"Heck yeah!"

What was once the site of a battlefield was now the site of a rowdy celebration between two teenagers. Cody and Bridgette hooted and hollered, fully assured all threats were gone, and they excitedly exchanged high fives and impromptu victory handshakes like this experience just forged themselves as true comrades in arms.

Contrasted to them, Trent stood idly to the side. He had one of his signature soft smiles, but the expression did not reach his face. While his peers jumped around like kids at a playground, he observed with a blank stare. Perhaps he was looking on in boredom. Or he was mindlessly following the motions. Or maybe he was even expertly shielding his disdain. But no matter what it was he felt, his two companions were none the wiser. His smile, perfectly crafted after years of practice, could fool anyone. Apparently, it could even fool the only guy who should have been privy to the knowledge of what lay underneath.

Cody attempted to coax Trent into a high five, but the taller boy easily dodged away. It seemed playful at a glance, but when he proceeded to silently march on over to the engine without even a word, that was their first glaring sign.

It was Trent though! He's a cool dude. He was probably just checking it out. No need to worry.

But something was off. Away from their open gazes, Trent's face relaxed into a stone cold look. He fiddled around with the engine's protective shield until he finally unlocked the passcode prompt. This was the moment Bridgette finally realized something was amiss. Why and how did he know how to activate it so easily?

"What are you doing?" She asked wearily.

"Got stranded here, " he replied. "My ship crashed and I need to fix it up."

His tone was much more flat and monotone than Bridgette was used to out of him. Like he didn't think either of them deserved the effort for something more cordial. She started to grow uneasy, but Cody, who, again, should've known better, casually brushed it all aside.

"If you were gonna travel around after all, you should've tagged along with us back at Traverse Town," he said with a foolish grin. "Come on. You can just hitchhike with me and guys."

He'd rather die.

Trent's little hacking venture was going nowhere, and like heck he was just going to up and ask Bridgette for the code. He made a fatal slip up. He could sense she was on to him.

Finally giving in, Trent stabbed his dagger straight towards the engine as he attempted to break down the shield by force. It took a while, embarrassingly so in Cody's case, but the alarms had set off.

"What are you doing?!" Bridgette called him out. The shield certainly wasn't going to give in to a mere dagger, but the act itself had set her off into a fit of outrage.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Trent answered with a gruff grunt. He had abandoned all pretenses at cloaking himself. "I'm trying to break this thing open."

"Um, uh, Bridgette can just give you the code, you know." Cody was in a state of denial over what he was witnessing. Trent was still on their side. He had to be. It was Trent.

"Like hell she would."

"Like hell I would!"

Trent rolled his eyes before lunging in for another jab. If only he'd gotten here before these two annoyances. He was sure he could've taken the Parasite Cage all on his own. He landed another blow on the shield, again, failing to make actual progress, but still unleashing a level of ferocity that fueled both of said annoyances' weary and ire.

"Hey!" Cody cried out. "Quit messing around. An entire colony of people are relying on that thing to get out alive."

"And?"

…

…Huh?

"What do you mean 'and'?" He gaped.

"There's countless worlds and God knows how many people out there. The moment I get off this rock, there's no reason for me to ever think of anyone else that was here ever again. We'll never cross paths, we'll never breath the same air, we'll never be anywhere remotely near each other. Why should I waste any effort on them?"

Bridgette was frozen in shock. What did she just hear? And why did it come from Trent of all people? Cool, kind, and down-to-Earth Trent?

"What are you…An entire colony of people, Trent!"

"I'm not repeating myself." He raised his head as he replied, giving the girl an off handed glare. It was the kind of airless look someone would give to a dying man that they purposely left alone in the streets. He meant it. Every cold and careless statement; he totally meant it.

"Are you insane?!"

Bridgette leapt over to the engine and attempted to shove and pry Trent away from his target. The two swatted at each other like they were just seconds away from launching into a violent street brawl, and all Cody could do was watch.

