Archive of Our Own

“Man, this sucks!” Susie yelled out as she placed down another box.

Kris made no motion to respond to her as they continued to wipe down the kitchen.

“Why do we gotta get stuck with chores on the weekend, shouldn't your Mom be helping with this?”

Kris turned to her, one eyebrow raised through their bangs, though Susie couldn’t notice. “You didn’t have to volunteer for this in the first place. Mom wanted me to help clean up the house, and Noelle invited you to her house anyway.” Kris turned back to continue their task.

Kris and Susie spent the morning going to Church with Toriel after Susie spent the night, and Toriel then told Kris that she had to stay afterwards for choir practice which would take up most of the day, and gave Kris the task of starting to clean up the house before Asriel arrived home tomorrow before the Festival. This annoyed Kris a good amount since they had planned to meet up with Noelle to get her to help them and Susie with their group project for school, but what made the situation more ridiculous was Kris successfully convincing Susie to help them clean Kris’ house in return for Kris making a pie for Susie, which got her to agree to help right away. It was mildly amusing how easily you could convince Susie to do anything for food.

“Yeah but like, that was to work on our group project and stuff,” Susie said as she put a hand through her hair. “And I definitely wasn’t gonna get anything done without you.”

Kris turned and stared at her again, this time their eyes exposed and looking at her with a look of mild bewilderment. “You’re hopeless.” They said in a monotone voice.

“The hell is that supposed to mean!?” Susie barked.

“Means that you got yourself bribed to clean someone else’s house instead of hanging out with Noelle.” Kris chuckled.

“Hey as long as you hold up your end I’m cool with it,” Susie shrugs. “I’m just, I don’t know, restless after last night in the Dark World. That was pretty crazy.”

Kris looked down again, and Susie was unable to get a good look at their expression. “Yeah. That sucked.” Kris muttered. They still couldn’t fully shake off the events of the previous night: the two teenagers ending up in a Dark World at Kris’ house, dealing with Tenna, fighting the Roaring Knight (if you could even call it a fight) and letting Undyne get kidnapped. How did they let that happen?

Susie put a hand on Kris' shoulder. “Hey dude. I know that look on you, stop beating yourself up about it. We’ll get through this somehow. If we gotta beat up the Knight again then so be it, we did it once already.” She couldn’t see Kris’ face through their hair but she knew well enough Kris was thinking a lot about what happened too.

Kris looked up at her for a moment and then let out a small laugh. “Alright. Stop being sappy and help me move the stuff from my room.”

“And then we’re taking a break because I want my pie.”

Kris smiled. “Sure.” They replied, quiet but content.

The two moved upstairs towards Kris’ room. Kris packed up a few boxes of miscellaneous things from their room and closet to make room for when Asriel returned from college, as well as collecting the objects that became Darkners in the Dark World last night to bring to Castle Town later. Moving Tenna to the school is going to be a big and annoying task on its own, as moving a TV across town and sneaking into the school with it on a weekend would be, but that would be something they filed under “to care about later” in their head.

The two approached Kris’ room as Kris opened the door. Suddenly, black smoke seeped from the room, with total darkness within. The two froze, processing what they’re looking at. Quickly, Susie was enraged.

“God damn it! Again!? Did they break into the house while we were at Church!?” Susie roared, stomping her foot on the ground.

Kris let out a long sigh, too tired already to deal with another Dark World adventure after last night, and really the last few days. “I just want one day without this happening.” They rubbed the bridge of their nose, their frustration being very evident with their voice.

“Alright, well, your mom is gone most of the day. So that gives us time to deal with this before she gets back. And hey, if the Knight shows up again we’ll just kick their ass like we did already!” Susie grinned, baring her big teeth. “Let’s just hope if Tenna shows up again that he won’t be a pain in the ass.”

Kris exhales through their nose. “Alright, let’s do this.” They said, and the two jumped into the darkness, descending further into what was once their bedroom. A second Dark World was opened up in Kris’ house, and they hoped that they would put a stop to it for good this time.

***

Eventually the two woke up and realized they were laying on the ground. Kris got up first and went to check on Susie as she slowly rose. Both teenagers are now in their Dark World outfits, with Kris outfitted in their armor and Susie with her very spiky jacket.

“I’m good, thanks though.” Susie muttered. Kris nodded and turned to look at the surrounding area, trying to get a grasp on where they ended up. The first thing they noticed was the wooden floor beneath them, and the next thing they noticed was that they were surrounded by what seemed to be large cardboard boxes.

They turned around instinctively when they heard Susie sneeze. “Dude, is it just me or is it dusty as hell in here?” Susie growled.

Kris inhaled a bit, and then nodded. It reminded them of the basement in Noelle’s house when they were kids. They pointed in one direction. “Looks like light over there, let’s check it out.”

Susie nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. Hopefully Ralsei can get here soon.”

The two teenagers walked and waded through a couple of what seemed like dust bunnies that were more like dust tumbleweeds with their size, kicking them out of the way as they finally reached the light and realized where they were. They found themselves within a very large bedroom, but it didn’t look anything like Kris’ bedroom. There was no second bed, and one desk in the middle of the room under the window. The door was also in a completely different spot. The walls were filled with many different posters of movies that they didn’t recognize.

‘Where the hell are we?’ Kris thought to themselves, and immediately their thought was interrupted by Susie grabbing the human’s shoulders.

“This doesn’t even look like your room! Kris, where the hell are we!?”

***
Sora covers his eyes from the sunlight peering from the window as he adjusts to the light. Donald and Goofy are right behind him as the trio walk forward to explore their surroundings. Sora looks around to see what kind of world they’ve travelled to now, only to be surprised at how large the furniture is. Suddenly, his eyes grow wide.

“Oh my gosh! Have we been shrunk!?” Sora yells. “And… and look at us!” He looks at himself to realize that he looks much less smooth and more resembling a toy.

“You know what the magic is for. We have to protect the world order!” Donald replies.

“Gawrsh… who’s gonna protect the world order from them?” Goofy interjects as he points to the open doorway to the hallway, where a group of Heartless is positioned.

