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Chapter 3: Friends New and Old, An Adventure Begins (part 1)

KH 2: Hollow Bastion

I woke up to sunlight shining in my face. "Damn. Why did I get the room that, just so happens, to have no blinds?" I grumbled, rolling out of bed. I was sore, stiff and had a massive headache, if my throbbing head was any indication. All of the discomfort soon vanished as I remembered what happened with Kari last night. "Was that a dream? Or...did it really happen?" I thought aloud. My train of thought was broken as I caught a whiff of something delicious cooking. "Bacon, eggs, and toast." My mouth started watering at the mere thought and at the realization that I hadn't had anything to eat in a full day. "Wait a second. I'm on the third floor of their house, and yet I can still smell that? I might be able to smell something indistinct but definitely not something that specific. What the hell is going on?" The scent wafted back a second time and I figured it was no use thinking about it on an empty stomach. By some miracle, I navigated the house on smell and hearing alone and ended up in the kitchen. Kairi was at the stove and it looked as if she was just finishing up. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Come on in, Rich. I'm just about done. Hope you like fried eggs and bacon on toast."

"Sounds great. Thanks." Again the thought of me being able to smell that all the way upstairs surfaced but was quickly pushed back down by hunger.

The next one down was Kari. She walked in half asleep, rubbing her eyes. She perked up when she looked at me. It seems she wasn't expecting me to be up. Our eyes locked and her face went as red as her hair. For her benefit and to avoid an awkward moment with her mother, I pretended not to notice. She moved and took the chair to my right and gave me a quick, warm embrace.

"Morning, Richie." she said, using the nickname she gave me a few years ago.

"Morning to you too. And you know I don't really like that nickname." I said, giving her a gentle, playful nudge.

"I know. That's why I used it."

"I guess I'll let it slide this time. You sleep well?"

"Yeah. How 'bout you? You feel any better today?"

"A bit. Still sore and stiff. At least I don't have a headache." I needed to drop a hint at last night and see if it was real. "Though I think something happened last night that made me feel better."

Her blush returned, a bit darker this time, "Oh, really? Well at least you're doing better. I don't know what my dad was thinking when he made you fight that thing at full strength."

"Deja vu." I muttered under my breath.

"You say something?" Kari asked.

"Hmm. Oh...no...I was just thinking out loud." I answered, almost a little too fast. Thankfully she either didn't catch it or she just let it go.

"Ya know...you seem to do that a lot."

"Yeah, I know. I honestly have no idea why."

Kairi walked over and set a plate of breakfast down in front of each of us. "Thanks." we chorused in unison.

"I don't expect Sora to be down for awhile, so go ahead and dig in."

For the next half-hour, all that could be hear was the clanging of forks and knives on plates. There was very little chatting and what little there was followed by a strange silence. I don't know what made the silence strange. In the back of my head, a small feeling something was going to go wrong today kept going off. I pushed it back and just continued on as normal. Sora finally walked in as we were cleaning up. I was about to offer to help with the dishes when I heard Sora walk in. I turned to see him looking at me with a serious expression. Kairi turned to her husband and was about to start lecturing him...again...when he held up a hand to forestall her.

"I'll let you lecture me after I talk to you." he started solemnly, "For now...Kari, take your pet somewhere else. I need to talk to your mother alone."

"DAD!!! What was with that!!? Why did you say-" she stopped as I put my hand on her shoulder.

"Go wait by the stairs. I'll deal with him."

She looked at me and gave me a pleading look, "Don't do anything you'll regret."

"Hey...it's me."

"That's why I said that." She walked out, leaving me and Sora glaring at each other and Kairi watching from the sidelines.

"OK, Sora...yesterday you were all nice and happy and today you make that remark. What happened over night that changed your attitude towards me so much?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you."

"I think you do after insulting me like that. So start." He just stood there, not moving and not willing to say a word. "Am I gonna have to beat it out of you?"

I gave and empty threat and it was empty only because I didn't want to hurt Kari's feelings. Apparently he thought I would be willing to follow through with it and I saw a flash of fear cross his eyes. 'Why is he scared? At best I could only match him, not best him.'