His mind was in a scramble, one even worse than the self pity party he threw himself before. He remembered the talk he and Trent had back on Wawanakwa. In a way, he even cherished it. He knew Trent was a bit off deep down. But even still, he was confident that he was still a good guy despite all of that. He had to be. Was he in denial this entire time? Did he not fully grasp what he'd been told?

He thought back to what he remembered during that faithful storm. Trent had lounged on to the edge of the cliff, acting cryptic and mumbling about throwing everything behind. He was washed away by the Heartless, and unlike Cody, he didn't escape that plight with a Keyblade in hand.

Yet he had still somehow survived without the guidance of light.

That was the real him.

"Will you lay off?!" Bridgette was at her wit's end, and pulled out her naginata as a last resort. Even after everything she'd heard, she didn't want to hurt him. But at this point, her only real choice was to whack some sense to him. If he had any left at all.

She slung the pole around and landed a small scrape right on his shoulder. Cody could be heard in the background flailing his arms around in a futile attempt to de-escalate. And for right reason. This impulsive swipe was what broke the camel's back. Trent was quick to retaliate and roughly elbowed her in response. She was sent stumbling away from the engine with just enough distance for the two of them to ready themselves for an actual tussle. Bridgette wasn't sure if she needlessly landed herself in yet another disaster, but it was too late to take things back now.

"I really don't like the idea of hitting a girl, you know." Despite his groans, Trent shifted his blade's edge away from the engine and towards her.

"You sure don't look like you mean it."

"As if you didn't just try to slash me."

"Guys, guys, guys, let's stop for a sec and take things down a no—"

It was almost adorable how deadset the young Keyblade wielder was at stopping the inevitable. The two charged right at each other before he even had the chance to finish. Even as their battle raged, Cody tried to act the role of the Voice of Reason. It took one definitive swipe to finally force him to accept reality.

Fucking shut up.

Trent was tired of his naivety long before he'd set forth in this wasteland. If he had it his way, he'd prefer if they never had to cross paths again. The more Cody frothed on and on about "peace" and "getting along", the more he wanted to puke. Cody was the kind of guy to listen attentively to something only to turn around and reveal he got the exact opposite meaning of the conversation. As it turned out, everything the little nerd admitted about himself back on Wawanakwa was dead on. This idiot had no clue how to read the room.

Cody's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets. He just narrowly jumped away from a gruesome attempted dagger slash across his chest. In his head, he was perhaps still in denial. Like this whole ordeal was just an obstacle, and if he and Bridgette beat him now, this would all be an embarrassing anecdote they'd share with one another in the future. With each passing second though, those rose tinted assumptions faded away. Trent wasn't just beefing with Bridgette. In fact, if Cody didn't know better, it seemed he was trying much harder at hurting him than her.

He finally joined in on the battle proper. He offered so much grace and good faith to his "friend", but the longer this all dragged on, the more he grew frustrated that he'd put so much unfounded trust in him. He hammered it in his head over and over again. The guy attacking them right now wasn't the Trent he knew.

But did he ever really know Trent to begin with?

Cody and Bridgette were just about to shield off another hit from him when Pierce, the king of close calls, swooped right in out of nowhere to grab the rabid teen by the shoulder and whack his head into a daze. Having apparently just finished his ship part run with Loudred, he'd run back over to see what was taking the two so long only to find this mess in action. All the bad luck and timing just would not let go that day.

"Pierce!" The two called out in surprise.

"I'm not even going to ask what's going on here," he grumbled, making an immediate beeline for the unattended engine. "Forget about him. Things are getting bad back at the camp. Just help me get this thing out of here and go."

"What do you mean 'things are getting bad?" Bridgette asked on her way over. "What's going on?"

Cody was ready to join them as well, but he was soon planted face first on to the ground. Trent had regained his senses fast enough to trip him like the petty little brat he was. Whether the dude was more focused on stealing away the engine or beating him down for whatever freaking reason, Cody knew he wouldn't be able to help with the fetch quest.