“Heartless!” Sora and Donald yell, the two summon their weapons to charge at them. The trio waste no time in dispatching the Heartless. Sora’s magic proves to be no match as the group of Heartless is wiped out. Donald looks ahead further into the large hallway and spots a lot of movement on the other side of the hallway into what looks to be another bedroom like the one they’re in currently.

“Up ahead, more of them! It looks like there’s more fighting.” Donald yells out, pointing towards the other bedroom.

“Let’s go, hopefully no one is hurt!” Sora shouts, immediately turning to run towards the other bedroom across the hallway, Donald and Goofy are quick to keep up. The last thing Sora wants is to be too slow and allow the Heartless to hurt any of the people from this world. Sure enough, as the trio cross the hallway and get close enough to the doorway of the adjacent bedroom to see inside, they spot another group of Heartless already in a battle against two people. One of them looks to be a knight in silver armor, with long brown hair and blue skin clashing against a Heartless with… a Keyblade!?

The other person looks to be a much taller lizard, wearing a purple jacket with spikes everywhere, and who is currently punching a Heartless in the face before turning around to swing their weapon at another a good distance in front of them, summoning a large wave of energy that strikes the Heartless dead-on and the Heartless dissipates. Sora quickly takes notice of the lizard’s weapon and… it’s also a Keyblade!?

“Hell yeah! Eat that ya jerk!” The lizard shouts before turning to see the knight getting struck by a Heartless’ sword in the center of their armor, a clean swipe across the chest.

“Shit! Kris!” They run up to the Heartless in front of the knight and grab them by the arm before picking it up and then slamming it to the ground. The knight is quick to react and runs to stab the Heartless in the torso while it’s down, and the Heartless dissipates, their breathing is rapid and hair covering their eyes, so it’s hard to make out how much pain they’re in

“Hey, you good dude? I’m sorry.” The lizard asks, lowering to look at any wounds on the knight’s body.

The knight shakes their head. “I’m fine. Thanks for the assist.” they quietly replied, motioning to do a fist bump with the lizard, who smiles widely and responds to the fist bump. Sora approaches the two slowly to try to understand these very mysterious strangers.

“Uh, hey there!” He exclaims as he approaches, and the two strangers turn to face him with their weapons drawn, which upon looking at them from a closer distance he can confidently say are Keyblades, which only makes him more confused. Sora puts his hands up as he recognizes the gesture. “Oh don’t worry, I’m not here to fight. I saw you guys fighting those Heartless and we were about to help but it seems like you have it handled, which is very impressive.”

“Oh, is that what those guys were called?” The lizard responds. “Uh, yeah we got it handled. Thanks for the offer I guess?” They respond as they scratch their face, a confused look appearing.

“Wait just a minute, you guys are Keyblade wielders!?” Goofy interrupts and he walks in front of Sora to get a better look at the two, and the two strangers take a step back from the surprise. “We didn’t know there would be other ones coming here too, and I’ve never seen you guys before! Who are you?”

“Yeah, how do you guys have Keyblades?” Donald asks as he paces around the two strangers. Sora looks closer at the knight to see that they are very still, Keyblade drawn and looking directly at Sora, their eyes covered but Sora can just feel them staring, as if they’re judging Sora at this moment to see if he’s an ally or enemy.

The lizard puts a hand on the knight’s shoulders. “Uh, my name’s Susie. This is Kris. And what the hell is a Keyblade?”

“The weapon you two were holding when you were fighting those Heartless just now.” Sora replied.

“Oh this thing? I don’t know where my axe went but this thing definitely seems cool as hell. I guess our weapons changed when we entered this Dark World.” Susie summons her Keyblade once again, holding it up to get a better look. It features a design made entirely of some kind of purple crystal, with the end shaped almost like an axe. “Though mine is definitely cooler than Kris’.”

“Shut up.” Kris quietly responds with, lowering their Keyblade but still staring at Sora what he could only assume as intensely.

“You’re just jealous. We ain’t trading, I’m keeping this thing.”

Kris continues to stare at Sora, their voice still quiet but charged with tension. “Who are you, and did you make this Dark World?”
“Dark World? What is that?” Goofy replies.

“Kris! Susie! There you are!” A higher pitch voice yells out from behind the group. Sora turns and sees another figure running towards them, a goat-like person wearing a robe with a pink scarf. The figure runs past Sora’s group to get to Kris and Susie. “I was really worried about you guys! I’m glad to see you’re okay, I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

“Hey dude, it’s okay. We’re fine. We ran into some weird Darkners that we beat up and then these guys showed up.” Susie pointed towards Sora, who was surprised to see a third person with this group, he wondered if this person had a Keyblade as well.

“Oh right, we haven’t introduced ourselves. My name is Sora, these are my friends, Donald and Goofy. Are you guys uh, from around here?” Sora asks politely, still a little intimidated by the staring from Kris.

“Oh yes, my name is Ralsei, and you seem to have already been acquainted with Kris and Susie here. It’s a pleasure to meet you!” Ralsei smiles and does a small bow, before looking much more serious as he speaks to answer Sora’s other question. “But um, we aren’t from around here, no. You sound like you are experienced with this sort of thing, so I am wondering if perhaps you could tell us more about where we are.”

“What do you mean dude? There isn’t anything that weird about this place, other than us being small.” Susie responds.

Ralsei turns around to look at Kris and Susie. “Well, that’s the thing Susie. I don’t think we’re in a Dark World.”

“What the hell!?”

***

Kris, by all accounts, is not doing okay.

The events of the previous night with the Dark World and the nonsense with Tenna, along with the Roaring Knight showing up and almost killing the Fun Gang was already enough stress for one day. But now here they are, wrapped up in another Dark World, that apparently isn’t a Dark World, in their house, dealing with Darkners who are apparently not normal Darkners, at least according to this other human.

And of course, the fact that there is another human in the Dark World in the first place.

Kris can’t remember the last time they’ve seen another human in person, but thinking about it doesn’t leave a good feeling.

Sora and Ralsei are talking to each other about something, but Kris isn’t listening at this point, they just focus on the other human and their facial features. He’s much more cheery than Kris is, and something about that bugs them more than a bit.

Eventually, they feel a large hand on their shoulder, and turn to their right to look at Susie.

“Hey dude, are you good?” Kris blinks again, though covered by their bangs. “You seem like you’ve been spacing out. And you’re still holding out your sword. The weird Darkners are gone now.”