"Alright. You wanna know why? Here's why: you're an ungrateful bastard who thinks he can do whatever whenever he wants!?" he yelled, putting extra emphasis on the bastard part.

This statement caught me off guard. "How have I been ungrateful!?" I yelled back. "Because of you, I didn't have a chance to do what I wanted to yesterday, which was hang out with an old friend who I haven't seen in six years!!!!"

"Well I have some news for you: you won't be seeing her again after today. You are no longer welcome in this house!!"

Instead of a heated remark or harsh words or anything of that nature, I did one of the most unexpected things I could think of: I stood there-head bowed, and teeth gritted-and started to growl. Just a deep rumbling in the back of my throat. Again, the flash of fear crossed Sora's face, but this time it didn't leave. Kairi moved in between me and Sora and put her hand on my shoulder. I look up at her-still growling-and she took a step back out of fear. The look on her face made me calm slightly as it was one of compassion. I stopped growling as she looked me in the eye.

"Rich. Take Kari and get out. Go hang out and catch up. I'll try to straighten things out here, OK?"

"Alright. But I won't be coming back. When we finish, I'm going to go back to my house. I don't want to stay around someone like him." I said, nodding my head towards Sora. She just nodded her head and turned me towards the door Kari left through. I walked out and saw Kari sitting on the foot of the stairs. Instead of going to her instantly, I put my back against the wall and listened in on Kairi and Sora's conversation.

"Sora. What is wrong with you? You've never acted like this before. Why did you act that way towards Rich?"

"Kairi. That was a mild side of what I saw." I could hear his voice shaking, which surprised me. "That boy is an animal. I saw something yesterday I wish I hadn't. After he was beaten by the Data Vexen, I called for Cid to stop it as fast as possible. He tried but there was something wrong with the controls. I looked back to see Rich stand again but it wasn't him. The powers of Darkness and Light took shape around his body. He crouched down onto all fours like an animal. Darkness and Light blended into some darker white but not gray color and formed a fox, with multiple tails, around his body. After it formed, Rich disappeared and all I could see was the Data Vexen get smacked around like a rag-doll. It burst into data and Rich re-appeared where the simulation died. He looked me dead in the eyes and when I looked back, all I saw were soulless, onyx-black pits. Then he grinned and gave a maniacal laugh, all the while, bearing fangs instead of teeth..."

I couldn't listen to any more. His recounting of the event had me shivering in fear. 'No. That couldn't have been me. That can't be me. Could it?'

I looked over at Kari and my heart melted. Her face was buried in her hands and I could hear faint sniffling coming from her. I walked over to her.

"Kari...are you alright?"

She looked up at me and I saw her eyes were red from crying.

"Whats wrong?"

"Come with me." she said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled me to the next floor. She took me to a room down a hallway far from her parents. I assume its her room. The walls were done in two-toned blue, which was no surprise seeing as how she has always been a bit of a tomboy. All it had in the way of furniture was: a bed with a blue comforter covering , most-likely, blue sheets; a computer desk in one corner, minus the computer; and black drapes over the window.

"Have a seat." she said, indicating the bed. I took a spot and she sat next to me. "I have to tell you something about last night."

'I had a feeling this was coming.'

"Last night...when everyone else was asleep...I...I came into your room and..." she stopped there and it seemed as if she might continue but she couldn't.

"Kari, stop." I said, putting my arm around her. "I know what happened." She tensed visibly.

"You...you do?"

"Yes. I do." I looked down at her and saw that her face was twisted into a mixed expression of shock, worry, and hope. "When you sat on the bed it woke me up. Don't worry. I'm not mad at you. To be honest, I enjoyed it." Her face and mood brightened after I said that but it couldn't last. "Kari, even though I enjoyed it, I'm sorry to say I can't return the affection." Her mood darkened again and I could see an extreme sadness in her eyes.

"Why?" This was all she could ask before she almost started crying again.

"This is gonna sound crazy and its gonna be hard to explain. But I just have a crazy feeling that something big is gonna happen and I'm gonna be caught in the freakin' center of it. I don't want you getting hurt because of it."

She moved my arm and stood, not turning to face me. "Richard." She used my full name so this is something serious. "There's something else you should know. Do you remember the day before the Heartless incident?"

