Not expecting that kind of response from the Siren, Sora fired a question back at her.

"Your superiors? What do you mean?"

A stark bit of silence soon echoed across the area leaving the Keyblade wielder feeling a knot in his stomach. While Tester didn't appear as chaotic as Purifier, she was talkative. So, not hearing her immediately respond left the boy feeling a sense of trepidation.

"Hmm… should I answer? Or should I leave it up for you to find out… Hehe… I think I'll go for the latter!"

"Wait!"

"Apologies but I'm done waiting. The simulation project has now begun. Full control of the Mirror Sea and its properties are on standby. I will now commence with phase two of the plan."

*BZZT!*

*VRMMM!*

Electric chimes and beeps could be heard across the area leaving Sora utterly perplexed on what was happening. Since this was all a simulation, that pretty much meant that he was at the mercy of the Sirens and whatever game they had in store for him and the others.

"Here's a quick little glimpse at what your friends are going to be dealing with. As a courtesy gesture, you'll get one peek."

Suddenly, several monitors appeared right before Sora showing him a few of the girls in real time.

Meanwhile, with Enterprise

*BOOM!*

*BANG!*

*POP!*

"Baltimore!"

"Got it!"

*BOOM*

"That ship's down!"

Swerving her head to the side, Enterprise then called out to her North Carolina.

"Carol! How's our flank?"

"Holding! But not for long. We're being overrun here!"

The current situation the three were dealing with was becoming quite dire as the first Heartless fleet of ships they fought against had been decimated. However, another fleet of ships bearing Heartless flags appeared out of nowhere causing the three to become stressed.

"You guys see that?" Baltimore murmured.

"Yeah… more trouble."

"How are we on ammo?" Enterprise asked while pulling on her bowstring.

With a quick check of their equipment and riggings, North Carolina was the first to speak up.

"Do you want the good news or bad news?"

"Might as start good and end bad" the brunette said while clutching her right hand that had been injured during the fight.

Nodding her head, Enterprise gestured for North Carolina to give the good then bad news.

"Good news, I'm good on ammo for this fight. Bad news… I'm going to have to learn how to fight with my hands if this keeps up."

"I'd be more than happy to give you a quick lesson on hand-to-hand combat, Carol. It might hurt hands, but it's also a hell of a way to get rid of some stress" Baltimore claimed while smirking.

"Tempting. But I'd rather not break my hands punching a ship" the blonde-haired kansen replied with a light chuckle. "I'm sure Washington would gladly take you up on that offer."

"You'll have to remind me to ask her after we get out of here."

Glad to hear her friends were keeping a level head with the current situation, Enterprise knew that she was also running low on ammo due to the never-ending waves of Heartless ships that were appearing out of nowhere. The situation was out of their control.

In addition, it had been some time now that she lost visual and contact with Sora and the others. Whatever that electronic sound had been was causing the Mirror Sea to act up in strange ways. It was almost as if someone was manipulating her every move.

Either way, she would not fall here, and neither would her friends.

"Heads up. Looks like the next wave is about to start" Enterprise said to the two.

"Heh. You still keeping count, Carol?" Baltimore playfully asked.

"Absolutely. I'm currently in the lead now."

"For now, that is…"

And with that, the next barrage of bombs fired from the Heartless ships was sent toward the trio of Eagle Union ship girls as they all prepared themselves for the fight to come.

Elsewhere with George and the others

*Azur Lane OST – Urgency (Kaga's Battle Theme)*

"Ugh… this place is getting on my nerves!" screamed a flustered Kaga.

"Please take it easy, Kaga" Hiei said, trying to calm the kitsune woman.

Stepping forward and taking in her surroundings, Littorio had several thoughts regarding their current predicament. And the main concern of hers was where everyone else was.

"This area hasn't changed yet…"

"And yet, Sora is gone" Washington argued while passing a hand through her hair. "We're being messed with big time."

Letting a puff of air out of her nose, George had to agree with Washington's remark. Ever since they entered the Mirror Sea it's been nothing but unfair situations hitting them. From that armored Heartless appearance to losing Sora, and now being led astray in this simulated place. Whatever the Sirens were planning did not spell good news.

"Huh? George, what's that?" Duke of York gestured to the side while speaking loud enough to get everyone's attention.

Looking to where her sister pointed out, George could see a faint glow beginning to arise under the water and grow rapidly. Before she or anyone else could react, the light had now emerged from beneath the water's surface showcasing what it really was. The truth caused everyone to summon their rigging and get their trigger fingers ready to fire.

"Hey everyone! It's good to see you!" came a familiar voice.

The glowing light had turned out to be the elite Siren none other than Purifier who appeared as her usual self. A wicked smile appeared on her face as she gave a little bow while being extremely dramatic.

"Hello! Hello! I'm deeply sorry for making you and the others wait. Although, that second group of girls should be busy right about now…"

*SWISH!*

In the blink of an eye, George had appeared right in front of Purifier and managed to swipe the side of her cheek causing a small cut to be visible. Had she been a second slower from backing away, Purifier would've had the Royal Navy kansen's blade doing critical damage to her body.

"Whoa! What was that about!? You could have hurt me!"

With a single glare, King George conveyed her annoyance and overall irritation at the current predicament. If looks could kill, then hers would fit the mold.

"That's the point."

"Geez! Who knew you were dangerous?" Having said this, Purifier broke out into a grin and tilted her head to the side, "Hehe! Just kidding! I already knew you were a hothead. It's good that you've got spunk. You're going to need it here soon."

Keeping a wary stance against the Siren, Kaga was the first to break the staggered silence.

"What is the purpose of this Mirror Sea?"

"And a hello to you too, old pal!"

A scowl escaped the white kitsune woman's mouth as she glared at the Siren. The simple acknowledgment of her past actions caused Kaga to feel a twinge in her chest. However, this was a topic she would not allow to hold her back. Mistakes were made and now she would work to make amends.

After all, actions speak louder than words.

"Save your breath, you wench."

"Ooh! Those are some fighting words! I like it!"

*WHIK*

*BOOM!*

*SPLASH*

Unexpectedly, an explosion right under Purifier's body caused her to go soaring through the air and leave a massive splash of water as a distraction.

"Agh!"

"Really!?"

"Come on!"

Covering her eyes and focusing on where Purifier was now, Kaga had to instantly use her arms defensively with her rigging taking a heavy hit.

*BANG!*

"Ahhh! That was supposed to hit you!"

"It did!" Kaga yelled back.

"But not the way I wanted it!"

*WHOOSH*

*BOOM!*

An explosive round hit the exact area where Purifier was standing, but the chaotic girl avoided it by merely a second. Littorio let out a grunt of disappointment.

"Damn. That would have knocked some sense into her."

"I think it's going to take more than one shot to do that" Washington jokingly added.

Alas, before the girls knew it, Purifier was now on the assault and firing all her guns at the group of girls forcing them to all spread out and return fire.

*PEW*

*BANG!*

*BOOM!*

*POP!*

*CHIK-CHIK*

*KA-BOOM!*

All the girls were now focusing their firepower on the humanoid Siren trying to put an end to her annoying attendance.

"Ahahahahah! This is fun! You guys are making this even better!" Purifier gleefully cheered while dodging a blast that was aimed right at her shoulder. "Keep this up! I'm raring to go!"

"She's quicker than I thought!" Duke of York commented while dashing toward her with her blade in hand.

"And the first to try a physical attack goes to- "

*CLINK!*

"Ah-ha! Gotcha!"

Duke of York's blade had been blocked by Purifier's black and yellow equipment which allowed the ponytailed girl to propel forward and kick the vampiric kansen away.

"Ngh!"

"No! Grr!"

George, seeing her sister get attacked, charged forward and set her sights right on Purifier who simply smiled at her incoming foe.

"What? It wasn't that hard of a kick. Sheesh. You're coming off as a real- "

*SWOOSH!*

*BANG!*

"Oof! You were a bit too slow for that strike" Purifier taunted the blonde as her blade had been deflected by the Siren's equipment.

"Heh. Think again!"

"Oh?"

*KA-BOOM!*

A massive explosion impacted right where Purifier was standing which was exactly what George was hoping for. Turning her head back, she saw Washington and Kaga nod their heads at the team attack. It was a spur-of-the-moment kind of tactic that turned out to be great.

"Nice- "

"Watch out!"

"I win!"

"No!"

*TING!*

In a blink-or-miss moment, Purifier had tried to sneak attack George as she barely let her guard down. However, Littorio had managed to dash forward just in time to counter the attack with her blade causing the elite Siren to don a frustrated expression.

"Oh. Come. On! I almost had her! This is so unfair! It's a six-on-one fight. That's clearly cheating!"

"You're one to talk," Hiei remarked with dislike.

"Can it! You already have home field advantage" Washington countered.

"Hm… you're right about that. And it won't be long until the project is ready to commence forward. All I need to do is keep everyone here busy. Simple as that!" Purifier simply replied.

Looks of confusion worked their way across each of the girls as they eyed the Siren with suspicion.

"I call that an obvious lie. An absolute hinderance to the most believable level of stupidity" George remarked loudly. "You're not telling us the whole truth."

"Haha! Yep! You're right about that" Purifier replied while waving her arms around happily. "But you're not getting anything else out of me. I've got to make sure I stick to the plan."

"What plan?" Kaga questioned aloud.

"Oops! Said too much again! Oh, well!"

*BANG!*

In a matter of seconds, the area had now been filled with gunfire from both sides as Purifier was dashing from side to side while looking for a fight.

"Ahahaha! Let's get this party started!"

With a snap of her finger, several bright flashes of light appeared right behind her.

"I hope you don't mind if I invite a few friends to our shing ding!"

As the light died down, several individuals had now appeared leaving the girls of Azur Lane on guard. Littorio and George knew right away who or rather what these new individuals were.

"Enforcers."

"You're really upping the game now, Purifier," remarked George as she glared at the Siren.

"Can you blame me? It's super unfair for me to fight you all. Besides, my lovely friends are totally fine being destroyed by you. I'll just call some more to help me. Tester's got that covered. Isn't that right, Tester!" Purifier happily shouted in the air.

The girls now had a better idea of what was happening in the Mirror Sea. The Siren better known as Tester must have been the one messing with them.

"The sooner we deal with you, the sooner we can find Sora and the others!" Kaga shouted at Purifier.

"Ahahaha!"

The clash between the girls of Azur Lane and Purifier's Siren forces had now begun.

In another location within the Mirror Sea

*Azur Lane OST – Continued Willpower*

"And… that… is… another…*sigh* one… down…"

San Francisco was out of breath and keeling over with her body covered in cuts and bruises as well as her hair looking messy. It was evident based on her battered appearance that things had not been easy for her.

"Chin up, Fran. They're all done and dusted."

Looking to her side, San Francisco could see the ever-positive New Jersey giving off a weak yet vibrant smile on her face. Even in the face of unrelenting fighting, the dark-haired girl was there to lend a helping hand to her friends and allies.

"You're one to talk. You didn't get hit as much as I did" San Francisco countered.

"Not true…" came a quieter voice behind New Jersey.

Coming into view, Boise also appeared to have bruises and cuts around her body with a visible bruise on her cheek. The incident that caused that injury was thanks to a Siren battleship taking its shot against New Jersey but was then blocked by Boise's self-sacrifice and act of support.

"…R-Right. Sorry, Boise."

A grimaced look appeared on San Francisco's face as she felt horrible for making mention of injuries when Boise looked to be hurt the most.

"It's ok. It doesn't hurt as much as it did before."

The sound of a gloved hand clenching up could be heard coming from New Jersey. While the reliable kansen was a ray of positivity, she could also hold quite a grudge. Especially to those who hurt those close and dear to her. Seeing that Boise's injury was because of her… the nice and friendly New Jersey would not hesitate to take on a darker tone for a moment.

"Boise…"

"It's okay, NJ. We've already talked about this. I'm ok" Boise said, trying to reassure her friend.

A solemn mood took over as San Francisco and New Jersey could see Boise smiling weakly while still having her face guard over her mouth. The trio of girls all looked at one another with mixed feelings.

However, after staring at one another for a dramatic moment, Boise was the first to burst into laughter followed by San Francisco and then New Jersey.

"Hahaha!"

"Pftt! Bwahaha!"

"Hehehe!"

This continued for a few more minutes before New Jersey wiped her eyes and worked to calm herself down to speak clearly.

"Ah… I needed that laugh."

"Yeah, me too."

"Me three. I say, when we get out of here, we all take a week off and spend some hard-earned R ."

"You know what, Fran, you've got my vote on that idea. I would kill to kick my feet up and eat a burger!" New Jersey happily answered while having a delighted expression on her face. "Maybe even hitting the beach would be nice!"

Following this train of thought, Boise nodded her head happily.

"I… normally I wouldn't be all for the beach, but with everything that's happened, I wouldn't mind spending a day at the beach with friends and just relaxing."

"We'll conquer the beach then!" New Jersey exclaimed while wrapping her arm around Boise and cheering with her.