Kris looks down at their hands, still holding onto their new weapon, then back in front of them at Sora, while he’s still talking to Ralsei. Ralsei mentions something about the Dark Fountain, and Kris remembers that they’re still technically in their house. They need to seal the Fountain as soon as they can before Toriel gets home and gets wrapped up in this again. Kris focuses and drops the sword, sending it to the hammerspace of their inventory and then looks at Susie and gives a thumbs up, keeping a neutral expression. They can’t afford to lose composure now, not until they’re back home at least.

“Well, I certainly like these new weapons we got. Apparently they’re really special or something, according to that Sora kid,” Susie remarks, then leaning down to level with Kris’ face. “Though honestly, he’s a little annoying. He reminds me of Ralsei when we first met him.” Susie whispers.

Kris can’t help but to crack a small smile and snorts a little at the comparison. Susie laughs much louder in response. Sora and Ralsei hear and turn to the two.

“I still can’t believe you guys have Keyblades! If you really aren’t from this world either you must be pretty special.” Sora says.

“Yeah, we’re pretty awesome,” Susie flexes one of her arms. “Considering we’re like, the heroes of the prophecy or whatever Ralsei was saying. We’ve done this Dark World stuff a few times at this point.”

“Oh right! Kris, Susie. I believe I know where the Dark Fountain is, or at least the general area of it. Since this is much different from the Dark Worlds we’ve been in it’s made it harder to sense where the Fountain is located, but I’m fairly confident that it’s below us, likely on the first floor of this uh… massive house we’re in.” Ralsei explains.

“Oh perfect! We can just go and close it and head home then!” Susie exclaims. Kris has a small sigh of relief. If the Fountain is that close they can just go and leave then, especially since they haven’t seen any other Darkners besides the strange ones Sora talked about.

Before the group could plan out how to find the Fountain, they hear yelling from the hallway. All six heroes quickly turn towards the doorway and see what looks to be a green dinosaur running towards the other room where Kris and Susie appeared, with Heartless following it. Immediately Kris and Susie manifest their swords.

“Great more of those things! Let’s kick their asses first!” Susie yells out, and Susie and Kris run off towards the other bedroom. Ralsei lingers for a second before immediately running to catch up.

“Wait guys!” Sora yells out, his plea seemingly falling on deaf ears as the three mysterious travellers run off towards the group of Heartless. “They’re quite bold, that’s for sure.” Goofy exclaims.

“Yeah, and a little reckless. I just hope they don’t get hurt. Let’s go!” Sora motions the other two to follow, and the three run off towards the other bedroom.
***

Fortunately these Heartless are still a pushover compared to the other Darkners they’ve fought before. The Fun Gang waste no time in dispatching them, now that they know they don’t have to hold back. Sora explained to the group that Heartless are different from what they normally encounter, and that the special Keyblades Kris and Susie have are capable of defeating them when normal weapons wouldn’t cut it. Though Susie kind of tuned out most of what Sora was talking about when he kept saying “Light” and “Dark” about twenty times in a minute which got on her nerves a little. The only other part she remembers was Goofy mentioning a group of bad guys that also use Keyblades that were apparently super important.

Susie was simply relieved that she can let loose for once and not have to flirt with the Heartless or any other weird actions that Kris tells the other two to do in the Dark Worlds. As she slices a Heartless in two she does wonder why they end up flirting with Darkners a lot. Maybe Kris just finds it funny?

Sora’s group seem to be more experienced with these Heartless as Susie watched them cast all kinds of crazy spells to clear out the large group of Heartless surrounding the green dinosaur. Despite the spells Sora casts looking a lot dumber than what she was used to seeing Ralsei do, like summoning giant teacups (or would it be normal sized teacups because they’re shrunk?) and toy trains, the magic is super flashy and very effective against the Heartless, which is the kind of thing she likes regardless of appearances.

Fortunately the group was able to clear out the Heartless with little trouble, only sustaining a few minor injuries that can be dealt with through healing magic by Ralsei or the stash of TV Dinners Kris hoarded from the previous Dark World the night before. Sora approaches the green dinosaur while the Fun Gang recovers from the two encounters they’ve dealt with so far.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sora asks. The green dinosaur was knocked over on the ground from the Heartless, and so Sora and Donald reached to help him stand on his own two feet. The dinosaur is very visibly excited.

“Oh my gosh! Thank you so much for saving me! You look new! And you look familiar too!” The dinosaur yells, his words jumping out almost too fast for Sora to handle.

“Hold on, it’s okay. You’re not in danger anymore. Just calm down and I can introduce myself.”

Suddenly a voice appears behind the group. “Rex! There you are!” Sora turns around to see three other toys approach the group. One is a cowboy, one looks to be some kind of astronaut, and another is a large pig. Rex runs past Sora to greet the strangers.

“Woody! Buzz! It’s good to see you guys!”

“We’re happy to see you too, but you shouldn’t have run off like that. We need to stick together so that we don’t get swarmed by these new toys.” The cowboy responds, with a slightly disappointed look.

“It’s okay, these guys just helped me out. They fought those weird toys and saved me!” Rex responded, still very excited.

“Yeah, we’re pretty awesome. Those Heartless things were no match for all of us.” Susie exclaims, flexing one of her large arms. Suddenly, a red dot appears on Susie’s chest, to which Kris takes notice and turns to look towards the group of new toys, the astronaut taking aim at Susie.

“Stay back! For all we know, the intruders sent them.” Buzz orders. Kris immediately stands in front of Susie, ready to raise their new weapon, with a blank expression on their face, but ready to start a fight if it means protecting Susie.

“Wait Buzz! Yozora was the one who saved me, and he’s with the others here!” Rex yells out, hugging (or attempting to hug) Sora.

“Wait, my name is Sora.” Sora responds, confused.

“Slow down there Rex.” Woody the cowboy orders as he approaches the two. “ We don’t know them.”

“But we can trust them. They’re the number one selling heroes in the country!”

“Yeah, Andy’s mom must’ve bought em for him.” The pig toy speaks up.

“Hamm’s right. Did you see how easily they all took care of the intruders? I bet they're here to figure out why all our friends have gone missing, and all the weird stuff that’s been going on.I mean, that’s what heroes do, right?” Rex explains.