"How could I not. That was the last day I was able to see you."

"Well, do you remember that my dad took use somewhere to eat before we went to the Bailey?"

"Yeah..." I couldn't see where she was going with this.

"The fruit he gave us after we finished eating that day. Do you remember that?"

"That is kind of hard to forget. It tasted like a blend of every fruit possible but it didn't taste weird either. It was gold and shaped like a star right?"

"Yeah. That...was a...paopu fruit."

"The one that can bind destinies?!" I almost yelled.

"Yeah. My dad went through a lot of trouble to get it."

"Not that I mind having my destiny bound to yours but, why did he do it?"

"Your parents asked for it. I think my dad told you they knew something was gonna happen to them. They wanted a friend you could count on when that time did come. After seeing how close we were, they thought we would be perfect together. Now I see that was a mistake." She almost spat the last part out in disdain.

"How did you learn all this?"

"My dad told me yesterday, when he put you up here."

I couldn't let her go on thinking I didn't want to be with her. In all truth, it was the one thing on my mind. To stay with her and keep her happy. I stood up and walked behind her. She most likely didn't hear me as she made no attempt to move. I could hear her sniffling and, from what I could tell, she was trying her best not to let it out right there. I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her tight to me. She tensed again but she still made no attempt to move. "Kari. I am very pissed at your father for this. And especially about what he said to me down in the kitchen. But none of this effects how I feel about you. I know our destinies are bound, but all I can say for romance is that I'm not interested." I turned her around and raised her head by her chin to have her look me in the eye. "And even if I was, I wouldn't let it happen until whatever I'm gonna get caught up in ends. But...I was hoping that you would've noticed something about me."

"What?" she asked, with spite still in her voice.

"Right here with you is the best I have felt in months. Remember when I say that love is a fickle thing. Just because I'm not interested in a relationship right now doesn't mean that I won't be. Around you, my feelings are strong, but they aren't strong enough to put you in danger for a relationship. I do wanna give you something though. And I hope that we can still keep our friendship where it is." I held her tight to me and gave her a deep, loving kiss. Her eyes shot wide open and she tensed even more, if that was possible. But she soon relaxed and even pressed into the it. After a moment, I broke the kiss, to her disappointment.

"Thanks, Richie." she said, smiling and wiping her eyes.

"There's that beautiful smile. I don't ever want you to stop smiling." I told her, not caring about the nickname.

We held each other close until a knock at the door broke us out of our trance. 'I hope that isn't Sora.' I thought.

Kari walked over to the door and opened it. Sure enough, standing on the other side was Sora. 'Oh great.' Our eyes met and he flinched but he held his ground. "Richard. I came up here to apologize for what I said earlier." he sounded sincere but I could tell he was only doing this because Kairi made him. "I'm sorry. And I was out of line."

"Well, thank you." I said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Now go out. Have fun. And do some catching up."

Kari grabbed me by my wrist again and led me out of her room. I planted my feet to get her to stop. "Go ahead Kari. I'll meet you outside." She nodded and walked off. "Sora, I know that you don't really mean you're sorry. I know that Kairi brow-beat you into doing that. You'll be happy to know that I won't be coming back after today. But, at least keep fake liking me when your daughter is around."

"Whatever, you animal. Just don't do anything to hurt her or I will make you pay."

I threw a punch straight at his face and stopped it not even an inch from his nose. "Do you really think you could take me. Your reflexes suck now. You insult me like that again and I'll make you pay." I left it at that and walked out.

Kari was waiting by the front door, surprisingly still smiling.

"Well, you look like your ready. What do you wanna do?" I asked.

"How about we go get some sea-salt ice cream and head to the Bailey like we used to?"

"Sounds good to me." The fifteen minute walk to Scrooge McDuck's ice cream parlor was spent in relative silence but we enjoyed each others company enough that it seemed like it took only five minutes. We were about to head inside when we heard someone yelling.

"Kari! Hey, Kari, wait up!" A kid that looked about our age came running up to us. He was dressed in a pair of dark-blue jeans, a black shirt, and a black blazer with a jade dragon pattern. The dragons tails started on the end of each sleeve, wound around the back and the heads came up on the opposite side it started, to stop on the torso just below his shoulders. He caught up with us and took a second to catch his breath.