Boise couldn't help but smile under her mask and nod her head in agreeance. The idea of spending time with friends at the beach and doing nothing but having fun sounded great to her.

"Ha! Maybe we could get some games going on the beach? I'm thinking of the competitive type. Or maybe some casual games for the girls who aren't too into competition. Volleyball?"

"I'm there!" New Jersey adamantly shouted.

"Or something like watermelon smashing?"

"That would be fun" Boise chimed in. "I heard a few of the girls did that before and it sounded like a lot of fun."

A smug grin washed itself over San Francisco's face as she couldn't help but twirl her bat around and let it sit comfortably on her shoulder.

"Heh. I feel like I'd be a natural at that."

The mood between the three had improved drastically from the once solemn and depressed feeling that was starting to take over. Now, the girls had something to look forward to after this whole debacle with the Mirror Sea. The feeling of hope and enjoyment canceled out any sadness that lingered around.

"Ooh! I'm getting excited just thinking about this idea! It would also be the perfect time for me to try out my new bikini that I've been meaning to wear!" New Jersey excitedly proclaimed.

"…It would also be a good chance to meet- "

*BZZT!*

*BOOM!*

Suddenly, a large explosion appeared right in front of the girls causing a massive splash of water to hit the girls and covering their vision.

"Gah!"

"What the heck!?"

"Bwah!"

Wiping the water from her face, New Jersey cleared her vision, and could now see what caused the random explosion.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

15 ships.

That was the number of Siren battleships that the blue-haired girl could see with just a glance. All the ships had appeared out of nowhere causing the Eagle Union kansen to scowl.

"Whoever is in charge of this Mirror Sea is really getting on my nerves!"

"You're tellin me! When I find whoever is teleporting or causing these Sirens to keep annoyin us, they're getting a kick to the face followed by my bat knocking them out cold!" San Francisco shouted while clutching her bat handle tightly. "And that's all before I even use my rigging!"

Examining the ships closely, Boise noticed something odd with the rear guard of ships in the fleet. A few of the ships had a strange glow to them that was irregular to the usual red-glowing Siren ships.

"Guys. Those ships in the back… they're glowing purple and- "

*KA-BOOM!*

*BZZT!*

A beam of light had been fired right at the girls but was nowhere near them. In a way, this form of attack was meant to be transcribed as a form of aggression. A warning of what will become of them.

"Tch. This Siren is sending us a warning. Get real!" San Francisco remarked while pointing her bat at the Siren fleet. "I say we teach these losers who they're messing with!"

With a nod of her head, Boise was supportive of Fran's idea.

"I'm not giving up here. Not now! Especially since we have plans to look forward to!"

Feeling a wave of hope hit her chest, New Jersey donned a confident grin on her face while preparing herself for the fight to come.

"You're right about that! Let's give them a show they'll never forget!"

Somewhere in the Mirror Sea

*Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories OST – Face It*

Dashing along the water's surface and pushing her body to dodge every incoming attack, Repulse had donned a determined yet tired expression along her face as she kept on moving.

'There's no end to them! Every Siren I destroy; another just spawns out of nowhere. Whatever Siren is in control of this Mirror Sea must have it out for me!'

*BOOM*

*SPLASH*

*BOOM*

Explosion after explosion managed to hit the area around her and not directly at her. This may have been a slight error on the Sirens' part due to her being agile and on the move. However, this had been a recurring thing for the past few minutes which was anything but normal. Something was up.

It was then, as she continued to hastily move forward, Repulse began to realize another important factor to her current predicament.

'The Sirens aren't attacking me… they're antagonizing me!'

*WHOOSH*

Another missile had flown several feet to the side of Repulse causing another explosion of water to hit her and stagger her back. She now had a better idea of the Sirens' game.

"Seriously!?"

Turning tail and dashing away, she kept on turning her head from side to side and watching as the Siren ships were continuing to follow her. She knew for a fact that if this were any advanced team of Sirens, then she would have been hit and possibly sunk minutes ago. However, the fact that they had missed every single one of their shots made it apparent that they were messing with her on purpose.

With this revelation, Repulse continued to get some distance from the fleet and try to find any sort of anomaly in the area. There had to be something that she could use to her advantage.

'Dammit! I don't see anything that can help me. The only idea I have is to keep on running…'

Left with this desperate decision, Repulse continued to stride along the water and avoid being hit by a random explosive. Sure, it wasn't the most efficient method of survival, but it was a decision that has continued to keep her alive. At least until she could find a way out of here.

Back with Sora

After spending a moment watching every monitor that showcased what each group of girls was dealing with, Sora glared right at the castle. Tester, who was still not present, let out a little laugh.

*BZZT*

In a flash of digital light, Tester reappeared along with the two girls still constrained and wearing upset looks on their faces as they glared right at the elite Siren.

"Get a good look at what your friends are dealing with. Each group is helping me run tests on a few new ships we have in production. Getting a firsthand experience in battle should provide us the proper data for mass production" Tester explained while having a nonchalant attitude about it.

"You're disgusting!" shouted one of the girls.

"Huh… that's a new insult. I would have thought that Purifier would be the one to get slammed with that sort of insult."

Hearing her name, Sora also recalled that Purifier was currently fighting with George and the others along with her backup of Siren ships. He needed to do something to help them.

"Let them go."

Smiling at the boy's sudden declaration, Tester began to shake her head.

"No can do, Sora. I've still got a multitude of several hundred different proxy battles to go through. I'm barely getting past the algorithm to run- "

*HISS!*

*SIZZLE!*

With no warning whatsoever, Sora aimed his Keyblade and cast an unexpecting Fire spell at the Siren causing a fireball to hit her.

The two girls looked absolutely surprised by the attack and couldn't help but break out into grins at the incredible timing of Sora's attack.

"You got her!"

"Hey! What's the big idea!" yelled Tester as she swiped the flames off her body. "If you're so eager for a fight…"

Waving her hand in front of her, a console monitor and keyboard appeared which allowed for Tester to begin typing. In a matter of seconds, lights began to flash around Sora along with his surroundings beginning to distort in a glitchy kind of way.

"What's going on?!"

"You kicked the hornet's nest now. Do you want a fight? I'll give you a fight. I hope you enjoy it!"

Suddenly, a glitchy effect appeared around the two girls as worry worked its way on their faces.

"What are you doing!?"

"Unhand me! Let me go!"

"Don't worry! I'll give you the chance to stretch your legs and move around. But… "Tester now had a menacing grin enveloping her face. "I'll make this a bit more interesting on my part."

*BZZT*

Before Sora or the girls could utter another word, a digital light had surrounded the girls and teleported them away leaving only the Keyblade wielder and elite Siren.

"Where did you take them!?"

"Easy hero. I merely put them somewhere in the castle."

As Tester said this, she then gestured with her hand up at the castle which had now been remodeled to have a more ruined theme. With parts of the structure either damaged or destroyed, Sora immediately noticed a problem with the place.

"Heartless!?"

"Yep! I figured with the testing going on between Sirens and Heartless, why not turn the situation up a notch and make things more intense? You're going to love this! And with those two somewhere in the castle, you're on quite the time limit, hero."

Immediately wanting to rush at Tester and take her down, Sora knew that saving the two girls was more important. Their lives were at stake and there was no way he'd let something bad happen to them.

"Grr. After I find and rescue them, I'm coming for you" declared the Guardian of Light.

"Ooh! The hero has some bite. I was not expecting that. I kind of figured that you were the goody two shoes that only fights when he has to."

Glaring at the Siren, Sora shifted his focus to the castle that stood before him. It would be a race against the clock, but no matter what… he would not fail those two girls.

*Final Fantasy XIV – Anatomy of Existence OST*

"Good luck! You're going to need it!" called out Tester before she flashed away leaving Sora alone again.

Not about to waste any more time, the spiky-haired brunette rushed toward the entrance of the castle and could see that the entrance had been covered in debris. Stuck with this minor inconvenience, Sora flicked his hand out and summoned his Keyblade which had Unicorn's charm.

He still hadn't given this blade a name yet.

"Move!"

Twirling the blade and channeling his energy into the blade, he was now donning his Elemental outfit along with the Keyblade and shield. In a matter of a second, he charged at the debris-filled wall causing quite the recoil from the shield being hit.

'I don't know if this will work. But I have to try!'

As he pushed himself from the debris, he aimed his sights on the center of the destroyed entrance.

*KA-BOOM!*

The Keyblade's ability fired a point-blank blast causing a massive cloud of dust to form along with an opening for him to use.

*WHOOSH*

Jumping through the opening, Sora now held onto the Kingdom Key while sprinting forward and quickly examining the layout of the castle. Several corridors were on each side followed by a staircase that led to another floor.

*BZZT*

"Whoa!"

Dodge rolling to the side, he managed to narrowly miss being hit by a Neo Shadow that appeared out of nowhere. Following this, several dark portals began to appear on the ground along with more Heartless spilling into the room.

"I don't have time for you!"

Leaping forward, Sora managed to slice at one Neo Shadow before blocking an attack from another Heartless before performing an area-wide slash. One Heartless was flung back while another dodged the attack and went right for his face. Seeing this attack, he stepped to the side and stabbed the monster in the side managing to kill it.

Stepping forward, Sora slashed at another Heartless before kicking it in the face and sending it back. He then lunged at another and managed to slice at its chest before pummeling back. Before he could act any further, another Neo Shadow had leaped right at him causing him to block the attack and then counter with a slice to the end.

Leaping back, he then aimed the Keyblade right at a small group of Heartless clambering out of a dark portal.

"Thunder!"

Bolts of yellow lighting scattered across the ground managing to kill all the Heartless coming from the hole.

Rolling to the side, Sora side-swiped another Heartless by the legs before stabbing it right in the chest and defeating it completely. He then twirled his weapon and cast another spell point-blank.

"Wind!"

A green vortex soon picked up what Heartless were crawling around and either tossed them around or were lost to the winds. This also provided him with another prime spell to use.

"Fire!"

Several fireballs were sent right into the vortex just as it was dying down, but not before it couldn't ignite the Heartless caught in the attack managing to clear all the Heartless in the area.

Nodding at a job well done, Sora continued moving up the stairs and slashing away at every Heartless that got in his way. Luckily, there had only been Shadows and Neo Shadows that stood in his way.

'So far so good… at this rate…'

*KA-BOOM!*

*PEW!*

*PEEW!*

*PEEEW!*

"Gah!"

Ducking to the ground, he narrowly missed being hit by several lasers directed his way. The lasers then blasted through another part of the castle causing the room to shake and his focus to find what had just tried to hurt him.

Up ahead, several familiar glowing Heartless with designs centered around technology were the culprits for who tried to hit him.

"Great. Surveillance and Devastators. I don't have time for you!"

Grasping onto the Keyblade, Sora charged forward where could now spot five Devastators along with six Surveillance Robot Heartless. These were foes that he was used to fighting against so, this would be a cakewalk for him.

The Heartless all set their sights on the Keyblade wielder and began to enact their plan of attack. The Devastators all repositioned themselves and began to charge their cannons. At the same time, the Surveillance Robots began to fire beams of light at him.

"Hyah!"

Running up to the nearest wall, Sora activated his Flowmotion causing his entire body to glow blue as he ran across the wall and dodged every beam directed at him.

*PEW!*

*BZZT-BOOM!*

Blasts of light hit the wall as Sora managed to avoid every attack. Before long, he was now close enough to the nearest Devastator which gave him the chance to go on the offense.

Releasing the Keyblade, he pushed himself off the wall and into the air but not before quickly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a certain charm. One that would offer him the power and abilities to make swift work of these Heartless.

*SWISH!*

In his hands was now the appearance of Oathkeeper. A smug grin appeared on Sora's face as he spiraled himself right toward the Devastator before slamming himself down to the ground.

"Take this!"

*BOOM!*

Slamming into the Devastator allowed Sora to momentarily stun the Heartless before he dashed forward and began slashing at its body with incredible speed and accuracy. A real show of his experience in dealing with this kind of foe.

"You're done for!"

Spinning the Keyblade, Sora now exploded in a flash of light before he was now in his Dark Form.

"Let's go!"

Dashing forward as a blur of purple light, the Guardian of Light then appeared right next to the Devastator before slashing its legs. Sora then began to assault the Heartless with a barrage of stabs before casting a point-blank Thunder spell causing lightning bolts to strike the foe.

*POOF!*

The other Devastators now started firing shots at him even with the other Devastator in the way.

"Hah!"

Dodge rolling to the side, Sora swiped his Keyblade upwards at the Devastator before charging forward in and commencing a Zantetsuken strike across the mechanical enemy's body. This one attack was coerced with such speed, strength, and timing that the Devastator had now collapsed and begun to fade away leaving it as good as defeated.

*PEW*

Seeing a beam coming at him, Sora quickly raised the Keyblade to block which caused a purple bubble shield with a chain around the sphere. This shield not only blocked the attack but allowed Sora to dash forward, dismiss the shield, and slash up at the Surveillance Robot that had tried to attack him.