Buzz lowers his arm pointed at Kris and Susie. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.” He turns to Woody and whispers to him “We gotta be smart here.” Woody looks at him and nods, and approaches the six newcomers.

“So, you’re Andy’s new toys?” Woody asks the group.

“Toys?” Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Susie answer, very confused with the situation.

“You sure did a number on those intruders. What did you call them again?”

Donald speaks up. “Those are the Heartless. The bad guys!”

“We’ve been fighting against those ‘intruders’ for a while.” Sora explains.

“I knew it!” Rex yells out.

Woody puts a hand to his chin, thinking for a moment. Then he looks back up at the group with a smile on his face. “In that case you’re all right by me.” He approaches Sora with a hand out. “My name is Woody. Put ‘er there.” Sora accepts the handshake, relieved that they were able to befriend the group with little resistance.

“My name is actually Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy.” Ralsei walks up to the two, and does a small bow to Woody. “And my name is Ralsei, and this is Kris and Susie. The three of us met up with Sora and his group helped us as well, so the six of us are looking to deal with these um, ‘intruders’ while we find a way for ourselves to get home.” Ralsei explains.

“I see. I’m… Buzz Lightyear.” Buzz says after a moment of silence, contemplating on what to make of the newcomers’ words. The toy pig speaks up after him. “Call me Hamm, it’s a real honor.”

“And I’m Rex! I’m your biggest fan. In fact, I’ve been playing your game for months now. And I’ve already gotten you all the way up to Level 47, but that Bahamut boss is really tough. Slinky and I can’t figure out how to beat him. Oh, I wish Slinky and the others were here. They’d be so happy to meet you.” Rex rambles to Sora, with a lot of excitement still in his voice.

Buzz steps forward to approach the six newcomers. “You said that you’ve battled those intruders before. Tell us where and why.”

“Oh, well, uh… we are—” Sora attempts to come up with an answer before Woody puts a hand on Buzz’s shoulder.

“Take it easy, Buzz. What matters is that they got those intruders out of our way, for at least a little while. No need to interrogate them.”

Buzz is silent for a moment, then exhales. “Noted, but still…” he continues to contemplate.

Sora speaks up again. “Have those intruders, ‘the Heartless’, been a problem around here?”

“No, they just showed up a little while ago.” Woody answers. Buzz speaks up as well. “In fact, those Heartless materialized… right after all our friends up and vanished.”

“Well gee, it can’t just be a coincidence.” Goofy responds.

“Is there anything else that seemed weird that happened?” Sora asks.

The toys all nodded. “After everyone went MIA, the intruders didn’t come alone. They arrived with a guy wearing a hood, dressed in black, just like you. As a matter of fact, he’s the only other toy we’ve seen, outside of the six of you.” Buzz explains.

“A black hood? But that could only mean… the Organization!” Sora exclaims.

“You know who it is?” Woody asks.

“Yeah. They're bad news. If they’re here then we may have a hunch on what’s causing all the weirdness. Would you mind if we handled this?” Sora answers.

“I’m sorry, but we’re not gonna just leave this to you. If that guy had something to do with our friends vanishing, then he’s our problem too. We’ve got to work together.” Sora looks up at Woody and a smile grows on his face. “Right! We’ll do this together, all of us!”

As Sora and Woody are talking, Kris and Susie notice a group of smaller green men appear to the right under a bedside table and approach Woody. One of them yells out, “All troops at attention, sir!”

Sora, Donald, and Goofy salute back at the soldiers, while Susie snorts and Kris does a mock salute of their own.

“Sarge, any word from the recon team?” Woody asks one of the green soldiers.

“The latest reports place him downstairs in the living room with a large force. They managed to open the garage door and troops are breaching the house!” The soldier responds.

“That might be where the Fountain is. I wonder if whoever is behind this is also the one protecting the Fountain.” Ralsei speaks up. Kris and Susie look at Ralsei and nod. “If this Organization thing is the bad guys, then that’s gotta be the case. So it sounds like we just beat 'em up and then close the Fountain.” Susie responds.

Kris does a thumbs up and looks at Sora. “Are you guys still good to help us get home too?”

“Of course! You’ve been a huge help so far, so with all of us working together we can take care of them and also get you guys home once we find that Dark Fountain you were telling us about.” Sora responds.

“Sounds like a deal then. Let’s go kick some more ass!” Susie yells out. The group then moves out to head downstairs.

***

With the Fun Gang, Sora’s group, and the toys in tow the ensemble make their way downstairs with a little effort from the Fun Gang in getting used to being shrunk, and make their way to the living room, following the toys’ lead. From the sounds of it the Organization had already set up more forces in the house, so the group has to just beat up more Heartless so that they can leave. Kris and Susie are certainly looking forward to going back home so they can at least try to get some rest after the last few days.

The Extended Fun Gang, as Kris has silently named the group of six, and the toys make their way to the living room only to see even more Heartless and what appears to be two giant toy mechs, at least relative to their current sizes.

“This looks like it’ll get dangerous. Stay on your guard everyone.” Ralsei whispers, just loud enough for the group to hear.

Kris looks closer at one of the mechs to see a figure standing on it. They look just as Sora and Buzz described: a hooded figure in a black cloak. It reminds them of Ralsei when they first met him in the first Dark World. The figure sees the groups and speaks in a measured tone. “There you are. I figured you would show your faces at some point.”

The figure removes their hood to reveal that they’re also human, with darker skin, white hair, and distinct yellow eyes. Sora immediately tenses up. “You’re from the dream, the first of the Xehanorts!” He yells.

“I’m so honored you remember me.” Xehanort responds. With a snap of his fingers, a group of Heartless appear in front of him, jumping down to the cockpit of the two mechs. The group of heroes take multiple steps back as the two mechs come to life, and more Heartless crowd around the mechs surrounding the heroes.

“Crap, this is bad.” Susie grumbles.

“Wait, they can move?” Woody asks.

“One heart’s shadows fill the emptiness of another. See how they bring him to life? Like Heartless and Nobodies, they fit together.” Xehanort explains, still calm and measured.

“Enough. Why are you doing this!?” Sora exclaims.