"Hey...Kari. I was...looking for you. I was just...on my way...to your house." He cut a look at me. "Who..is this?" he asked, finally catching his breath.

"Hey, Michael. This is Richard. I think I've told you about him before." I just nodded at him.

"You're a good friend of Kari's I assume?"

"A very good friend."

It looked like his mood sank for a second but quickly picked back up. "Well...it's nice to meet you. And call me Mike." he said, extending his hand.

"Yeah, man. Whatever." I said, ignoring his hand.

Kari looked at me, then him, and just sighed. "Sorry about that, Mike. He's been through a lot lately and it takes him a while to open up to someone. But once he does he can be a real sweetie." I had to try my hardest to hide a blush at the last comment and barely succeeded. The guy, Mike, looked at me for a second...no maybe he looked through me, and nodded in understanding. "We were just about to grab some ice cream and head to the bailey. Wanna join us?"

"Sure. Thanks."

'There is something different about him. When he looked at me, it seemed like he looked into my spirit. Wait, my father said something about some mages that have that ability. Is he a mage?'

It only took a minute to get the ice cream but the walk to the Bailey was about ten minutes long. All three of us stood in front of windowless spot in the brick wall that composed the majority of the Bailey. A gentle breeze blew by keeping it feeling very nice. We looked out the viewing area over the Crystal Wastes and what was left of Maleficent's old castle, Hollow Bastion. All that was left was the tallest brown spire with a blue-shingled roof and the Heartless Emblem on it. Kari was leaning against me and I had my arm around her shoulders. Every now and again I caught Mike giving me and her a look but he didn't notice. There was something in the look that I couldn't place. Even though I hadn't really said anything to him, something about Mike made me warm up to him.

"Oh yeah. Hey, Mike."

"Yeah."

"Didn't you say you were looking for Kari to tell her something?"

"Oh yeah. Idiot. How could I forget about that?"

The mention of her name made Kari look away from the aqua colored crystals, "What is it, Mike."

"I was monitoring signals across Radiant Garden last night when I got a strange signal coming from your house. It didn't seem to have any dangerous properties so I didn't think I needed to bother you guys so late."

"Hey, Rich. To clear up a few loose ends here: Mike is a bit of a techie and Cid's apprentice. He's in charge of keeping an eye out for strange signals across the Garden."

"That makes sense. Thanks, Kari."

"Damn it. I am so brain-dead. I forgot to check the signal again." He pulled out what looked like a scanner that projected a holographic map of the city. "This might take a..." I blanked him out.

I could swear I could hear distant fighting. "...amond...Stor..." I could've sworn I heard a female voice shout that. Suddenly I felt a short burst of adrenalin. I caught a glimpse in a vision of a yellow blur and three silver blurs.

"Rich."

'Wait a minute. What was that? I don't know anything about that...yet it still seems familiar.'

"Richard."

'Why does it seem familiar?'

"Richard!!" Kari yelled, snapping me back to my senses.

"Huh? What?" I looked to Kari and Mike, but Mike was standing almost right in front of my face. He had a surprise/worried expression.

"Alright...what's with the look?" I asked, slightly worried.

"The signal is coming from you. Why?"

I had a pretty good idea why but then I remembered the Voice from my Awakening, "Keep that device with you. Do not let anyone take it."

"How am I supposed to know?" I lied.

Apparently Kari caught on and this only made her even more worried. "Richard. If you have something that is doing this, or if you're part of something that is causing this, please...tell me. You have a tell that lets me know you lied. I know, you know what that signal is coming from."

"I don't have a tell."

"Yes...you do. When you lie, you cross your arms and look away from whoever you're lying to."

'Damn. I was hoping not to have to show them this. I know I can trust Kari but that voice said to not show it to anyone.'

"Fine. I have two conditions if you want to know."

Mike looked as if he was about to protest but Kari stopped him by slapping a hand over his mouth. "What are they?" she said.

"One: You can't tell anyone about what you're gonna see. Two: you can not touch or handle this."

"Done and done." she agreed.