Following up with this momentum, Sora activated his Flowmotion, dashed toward the nearest Surveillance Robot, and swiped at it causing the Heartless to be flung back. He then Airstepped to another Surveillance Robot and grabbed it before hurling it at a Devastator.

*BOOM!*

An explosion occurred but was soon followed by a bright blue light hitting the Heartless. This light was then found to be an Ice spell that froze the group of Devastators encasing them completely.

However, the ice around the Devastator's bodies was beginning to break which forced Sora to double the effect of the spell.

"Blizzard!"

The Heartless were once again encased in ice along with icicles covering parts of their bodies. This was exactly what Sora wanted.

Jumping into the air, he then started slashing at each Heartless with a flurry of strikes before leaping into the air and slamming to the ground with a blast of dark energy. This onslaught of attacks allowed him to leap back and flick his wrist which let go of Oblivion and now use his Kingdom Key. His attire had now gone back to normal.

"It's over!"

Rushing forward, Sora then began to slash at the Heartless with horizontal and vertical strikes before raising his Keyblade and screaming out a spell that would finish the Heartless.

"Light!"

*PEW-BOOM!*

A burst of light soon exploded causing a blinding light to cover the area for a brief second before going back to normal. This then showed an empty room with no more Heartless.

Knowing that he could celebrate later, Sora then began to sprint up a flight of stairs that led to two large doors. He didn't know where this way would lead, but he'd improvise if needed.

*CREAK*

Pushing the doors open, he was now staring at another level of the castle. This time a large courtyard could be seen along with a sight that caused him to feel anxiety swell in his chest.

"No!"

There in the middle of the courtyard was one of the girls restrained and sitting in the middle of a group of Neo Shadows and girls with white hair, short black tops and shorts, and glowing yellow eyes. At first glance, they had a similar appearance to that of Purifier and Tester. The obvious assumption would be that they were Sirens.

Nevertheless, it didn't matter to Sora as he immediately rushed into the courtyard by casting a spell that would throw things into disarray.

"Water!"

An explosion of water hit the Heartless and Sirens causing the area to be covered with a few puddles, but the spell ultimately cleared the area enough to give the girl some space.

"Hang on! I'll be right there!"

Dashing forward, Sora then performed a Quick Blitz and leaped right at the closest Neo Shadow managing to knock it down. He then fired a point-blank Fire spell at one of the Siren girls sending her flying back.

*WOOSH*

One of the Neo Shadows then leaped at him causing him to roll to the side and cleave the Keyblade right under the Heartless and sending it flying.

*BANG!*

One of the Siren girls fired a beam of light right at him which caused him to tilt his head to the side and easily dodge the attack. He then heaved his arm back and performed a Strike Raid right at the Siren girl which was a solid hit. The attack left her staggered but not down for the count.

However, she was soon thrown back as the Keyblade had once again been hurled right at her before flashing back into Sora's hand. He immediately started attacking another one of the Siren girls while spinning his weapon and lunging forward while performing a Fire Windmill attack.

The ship girl who was still trapped and, on the floor, watched in awe as the boy made short work of the Heartless and Sirens. Each one of his attacks was performed with such precision and focus that it was evident that he had combat experience. Given all that had been reported on him, he was incredible.

"Gotcha!"

With one final slash, Sora managed to defeat the last Siren girl watching as she dropped to the ground before fading away into a dark mist. The area had been cleared allowing him to rush over and help.

"Here. Let me."

*CLINK*

The Keyblade tapped on her constraints and had them unlocked with magical ease.

"Are you okay?"

Rubbing her hands and legs while feeling quite sore, the girl now turned her attention to Sora and began to inspect him closely. With her eyes scanning the top of his spiky brown hair to his large black and yellow boots, the ship girl let out a huff of air through her nose.

"What took you so long?!"

"E-Excuse me?"

Folding her arms across her bountiful chest, the kansen seemed to sigh at his response.

"Hmph. I guess part of the blame shouldn't be all your fault. The situation has turned dire with Tester taking Vanguard as a hostage. We need to act fast."

"Vanguard… you mean that other girl…" Sora muttered, putting two and two together as he recalled George mentioning her name earlier.

"Yes, that was Vanguard. And you, as everyone now knows, are Sora."

"Yeah. I'm Sora…"

With a stern expression on her face, the ship girl nodded her head.

"Hm. While I would say it's a pleasure to meet you, Sora. Now doesn't exactly call for proper introductions. To keep this brief, my name is Nelson. Proud battleship of the Royal Navy!"

The ship girl, now known as Nelson, had the appearance of long blonde hair that was tied in two long twin tails with a black ribbon on each side. She also appeared to be wearing a white and black uniform that showed off her curvy figure and large chest while a red jacket was wrapped around her shoulders and body. Down her legs were red thigh-high leggings with the bottom showing that she was wearing white heels. Lastly, she also wore a serious-like expression with her red eyes watching him closely.

"Nelson, it's nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

Nelson then took a few steps while spotting a large two-door entrance leading to another part of the castle. The courtyard had been cleared which meant that they were good to move on.

"We don't have time to dilly dally. Vanguard is in the enemy's hands and if we don't do something- "

"You don't need to finish that sentence. I won't let anything happen to her" Sora affirmed.

"…I'll be holding you to that."

"Count on it."

The two then stared at the entrance before glancing at one another and giving a nod of cooperation. Their mission to save Vanguard was now a go.

*FFXIV: Dawntrail Alexandria Theme - OST*

Quickly reaching into his pocket, Sora pulled out the Oathkeeper charm and attached it to his Keyblade while also stashing the charm that Unicorn gave him. With the situation as it was now, defense would no longer be needed. It was time to go on the offense, and the key chains he had on hand to switch into were Kingdom Key, Oathkeeper, and Wheel of Fate. The situation called for action and he would respond.

"Let's go!"

Sprinting ahead, Sora made his way to the entrance followed by Nelson who had now summoned her riggings and was right on his tail. The two made their way through the doors and picked up the pace while noticing that something was going on with the castle.

"The environment is changing!"

"It must be under Tester's plan. Whatever that might be it doesn't matter. Saving Vanguard is our top priority" Nelson fired back.

"Right!"

Entering a new part of the castle, the two watched as the interior of the room began to change right before their very eyes. One moment it appeared all fancy with no damage at all, but then in the next moment the entire room was a mess. Parts of the walls were either broken, had holes, or were completely missing. Debris could be seen scattered around the place and a small entryway into another room could barely be seen.

"There!"

"Let's hurry!"

As the two moved through the messy room, Sora caught a quick look at the outside and could see the sky was also switching between being calm and filled with storm clouds. A distorted visual was the best answer Sora could give after seeing this brief scene.

Coming into a large hallway, the two were glad to see that it was empty and devoid of any enemies.

However, before the two could get any further into the new space…

*BZZT!*

With a quick flash, several groups of Neo Shadows and a few Siren girls appeared all while rushing at the two. In addition, the hallway had now distorted into a battered and destroyed place with parts of the walls missing and debris everywhere.

"Damn! Tester is slowing us down!" Nelson grumbled.

"Not for long!"

Charging his arm up, Sora summoned the Keyblade which was now with the appearance of Kingdom Key, and instantly sent a wave of fireballs at the Heartless managing to knock them back.

Nelson, seeing this ranged form of attack, joined in and started firing her riggings while aiming specifically for the Siren girls.

Seeing his attack do some damage, Sora rushed forward and heaved the Keyblade against one of the Heartless before dodging and throwing himself to the side to hit another square in the face. At the same time, he deflected gunfire coming from one of the girls who was then taken out by Nelson's explosives.

Sora then hurled the Keyblade at the wall where it bounced right at one of the Neo Shadows. He then resummoned the blade and slid forward across the ground while slashing at the monster's legs and taking it out swiftly. He then set his sights on one of the Siren girls before performing a Sliding Dash and appearing right in front of the enemy girl before hitting her right into the air. Nelson, seeing this opportunity, then fired a decimating shot right at the girl managing to end her before she could even hit the ground.

The Keyblade wielder then slammed his weapon into another Shadow with his Flash Step ability before striking the Heartless against a wall where he cast a Thunder spell which sent bolts of lightning down the hall. This magical attack managed to kill most of the Heartless while providing Nelson the chance to barrage another Siren girl with her guns.

Before the two realized it, the area was clear of Heartless and Sirens leaving them to nod and continue sprinting through the castle.

"Tester is testing my nerves. She's just throwing obstacles in our way to slow us down" Nelson said while sprinting alongside Sora.

"Did you manage to see or hear whatever she's planning?"

"Sadly, no. Vanguard and I were kept relatively close to her the whole time. I don't even know how we ended up taken as hostages."

"Blame the Mirror Sea. She's been doing nothing but messing with me and the others" Sora replied while parkouring over a broken ledge and rolling across the ground of another level.

Observing the boy's moves, Nelson leaped off the ledge but made sure to come down as elegantly as possible before catching up with him.

"Good to hear that it wasn't just us that she was messing with. On that note, how were the others before you got separated?"

"They were doing alright. Enterprise and two others were dealing with a Heartless fleet while the others and I dealt with an armored Heartless boss that- "

Just as he was about to get more into the details, Sora spotted a closed door and could see a prominent lock attached to it. Twirling his Keyblade, he simply tapped the lock which caused a clicking sound as well as causing the lock to drop to the ground. The door was now open.

"Sorry about that. But the armored Heartless was one that I'd dealt with before, so we managed to defeat it together. However, as soon as we did that, Tester separated me from the others."

Processing what the boy had just said, Nelson was glad to hear that her friends and allies were still in the fight. Alas, there was one other factor that she just had to know.

"Those monitors that Tester threw in your face… Repulse was there, wasn't she? I couldn't get a good look at them from where I was tied up, but… how was she?"

As the two continued to run through the castle's newfound area, Sora couldn't help but quirk his eyebrow at the tone that Nelson had taken with her question.

The way Nelson had asked this question seemed to indicate that she was worried about the Royal Navy girl. It was quite clear that she cared deeply for her friend even though she gave off quite a serious persona.

"Well, from what I saw, she looked to be on the run from a group of ships chasing her. She looked a bit tired but not to the point that she'd give up. Even though it was a glance, Repulse looked confident" Sora explained what he saw of Repulse.

Displaying a pleased look, Nelson nodded her head while looking off to the side. Unbeknownst to Sora, the blonde-haired kansen was smiling due to hearing that Repulse was doing okay. That bit of news gave her reassurance.

"…That's good to hear. Now then, let's keep moving."

"Right."

The two then continued to sprint through the castle and found themselves in a destroyed part of the structure. Based on an assumption, Sora figured that this might have been a storage room. Alas, the state that it was in didn't make it seem like that.

"Heads up. We've got more trouble" Nelson suddenly said.

Looking ahead, several Devastators were stationed and charging their attacks to be sent at the two.

*BRRR!*

"Tester is seriously starting to become annoying" Sora muttered.

"You have no idea."

Needing no words, Sora dashed forward with his head on a swivel for any incoming fire. Nelson also began firing away and targeting the heads of the Heartless.

*BANG*

The Heartless, feeling the brunt of the ranged attacks, then focused their attention on the kansen and began to fire right at her.

"Oh, no you don't!"

Stepping to the side and rolling across the ground, Sora let go of the Keyblade and then resummoned it to now take the form of Oathkeeper. He then raised his weapon while yelling out a spell that would leave quite the mark.

"Get a load of this! Spark!"

*WHOOSH!*

With a burst of light coming from the tip of the Keyblade, a ring of revolving light crystals soon shot out and started targeting the various Devastators. Dealing heavy light damage, Sora followed this attack with a Thunder spell which caused numerous bolts of yellow lighting to hurt the Heartless.

*ZZZTTTT!*

A few of the Devastators lashed out and began firing their shots at Sora but were then stumped when an explosion hit them. The explosion came from Nelson who was smirking confidently before continuing to fire at the mechanical foes.

Sora then dashed forward to Speed Slash against one of the Devastators which killed it before lunging at another Heartless and stabbing it three times across the chest. This resulted in another Heartless down for the count.

*BANG!*

One final shot managed to hit the last Devastator causing it to flop down and begin to disappear. Nelson walked up to Sora while letting out what could be described as a huff of exasperation.

"These Heartless… they're stronger than most Siren grunts."

"I hate to say this but… there are stronger Heartless that we've yet to encounter" Sora responded while glancing over at the blonde girl.

"Of course there is. What should I have expected? *sigh* Come on. We have to be nearing the top."

Nodding at her response, Sora broke into a jog soon finding a flight of stairs that led to somewhere new. The two began to skip steps and felt the atmosphere change drastically. It was almost as if someone told them devastating news causing their stomachs to drop. A heavy tone settled in the air.

The compounding aura in the area had now grown impeccably as they found themselves in a damaged hallway with parts of the building missing and offering a visual of the outside. They could see that they were nearing another courtyard on a higher level. Almost as if a foreboding warning of what was to come.