He rolled over in time to deflect another incoming slash to his face. Trent continued to fight back, towering over the grounded geek, but each attempt was thwarted with either a simple turn or block from that pesky Keyblade. With how fervently Trent retaliated, most likely further enraged by Pierce's surprise pummel, Cody could only give apologetic glances up at his two allies. They'd have to carry on their mission without him for now. Bridgette was reluctant to leave him behind, but Pierce was the only one who knew the true gravity of what was up ahead and pushed for her to accept his sacrifice. With the two gone, it was time for things to really get personal.

Cody bounced right back on to his feet. He thrusted his Keyblade forward and managed to squeeze a knick on Trent's left shoulder. His emotions had gone from confused to pleading to downright furious, and now that it was just the two of them, he was more than willing to let out all the frustration that had bubbled within him in this short span of time.

"What. The. Heck?!" He screamed out. He wouldn't be shocked if Bridgette and Pierce were able to hear him despite how fast they booked it. "What is your problem?! What did I even do to you?"

Trent swooped his dagger over without a word. Cody ducked and continued his interrogation.

"Did you, like, try to find the ship after we already left and you're pissed about using up your own space-gas money?"

Another swoop. Another duck.

"Did you land on a really crappy world? Are you just letting out steam?"

Swoop. Duck.

"Are you angry I'm looking for Gwen or something? Dude, I swear, I'm not trying to steal her from you!"

There couldn't have been worse statements for him to toss around. Trent's moves were getting predictable, but he quickly made up for it with sheer speed. With all of his ducking and dodging, Cody would've exerted less energy if he just simply attacked. But at the very least, this little fit was helping him clue in on what exactly was this jackass's deal.

"Are you seriously mad because you think I'm trying to find your girlfriend?" He was in disbelief. He couldn't have been this childish, could he?

"Will you shut up?" Trent landed a kick on Cody's side, forcing the frailer fighter to stagger.

"What do you want from me? I'm just trying to understand you," he heaved a pained response.

What a damn liar, Trent thought to himself.

Trent launched an all out assault, but each and every hit was shielded by simple wrist flicks of the Keyblade. Cody was left to back away in a defensive position, yet it became clear that enough nerves had been struck in his opponent that Trent was no longer attacking in a rational manner. It was like being on the unfortunate end of a child's tantrum.

"I already told you," Cody regained his voice enough to let out a fit of outrage. "You can just join us if you want to search for her! What, are you mad she'd have other people to thank? You want to be the big Knight-in-Shining-Armor? What would that even matter at a time like this?"

The other boy sneered in response. The moron still wasn't getting it. "Why would you think I wanted to join a pack of randos for wacky hijinks? You're accusing me of being a 'Knight' wannabe? You just went and found the first group of weirdos you could find and you were off on your merry way." He'd gotten so invested in his own rant, the fight actually crawled into a standstill while all his energy shifted over to his antagonizing voice. "What did you say back on the island?" If he wasn't so devoid of joy all the time, he would've let out a mocking laugh. "That you're always trying to force yourself to be somebody you know you aren't? Do you think this situation is any different?"

…Wait.

He finally got it.

…Wow.

Wow.

"You're…you're kidding me, right?" Cody held back shocked laughter. He thought he himself had taken an embarrassing amount of stock from that beachside chat, but this was on another level.

Was…was he mad that the Cody of now didn't match the one he said he was?

"You…you didn't join us on the ship because you hate other people… A-are you seriously mad because I actually made friends?"

"Yeah, I'm sure those are some great friends of yours," Trent replied with a sarcastic slant. "Someone as desperate as you really would just jump on to the first set of tryhards he could find, huh?"

Oh, so we're in the pissing contest portion of this fight now, huh?

"Oh, shut up! I don't wanna hear this from you…you…you stinking edgelord!" Cody wasn't sure if Trent hit a sore spot with his words or if he was just put on edge in general by this exhausting exchange. Either way, any respect he had towards him just flew out the window.