“There’s a darkness we are missing and must reclaim. The way hearts connect in this world can provide us with a clue. So we made a copy of the world, and then pulled those hearts apart. I wonder how you’ll handle the strain.” Xehanort responds.

“I don’t know what the hell you’re on about, but if you’re the guy protecting the Fountain here we’re still gonna kick your ass!” Susie roars, her and Kris summoning their Keyblades simultaneously and taking their battle stances.

Xehanort looks at the trio of otherworlders and chuckles. “How interesting. He told me I would summon you three here when I opened that Fountain. But for you to wield Keyblades as well? I wonder what kind of power your world has?” Xehanort asks.

Kris scoffs. “I think I’ve had enough of the monologues,” Kris looks at Susie and Ralsei and the two nod, then Kris looks at Sora. “We’ll take the mechs, you guys deal with him.”

Sora is surprised by how calm they are. “Are you sure? They seem really strong.”

Now it’s Susie’s turn to scoff. “Dude, we’ve fought some crazy stuff the last few days, including a giant mech battle of our own, we got this.” Susie grins, flashing her yellow teeth. The trio charge at the mech. Kris extends a hand to Susie, who grabs them and throws them at the cockpit of the mech in front of the group. Susie fires off a Rude Buster at the cockpit, breaking it open and exposing the pilot. Kris takes the opportunity to slash at the Heartless with their Keyblade before grabbing the controls and hoisting themselves into the cockpit seat. They can’t help but let a wide grin appear on their face as they take control of the mech and aim at the other mech with Xehanort standing on it.

“How tenacious. You three are so much more interesting than I expected.” Xehanort remarks. Susie fires another Rude Buster at him, but he teleports away in a flash and appears at the ground near the other mech. Sora, Donald and Goofy take the opportunity to charge at Xehanort with their weapons out before clashing with Xehanort, who quickly summons a Keyblade of his own to counter their attack. Xehanort stares at the trio with a wicked smile on his face.

To the side of the group, Kris is continuing to battle the mech while Ralsei and Susie clear out the Heartless. Kris and the other mech seem to be in an even battle, trading blows and gunfire. The other mech gets a good hit on Kris, forcing them to stumble a little bit. Kris grunts, still adjusting to the controls and trying to get up before the mech charges at them to knock them down. Susie manages to fire off a Rude Buster at the mech, pushing it back, and Ralsei casts Heal Prayer on Kris’ mech, which actually does help to heal the damage it’s sustained so far.

“Don’t worry Kris! We’re still here to help!” Ralsei shouts out. Kris gives a smile and a thumbs up to Ralsei. Susie turns from looking at Kris to the other mech before a wicked grin appears on her face.

“Dude! I got an idea! Throw me at it like the Checker guy from Card Kingdom!” Susie yells out to Kris. The human can’t help but let a full smile appear on their face, they’re both having a lot of fun with this.

Kris pilots the mech to pick up Susie one hand and throws her at the other mech, aiming straight for the cockpit. Susie’s Keyblade shines a bright purple as she connects with the cockpit, slamming it with such force that she manages to pierce the metal, destroying the Heartless inside, and knocking the mech down to the ground, tumbling onto the ground herself before standing up and raising her fists to the air.

“Hell yeah! Never fails! Get dunked on, loser!” She roars out to the fallen mech, giving one of its arms a good kick.

Xehanort glances over at the remains of the battle before teleporting a short distance behind him to create distance between him and Sora’s group, with Woody and Buzz behind the trio. “Well then.” Xehanort says, with a hint of surprise in his voice, but Sora barely picks up on it. “You all are simply just so interesting, that I have more to observe. I’m not letting you leave just yet.”

Sora charges at Xehanort again to slash with his Keyblade, but he dodges swiftly and pushes Sora back with a wave of his hand. Sora recovers from almost stumbling to the ground and takes another stance. “It’s us that you really want. Leave the others out of this!” He yells out.

Xehanort simply chuckles at the response. “You would say that, champion of light. Very well, let’s skip to the final stage.” With another snap of his fingers, Sora and the rest of the group brace themselves for another attack before Buzz gasps, his body going limp. Rex looks over at him. “Buzz? What’s the matter?”

Buzz takes aim with his laser at Woody. Woody gasps before an annoyed look appears on his face. “C’mon Buzz. Quit fooling around.” Buzz ignores his words, firing off a laser at Woody, but it was blocked by Goofy jumping in at the last second with his shield raised. “Look out!” He yells.

“I can’t believe it! Buzz has been taken over?” Woody exclaims. Buzz fires multiple lasers, all blocked by Goofy. Sora turns back to Xehanort. “What did you do to him!?” Sora yells out, charging again to attack Xehanort before he teleports behind Sora, continuing to walk away.

“I thought I made it clear. I am testing the strength of their bonds,” Sora slashes again at Xehanort, who teleports behind Sora again, completely unfazed and still continues to walk around him. “In this world, toys have hearts. And those hearts come from a powerful bond. So what happens when those bonds are stretched to their limit?”

Sora charges at Xehanort once again, and he teleports behind Sora once again. “When they are worlds apart, can cloth and plastic hold on to their hearts? All I needed was a wedge to widen the divide, someone like you to fill them with distrust and doubt. And that chasm you created can be filled with a vast darkness.” Xehanort stretches an arm out towards Buzz, a grin appearing on his face. “Witness it for yourself.”

Sora looks back to see Rex and Donald trying to hold back Buzz, who is still trying to attack Woody. Sora panics, he wants to defeat Xehanort here and now but he can’t let the toys get hurt. In a flash his mind is made.

“On my way!” Sora yells out as he turns to run towards the toys, but he is stopped by Xehanort who grabs him by the arm and lifts Sora, his face signifying how much he’s enjoying mocking Sora in this moment. He conjures an energy ball in the palm of his other hand and a portal opens up in front of him behind Sora’s back. “Not this time. I still have to see what the otherworlders are capable of.” Xehanort blasts Sora with the energy ball, sending him flying into the portal, which then closes. Suddenly, Xehanort turns as he hears Kris running up attempting to attack him with their Keyblade as well, with Susie and Ralsei right behind them. Xehanort effortlessly dodges and teleports behind him to create space between him and the otherworlders.