"Sora… do you- "

"Yeah… I feel it. There's a lot of darkness up ahead" Sora replied, resting his hand on his chest.

Whatever was happening further into the castle, the more the Keyblade wielder could sense that darkness was being used at a dangerous level.

"Nelson."

"Yes? What is it? I better not hear that heroic take of me staying back and- "

"No. The opposite. Whatever happens up there… I need you to take Vanguard and get out of here. Find the others. Gather everyone together" the young man said while looking ahead.

"Take a tactical retreat? That's a stupid- "

"It may be. But… we don't know what Tester is up to or what her whole purpose for creating this Mirror Sea is. For all we know, she could be manipulating the Heartless in a way that's beyond her understanding" Sora reasoned to her.

Biting the inside of her mouth, Nelson couldn't help but agree with that train of thought. Tester was not as rambunctious as Purifier and had a more analytical way of thinking. That meant that she could program whatever she wanted in this Mirror Sea.

"…You're asking for a lot."

"I am. But Vanguard's life matters more than anything right now. Once we can get everyone back together, then we can set things right and take this simulation down."

Hearing the boy's rally, Nelson simply hummed pleasantly.

"Well then, what are we waiting for?"

Nelson began heading for the door that would lead to the supposed courtyard that awaited them while Sora rushed to stand right next to her. Together, the two pushed open the door and found themselves looking at a peculiar yet ill-boding sight.

"You made it! Finally!" Tester's voice illuminated the courtyard.

Standing in the middle of the destroyed courtyard, Tester was smiling widely while Vanguard was crouched on the ground next to her. The area also had several fountains overflowing with water causing parts of the area to be soaked with puddles. In addition, a few flower beds could be seen with roses, lilies, and carnations could be seen wilted away.

"I will say, I'm kind of surprised that it took you so long to get here. I guess the reason for why you're so slow is because of her" Tester said while pointing directly at Nelson.

Insulted by what the Siren said, Nelson glared angrily at her.

"Hmph. I'd be counting my blessings if I were you."

"Ooh! Someone's getting angry."

Searching the area for any other Sirens or Heartless, Sora then looked down at Vanguard and could see her wincing a bit but still alive and aware.

"Enough. Tell me what your plan is, Tester" the Keyblade wielder demanded while pointing Oathkeeper right at her. "What is your goal here? To get me to fight Sirens and Heartless that I've already dealt with?"

Gleefully smiling at the boy, Tester hummed to herself before waving her hand in front of her and summoning a monitor to appear out of nowhere. The monitor then began to expand until it was large enough to be seen by everyone.

"Since you made it this far and preparations are still going on… I might as well tell you a bit about what's going on in this Mirror Sea. You've earned that much at least."

With another swish of her hand, a keyboard appeared before Tester where she began to type away and show something new on the screen.

"This Mirror Sea is specifically designed to be a testing ground for a few projects that we've got going on. One of those projects is one that's been in the works for quite some time and has even been used outside of simulations and in real battles. Its name is Project Copycat."

"Project Copycat?" Vanguard muttered, shifting her body to look right at Tester.

Staring intently at the restrained Royal Navy girl, Tester grabbed her by the collar so that she was now suspended in the air leaving Sora and Nelson to jump and get their weapons ready for battle.

However, in a surprising move, Tester threw Vanguard right at the two causing Sora to drop the Keyblade and catch Vanguard before she could hit the ground. Nelson on the other hand had her riggings and guns prepared to blast the Siren to smithereens.

"Relax! I'm giving you what you wanted, right? She's unharmed and back in your hands!"

Helping Vanguard up, Sora summoned the Keyblade and tapped at her chains causing them to release her and set her free. The blonde-haired and blue-eyed girl stared right into Sora's eyes while offering him a slight smile.

"Thanks for that. I'm Vanguard."

"Sora. And it's alright. We can save a proper introduction for later."

Nodding at his comment, the two were now facing Tester while Nelson was ready to drop the playful Siren.

"You're just as crazy as Purifier!" Sora remarked.

"Aww. Don't compare me to her. She's aloof, lazy, and a total scherzo… but honestly, aren't we all?" Tester replied with a tilt of her head. "Ahaha!"

"You're not helping your point."

Shrugging off the boy's insult, Tester then pulled up a visual on the monitor which showed a familiar-looking object that had been involved in a rather recent event.

"That's…"

"Yep! You're right, Sora. It's another dark cube. Didn't think you'd see another? Better yet, did you think there was only one dark cube?" Tester asked while leaning forward to catch a better view of the boy's reaction.

Scowling at how she sounded, Sora did not have a strong response. He honestly didn't think that there would be another dark cube in the Siren's possession. Now that he had given it some thought, it should have been an obvious thing to know. Azur Lane still had the other dark cube in their possession, but that didn't matter as much now that he was seeing another before his very eyes.

"I'd be lying if I didn't think that…"

"What… is that?" Nelson questioned while making sure to keep an eye on Tester.

"Hm! Hm! Seeing that you two weren't involved all that much in the events going on over in the Sakura Empire, I'll keep things brief. This dark cube, also called black cube by a few other Sirens, is a device to help… strengthen someone to greater potential. Another term would be Metamorphosis and while that rule still applies to this beautiful cube… details and discoveries have been a part of the project."

Two sets of reactions could be seen on the group's faces. The first was that of Sora who now had a better idea of these cubes and how the effects that Akagi dealt with could be applied. More than that, the dark cube also had darkness involved in it which may have been the discovery that Tester mentioned. These thoughts were what the Keyblade wielder thought of.

However, with Nelson and Vanguard, their reactions were a bit tamer but also conveyed a sense of wariness. Almost as if they were aware of what Tester was talking about. Sora wasn't entirely sure, but his gut thought that way.

And how right his gut was.

"Metamorphosis… you mean- "Vanguard started to say but was cut off.

"Yep! The black wisdom cubes are a way to expand our reach of power and with the help of a certain benefactor… the Heartless and dark powers presented to us will make absolutely sure we reach our goals!"

"Certain benefactor?" Sora repeated.

"Hehe! I'm not sure whether I should be the one to spill the beans, but I'll let you know one thing…" Tester then stared right at Sora for the longest moment of anyone's life before speaking in a slow yet clear tone of voice. "…They happen to know you…"

"…"

Feeling a chill come up his back and down his arms, Sora couldn't help but swallow a lump of air while trying to calm his mind and process what Tester had just said to him.

'Someone… knows me?' Sora thought to himself.

This revelation caused him to start racking his brain around and try to recall all the people that he'd met during his time in this world. Everyone he could remember was now part of Azur Lane or a Siren. There had been nobody else that he met or recalls being in this world…

"What… What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"

"Oh? Is that a little desperation I hear? Did the Guardian of Light get a rude awakening?" Tester antagonized him. "Haha! Would you like to know who I'm referring to?"

A palpable sense of tension was in the air as Sora tightened the grip around the Keyblade's handle. In the depths of his mind… he wasn't sure if he wanted to know. It was a stupid thing to consider given the situation, but the gnawing feeling that it would be problematic caused the Guardian of Light… caused Sora to let out a shaky breath.

Vanguard and Nelson could easily see how Sora's body language had stiffened up so fast. The boy, who appeared confident as well as backed up what he meant along with carrying high morale in the brief time they had met him, had appeared shocked. Even they could see that something was wrong.

"…*gulp*… Who… Who told you about me…?"

Wearing a dangerous smile on her face, Tester was enjoying this moment of anticipation very much.

"Hmm. I don't know whether he or they or it has a real name, but they called themselves…"

WHOOSH*

Suddenly, a Corridor of Darkness appeared to the side of Tester leaving Nelson and Vanguard to become alert and ready to fire on whatever came out of the dark portal.

*Kingdom Hearts X Back Cover OST – Master of Masters*

Sora on the other hand felt his breath leave him for a split second before angrily glaring at the Corridor of Darkness. There was no denying what it was. He had seen this portal so many times while dealing with Organization XIII. He would be a fool to dismiss the truth.

*clap*

"Thank you for that stellar introduction, Tester, was it?"

"Tch. You don't even remember my name" Tester bluntly replied.

"Can you blame me? There are so many of you Sirens that I'm losing track. Even though you're all tuned into the same programming" came a mysterious voice from within the Corridor of Darkness.

"You're wrong about that. Not every Siren is established to the same functioning program."

"Ah. Apologies. I forgot about them…"

Stepping out of the Corridor of Darkness, a figure with no solid form could be seen. The figure appeared human, but it was difficult to confirm that due to the pitch-dark mist that surrounded them. It left a daunting yet mysterious vibe to the figure or being standing before them.

"Now then, this is a stark first meeting if I must say so…" the dark being said while supposedly looking right at Nelson and Vanguard. "Members of Azur Lane… It's a pleasure to meet you. However, not as pleasant as it is finally meeting you, Sora."

Grinding his teeth, the Keyblade wielder made sure to be careful with what he said.

"Who are you?"

"I'm what you could call… an old friend of a friend of yours."

"…I meant your name."

A stunted chuckle came from the dark being before they continued to speak.

"You already know who I am. You've just never seen me like this… or rather you didn't see the other part of me as open as this."

"Grr. That doesn't make any sense!" Sora yelled at the figure.

"You already know the answer. While I never met you… a part of me did. In a way, my sibling is the one you encountered in the Keyblade War."

Taking a second to think about what was just said, Sora began to recollect everything that happened during the Keyblade War and how he was faced with many challenges. From dealing with the real Organization XIII to finding a way to use the Power of Waking to restore Kairi's heart… he couldn't pinpoint of meeting this dark being's sibling or other part of…

It was right then that Sora had a thought come to him.

'It… can't be… right?'

During his travel to the past to find a way to save Kairi, Sora ventured through the hearts of his friends and dealt with the strife that they felt. However, there was a certain someone who had something… odd inside his heart. Something… dark.

A flashback to what happened inside Ventus's heart played out in Sora's head immediately.

(*Ven!

*Ven!

*No, leave him be.

*What?!

*He's too pure… and a pure heart can be most careless.

*Who are you?

*…Darkness.

*Darkness?

*…Vanitas?)

Coming to this dangerous realization, Sora slowly looked at the dark being in the face, or at least where its face was supposed to be. The dark mist hiding the being's figure now had a whole new sense of ambiguity.

"You're… Darkness."

"Congratulations, Sora. You actually have a brain up there" the dark being now known as Darkness replied.

Growling at the insult, Sora continued glaring at the dark being.

"I want some answers. Now!"

"And answers… are something we don't have time for. At least not now."

"No! I want answers now!"

"Heh. Is that anger I detect coming from you, hero?" Darkness mocked with a teasing tone. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're showcasing a bit of Roxas here…"

This comment seemed to annoy Sora even more as he was now focused solely on Darkness. At that moment, Tester didn't even matter that much anymore. The most dangerous foe right here in the Mirror Sea was Darkness.

Moreover, Nelson and Vanguard were a bit taken aback by how angry and upset Sora was right now. Based on the things they had heard about him, seeing him like this was a sight to behold. While they didn't know the whole story or connection between Sora and the being known as Darkness, they knew right away that something significant happened.

"Sora…" Vanguard quietly muttered.

"Whoa. You managed to make him snap so easily. What happened between the two of you?" Tester asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.

"Nothing. I had no part in what he went through. That was my other part's doing. I only heard what happened there in that war" Darkness answered truthfully.

"So, you've got qualities like a program?" Tester asked.

"That's none of your concern. What matters now is that your Arbiter's project proceeds successfully."

"Arbiter!?"

"Arbiter?!"

The two ship girls screamed aloud while having their eyes go wide and bodies tense up. Sora didn't know why they had that sort of reaction, but based on how serious they sounded he figured it wasn't anything good.

"What's an Arbiter?" Sora abruptly questioned.

"It's a topic that we are not privy to understanding. They are essentially from an alternate timeline where things… didn't go as planned. They were not gifted the power that you hold, Sora" Darkness explained while gesturing to Tester who simply frowned at the dark being.

"What are you talking about now?" the elite Siren questioned with a hard glare.

With this stagnated question lingering in the air, even Nelson and Vanguard were left perplexed about what exactly was being discussed now. The idea that this dark being knew Sora along with knowing that he had a special power that the Sirens did not have… none of it made any sense.

"Something that is above your pay grade" Darkness coldly replied.

"Jokes on you. I don't have a pay grade" Tester argued back.

Taking a few steps forward, Darkness seemed to reach its dissolved yet barely noticeable hand forward and out toward Sora who simply stepped back with his Keyblade ready to be used.

"Don't."

"Hmm… very well. Tester, I believe the project is ready to be activated" Darkness said while summoning another Corridor of Darkness.

*WHOOSH*

"We are ready to go! Just give the word and I'll send it out" Tester called out.

"What's going on?! What are you plotting?" Nelson yelled while pointing her riggings at the Siren. "Answer me!"

"Geez. You must have fun at parties."

With one final look at the Guardian of Light, Darkness let out a low chuckle.

"We will have to meet again, Sora. When the time is right and after you have become stronger."