At this point, they almost forgot they were in a serious battle of blades to begin with. Their spat devolved into a crude bout of insult slinging bordering an all out slapping match. So absorbed by their debate, they were practically face-to-face, pointing and barking at each other while their weapons were kept lazily to the side.

"If you're so hung up on that stupid conversation, you wanna know what I got out of it? Freaking school shooter vibes, you fricking psycho!"

"Oh, and were you supposed to come out looking good from that? You're a leech. A parasite. An overgrown tapeworm!"

"Ha! What are you, five? Is that the best you've got? I've got 15 years worth of name calling behind me. You're gonna have to do better than that to get under my skin."

And he did indeed proceed to throw out a string of awful expletives to get under the self professed professional bullying victim's skin.

"H-how could you say that? You…you…!"

BOOOOM!

The duo jumped. As crazy as it was, their "fight" had gone absolutely nowhere, and the distant hum of an explosion was perhaps the merciful end they needed. They looked around before finally finding a far off sizzle of smoke. This meant absolutely nothing to Trent, but to Cody, it was a harsh return to reality. Something just happened back at the camp, and he allowed himself to get distracted by this nonsense in the meantime.

Seeing his newly forged nemesis now glazed over at whatever tragedy was going on beyond them, it too sank into Trent just how much time he'd wasted yelling and prodding at this nerd. How could he let himself get so distracted? He thought it himself earlier.

He'd be happy if he never had to see Cody's face again.

Trent took this as his cue to finally storm off. The disgruntled Keybearer tried to reach out for him, but his arm fell limp.

Why should he bother?

His time was better spent elsewhere.

Like he'd just spat out a sour after taste, Cody made one last vengeful glare before taking his leave. The two boys, once a pair of seeds in a newly sprouted friendship, walked off in opposite ends. The seeds were dug up, dropped unceremoniously to the side, and silence finally spread as the curtains fell on their impromptu match.

oOo

Pierce was not kidding when he said the situation had worsened. The moment Cody stepped back into the campgrounds, he was inundated with the image of a maelstrom comparable to the pits of Hell. Flames erupted, the aftermath of that thunderous explosion earlier, and those dreaded Guardians circled around the crackling embers while they let out their demonic squalls. They were already terrifying beasts before, but their gangly forms were now dark and blackened, their bodies completely commandeered by the Heartless they'd allied with. These newly formed flying reapers kept bleating downwards towards the panicked civilians as they scraped their claws and opened the seams of their fanged faces into states of insatiable hunger.

Pierce and Bridgette were off doing their thing, commanding a motley group, the very folks who threw Cody and his crew that awful welcoming party much much earlier, and shuffling others towards safety to the best of their abilities.

Perhaps he just hadn't expected things to have gone to shit this badly, but he was utterly stunned at the sight. His eyes darted around while he fully took in the charred and ravished scenery. A simple but dire mistake. The entrance of the Keybearer was the blaring signal for the Guardians that the best meal they could ever have had just mixed into the fray. A hefty cluster flew downwards and startled the poor guy further by their chalkboard scratching noises. He readied himself, and he knew he probably had a decent chance all on his own. But even then, after everything that happened in this shockingly short amount of time, he was happy to finally have a pack of familiar and reassuring faces behind his back.

"Couldn't have gotten here sooner, huh?" Alakazam started off with his classic negging while he shot out Psybeams to the so called Guardians.

"Hey, cut him some slack. Whatever happened back there must've been big," Loudred added on happily before he too responded to the screeching monsters with his own share of Screeches.

"Don't worry. I've got you!" A stray Guardian had snuck behind Al and Loudred's combined forces, but Mokona popped in just in time to shield Cody with a pale red forcefield that sprouted out of his head. The creature bounced back in a startled daze, giving time for Cody to slink off and take it down on his own. One by one, the rogue crew fell, and Cody decided it was as good a time as any to run off to the two in charge.

Pierce and Bridgette had just finished off their own enemy set when the latecomer dashed over to their side. The duo were shielding Courtney, Duncan, and Red who were paralyzed. The whole True Cross ordeal was still fresh in their mind. They could barely comprehend they were tossed into another one even more nightmarish.