It made me feel better that she respected that. "Well, Kari, as you know I had my Awakening." I started for Mike's benefit. "After I defeated the giant Heartless, I noticed something on the ground where it faded. I picked it up and noticed it fit perfectly in the palm of my hand, like it was made for me. A voice told me not to let anyone take it."

Mike finally managed to pry Kari's hand off of his mouth and chimed in his two-cents. "Well...what is it?"

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the scanner device. "Wow. It looks like a card scanner. This device looks so simple but judging by the reading it gives out, it seems it can do so much more than just what it looks like."

"That's exactly what I thought and I have no 'real' tech experience anyway."

My vision blurred and I heard Kari mumble a question that didn't really register. Suddenly, a massive wave of fatigue hit me. My vision cleared a bit but it wasn't sharp still. I could make out a clearing in a forest that had been scared by battle. This time, instead of having a fixed view, I could actually look around. I heard something thump against the ground behind me. I turned and saw the yellow blur from earlier this time it had red patches over it. Randomly, as if all of my being came into focus here, my vision turned sharp.

'No. It can't be.' The yellow blur resolved into the she-fox from my dreams; only this time, she was beaten and bloody.

The three silver blurs, which turned out to be silver versions of the she-fox, dropped in front of me. It looked like these were the one that harmed her.

'Wait. There's something off about the silver ones. They don't move normally. Their movement is too...sporadic. Where have I heard of that before?' I thought. Then the vision literally shattered. I woke up on the ground with my head on Kari's lap.

"Oh thank God he's alright!" Kari squealed.

It took a second for the vision to sink in but when it did I ignored the headache and stood up, showing no concern for what just happened.

"Whoa, hey, take it easy, Richard." Mike exclaimed.

"There's no time! Someone's in trouble and we have to help her!" I said with a purpose I never really had before.

"How do you know?" Kari asked.

"I can't explain it. I...I just know."

"I believe you. I can tell. There is something in your voice that says you really believe this. We have no real proof but I trust you."

Michael however remained skeptical, "How far is it? What if we're going out of our way for a wild goose chase? Like Kari said, 'We have no real proof...'."

'Cause every time we touch, I get this feeling.

And every time we kiss, I swear I could fly.

Can't you feel my heart beat fast?

I want this to last.

Need you by my side.

Me and Mike both turned to look at Kari who was pulling her cell phone out.

She answered it. "Hello. Yeah; uh-huh; yeah, Mike's here too; okay, we'll be there in a minute. Okay, bye." She hung up. "That was Dad. He says we need to get over to Ansem's Castle now. There is something going on in the Space Paranoids."

"Oh shit. Where is that scanner?!" I was almost in a panic.

"Here." Kari said, reaching into her pocket. "I held onto it when you passed out. I figured you wouldn't mind."

"Thanks. Wait...you said Ansem's Castle, right?"

"Yeah. We need to go to the study."

"One sec." I pressed the middle button on the scanner and the gray grid with the red arrow popped up. The red arrow was pointing towards the Castle still. 'This can't be just coincidence. Can it?' "Hey, Mike. What else are you good at...besides being a techy?"

"I can use Light Magic."

"How good are your healing spells?"

"About level three."

"Good enough to cure some pretty severe wounds." I muttered under my breath.

Apparently he caught that. "How do you know that? You're not a mage are you?"

"No. But my mother was. She was a level five White Mage. And I will not answer any questions about her. I don't want to talk about it. Now I think we've wasted enough time. Lets get going before we're out of it."

All three of us turned to run to the Castle. It was a straight but long path and it actually took us past the Cavern of Remembrance. When we arrived at the door to the Castle, we saw that Sora was there waiting for us.

"Took you guys long enough."

"Any more word on whats going on, Dad?"

"No nothing yet. Tron can't hold a channel open long enough to give us any information. Come on, lets go."

He turned to walk off down the halls that, I knew from previous tours of this place, were winding and exceedingly long.

I was about to speak up but Kari beat me to it. "Dad. We need to hurry. We get the feeling that someone is in very big trouble."

"Are you sure?" he asked, to which Kari just nodded her head. "OK then. I think I have something that might speed things up."

I had to turn my head as a bright light took Sora's place. When it faded and I could see again, Sora was standing...or floating, I should say...in front of us. His clothes were now silver instead of black, red, and gold. Two Keyblades floated in the air behind him. One was the Kingdom Key. The other...