"Huh? What do you mean? I'm already strong enough to beat you!" Sora shouted while frowning at the mysterious figure's comment. "I beat Vanitas. I can beat you."

For what felt like the longest moment ever, no one uttered a single word. The sound of waves hitting the water could be heard in the distance. Thunder shook with lightning scattering around and illuminating the sky. And the silence between the two kansens, Siren, Keyblade wielder, and dark being was monumental.

That is… until Darkness simply let out what could be described as a humming sound.

"…Beating me… won't defeat me for good. There is still so much you don't know. Even now, you're going to need your strength for what you'll be facing. I look forward to the act you put on…"

Once Darkness said this, a single head nod could be seen directed at Tester.

"Do it."

"And with that, Project Copycat is now a go!"

*BZZZT!*

"Wait!"

Before Sora could utter anything else, Darkness had now walked through the Corridor of Darkness and disappeared completely while Tester was smiling while having her eyes glow yellow.

"Alrighty then! For the hard work that's been established in Project Copycat, we originally had it established to be used as a sort of mimic-designed program to take after a ship girl."

Hearing this, Nelson and Vanguard were wide-eyed at this mind-blowing news.

"Copying a ship girl… just like- "

"Nope! Well, yes. But no. Past projects have done this already with how the various factions encountered copies of ship girls on the battlefield. Obviously, those copies aren't up to par with the original version of ship girls. Hence, the implementation of the black wisdom cubes was to propel the power within a being to achieve and surpass all expectations" Tester explained while holding an excited tone in her voice.

Sora continued to listen to everything she said as it had something to do with Darkness.

"However, when our dear friend requested to meet us… how could we say no to such significant help? Darkness helped give us a better look at how true darkness can be harnessed. So, we put two and two together along with a bit of advice from our shadowy friend and…"

*CLICK*

Out of nowhere, a distortion of data and lights appeared right in front of Tester while working to form what looked to be a figure. As soon as what appeared to be a pair of black boots materialized from the data being created… Sora knew exactly what was happening.

"No way…"

"Sora? What's wrong?"

"Sora! Do you know what this thing is?"

Taking a step forward, the Keyblade wielder donned a battle-hardened face as he twirled his Keyblade around and got into his signature battle stance.

"It's not a thing… it's a who…"

"Who?"

*BZZT*

Once the data materialization was finished, there now appeared to be a cloaked figure standing there with their hands behind their back. The girls were utterly taken aback by this new person's presence.

A figure wearing a long, dark cloak with a hood covering their face could be seen. This figure was one that Sora could easily point out now thanks to all the encounters he had in the past. This hooded figure was better known to be dressed as an Organization XIII member.

"Did you just create this person, Tester!?" Vanguard questioned the white-haired girl.

"Yep! With the data that we've collected from our battles with Azur Lane and the information and power kindly given to us by Darkness, I helped format the project and get it rolling. At least, that's what can be described for this project."

"This project?"

Another devious grin appeared along the Siren's face.

"You'll see that one very soon as well. But for now, Sora, would you kindly test out the battle capabilities on Project Copycat? Please?" Tester teasingly asked.

Not about to let this project go on any longer, Sora immediately dashed forward and primed his Keyblade to hit the cloaked figure.

*FLASH*

Suddenly, the hooded figure summoned what looked to be a blue and black blade in their hands before blocking Sora's attack and coming to a blade bind. The figure then simply stared at Sora, who glared right back at where the figure's face was.

"You've got to be *grunt* kidding me!"

"Hmph. Still stubborn as ever" came a new voice not heard before.

Pushing against the weapon, Sora now got a better look at who just spoke and could easily recognize who was under the hood.

"You! How are you here!?"

"Have you learned nothing? It's been told right to your face what this is… what I am."

Reaching up and pulling back the hood, a young man with mildly tanned skin, pointed ears, golden eyes, and silver hair could be seen. In his hand was a blade that had what appeared to be a blue hourglass for a charm along with a blue and black blade that held what appeared to be a clock near the top of the weapon.

"Who are you?" Vanguard questioned, keeping a defensive stance.

"Better yet, what are you?"

Scoffing at the questions, the man simply shook his head.

"You two are just as dimwitted as he is," the silver-haired man said before looking directly at Sora. "Go ahead. Tell them who I am…"

Glaring right at the man before him, Sora spoke up clearly for Vanguard and Nelson to hear.

"His name is Xehanort. Both a member and the founder of an evil organization that tried to destroy many worlds more than once. Along with trying to gain ultimate power. That group was known as Organization XIII."

"Organization XIII…" Vanguard muttered, making sure to remember this important information.

"But what you so idiotically fail to realize is that I'm not the real Xehanort" Young Xehanort stated in a mocking tone for Sora to hear. "I am merely what you could call a possibility. A possibility made of data."

"Data…" Sora mumbled while looking the boy up and down.

"Huh… how about we call you Data Xehanort?" Tester asked, prying into the discussion.

"It doesn't matter what you call me… so long as I fulfill my task at hand."

Baffled by the dismissal of his name, Sora spoke up.

"If I understand this right, then Darkness helped make you, right?"

A dull expression could be seen along the man's face. He simply frowned at Sora before pointing at him.

"You already know the answer. Why waste time working your slow brain… when you should be fighting for your life!"

*BZZT!*

*WHOOSH!*

Suddenly, the entire castle courtyard began to dissolve and de-digitize leaving the girls and Sora to be standing over water. However, in the next split second the entire area was now distorted to appear in the middle of a battleground.

Looking out, Sora could see several familiar faces as well as new faces he had not met.

"Enterprise!?"

"Sora!?"

"Repulse?!"

"Vanguard?!"

"New Jersey!?"

"George!?"

"What the heck!?"

*BZZT*

Without any warning, Nelson and Vanguard were teleported away from Sora leaving him, Xehanort, and Tester to be close to one another.

"Ahh. Those two were nothing more than a distraction. With just the three of us, this should be more interesting!" Tester gleefully claimed.

*BZZT*

Finding themselves face first in the water, Nelson and Vanguard were right next to a Siren ship and were about to start firing at it but were met with an explosion along with a familiar hand reaching out to them.

"Need a hand?"

Gladly taking George's hand, the two girls looked joyful to see their old friend.

"Good to see you're still up and at them."

"You too. What's the situation looking like?" Vanguard asked, seeing Nelson being helped up by Duke of York.

Meanwhile, Nelson was looking up at Duke of York while she had a smug grin rolled up on her face.

"I don't want to hear it" Nelson blurted out.

"What's there to say? The Sirens have been throwing us around the entire time we've been in this Mirror Sea. I get what you're feeling completely."

The pink-haired ship girl extended out her hand to help Nelson up.

Sighing as well as taking her hand, the blonde was now back on her feet while seeing that she and Vanguard were teleported a few hundred feet back.

"That guy… Sora seemed to know him."

Alas, before anything else could be said, something began to happen.

"Hey! Something's happening!" yelled out Washington.

The area around Sora began to glow with a distorted haze settling in before lights activated along the ground. Having a better view of the ground from their point of view, the group of girls could see that the area was lit up along with Tester now appearing off to the side of the two boys.

"Alright! Let's get this project rolling!" the elite Siren cheered aloud. "Girls! I'll give you some grunts to deal with. Just do your thing and get me some battle data to go record. However, my main concern will be this wonderful fight!"

"Tch. You think we'll just let you do what you want!?" Nelson shouted.

"Yeah."

Tester's immediate and casual response left the blonde girl to be fuming.

"We won't be playing your game, Tester" Enterprise remarked while pulling her bowstring back and aiming right for the Siren's head. "Give up."

Ignoring Enterprise's remark, Tester simply waved her hand in front of her and summoned a glowing keyboard while typing away. At the same time, Sora was still glaring right at Young Xehanort while holding onto the Keyblade. The two Keyblade wielders were staring down at one another waiting for whoever would strike first.

"Alrighty! Let's get this show on the move! You're up!"

*BZZT – PING!*

A forcefield soon shot up around the area that Sora was in causing a dome-like structure to appear all around before fading away leaving it like nothing happened at all.

"That's just a precaution. In case any one of you tries to get the bright idea of helping Sora" Tester stated for all the girls to hear.

"You just think of everything, don't you?" Littorio questioned the Siren.

"It pays to be ahead of everyone. Now then, let the battles begin!"

*BZZT*

Appearing out of nowhere, dark portals flashed into existence before flashing away and leaving an assortment of Siren and Heartless ships to appear all around the area. The girls of Azur Lane all stood close to one another before seemingly glancing over at Sora.

"Don't worry about me!" the spiky-haired boy shouted for them to hear.

"But…" Hiei started to say.

"I'll be fine!"

Looking directly at Young Xehanort and knowing what needed to be done. Whether or not he was the real Xehanort or just a copy made from Darkness's influence with the dark cube, Sora would not let him hurt his friends.

"Leave him to me."

"Heh. Do you honestly believe you can beat me?"

"I know you're not the real Xehanort. But you should know that doesn't matter. I still beat him. And I'll beat you too!"

Shaking his head, the Organization XIII member simply shook his head before twirling his Keyblade around in a flashy yet intimidating manner.

"You are all alone. Time… is a cruel prison!"

*WHOOSH*

*Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind – Data Young Xehanort Theme OST*

With one final glare sent at one another, the two Keyblade wielders charged toward each other with nothing to hold them back. This was their battle, and they would see it through to the end.

*FLASH*

Immediately, Xehanort teleported himself to the right side of Sora before teleporting to the left side, and then he teleported right in front of Sora swinging his Keyblade which had now turned into a glowing teal whip.

Trailing the man, Sora already had his Keyblade ready to go in a defensive stance and managed to block several lashes of the glowing whip. Xehanort then teleported on his left side with a follow-up slash of the whip which was easily blocked, to then appearing on the right side and swiping at his feet.

Sora expected this and blocked the attack in time only to be met with another attack from Xehanort only this time it was with his Keyblade. With impeccable timing, the Guardian of Light managed to swing his weapon and block the blade while having his weight shifted and allowing him to finally counterattack.

*WHOOSH*

As soon as Sora saw his chance, he pushed himself forward while drifting along the ground and bringing his Keyblade to strike Xehanort right in the chest.

However, the older boy predicted this and swung his Keyblade down right at Sora but not before turning it back to a whip. This forced him to pull his arm back and try to block the attack. Alas, this move was too fast for the spiky-haired boy forcing him to be flung back as well as taking a powerful blow to the shoulder.

"Gya!"

Rolling along the ground and then coming back to his feet, Sora brushed off the hit and started charging at Xehanort but was thwarted before he could even get another step forward.

*WHOOSH*

The silver-haired boy continued to teleport from side to side in front of Sora before lunging out his whip to hit him but was met with the boy's Keyblade blocking the attack. Xehanort then tried appearing in the air to hit him but was once again met with Sora's weapon stopping the attack.

While the Organization member was fast, Sora was just as fast. His agility had been honed thanks to all the experience he had attained while fighting not only in general but against the Organization not just once but twice.

"Too slow!"

Xehanort then appeared behind Sora, but not before disappearing and reappearing to the side of him.

"Too weak!"

Sora rolled across the ground and managed to avoid being hit by another whip attack before jumping to his feet.

"Too- "

"Smart!"

With a quick slash, Sora managed to knock Xehanort off balance by predicting where he would teleport to next. This attack also allowed him to knock the silver-haired boy up into the air and then teleport in a flash of blue light right in front of him followed by a few strikes across the chest.

Xehanort heaved himself back from the attack and tried casting a spell with his Keyblade but was met face first with Sora's weapon as he had performed a Strike Raid while in the air.

This attack propelled Xehanort to skitter across the ground while clamoring back to his feet. Sora also landed on the ground but with more grace and style as he simply rolled and then bounced back up while summoning his Keyblade. The two continued to glare at one another. Watching to see who would be the first to act.

*WHOOSH*

Before Sora realized it, Xehanort had disappeared and reappeared behind him leaving Sora to throw himself backward to avoid being hit by the Keyblade whip. However, this is exactly what the Organization XIII member wanted as he instantly fired several Blizzard spells set to target the spiky-haired boy.

*BRRRR*

Four soon-to-be-five Ice spells were now hurtling through the air and aiming for Sora which caused him to flip himself to the side. The time to escape this targeted attack was sadly not in his favor as in the next moment, he found his entire body frozen and unable to move.

"Haha!"

*WHACK*

*CRACK*

Sora was flung across the ground from the powerful slash across his frozen chest as he recoiled from the hit. He was now on his side before rolling to the side and getting back up. The Ice attack was something he should have expected but there was also a lingering feeling building up in his chest. Something was off.

It felt like Xehanort was toying with him in a way that didn't make clear sense. However, there was no time to ponder this any further. The silver-haired man now fired another barrage of Ice spells his way which Sora was ready for now.

"Not this time!"

Twirling his Keyblade around, Sora began sprinting away from the Ice spells targeting him but instead of not doing anything, he did just the opposite.