"What's going on?" Cody yelled to the two defenders over the scorching shrills of their surroundings.

"What do you think?" Pierce sternly gestured far across the tarnished fields where a familiar man floated around with a cruel and mocking gaze.

The one known as D'Void gleaned his sickenly yellowed eyes at the group, the forces who seemed to have taken down most of his minions. Despite their might, he seemed unfazed by their threat. For all they knew, he may have planned this assault for a while now and knew he had more than enough fuel to burn through. If they weren't going to be taken down by the strength of the Guardian Heartless, they would by fatigue.

"Why are you all so desperate to leave?" He chuckled. From both the chaos and distance, it was almost impossible for the group to be able to make out the madman's words. But it didn't take a genius to figure out that he had no intention of letting anyone out of his realm of tyranny.

The mere sight of him blew a fuse through Pierce's head. He let out a cry of disdain and darted in D'Void's direction. The others jumped at his outburst. Cody, Bridgette, and Loudred noticed it earlier, but D'Void's very existence seemed to be the sole key to unlock his brasher side. Normally, they would've trusted him to lead even an army, but there was no telling what he would do in this state. At the end of the day, he was still an irrational teenager.

Cody and Bridgette gave each other knowing looks before quickly joining Pierce up front. Al, Loudred, and Mokona meanwhile were pulled back by the stressed tears and hysterics from Red, Courtney, and Duncan. Almost all of Pierce's helpers already left the area, and with zero guidance from anyone who knew the camp's evacuation protocol, the three were at a complete loss of what to do with them.

"You three know there's an entire ship you can hide in, right?"

"Are you suggesting we run off on our own past these monsters without any protection? What kind of plan is that?"

"I'm really sorry, but we're needed here."

"Oh screw off with that crap! Fork over that weird fucking rabbit so we at least get a shield."

"Hahahahaha, that tickles. I can bite off your arm, you know. 3"

"G-g-g-guys, watch out!"

Red swung his arms frantically among the arguing fray and pointed to the trio up ahead who were sent flying right back at them just as fast as they left. The reserve group backed off at the nick of time and allowed Pierce and Bridgette to land gracefully on their feet. And Cody to land flat on his ass.

Something was wrong. They were mere inches from striking at D'Void when a spontaneous gust of wind propelled them all the way back. No. That couldn't have been wind. It was like a field of energy. An ethereal blast that released something far worse than they'd anticipated.

The man who once floated around with coy confidence now writhed in frustration over what almost felt like an agonizing itch. Seams of black spread throughout his body like a foreign substance had infected his veins. The further they spread, the more he lost control. He fell to the ground with a face that was both defiant and full of horror over what he assumed would be the last few seconds of his life.

He was no longer a super powered villain. D'Void may as well have been a freshly prepared platter for the Heartless and Guardians he'd trained so meticulously. The roots within his body began to emit blurs of black soot. His former tools practically salivated over the metaphysical odor his waning form let out. They swarmed to him, more than eager to finally enjoy the most bountiful feast they'd seen in who knows how long. The screams were deafening under the slobbers and gnashing teeth and slop. Bridgette and Pierce struggled to look away. This man had been their arch nemesis and he met an end neither of them would've wanted to inflict on him.

It's…just like that time.

Cody flashed back to that terrifying attack on the hotel back in Traverse Town. He could still remember the poor bellboy and his fate. He could remember the screams of agony, the way he fought and exerted all of his remaining energy just for the chance to live even a few seconds more, the way he was consumed and gone just as soon as he was there. Those images were embedded in him. They were sure to haunt him for the rest of his days. And here he just witnessed it all again before his very eyes.

There was one more thing. The last step to the bellboy's demise.

"Guys, brace yourselves."