Susie is visibly pissed. “What the hell did you do to him!? Where is he!?” Susie roars.

Xehanort only offers a chuckle as a response. “In this world Sora is a toy based off of a game, so I sent him into that game. But what matters more is you three,” he holds his arm out, gesturing towards the three heroes. “When I came to this world, I originally planned to test the capabilities of hearts interacting with shadow, but I instead heard a voice. He told me of a power that is not normally possible for me to attain, but I have an opportunity here to do so.”

“A power of Darkness that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. So I followed his instructions, and opened a Fountain of Darkness. And I must say, I was certainly surprised. Such power from Darkness is incredible. The possibilities to link these worlds together is unlike anything I’ve seen. What further surprised me is you three appearing from the Fountain’s opening. From what I’ve gathered you three are supposed heroes of your world, just as Sora is a so-called ‘Champion of Light.’” Xehanort explains.

Susie grits her teeth, already in a battle ready stance with her Keyblade. “And you talk too much. I don’t give a damn why you’re here, we’re not gonna let you keep that Fountain open!”

Ralsei focuses, more determined than ever. “Closing the Dark Fountains is what we’re supposed to do. They’re far too dangerous if they’re left alone. It could consume both of these worlds if we don’t do anything!”

Xehanort simply tilts his head at Ralsei. “The voice spoke highly of you three. I really wonder why he told me of all this if you were going to be so determined to stop me. I suppose I’ll just have to see what you’re really capable of.” Xehanort summons his Keyblade, still calm, analyzing the three heroes to see what they’ll do first.

“Let’s do this. We stopped the Knight, we can win here too.” Kris orders. Susie flashes a wide smile before her and Kris charge at Xehanort, with Ralsei running around to hit Xehanort with his scarf. Xehanort dodges Kris’ leap, allowing them to fly past him before clashing with Susie and overpowering her quickly, pushing her to the side and knocking her down. Ralsei’s attempt at a sneak attack fails as he dodges Ralsei’s attack as hell and elbows him in the chest, sending him back as well.

The trio get up and surround Xehanort, Kris and Susie are visibly pissed while Ralsei has a serious expression. Xehanort glances at all three before shrugging. “I know you three are strong warriors, why else do two of you have Keyblades? Surely you can put up a better fight?”

Susie roars. “Compared to what we’ve already fought you’re not shit buddy! We’re not scared of you!” Kris manages to run up to Xehanort while he isn't looking and grabs him by the arm. Xehanort turns to Kris and prepares to slash at them when Susie fires off a Rude Buster that strikes him center in the chest, pushing him back a good distance. Kris attempts to slash at him again but he recovers fast enough to parry the attack with his Keyblade and send them to the ground. He turns to charge at Susie and the two clash Keyblades once again, but this time he swings up, leaving Susie wide open while he punches her in the stomach, knocking her down as well. Ralsei is too busy trying to cast heal Prayer on Kris to notice Xehanort teleporting behind him and sending Ralsei flying to the ground with a backhanded punch to his face.

Xehanort looks at his fist, his smile turning into a neutral expression. “A disappointment. You three have so much Darkness in your hearts that I thought you would be strong, the same Darkness as that Fountain. But it seems I was mistaken. Nonetheless, the power from that Fountain will be enough to satisfy me.” Xehanort turns to Kris, who is still struggling to get up. “You especially. You’re much different than the other two, from Sora. I can see your heart. You hold so much power yet you don’t use it. Why is that?”

Kris scoffs. “Shut up. You don’t know me. What I’m capable of.” Their voice is shaky, but determined. Their bangs part to expose Kris’ eyes as they stare at Xehanort with an angry expression, bright red and full of determination. Xehanort can’t help but chuckle again at the sight. The human is proving to be a fascinating individual.

“There is so much I wish to learn from your power, but unfortunately it doesn’t seem like I’ll have the time to figure it out. Sora has proven to be quite stubborn. No matter though, I look forward to seeing you three again soon.” Xehanort looks past Kris as a portal opens up again, with Sora running out. Xehanort teleports away before Sora could register that Xehanort was in front of him. Leaving Sora to see the three heroes visibly injured and struggling to walk. Sora runs over to Kris.

“Oh my gosh! What happened!? Are you guys okay!?” Sora frantically asks.

Kris doesn’t answer, they adjust their hair to cover their face again, but they’re still shaking a little. Ralsei stands next to Kris and successfully casts Heal Prayer this time, erasing their injuries.

“We’re fine. That asshole just ran away before you came back. Guess he was scared of the four of us trying to jump him.” Susie explained, rubbing a cut she sustained on her arm. She looks over at Kris. “You still got those TV Dinners?” Kris nods, reaching into their pocket to pull another TV Dinner out of the hammerspace and hanging it to Susie, who smiles before grabbing the Dark World food and devouring it in a flash, the speed of which shocked Sora a bit.

Susie exhales when she’s done. “Thank Angel those things still heal us here, that would’ve been really annoying if we hoarded those for nothing.” Kris can’t help but chuckle at the comment. Ralsei lets a small smile form on his face. “I’m just glad we’re okay, Xehanort is really dangerous. I know we had trouble with the Knight but he proved to be a different kind of danger.” He mutters.

Susie scoffs. “Yeah, no kidding. Dude talked way too much about Kris. It was creepy as hell.” She mutters.

The four notice Donald, Goofy, and the toys walking up to them, with Buzz nowhere to be found. Woody is the first to speak. “Y’all right, Sora, Kris?”

“Yeah, I’m just fine. And you?” Sora responds. He looks to the group and notices Buzz missing, a frown forming on his face. “Wait… where’s Buzz?”

“He disappeared into a dark corridor, he ran off while the other three were fighting Xehanort. We couldn’t stop him from escaping.” Goofy responds, disappointed in himself.

“Oh…” was all Sora could respond with. He was upset with himself for running at Xehanort. Susie was right, if he had just worked with the other three they would’ve had a better chance at stopping Xehanort and helping Buzz. He let his emotions blind him to where he simply chose to run at Xehanort by himself instead while the others actually helped the toys.

“Sora, how do we get him back?” Woody asks, distressed. Sora is shaken up. “I don’t know. My power won’t open those.” Sora answers. Woody sighs, his head lowers.