*WHOOSH!*

The Keyblade was thrown right at the closest Ice spell causing a blast of ice to hit the air. The Strike Raid Sora had just pulled allowed him the chance to counter the magic being sent his way.

*WHOOSH!*

Soon enough, each of the spells was stopped letting Sora fire his own Ice spell at the man which was easily deflected. Alas, that was exactly what the Guardian of Light wanted.

Aiming down his sights on the man, Sora's entire body soon glowed with blue energy right before he Airstepped toward Young Xehanort and swung the Keyblade right at his shoulder. This attack was then blocked by another Keyblade as Xehanort glared right at Sora.

"Arrogance will get you nowhere!"

"Then how about you give up!"

"Tch. You're done here."

Heaving his Keyblade forward and pushing Sora back, gave the brunette the opening he was waiting for.

"Hyah!"

Lunging forward, Sora flicked his wrist which let go of the Kingdom Key and now summoned Wheel of Fate into his hands. Moreover, with his body thrust forward, he began to stab at the cloaked man while also transforming his wooden Keyblade to take on the Formchange of the blade which turned it into a spear.

However, it was right at that point that Xehanort raised his free hand causing what appeared to be a glowing blue circular platform right under him. The platform had taken the appearance of a clock not fully materialized but was enough for the black-coated man to smirk.

Before Sora could hit Xehanort at all, he was then whipped from the back and forced to stop right there at that point in time.

*SWISH!*

*SWOOSH*

*SWISH!*

Several critical hits slammed into Sora while he was still frozen in time but once the spell wore off the only response to have was to yell in pain.

"Gyah!"

Throwing himself back and reprising from the attack, Sora clutched his shoulder and called out for a Curaga spell.

"Heal!"

A green glow soon cascaded over him as he narrowed his sights on Young Xehanort who simply wore a smug look on his face. The Organization XIII member then disappeared and reappeared again leaving Sora to closely watch his moves. The Guardian of Light also realized that right as soon as he was about to be hit he switched his Keyblade to his original leaving his other form at the ready. This gave him an idea.

It wasn't long before he had the right idea of what Xehanort was planning and dodge rolled to the side before immediately turning back and heaving his Keyblade up by his face.

*DING!*

It was right then that Xehanort appeared right before him and was set to strike his head but was met by a counterattack.

Slicing the Keyblade across his torso, Sora landed several blows across the man's body before firing a point-blank Fire spell causing flames to coat his attire. Sora then lunged forward and switched Keyblades only to now wield a large wooden spear.

The spear which had been transformed from the Wheel of Fate Keyblade was on full display leaving Sora to boldly smirk while dashing forward at the silver-haired man. In addition to this, his clothes had changed to match the new form provided with Wheel of Fate. Now, his clothes attained an inverse color scheme, becoming a deep red in most areas, while also donning a camouflage-like pattern. Even his boots had taken a red color as well.

*BAM!*

With a swipe of the spear, Sora whacked Young Xehanort right in his shoulder leaving him to wince in pain before trying to strike back at the brunette. Unfortunately, he was met with another swing of the spear, but this time managed to deflect the attack.

Sora then tried stabbing him in his leg but was once again met with another deflection. He then tried to cast a point-blank Thunder spell at the silver-haired man but soon found himself staring at the sea as Xehanort had teleported to the side of him.

*WHOOSH!*

Another whip attack targeted Sora, but this time he was able to easily block it with the range of the spear. Soon enough, an onslaught of teleportation and whip attacks were directed at him causing Sora to hastily block each attack and even manage to pull off a spinning attack with the spear.

In the next instant, Xehanort appeared right above Sora and primed his whip to strike the boy's hands leaving him defenseless for an opportunity to attack.

"You're annoying!"

Enabled with reaction time speed, Sora barely managed to avoid the attack and let go of the spear before causing it to flash away, but not before summoning Oathkeeper and swiping right at Xehanort's torso.

"Back atcha!"

The attack sent Young Xehanort back into the air while grimacing at the attack before he teleported and appeared several hundred feet from Sora, who was now back to his regular clothing but this time holding onto Oathkeeper.

The two continued to glare at one another before a heightened sense of battle kicked causing the Keyblade wielders to charge forward.

"There's no victory waiting for you!" Young Xehanort shouted while swinging his weapon forward.

Bringing his weapon to the forefront and coming to a blade lock, Sora was up close and glared back at the tan-skinned man while pushing all his weight forward.

"That's what you think! But I'm *grunt* going to win!"

"You have no idea what lies up ahead."

"Obviously! *grunt* I don't! But I don't care!" Sora shouted while standing his ground.

"Hmph. There's no saving you. Your friends will be powerless."

"Grr! I've heard that one before" Sora remarked with a glare.

The immediate callback of his interaction with the real Young Xehanort back in San Fransokyo, while he was looking for a way to save his friends, played through his mind. Even now, it didn't matter. He would find a way for everyone to make it back safely. No matter what.

"I don't know what Darkness or the Sirens have in store, but what I do know is that my friends… we'll beat it together!"

A sly smirk appeared on the fake Xehanort's face.

"Even if it comes at a price?"

"What…? What price?" Sora demanded while still pressing his body forward in the blade lock.

The sound of the two Keyblades grinding against one another led to the sound of metal screeching

"The price of putting those you care about in harm's way," Young Xehanort said while still pushing back against Sora's Keyblade. "This whole Mirror Sea… this whole simulation is an attempt to enhance one of the Sirens to a higher level. And what do you think is the key element that will be used?"

Thinking this through, Sora immediately thought about several different things that would fit what Xehanort was saying, and within seconds, he knew exactly what was going on.

"The Sirens are harnessing Darkness…"

"Heh. You're smarter than most give you credit."

"Grr. Why are you telling me this?"

*SCHING*

The two Keyblades were pushed apart as Young Xehanort jumped back and spun the weapon in his hand before aiming it at Sora again.

"It's obvious what I am. A mere copy meant to imitate someone of a higher caliber. A Siren project given life and intelligence harnessed from Darkness. I know what it is that I'm supposed to do, but my actions do not need to be in common with my thoughts."

Perplexed by this bit of information being laid before him, Sora shook his head while grimacing.

"Basically, you're a project going rogue from the sounds of it."

"Heh. In a way, I am. But that will not stop me from defeating you."

Dashing forward, Young Xehanort teleported forward and then to the side of Sora before lashing out his whip against the boy.

On Sora's end, he immediately used the Keyblade to defend against the whip attack but was then forced to block another strike to his back. Losing his balance for a split second, he then rolled to the side and blocked another attack before getting back on his feet.

*WHOOSH*

Sora then spotted the fake Xehanort teleport right in front of him and swung the whip out, but this time would be different.

As soon as the whip was blocked by his Keyblade, Sora flashed away in a bright blue and then reappeared in front of Young Xehanort and barraged him with three stabs across the chest. This attack threw the cloaked figure back forcing him to teleport and then reappear next to the brunette.

Before long, Young Xehanort lashed right at Sora but then his weapon was deflected away. Sora then tried to swipe at the man's arm but was met with another block of the Keyblade. The two continued this sequence of actions with one going on the offense and the other defending, and then it flipped with the other going on the defense and the other taking a strong offensive approach.

From a distance, one could also guess that their fighting styles match a song and dance rhythm with the focus being a display of offense and defense. Two skilled warriors trying to beat the other and having the battleground devoid of any interruptions.

"Just give up!" Sora yelled out while striking at Young Xehanort.

The silver-haired man then blocked the attack and tried casting a Blizzard spell right at the spiky-haired boy but was met with quite a surprise when Sora leaped high into the air and shot a Fire spell at him.

*WHOOSH*

Swiping the spell away, Young Xehanort was about to raise his hand and commence another time-stopping attack but was immediately forced to bring his Keyblade up and block Sora's blade coming straight for him.

*CLANG*

Falling to the platform, Sora rolled across the ground and summoned back his weapon before grinning.

"Let's go!"

Spinning the Keyblade and extending his arms, a burst of energy exploded around him while his clothes flashed brightly. Once the light died down, he swiped his blade and stood confidently while donning his Light Form with Oathkeeper by his side. His clothes now had a white and gray color scheme along with a strange symbol appearing on his pant legs and even on his hood.

"Deal with this!"

Dashing forward while seemingly leaving a trail of white light, Sora dealt an impactful blow right to Xehanort forcing him to wince at the attack but follow it up with one of his own. The brunette then dashed to the side of the Organization XIII member which forced him to teleport away. This continued into a repeated sequence of Sora dashing and Xehanort teleporting.

It wasn't long before the silver-haired man grew annoyed with this standstill and stopped ahead of where Sora now stood.

"Enough! Time is a cruel prison!"

*DING*

*Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind – Data Young Xehanort – Time Stop Mix*

All around the platform, time seemed to stop as a fully transparent clock appeared on the ground with the hands of 12, 3, 6, and 9 being visible in their Roman numeral form. Furthermore, the clock's hands were ticking backward while the entire area appeared distorted.

Out of nowhere, Xehanort started teleporting at an incredible speed forcing Sora to block all the attacks with Oathkeeper and continue to bear the onslaught coming his way. Each attack was followed up by the sporadic foe teleporting and then hitting him with a whip attack.

"Time is waning down, Sora."

"Grr!"

"There's no hope for you."

"That's it!"

Causing a burst of energy to appear after blocking another of Xehanort's attacks, Sora lunged forward and tried attacking the silver-haired man, but he was met with disappointment as he had teleported away. Xehanort then reappeared and tried stabbing the brunette in the shoulder but was met with a Keyblade hitting him right in the face.

This forced the transparent clock and distorted haze to disappear while also knocking Young Xehanort backward.

"Ngh!"

Regaining his balance, Xehanort then tried firing several Ice spells at Sora who had broken out into a dash causing the white trail of light to follow behind him.

As soon as Xehanort was about to send another Ice spell at him, he was met with an explosion rocking the barrier around him. Looking to the side, he saw one of the ship girls glaring right at him.

"You're a real pain in the arse you know that!?" George proclaimed while firing another shot at the protected dome.

"Tch. Your friends are a real annoyance, Sora."

"That's what makes them so great!" Sora countered with a grin.

Teleporting away and reappearing in the center of the battle platform, Young Xehanort then raised his hand in the air before looking directly at Sora.

"Then let's see if they can help you with this!"

*DING*

Once again, all around the platform, time had seemed to stop as a fully transparent clock appeared on the ground with the hands of 12, 3, 6, and 9 being visible in their Roman numeral form. Furthermore, the clock's hands were ticking backward while the entire area appeared distorted.

However, there was something different about this ability this time around.

The hands on the clock began to move backward at an even faster rate compared to the last time while also having a more distorted visual of the area begin to play out.

From the outside, George and a few other girls could see that something odd was truly beginning to happen as the area around the platform was showing two very different things.

"Wait a second… why are there two Soras?!" Nelson shouted while pointing at where the boy was.

"That's not… wait… you're right!" North Carolina added as she inspected the area.

The best explanation for what was happening with Sora was that there were two Soras that could be seen. One was dodging and weaving all the attacks that the silver-haired man was sending his way while another Sora could be seen frozen and standing in a battle stance. The same could be said about the man in the black coat as one version of himself was attacking the brunette while the other stood still with his hand in the air.

Two versions of the same person could be seen conveying two very different sets of actions.

"George! Can that shield be destroyed?" Enterprise called out to the blonde-haired kansen.

*BOOM*

Another explosion rocked the barrier preventing the girls from reaching Sora.

"Dammit! That shield is strong. None of my attacks are even making a dent in it" George responded while sending gunfire at the barrier.

"Don't bother wasting your ammo!" Littorio commented while finishing off another Siren ship. "We don't know how long this fight will last. Nor do we know how strong that barrier's shield is."

"We need to come at this from a strategic point" Vanguard added.

Glancing at the situation playing out with Sora and then back at the Heartless and Siren ships coming at them, Kaga let out a low growl.

"Where is Tester!? She's been too quiet."

*FLASH*

Suddenly, a flash of light appeared before them.

"Heehee! I wondered when someone would notice that I had disappeared."

Sending a glare at her, Enterprise spoke up first.

"What are you up to?!"

"I'm busy. That's all you need to know. And might I say…" Tester then glanced over at the situation unfolding with Sora and Xehanort. "Project Copycat is going far better than I projected. It's doing wonders for my other project."

Perplexed by this sudden admission, the girls all looked at one another with questions written all over their faces.

"Other project?" Duke of York spoke up.

"Hehe! That's a slip of the tongue. But you'll be seeing it soon enough. She's very eager to get to work."

This new bit of information just raised the flags in all the girls' minds as they stared right at Tester who was simply smiling away.

"Ooh! What's going on in there? That's not what I predicted."

Drawing their attention back toward Sora and the mysterious foe, the girls watched as Sora was now locked in close combat with the other man. Their blades continued to meet one another with even sparks sometimes flying as the two blades clashed against one another.

"Sora…" Littorio muttered while watching the fight commence.