D'Void's voice had long shriveled and faded off. The Heartless slowly snuck away, their eyes and mouths already spread off in search of their next victim. In their place was his corpse. Or at least what could've been considered his corpse. Completely mangled and repurposed, D'Void's gray toned body had been hideously morphed into what almost appeared to be a glass jar. His rugged cape had shifted into the visage of crudely angelic wings, and the classic Heartless emblem shined sinisterly where his baleful face once was. This wasn't truly D'Void's corpse. It was his ghost, raring to continue to unleash the same fright and terror he'd wrought during his life. It was a new being altogether named Angel Star.

"What am I looking at?" Pierce breathed cautiously.

The angelic bottle floated around idly as it took in its surroundings and realized its newly completed self. Then, like it just recalled its last actions when it was the being known as D'Void, the Angel Star spun its way towards the group, swinging its wings like perilous knives. Bridgette ran up and punted the Angel off course, but her actions seemed to only fuel its momentum. While it kept trailing back again and again, each of the group's fighters took turns against it, but none of them were able to truly do harm.

Pierce glanced over at the loads among them. Courtney and Red held on to each other for their dear lives and backed away each time the Angel Star returned. Duncan, meanwhile, stood about in a frail fighting stance; all for show with the inner knowledge that he sure as heck was not going to be able to do a thing to it if the ones with actual weapons and powers couldn't. In fact, if any one of them were to have a serious chance of taking it down, he, his girlfriend, and their little demon friend—the distractions— would have to be far, far away.

Pierce looked around again. There had to be some sort of safety route. His men managed to take down much of the initial Heartless and Guardian assault, but even with their ringleader gone, more progressively came in to take their place. It'd be risky shuffling them off now, but it'd be even riskier later if they waited.

…!

There was something up in the sky. A tiny scarlet ringlet began to take form.

It was now or never.

"Bridgette," he called on her. "Take those three to the ship and get it started now." He pointed urgently at the spot where the portal grew. "We're getting out of here."

"But," she gulped. "The ship's not finished yet. We're not going to be able to take all these people. The engines can't handle it."

"Do you think we have a choice? Go, now!"

"Pierce, maybe we can—"

"Oh, for crying out loud!"

Courtney leapt to her feet. Enough fear had built up in her that it all circled back to frustration. "If you're not going, I am!"

Without any real rhyme or reason, Courtney darted off in a random direction with Duncan following after her. Bridgette's jaw dropped. What the heck were those two thinking?

"You-you're not even going in the right way!"

Bridgette grabbed hold of a terrified Red, the only one of the three who had stayed behind, and attempted to follow the duo's tracks.

"Hey, hold on!" Loudred went after her with Mokona bouncing along atop his head. "We'll take Red back, you focus on those two!"

Pierce grit his teeth. Sure, they had all the space they needed now, but they were also down half of their team. Though perhaps what they had now was more than enough to finish the job.

Pierce was ready to throw out orders, but Cody already beat him to it. He charged right at the spinning Angel top and proceeded to copy its technique and circled around it himself. It was like the battle against Kurt Zisa back in True Cross. Those nasty wings were nothing more than cover for the creature's wide open Achilles Heel. He slashed his Keyblade about and smashed them right at the thick feathers. If he just hit hard enough, he could break down its barrier.

The Angel Star saw right through this gambit. At just the right moment, it thrusted its body to the side, slamming Cody across the rocky terrain. Alakazam and Pierce already figured out what exactly their ally was doing, and it would only be a matter of time before the trio ganged up on it in a three way pile on. It was time to take away their chance altogether.

It lifted its wings, just barely dented from Cody's assault, and flapped itself far above the rest. A faint gleam, neither bright nor dark, began to glow from within. And after a quick flick, it all came spewing out from the tip of its head like a sparkler of deadly miasma. The unknown substance tore into the boulders it rained upon, eating them away like acid. In the scene of flames and squawking hellspawns, it was the true angel of death bringing upon this dying rock's end.