A trio of green soldiers walk up to the group. The one in front speaks up. “Sir, did I hear you say ‘dark corridor?’” Woody adjusts his hat before answering. “That’s right Sarge. Any ideas?”

“Well it might be a long shot, but we’ve sighted a shadowy portal in the closet by the kitchen. We’ve already picked the lock and opened the door. We assume that this is where the enemy is located and how they managed to gather these forces inside the house without coming from the outside. And this is likely where they’re located now.” Sarge explains.

Woody immediately turns to Sarge, a fire relights in his eyes. “Sarge, you’re a lifesaver!” He turns to the six otherworlders. “You guys in?”

“Yeah!” All six of them cheer. Ralsei takes a few steps forward. “That must be where the Dark Fountain is located, Xehanort must have hidden it within that portal you mentioned. If we can close that, the three of us will be able to go home.”

Susie points a finger at herself. “But we’ll still help save your friend. That’s what we do best! Once we rescue him then we’ll be able to go home.” Susie explains to Woody, who smiles back at Susie at hearing this.

Kris smiles. “We’ll get him together this time.” They say, their voice is still quiet but the tone is measured, determined. Kris feels bad that they let Xehanort get away with Buzz. They saved and recruited every Darkner they could so far, and they were sure as hell not gonna stop doing that now, even if they weren’t technically in a Dark World right now.

The six otherworlders and Woody start to walk away to get to the closet. Rex speaks up. “Please promise you’ll bring Buzz home?” Woody, Sora and Kris turn to Rex. “Don’t worry. We’re gonna get our friend back.” Woody declares. A smile forms on everyone’s faces, the ensemble more determined than ever now.

***

Fortunately for the Extended Fun Gang, the rest of the house was clear of Heartless at this point. Since the group had already cleared out the upstairs floor, all that was left were the forces Xehanort summoned, and now they all seemed to have pulled back to whatever was inside the portal. The group found the closet quickly thanks to Woody’s knowledge of the house’s layout and as they got close, Ralsei tensed up a little as he sensed the energy.

“The Dark Fountain is definitely in there. I don’t know how he managed to keep it contained like this, but it’s in there for sure.” Ralsei explains.

“Perfect, that makes this easy then, we just gotta close it and then that’s it right?” Susie asks.

“In theory, yes. This world being much different than the normal Dark Worlds adds a lot of variables, but based on what Sora told me when we first met we should be able to go home safely.”

“Alright then. Here goes.” Sora says. The group walks through the portal and find themselves covered by darkness, when they can see again they find themselves in a void, with a large pillar straight ahead. The Dark Fountain, created by Xehanort, was indeed within the portal. And in front of the Fountain is Xehanort himself, watching the group enter and Buzz is suspended behind him, darkness trapping him in place mid-air.

“Buzz!” Woody yells out, and the group goes into a sprint to get to Xehanort. “What do you want with my friend?” Woody asks.

“Look… such tremendous darkness. All because he was ripped away from the boy who cares about him most.” Xehanort explains, a smile on his face.

Woody can’t help but be nervous. “Does that mean… we’ll all be like Buzz…if we don’t… find Andy?”

“Wrong!” Sora yells out, he walks towards Xehanort. “Distance doesn’t matter. Andy’s part of their hearts, just like my friends are a part of mine. You can’t rip that apart!”

Xehanort chuckles. “What? ‘Your friends are your power?’ Ah… how very true. But if the light of friendship is a form of power…the darkness of being alone is a power… even greater. Darkness is the heart’s true nature.”

“Shut the hell up! I’m tired of hearing you ramble about this darkness crap!” Susie yells.

Woody says nothing, but a fierce look is in his eyes. He puts a hand on Sora’s shoulder and continues to walk forward to face Xehanort. “Whatever you’re talking about, I don’t care. Put Buzz back the way he was, then get lost!”

“Or else what, toy?” Xehanort muses.

“Yeah, I am a toy. And a friend,” Woody takes a step forward, an unknown force shaking the ground just a little. “My guess is no one’s ever loved you before. Because you know nothing about hearts and love.”

Sora stands next to Woody. “There are hearts all around us, trying to connect. Your ‘loneliness’ only made Woody and Buzz’s connection stronger. That’s the heart’s true nature: to never, ever let go. Wherever they are, Andy and the other toys haven’t let go either.”

Woody nods. “Yeah! You can’t keep us from Andy.” He declares. “We’re going home no matter what. All of us,” He looks to see Kris standing to his right, a small smile forming on their face. “And we’re taking Buzz!”

Kris surprises Sora a bit when they speak up. “You think you know me. That you know us. You don’t know what we’ve been through, what we’ve lost, what we’ve gained…” Kris looks back to see Susie and Ralsei, Susie’s eyes fierce but smiling widely at Kris. Susie’s smile, which seemed to defeat everything, shined on to light up the darkness surrounding them. Kris smiles back a bit, and turns to look at Xehanort. “And you definitely don’t know what we’re capable of.” A small but bright light seems to appear from Kris, almost as if they’re glowing. Xehanort raises an eyebrow.

“Xehanort, you’re so caught up in finding the shadows, you forgot about the light that cast them.” Sora declares.

Suddenly, another small shockwave emits from the group. A flash of light appears where Buzz is in the air, freeing him from the darkness that was binding him. Xehanort turns to see Buzz fall to the ground.

“No!” He exclaims, still calm but panic seeps into his tone. He hears people charging at him before he turns around to face them, summoning his Keyblade to clash with Sora, Donald and Goofy while Susie and Ralsei stand back behind Kris, each putting a hand on Kris’ shoulders while Kris puts their hands in front of their chest as the light emanating from their expands outward, pushing back the void surrounding them all within the portal. Woody runs past all of them to grab onto Buzz as he wakes up, a confused look on his face as he rubs his head.

“Woody… wait, how did I get here?” Buzz asks. Woody hums. “Oh, I don’t know! Maybe somebody switched you into ‘dark and stormy’ mode.”