"It looks like a dance…" Hiei said while observing the fight closely. "The rhythm and speed are impressive."

"Why are there two of them?" Washington questioned.

*BOOM*

Suddenly, several explosions appeared out in the distance with the Siren and Heartless numbers going down drastically. Azur Lane's forces were fighting back and gaining the advantage.

"Oh? You guys managed to clear those grunts faster than I anticipated. Kudos to you!" Tester said while typing away at her keyboard that materialized out of nothing. "Guess that means more- "

"You're powerless!" came the voice of the silver-haired man.

Everyone then turned their attention back to the fight and couldn't stop watching.

"Let's see how you handle this!"

"You're not getting away!" Sora shouted while lunging right at Young Xehanort.

"You shall wander forever!"

*WHOOSH*

*TICK*

*WHOOSH*

*TOCK*

*WHOOSH*

*TICK*

*TOCK*

*WHOOSH*

*Repeat - Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind – Data Young Xehanort Theme OST*

With one final glare sent at one another, the two Keyblade wielders charged toward each other with nothing to hold them back. This was their battle, and they would see it through to the end.

*FLASH*

*WHOOSH*

As soon as Sora saw his chance, he pushed himself forward while drifting along the ground and bringing his Keyblade to strike Xehanort right in the chest.

"Gya!"

Rolling along the ground and then coming back to his feet, Sora brushed off the hit and started charging at Xehanort but was thwarted before he could even get another step forward.

*WHOOSH*

"Too slow!"

Xehanort then appeared behind Sora, but not before disappearing and reappearing to the side of him.

"Too weak!"

Sora rolled across the ground and managed to avoid being hit by another whip attack before jumping to his feet.

"Too- "

"Smart!"

Xehanort heaved himself back from the attack and tried casting a spell with his Keyblade but was met face first with Sora's weapon as he had performed a Strike Raid while in the air.

*WHOOSH*

*BRRRR*

"Haha!"

*WHACK*

*CRACK*

"Not this time!"

Twirling his Keyblade around, Sora began sprinting away from the Ice spells targeting him but instead of not doing anything, he did just the opposite.

*WHOOSH!*

The Keyblade was thrown right at the closest Ice spell causing a blast of ice to hit the air. The Strike Raid Sora had just pulled allowed him the chance to counter the magic being sent his way.

*WHOOSH!*

Soon enough, each of the spells was stopped letting Sora fire his own Ice spell at the man which was easily deflected. Alas, that was exactly what the Guardian of Light wanted.

"Arrogance will get you nowhere!"

"Then how about you give up!"

"Tch. You're done here."

Heaving his Keyblade forward and pushing Sora back, this attack gave the brunette the opening he was waiting for.

"Hyah!"

Before Sora could hit Xehanort at all, he was then whipped from the back and forced to stop right there at that point in time.

*SWISH!*

*SWOOSH*

*SWISH!*

Several critical hits slammed into Sora while he was still frozen in time but once the spell wore off the only response to have was to yell in pain.

"Gyah!"

Throwing himself back and reprising from the attack, Sora clutched his shoulder and called out for a Curaga spell.

"Heal!"

It wasn't long before he had the right idea of what Xehanort was planning and dodge rolled to the side before immediately turning back and heaving his Keyblade up by his face.

*DING!*

It was right then that Xehanort appeared right before him and was set to strike his head but was met by a counterattack.

*BAM!*

*WHOOSH!*

In the next instant, Xehanort appeared right above Sora and primed his whip to strike the boy's hands leaving him defenseless for an opportunity to attack.

"You're annoying!"

"Back atcha!"

The two continued to glare at one another before a heightened sense of battle kicked causing the Keyblade wielders to charge forward.

"There's no victory waiting for you!" Young Xehanort shouted while swinging his weapon forward.

Bringing his weapon to block the attack, Sora was now locked in a blade bind while glaring right at the silver-haired man and doing his best to fight back.

"No way…" Enterprise mumbled while stepping forward. "Did he just…"

"These guys are crazy…" San Francisco muttered while being fascinated by the fight before her.

'They're so fast… and they are not holding back' Boise thought to herself watching witnessing the fight.

"Such skill…" New Jersey spoke quietly while having her eyes focused squarely on the spiky-haired boy.

Witnessing this battle closely, the girls of Azur Lane one by one began to realize what had just happened. It shouldn't have taken them this long, but with how fast-paced the fight had been… it had now clicked.

"You've got to be kidding me!? No freaking way!" Washington exclaimed. "He went back in time!"

"More like reversed time. Making it so he repeated the start of their battle" Littorio clarified as she watched Sora continue to fight the man. "That's a dangerous ability. Unlike any I've ever seen before…"

"He needs to kick this guy's ass now!" Baltimore shouted before preparing her rigging." Otherwise, he'll be caught repeating this fight."

"Agreed. We need to act" George replied.

The blonde ship girl then fired a barrage of gunfire at the barrier separating them and Sora causing the shield to appear. Each explosion was showing more and more of the barrier giving them a better visual of it.

"That's not going to work~" Tester teased.

Noticing the gunfire, Sora quickly turned his head to the side and could see all the girls now firing on the shield. The repeated explosions and gunfire hitting the barrier were a sight to see.

"What's going on?!"

"Sora! Watch out!" Enterprise shouted.

Throwing himself to the ground, Sora was met with a kick to the chest causing him to gasp but also be thrown back as he saw Xehanort go in for another attack.

*CHING!*

The two Keyblades met one another which allowed Sora the perfect opportunity to counterattack. But not just any sort of counterattack. This one involved a bit more force. That being the bottom of his boot kicking someone in the face.

*BAM*

"Ngh!"

"Ha!"

Sora then teleported and kicked Young Xehanort right in the face before following it up with a flurry of slashes across his chest. He then started landing slash after slash before slamming the silver-haired man down to the water's surface.

*SPLASH*

"Sora! He went back in time! You've already fought him before!" Kaga yelled out to the spiky-haired boy.

Paying close attention to what Kaga said, Sora nodded and began to focus on the fight before him. In his chest, he knew that something was up but to get confirmation on that something was good news to him. This meant that he had this fake Xehanort by the ropes.

"Tch."

As Young Xehanort briskly stood up, he glared right back at Sora before spinning his Keyblade summoning several shards of ice and hurling them forward.

"You're condemned!"

Seeing the icy projectiles heading his way, Sora was about to break into a sprint but realized that he had enough energy stored up to access another one of his Formchanges. This one would guarantee his victory over Xehanort and stop him from using his time abilities.

"Think again! GIVE ME STRENGTH!"

*WHOOSH*

*BOOM*

A bright explosion appeared around Sora before it faded away revealing the Guardian of Light's clothes had changed colors once again. This time, he was now donning his Second Form attire which closely resembled his outfit from his previous adventure. Black pants with a yellow strap going along both of his thighs, red pockets sitting along his waist, a blue tank top with a white trim, a black jacket with bright yellow buttons along the top, white trim around his jacket's hoodie, and his arm gauntlets took a grey and black color scheme with a yellow strap along both of his wrists. Along with the defining feature of a cocky grin on his face.

"Gotcha!"

Dashing forward, Sora immediately rolled along the ground to narrowly avoid a few of the icy projectiles before leaping into the air to avoid another projectile coming for him. Once in the air, he aimed his sights at the cloaked foe, and Airstepped right to him before striking fast.

Xehanort didn't have time to react and was hit back with quite the recoil before swinging his weapon in return. The two Keyblades clashed once more before Sora heaved his blade upwards and then back down to land a critical slash along the Organization member's chest.

Reprising from the attack, Xehanort began striking at Sora but was met with a constant barrage of blocks from the brunette. His quick reflexes allowed him to block each attack and even try to land a counterattack. This continued to happen several more times with each of their blades clashing against one another and open-ended slashes being avoided. The skills of a Keyblade wielder were now in full display.

Alas, Sora was able to turn the tables by blocking another attack and then pushing Xehanort's blade back before twirling his own and going for a low strike. This forced a response which caused the black coated foe to block the incoming blow. But this was exactly what Sora wanted as he slammed the bottom of the Keyblade right into Xehanort's face.

This forced Young Xehanort back along with a strained look to graze his face.

Sora saw this and immediately lunged forward to deal another damaging blow but was stopped abruptly by a sudden burst of light.

"You won't get away this time!" Young Xehanort asked before lifting his Keyblade. "You shall wander endlessly forever!"

*DING*

*Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind – Data Young Xehanort – Time Stop Mix*

Deep in Sora's chest, he knew that there was a time limit to how long it would take for Xehanort to complete whatever spell or ability allowed him to reverse time. He couldn't let that happen again.

"This time will be different!"

"That's what you think."

Suddenly, Young Xehanort began to teleport and reappear out of nowhere forcing Sora to dive to the side and avoid being hit with a whip strike. This continued several times with the silver-haired foe teleporting and trying to hurt him.

Grimacing at this tactic, Sora had enough and blocked a sudden attack gunning for him before he sprinted forward near the center of the platform.

"There's no escape!"

"You're wrong!"

*WHOOSH*

*WHACK*

Heaving the Keyblade forward and performing a vertical slash through the air, Sora managed to hit Xehanort just as he was teleporting causing the man to recoil. This was it. The moment needed to end this battle once and for all.

"You're through!"

*SWOOSH*

*CRASH*

*SPLASH*

Slamming the Keyblade down at the fake Organization XIII member, an explosion of light hit the man causing him to come crashing atop the water and for the distorted field to disappear. This left Sora standing there victorious as he had not only stopped the time ability but defeated Young Xehanort.

Glancing at the defeated foe, he watched as Xehanort tried to get up but ultimately fell onto his back and let out a sigh. The lower half of his figure began to disappear slowly with a glowing light. At the same time, the barrier around them had faded away letting Enterprise and a few of the other girls rush toward the brunette boy.

"Heh… not bad…" Young Xehanort weakly muttered.

"…Why?" Sora quietly asked while looking at the defeated foe.

"Why what?"

Clutching his hand around the Keyblade's handle tightly, Sora spoke up louder.

"Why you? Why did Darkness decide to use you? Or why are the Sirens working doing all this?"

Hearing these questions, the experiment simply laughed.

"You're asking the wrong person… or thing. I merely did what I was tasked."

"To lose?"

With the light growing brighter and reaching the defeated man's torso, Xehanort gave his final response.

"To distract you. From what's to come. Your journey… has no…"

The light had now covered his entire body and in the blink of an eye, the experiment known as Project Copycat which had taken the face, personality, and abilities of a member of Organization XIII was now gone.

Staring at the exact spot Young Xehanort was just at, Sora couldn't help but feel frustrated by everything that had just happened. It all annoyed and angered him. Which is why he couldn't help but noticeably frown.

"Sora…?" Enterprise called out to the boy.

Coming out of his thoughts, Sora glanced over at the white-haired girl and nodded.

"I'm ok. Just… confused."

"Aren't we all…"

"Yeah… how's the situation?"

Turning around, Enterprise gestured to the rest of the girls joining them.

"We've cleared all the Sirens and Heartless. Tester has also disappeared. She snuck away while you were fighting that man."

"By the way, who was that man? He seemed odd. To put it one way" Nelson addressed, earning a few nods of agreement.

"That weapon of his… I'm no expert when it comes to weapons, but… it reminded me of yours, Sora" Washington said, resting a hand on her hip and staring right at him.

"You're right about that, Washington. He was also using a Keyblade. He's… also someone I fought against not that long ago."

Raised eyebrows were shared by all the girls now as this was startling news.

"So… he was the guinea pig for Project Copycat?" Vanguard questioned. "The Sirens and that Darkness… being helped create him?"

"That's what it sounds like…" Sora replied while calming himself down and looking at everyone. "I think right now we need to be careful of what Tester has planned. She mentioned something about an Arbiter."

For the girls who hadn't heard that part before, their eyes shot up in concern as the situation had now taken a drastic turn for the worse.

"That's very concerning," Littorio said in a low tone.

"We need to alert the others back at base" Duke of York responded with haste. "The situation has jumped up a few levels."

"Agreed. Reinforcements may be needed" Kaga added.

"Who would have thought… "San Francisco muttered while scratching her head. "The entire time that we've been here, we didn't encounter any Arbiter."

Moving his attention to the girl who just spoke, Sora now realized that the three girls he observed were new faces that he hadn't met before.

"You're the other girls that were missing, right?"

"Yep! Nice to meet cha! Name's San Francisco" said San Francisco as she nodded to the Keyblade wielder.

"It's nice to meet you, Sora. My name is Boise" came Boise's friendly response with a nod.

With a slick and flirtatious smile, New Jersey waved at the spiky-haired boy, "Hiya! It's a pleasure to meet you, Sora. I'm New Jersey! I hope we get to know each other a bit more- "

*BOOM*

*BZZT*

Before New Jersey could finish her lively greeting, an explosion rang out around the area along with the entire sea beginning to distort leaving a few of the girls to stumble. North Carolina instantly grabbed a hold of her sister, Washington, along with Baltimore while Duke of York latched onto George's shoulder. Hiei and Kaga helped each other stand while Littorio was close enough to support Enterprise. Vanguard helped balance Nelson and Repulse as San Francisco held onto Boise.