Pierce and Al, who were caught completely off guard, attempted to shield themselves from the color defying lava, but instead found themselves running like idiots as each of their potential hiding places melted away, one by one. A blot nearly beat down upon them, but was thwarted by a psychic force field that Al conjured up at the very last second. The poor Pokemon was practically ready to collapse on the spot over his pure relief that his shield was able to withstand whatever the heck this awful flying goop was. He knew if he lost a single ounce of focus, that'd be it for them.

But what about their third fighter? The Keybearer? He was still out in the open, completely vulnerable to the acidic storm. Al and Pierce desperately looked around, fully expecting to see Cody's lacerated body being chiseled and consumed. Instead, they were shocked to see him perfectly fine and hopping around as he slowly maneuvered his way past the raindrops.

After much effort, he stumbled his way right below Angel Star. It was the sole dry spot not a single drip could reach. He took a deep breath, jumped, and tossed his keyblade upwards only for it to clunk back on to his head. The darn thing was just too high up.

"Hey," Pierce nudged over to Al. "Let me out of here for a second."

"What? Are you nuts?" Al had a double take.

Pierce pointed over at Cody who was still trying and failing to nail his weapon at the Heartless from below. "If we let him keep going, he'll just pull a muscle. Come on. I've got a plan."

"I don't know…"

"Just let it down for a second. Literally just one."

After a pause, Alakazam finally relented to Pierce's request. Exactly to a tee. The barrier barely trickled out a defined opening before he zipped it right back up. Still, it was just enough time for him to enact his plan. Pierce snapped a spike from right off of his arm and tossed it with all his might towards the angel. With a single shot, the thorn cracked right into its glassy body, forcing it to doddle about as it tried to prevent the fractures from spreading.

It continued to spew out its poisonous concoction, but with its injury, it could only do so much. The Angel Star descended ever so slightly, completely unaware of the threat below it. Cody gave a firm smirk before he finally landed a solid uppercut to the jar's base. Shards shattered through the air only to fade away into sparkling specks. Angel Star had fallen.

Al and Pierce ran over, relieved to see that the worst of their troubles were finally over. Despite that, very little actually changed. Their star was gone, but the Guardians and Heartless still fluttered about with no end in sight. The portal widened, but the ship was still grounded. Their enemies had more than enough time to figure out where the evacuees fled. Soon, they'd be taking down their one escape route, and then there'd be nothing left for them.

They decided to retreat for now. The best they could do would be to figure something out, anything to get that thing started.

"...Hey, don't move too much. It might make it worse."

A familiar trio was huddled under one of the few remaining cliff covers in the area. Bridgette appeared to be tending over Courtney's wounds while Duncan stood on guard; once again shaking under his brave front with all the self awareness this was all just for show.

"Hey, Bridge." Bridgette jolted as Cody carefully tapped her back. "What happened?"

"Loudred and Mokona took Red to the ship," she sighed. "I ran literally everywhere looking for these two. That freaky acid storm happened and Courtney wound up tripping trying to escape."

The girl bit her lip at the mention of her name with a look of guilt in her side glance. Though knowing her, they doubted she'd be willing to give a proper apology for the trouble.

There was a silent mutual agreement that they all needed to head to the ship. But there was also an obvious tint of dread. Hiding in that thing would only do so much. That portal wasn't going to stay there forever. And if everyone was stuck in there, the colony would be easy pickings once the Guardians sniffed them all out.

If only the stupid engines could work.

…

…Cody saw something in the corner of his eye. While Duncan continued to futilely stand watch, he'd taken to swinging around a scarlet red pendant. The sheen of the gem drilled into him. He didn't think twice about it before, but what was that thing? It wasn't a ruby. It didn't exactly look like any regular old gem to be honest.

"Hey, Duncan," Cody said, earning an uncharacteristic yelp from the quivering punk. "What do you have there?"

"What? Huh? Nothing. You wanna fight?" Duncan hurriedly snuck the necklace behind his back as he spouted out defensively.

"Duncan," Courtney groaned. She was so tired, all of the shadiness she was ready to flaunt around was taken over by annoyed resignation. "Just hand it over…It's the necklace we stole back in True Cross. You already saw it back on the ship."