“But I don’t have a—” Buzz starts to argue as he’s cut off by Woody putting a hand out to him to help him get up. A smile forms on Buzz’s face as he accepts Woody’s hand and gets back up. “Thank you, Woody.” He says, relief in his voice. “Good to have ya back, Buzz.” Woody responds, just as relieved.
The two are interrupted by a loud noise when they turn to see Xehanort pushing away Sora, Donald and Goofy before seeing the Fun Gang charge right at Xehanort, the light from Kris blinding in comparison to the void around them. Xehanort can barely see Kris striking him center on with their Keyblade, knocking him back. Susie is quick to follow up with a Rude Buster, this time striking Xehanort with full force and forcing him to stumble and drop his Keyblade. Kris and Susie continue their stances as Xehanort gets back up, his Keyblade teleporting back into his hands, and a laugh comes out of his mouth.

“So, even empty puppets can be given strong hearts. I’m going to have to remember that.” He muses. He looks to Buzz, and then back to Kris. “And it seems there is indeed a much greater power in your heart, despite it not showing up earlier. How fascinating.”

Buzz takes aim at Xehanort with his laser. “Remember this: our hearts will always be connected to Andy’s. No matter what you do!” Woody looks at Xehanort with a smile on his face. “And that’s something you’ll never understand, because you’re hollower than any toy.”

Xehanort simply smiles. “But now I know a heart can be placed in the vessel of our choosing.” he looks in front to see the six heroes in their own stances, ready to battle. For a moment, he muses about whether it would be worth fighting them. But then another thought comes to him. “And now I know about the power of your Dark Fountains. While I could deal with you all right now, I have more pressing research to do. You’ve given me many things today. I hope I have the opportunity to come across you again, otherworlders.” He explains as he raises a hand to the Fun Gang, a smile forming on his face. “Close this Fountain then, it doesn’t bother me. Now that I understand better the nature of your power, I’ll be able to one day use it myself. Until then, find the hearts joined to yours.” He looks at Sora at the end of that statement, and teleports away before Sora gets the chance to swing his Keyblade at Xehanort.

The Extended Fun Gang are left alone in the quiet void, save for the looming of the Dark Fountain in front of them, the void now much brighter thanks to Kris’ actions. The portal everyone entered into subsists.

“Drat, looks like Xehanort got away again.” Goofy exclaims.

“What a big chicken!” Donald yells out.

“Well, it looks like he just left the Fountain to us. So what now?” Susie asks Ralsei.

“Well… if he’s not going to prevent us from closing it, I suppose this is our chance to go home. Now that we’re much closer to it, I can tell that it’s not at all different from the other dark Fountains we’ve found, despite how strange this world is.” Ralsei muses.

“Fine with me, I wanna go home. I’m exhausted.” Kris nods.

Sora walks up to the trio, a smile on his face. “Thank you so much for your help in all this. We couldn’t have done this without you guys.” He puts a hand behind his head and disappointment comes across his face. “I’m sorry that you all got wrapped up in this stuff, that shouldn’t have happened.”

Susie shrugs. “Dude, it’s fine. This isn’t the weirdest thing that’s happened to us. Plus we got these sick ass Keyblades out of this so that’s a win in my book.”

“Plus this is also what we do. So we’re not that different from you guys it seems.” Kris nods again.

“Well, I hope you guys do get home safe. I’m not gonna ask for your help with any of our business since it sounds like you still have business of your own. We’ll help these toys get back to their own world, and if we’re able to find you guys again then maybe we can help you too!” Sora exclaims, extending a hand to Kris.

Kris stands for a moment, as if they’re contemplating, but then a small smile forms on their face as they accept Sora’s handshake. “That could be nice. I think you’d like Castle Town.” They respond.

Ralsei then speaks up. “But you guys should leave this place first through the portal. It’s too risky for you to stay in here when we close the Fountain, just so this way you don’t have the risk of accidentally getting dragged back to our world. I… don’t exactly know how we would be able to help you get back if that happens.” He explains.

Sora looks at Woody and Buzz and the three nod at each other. Buzz then walks up to Kris and puts a hand to his chest and does a small bow. “Thank you for what you’ve done to help us. I hope that you get back safe and sound.” Kris nods and smiles at Buzz, and then watches as Sora’s group, with Woody and Buzz in tow, walk to the portal and leave the void, seemingly back at the house they were in previously.

Susie turns to Kris. “Alright, looks like you’re up dude. Let’s get home and have that pie. I’m starving.”

Kris chuckles. “Of course you’re still thinking about that. Fine.”

Susie puts a hand on Ralsei’s shoulder. “Thanks for helping us too dude, we’ll see you back at Castle Town later.”

“Of course! This was quite fun, I… wasn’t expecting this to happen, but it was nice to meet Sora and the others! And I’m glad everything seemed to work out!” Ralsei replies.

Kris turns to the Dark Fountain in front of them. Something in them felt just a little lighter, like a weight has been lifted off their shoulders. It was as if their very SOUL was glowing. An even brighter light appeared in front of Kris, covering the entire void. The void itself shook as the Fountain was closed, and then all Kris saw was darkness once more.

Eventually, after what felt like forever, Kris could feel themselves waking up, and as they opened their eyes, they found themselves laying on the ground. Looking up they found themselves back at their room this time, and a breath of relief escapes them. They look over to see Susie waking up as well, the two being back in their normal clothes instead of their Dark World outfits. Susie groans as she sits up. “Are we back home?” She asks as she looks at Kris, who pulls out their phone and gives her a thumbs up.

“Hell yeah, I’m so tired man. I want a day off.” Susie groans again.

Kris grimaces a little when they look at their phone. “We weren’t in there for as long as I thought. Looks like my mom isn’t home yet. Something about that stupid skeleton probably.” They mutter.

“Well I’m not helping with any more cleaning, let’s just get something to eat and watch funny videos on your phone or something.”

Kris looks up to Susie with a smile on their face, still feeling a weight off their shoulders. “Sure, but I’m not letting you near the pie while I make it. I don’t need you eating the dough.” They mutter.

Susie laughs and lightly punches Kris in the shoulder as the two get up off the floor to go downstairs. Kris feels something else in their pocket and searches it with their hand, only to pull out a small golden key. It was not a key they recognized that fit to any locks in the house, but they knew exactly what it was for.

Kris was admittedly happy that they found that Fountain despite the exhaustion. Maybe everything would turn out alright after all.