The entire area continued to shake and deteriorate until a bright flash of light covered the entire sea and field causing everyone to shield their eyes.

"Not again!"

"Gah!"

"I can't see!"

"My eyes!"

"Too bright! Too bright!"

"Turn your brights off!"

"Come on!"

Suddenly, the bright light dimmed away leaving Sora to open his eyes and readjust his vision to see that his surroundings had changed drastically.

Inspecting the area closer, he could see that he and the girls were on a square platform in the middle of a large space. However, as he got a better look around, he could see that lights were lighting up the space around them. This place was very different compared to the open sea, castle, or circular platform that he had been to.

All around them, the area instantly lit up with glowing lights spinning around and electrical systems as far as the eye could see. It didn't help that this new place looked empty and devoid of any life. This technological chamber.

"What the hell…?" George mumbled while looking around the place.

"It's huge!" San Francisco shouted while shifting her eyes to see everything.

"It's all lit up. Are we in a facility of some sort?" Enterprise questioned while keeping her guard up.

"Wherever we are, it has got to be bad news" Kaga replied in a serious tone of voice.

"The technology here is something else…" Littorio said as she began observing the lively space before her. "It's something the Sardegna Empire has never encountered."

"Same goes for the Sakura Empire" Hiei added.

"Azur Lane can't say the same. This Mirror Sea is all sorts of strange" New Jersey commented.

Stepping forward, Sora was the first to realize that they were not alone. With a quick turn of his feet, he pointed the Keyblade at the end of the platform which startled a few of the girls, but once they saw what was going on they also summoned their riggings and felt tense about the situation.

Floating there with not a care in the world, Tester had a smug look on her face.

"Hello. Nice to see you all again. I hope you got a moment of respite. It'll be the last one you ever get."

"Enough games, Tester! What's going on here?" Sora asked, not taking his eyes off her.

"It's like I've told you for the third time now. Or maybe it's now the fourth… who knows? You're quite the idiot when it comes to remembering stuff."

"Funny. Coming from someone who is about to be broken and at the bottom of the ocean here soon" San Francisco fired back.

"Ooh! Scary. But not to worry. You won't be dealing with me that much longer."

Confused by this comment, Enterprise questioned the Siren girl.

"Why is that?"

With a gleeful smile, Tester slowly pointed behind everyone.

"Because she's ready."

*BZzZzZzZT*

A portal had now appeared along with a pale white foot wearing a black heel stepped out. Then, another foot appeared this time a white heel was wrapped around the limb. Before long, two long white legs could be seen leading up to hips then a large chest, and finally two bright pink eyes staring back at everyone. The full appearance of a pale woman with white hair that reached past her shoulders could be seen. Her attire showed very minimal white clothing covering her breasts and lower region but with a thin white veil wrapped around both of her arms. A black hair ornament could be seen along with the side of her hair in a bun with a black bow. Alas, the most fruitful characteristic of this mysterious woman was the slow yet menacing smile she donned while looking at the group.

"Well now, isn't this quite the party?" came a seductive voice from the pale woman.

In the minds of several of the girls, a sense of dread and worry soared through them as they gripped onto their riggings. This was an Arbiter standing right before them. Better yet, this was The Empress III. An Arbiter that much was not known about. Meaning that they were walking into unknown territory on all fronts. The situation was about as bad as one could get.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, hero," the Arbiter said directly to Sora.

"I take it you're the one in charge of everything here?" the Keyblade wielder warily asked.

"To a degree, yes. But that isn't to say that I should take all the credit. Tester has done an outstanding job running tests and making sure this Mirror Sea would provide substantial results for our tests."

"Hehe! You're too kind" Tester casually replied while standing off to the side.

"And Darkness?" Sora questioned, making sure to pay close attention to what the response might be.

"That fellow… he's certainly a mystery to behold. One that challenges many of our programming systems. You are aware of who we are, no?"

Slowly shaking his head, Sora had an idea of what an Arbiter was but wanted to know more.

"I only know what you are but nothing else."

"Oh? Shall I give you a little exposition then? Let's see, we're a Siren force from another timeline. Searching for what we deem as… worthy."

"Worthy?"

"Ha. Don't worry too much about it. We simply seek to rule. That much is certain" Empress remarked with her eyes glowing brightly while staring right at Sora. "As to who I am, my name is Empress."

Not about to be intimidated by her, Sora took a step forward while making sure his blue eyes never broke contact with her pink eyes.

"And now you're working with Darkness and the Heartless…"

"If you could believe it, this is our first time encountering a force such as them. Strange, isn't it? With how vast and superior we Sirens are, for this to be the first time we counter a force such as the Heartless and the mysterious being that is Darkness… I'd say we've hit the monumental jackpot" the Arbiter said while having a content look on her face.

Looks of irritation could be seen on the ship girls' faces as they were glaring harshly at the Arbiter. Moreover, George had silently reached into her pocket and activated a radio that would contact the other Azur Lane forces and let them listen to the situation at play. At least, that's what she hoped for.

"But that's not even the biggest prize we have. Now, we have you…" Empress proclaimed while pointing directly at Sora. "From what Darkness has said about you… you are the finer trophy to claim. Your power is something else entirely. And I want that~"

"Excuse me?" North Carolina interjected immediately.

"You heard me, girl. Sora is what I truly want. Which is why…"

Hearing this, Tester immediately started typing away while smiling brightly.

"You got it, boss!"

*PEW*

*BZZT*

Flashes of light fired from all across the technologic space and started hitting each one of the girls causing what appeared to be electrical shocks hitting their bodies.

"GAH!"

"WHAT THE- "

"LET GO!"

"DAMN!"

"GYAH!"

"OW!"

"BLEH!"

"Everyone!" Sora cried out.

Seeing all the girls be hit with an electrical attack causing their bodies to spasm and be unable to move, Sora was about to try and help them when the Empress spoke aloud.

"Let's move things around so that it's just us, Sora."

BZZT*

Out of nowhere, portals appeared all around the space followed by beams of light hitting each of the girls and sending them flying into the portals.

*PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW* *PEW*

"NO!"

"STOP!"

"AHH!*

"CHEAP SHOT!"

"NGH!"

"GRR! AH!"

"WAIT!"

"OH, COME ON!"

"DAMMIT!"

"WHAT?!"

"SORA!"

Every one of the girls had now been shot into a portal leaving the platform to only hold Sora as Empress and Tester were now floating above and in front of him.

"That's much better. Those girls were quite the nuisance. Tester, mind watching over them? Running the secondary Enforcer project would be a good test to observe now" Empress reasoned to the other Siren girl.

"I'd gladly do that! Everything should be good on your end. I look forward to how things will play out!"

*BZZT*

And with that, Tester flashed away leaving only Sora and the Empress in this massive technological space.

The Siren and Keyblade wielder stared at one another before the Arbiter let out a small chuckle followed by a sly smile.

"Finally, we're all alone."

"Where did you take them!?"

"Don't worry. They're not dead… yet. We still have over a hundred more tests we could run on them. The Siren network is a vast one. And we haven't even gotten close to testing any of the analytical projects under Code- "

"Just stop it!" Sora shouted while getting fed up with everything that was happening. "I'm stopping you here and now. Then I'm going to find my friends and destroy this Mirror Sea once and for all!"

"Oh? Those are some redeeming fighting words. And just how will you go ahead and beat me?" the Arbiter antagonized while grinning down at the Keyblade wielder. "Why not submit to me? I promise to treat you fairly. Give you everything you've ever wanted. Grant you your every wish? Why do you keep on fighting? What do you hope to gain?"

Lowering his head and processing Empress's questions, Sora knew what he wanted to say. That was never going to be a problem. However, he couldn't help but reflect and think about how his time in this world allowed him to meet so many wonderful people. People whom he will never forget and who have become a powerful force of light in his heart. And there were still so many others he had to meet that… he could not fall here. He would not fall here.

On top of that, there were still so many others in his heart that he shared a connection with. Countless bonds with the people he's met throughout his journey. From the time he first received the Keyblade to preparing for the Keyblade War, there were so many people that his heart connected with. All his friends… his best friends. He would not lose here.

*TING*

A flash of light appeared to come from his pocket leaving Sora to reach down and quickly pull out whatever had flashed.

The Heartbinder.

Realizing that this was what caused the light to appear, a confident smile began to appear on his face. Empress, who was watching closely, also became curious about the strange act.

"What is that object in your hands?"

Deciding to ignore her comment, Sora twirled his Keyblade around before taking off the Oathkeeper charm and stashing it away with the Oblivion keychain. Leaving him to only have Kingdom Key and Wheel of Fate on hand.

"The reason why I do this… why I keep fighting is because of them… "Sora then placed his hand across his heart and looked proudly at Empress. "My friends! They are my power! They give me the strength to be better! They push me to be me!"

Hearing the strengthened morale in his words, the Empress couldn't help but be pleased by him.

"Very well, Guardian of Light. I shall respect your answer. And in twofold, reply with my own. Know that before your death, I will offer you one last chance to be mine. My plaything~"

"That's not going to happen!"

"We shall see… now then, let us begin!"

With a flick of her wrist, the Empress's body was now coated with a distorted haze surrounding her. Before long, her entire body had begun to disappear and transform into something new. Something different.

*BZZT!*

*BRRRR!*

*BZZT!*

*CLING!*

*CLANG!*

A colossal mechanical body could be seen along with what looked like shark-like features at the top of the towering figure's head. Spikes could be seen along the body of the humanoid armor and glowing blue lights could be seen all over the place. Two silver armored arms could be seen intertwined along with another set of arms raised above the other arms. The entirety of the mechanical body was that of a black and white color scheme with strange blue glowing insignias that were in the shape of a triangle. At the center of the armored figure's core was a small window that held the Empress as she smiled gleefully at the Keyblade wielder.

*BZZT*

*BRR!*

"(Identification. Arbiter: The Empress III. Protocol. Systems are all clear. Commencing battle strategy. Neutralization. Mirror Sea systems are on standby. Frequency level of dark energy. Sustainable. Combat systems. Approved. All systems are a go.)"

What sounded like a robotic female voice could be heard and was drastically different from the Empress or Tester's voices.

"The greatest threat to our goals is you. And I will make sure that is no longer the case!" Empress stated while preparing to move her machine and take on a battle stance with one set of arms ready to strike.

With one final breath to take, Sora pointed the Keyblade at the Arbiter before spinning it around and getting into his signature battle stance. There was no hesitation written on his face. He was ready.

"I'm stopping you and saving my friends!"

*A/N* - Now that… is one way to end on a cliffhanger lol. Hello again and thanks for reaching the bottom of the chapter. As I've repeatedly said, I apologize for having taken quite a bit of time writing and shipping this next chapter out. Things have been… busy to say the least. But progress was slowly being made on this story. Funny enough, I originally had this done back in August. However, I was not happy with how the chapter had turned out. It wasn't anything too extreme it was just shorter than I expected. Hence, I decided to start from scratch and work around making it more thrilling. At least, I hope I did that. If not, that's fine. Learning curve to conquer.

Again, thank you for checking this story out and keeping up with it. We've reached past two years now which is crazy to think about. Even crazier to think that we've been in the dark on KH4 since April 2022. But I'm still here and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. Much less stopping after that cliffhanger. I honestly thought about including the fight, but I decided that deserved a good chunk of time and attention. I mean, the chapter is already sitting at 35k. Not sure if people would be down to read a 40k chapter lol.

Now then, onto a bit about the chapter, I wanted to focus on a new group of girls given that we've been with the other group for quite some time. Granted, a few familiar faces are here but the majority are new or didn't have as much screen time as last time. The romance aspect is something I want to get right, but have developed somewhat naturally. I know my way of writing is nothing impressive, but it's something I'd like to achieve. I mean, there's already a bunch of girls in Sora's eventual harem now… there's undoubtedly going to be more added. Azur Lane is growing by the day.

On that note, this chapter's release is far beyond the 6th-anniversary event which was cool being cowboy-themed. And yes, those girls will be added, but not for quite a while. I've got a list of girls that need the limelight as well as developed in the story. So, I apologize if you're expecting Sora to hook up with the girls in the next chapter. That won't be happening… yet. It's going to happen and when it does… Sora is in for quite the dilemma. An island full of girls fawning over him. That's going to go well lol.

I also took quite a bit of influence from FFXIV Dawntrail. Given that I was playing that throughout July, it inspired me to use a few things from that game as well as things to come. I still have so many other ideas to use so I hope you'll be able to recognize what's used. Nevertheless, thank you so much for sticking around this story and continuing to support it. All feedback is welcome, and I enjoy reading what's liked and disliked about it. I'm still a growing writer so stick with me, will you?

I hope this was an entertaining chapter to read, and I hope you'll stick around for the next one. Thanks again and until next time. Take care.