"What the heck?" Pierce gasped. He snatched the necklace away from Duncan in an instant. This wasn't an ordinary gem. In fact, it wasn't even a gem. "This…this is a Gummi Block."

Like our ship? Cody thought in surprise. "Is that good?"

"Yes, this thing is meant for engine expansion. It's exactly what we need!"

SCCCRRRRREEEEEEEEEE!

The group bounced (or in Duncan's case, fled deeper into the cliff crevasse to cower). The Guardian Heartless were ramping up. They were cutting it close, but now there was a chance.

"Alright," Pierce straightened his back. After all the stress that happened today, he finally regained that steadfast demeanor of his. "All of you, scram. I'll stay back and distract these things."

With that, he tossed the necklace over to Bridgette before making his leave. Left baffled and concerned, she tried to call out to him. After everything that happened, she was certain this was the last time any one of them would see him. But he left so boldly, so sure of himself. In a way, there was no better way for them to finally make their goodbyes.

With the baton passed over to her, Bridgette diligently shuffled Courtney and Duncan over to the massive colony ship. And as for Cody and Al, their ride was here to pick them up. Loudred and Mokona waved to the two excitedly from within the newly arrived Gummi Ship. Both were understandably more than eager to get the heck out of here as soon as possible.

After the two hopped on, Cody immediately ran up to the dashboard and urged Loudred forward. "They need time to fix up their engine. We gotta clear the air for them."

"Uhh, sure, but you think we can handle it, kid?"

Loudred motioned their eyes to the front window where, before their very eyes, they could see just how bad the skies had gotten. Swarms of Guardian Heartless with numbers comparable to the escaping colony itself invaded every inch of the eye, the ashes from the raging flames were unfurled into blinding chunks, and, worst of all, the portal was past its peak.

Their window was closing right before them.

"Well, don't just stand there," Al interrupted their collective gawking to grab ahold of Mokona like he was fetching a misplaced tool. "Start it up already!"

"Roger that!"

They zoomed upwards towards the desolate starscape, and Al rushed on over to the ship's door, ignoring all safety cautions to stick Mokona out and use him as a makeshift laser beam. They managed to regain a respectable amount of flight space by the time the colony craft finally made its way to the air. But the Guardians remained ruthless and the portal was shrinking by the second.

With Al and Mokona acting as offense and Loudred steering the way, Cody was left with nothing but private hyperventilation time. We're not gonna make it, he kept thinking to himself. It's gotten so small. We're not gonna make it. We're not gonna make it. We're not…

…Huh?

It was a testament to his experience as a Keybearer that he was able to make it out. As the portal began to deplete into nothing but a mere pothole, he realized it was never a circlet to begin with.

It was the shape of a Keyhole.

He smiled wryly with his face full of sweat. They did it. They made it out.

He tilted his Keyblade to the front window and lined it up with the seal. A shroud of white burst right through and filled up the spectral wasteland with the most light that would ever set forth in it. Soon enough, there was no more Gummi Ship. No more colony, no more Heartless, Guardians, flames. Just the echoing quiet of the eternal Null Void.

…

…

…

… Pierce smiled as he gazed up where his friends and crew had finally broken free. After everything they'd all been through, his efforts finally paid off.

And for now, there was just one last strand to address.

"You can come out now."

…

Trent stubbornly drudged away from the nearby rock pile he'd hid behind.

"So," Pierce turned over to him with a stern face of sincerity. "You need to fix your ship too, right?

"Well, we might be stuck here for a bit, so I might as well help."

Trent did not respond.

A spiral of dark energy appeared before the sullen teen. It was the very thing he tried his best to avoid, but he now welcomed it with open arms. Never once acknowledging Pierce's words, Trent silently set foot into the peculiar gateway and disappeared out of sight.

…

Pierce was truly on his own now, but he wasn't particularly shocked or disappointed. All he could do was shrug and continue on forward. There was no use dwelling over it.

Trent had made his choice.

Man, I should've split this chapter in two. Whoops.