'I can't believe it.' The other was a white Keyblade with two shafts but joined up at the teeth to form gold points that resembled a star. Beside the star was a heart-shaped point that was outlined in black. The hilt guard was a pair of angel wings. It was the Oathkeeper. 'There is absolutely no way this is coincidence.'

"Wait. How is this gonna speed things up?" Mike asked.

"I can carry Kari on my back and you and Rich can grab hold of the Keyblades. It doesn't really take that much concentration to pull some extra weight."

"Sounds like you've done this before, but whatever. Lets get moving." I said.

Sora shot me a look but otherwise let it slide. Me and Mike both grabbed a Keyblade. He grabbed the Kingdom Key and I grabbed Oathkeeper. But, when my hand clasped the hilt, I was pulled for another vision. This time, I saw two hooded figures fighting their way up a long white staircase. One figure was using the Oathkeeper and Oblivion and the other was using an ornate Keyblade that consisted of wings and a dull-grey shaft. 'What is that Keyblade?'

By the time the vision cleared, we were all standing in front of a large computer panel. I looked around the room and saw a strange symbol on the wall behind us. I can't really describe it but it looked like a bunch of circles with portions of them cut out. I turned back to find Sora hunched over the panel.

"This will take us to the Space Paranoids. Hopefully we won't have any problems." He walked back to us and stayed facing the odd pattern. We turned and just as we did, a strange light enveloped all of us and then the world went black.

Space Paranoids Theme

The black vision lasted only a few seconds and when it resolved, we were standing in large blue room with a large hole in the middle of the floor. Across the floor, walls, and ceiling were what looks like circuit lines. I turned to look at the others and found they had changed in appearance. They had some weird suit that followed the color scheme of their original outfit but the suit had circuit lines running through it just like the floor and ceiling. I looked down at my clothes and was shocked to find that mine had not changed. Though that thought didn't last long as I quickly reminded myself of why I was here.

It took a second, but I did realize that there was an extra man with us. The way the others made it sound, I reasoned it had to be Tron. Sora looked the group once over and turned to Tron but quickly did a double take and looked right at me.

"What the... Why don't you have one of these suits?"

"I don't know. What do you think I am? I don't have all the answers, Sora."

"Well, we can overlook it for now." He turned to Tron. "Tron what is going on? We haven't been able to get a clear message from you since that odd reading showed up two days ago."

'Wait...two days ago? That's around the same time as I had my Awakening.'

"Well. Something interesting happened just beyond the edge of the Central Messa, where we are now." He seemed to add that for my benefit. "Its hard for me to explain as I have never seen anything like this. I think it might be better if I just show you."

"Alright. We'll be using the Solar Sailor right?"

"Yes. Follow me."

I could feel a distinct, but very well hidden presence prodding at the back of my mind. I brushed it aside but before I could even take my first step to follow the group, I felt my strength leave in an instant and I passed out.

When I woke up, I still felt very weak. I looked up to see that we were on some long rectangular platform with what looked like,spread out, solar wings. Kari and Mike were hovering over me with worried expression on their faces.

"How long was I out?" I asked, rubbing my head.

"About ten minutes. Are you alright?' Kari asked.

"Yeah. Just feeling very drained right now."

"Here. This might help." Mike said. He put his hand over my chest and a white aura covered it. "Esuna." With finishing of that spell, I felt my strength return.

"Whoa. I guess you are a level three mage."

"What happened?"

"I felt something prodding at the back of my mind. Then I felt most of my strength drain away. There's not much else I can say to describe it."

"I've never heard of anything like this. Even the higher level mages at the guild never say anything about this." Mike said.

"Wait. The presence is back." I said. It was prodding again but it was less defended. I prodded it back and quickly caught a glimpse of a forest.

"Do you want me to do something?"

"No. I think I can figure this out. I have a good idea on what to do. Just give me a minute."

They nodded and moved away a little bit. I closed my eyes and focused on the presence. It wormed its way into my mind a little more. I waited and focused and was able to feel a slight drain of my energy. I waited until it intensified some more and formed a slight hold on it. The drain intensified up to the point that my hold was slipping. I didn't let it get that far. I intensified my hold and pushed it out at the same time. Because my hold was strong I was able to follow the presence back to where it came from. I felt the presence stop and I assumed that I was in its mind. I focused onto its sight ability and was allowed to see what it saw. I almost fainted at the sight before me: around me was a forest clearing, and in front of me was the three silver versions of the she-fox. I could only assume that I was looking through the eyes of the she-fox. I opened my senses even more and allowed myself to feel what she felt. Instantly, pain overcame most of my senses. She was fighting a losing battle. Her vision focused on the silver foxes. Then it hit me.

'I knew I recognized their movement. Those are Nobodies! I don't know where she is, but I know she doesn't know how to fight them. I need to hurry!!'

I retreated my presence from her mind and returned to my body. Lucky for me, we had finished the ride on the...Solar Sailor, I think it was. I looked over the edge to see a forest the spread on for miles. I somehow knew that was the forest that the she-fox was fighting in. When I looked straight down, I saw we were very high up. I have no idea how far.

"Kari, Richard. You two are gonna jump down while I let my Keyblades carry Tron and Michael."

"ARE YOU INSANE?! Jump?" I yelled.

"Yes. I can't explain very well, but I have fallen from much higher than this and survived without pain or injury. I think the Keyblade has something to do with it."

If he was telling his daughter it was alright, I could believe this. Without hesitation, I jumped.

I started falling in a spread eagle position but soon pulled in my arms and put my legs together. I fell like a lead weight at that point. As I got closer to the ground, I could feel my descent slow. About ten feet off the ground, I was almost hanging in the air so I righted myself to a standing position. I dropped to the ground and almost instantly started running towards the border between the forest and the Space Paranoids. I heard two thumps behind me and knew that the others weren't far behind.

"Rich. Stop!" Sora yelled.

"No. I'm trying to save someone's life Sora. I can't stop."

A burst of Fire hit the ground in front of me. I wheeled on the spot to see Sora with the Kingdom Key in hand.

Kingdom Hearts Re:COM Face it

"What the hell was that for?!"

"Just because you're an animal now doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."

I summoned my Keyblade and sent burst of Darkness from it at him. "I told you if you insulted me again...I would MAKE YOU PAY!" He just blocked it with his blade.

Kari quickly stepped into the middle and ran to me.

"Rich, what are you doing?"

"I'm doing exactly what I told him I would. And I hope this teaches him something. To respect his betters."

"You've changed, Richard."

"Oh. Like you wouldn't if you were in my position. Kari, I am trying to save someone's life. I have a chance to save someone's life and fix the mistake I made not being able to save my parents."

A look of understanding crossed her face. She nodded and made to walk off, but quickly turned and wrapped me in a tight embrace. I wrapped my free arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

"Kari. I wish I didn't have to do this but maybe it will knock some sense into him. Please just get out the way and stay safe."

Kari nodded and freed herself from my arms. She ran over to Mike and started crying. That was the last straw and it caused something to snap in me. The power of Darkness manifested in me and I felt my form change. I looked down at my arms and saw I had a black cloak on. I looked back over to Kari to see Mike kissing her gently. I felt a pang of hurt and strangely a pang of relief. I looked back to Sora to see him giving me a hate filled glare. The tension in the air skyrocketed as we stood there, staring each other down. He moved first...

Music Stops

*Meanwhile in another area of the world.*

"Ha ha ha. Turning them against each other was a brilliant idea...Ultimecia." Alexion said.

A figure in the shadows spoke with a feminine voice toward Alexion, "That was nothing. Just a matter of simple manipulation. Just wait until we have Kingdom Hearts and then watch what I can do."

"I will definitely look forward to it. Almost as much as I am looking forward to finishing off whoever is left after this fight." Alexion said as he turned back to the crystal ball he was using. "Feel free to mobilize our forces. Take this section of this world so we may have a foothold here. And tell him I want him leading the assault."

"Yes, Alexion." Ultimecia said.

The figure snapped its fingers and a massive hoard of Nobodies appeared. She then sent them off towards their intended target, all the while staying in the shadows..

Credits to Cascada: Everytime We Touch for Kari's ringtone.