//------------------------------//
// Heartless: New Acquaintances 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Sombra found that the pair brought her, Radiant, and Sora, who remained unconscious for a time, to one of the rooms that the hotel had available, which just so happened to have a door leading to one of the others, where the girl carefully put Sora down on the bed while the man leaned his back on one of the walls. The first thing they learned from the pair was that the man was called 'Squall', or at least that was what the girl called him before he told all of them to call him 'Leon', while also discovering that the girl was called Yuffie and that she was definitely a ninja, the 'great ninja' according to her. Radiant and Sombra gave the pair their own names, as it was only fair, all while noticing that both Leon and Yuffie were glancing at their bodies, no doubt taking in their unique appearances, all while Sombra suspected that one of them was considering the dark power she had access to. There was also the fact that she was interested in the Kingdom Key and Radiant seemed to have no interest in it, or if she did she really wasn't showing it right now, though Sombra kept the weapon to her right, leaned up against the wall that both she and the other Equestrian were leaning on.

At the same time Sombra found herself wondering where Fluttershy might have landed, as the Speaker indicated that she had been transported to Traverse Town as well, yet she had seen no sign of the other Equestrian during her exploration with Sora, making her wonder what she might have missed during their exploration, all while noting that Radiant's chest wasn't the same size as hers.

"You said you were interested in the Keyblade's Chosen One. Explain." Leon stated, figuring that they could kill some time as they waited for Sora to regain consciousness, while drawing Sombra out of her thoughts, though at the same time he could hear that their other companion had found a few more individuals and was entering the conjoined room that was on the other side of the door he was standing near, no doubt servants of the King.

"Like I said before, I was looking for the Kingdom Key and it's Chosen Wielder... I'm not sure if you know this or not, but this is only one of an unknown number of Keyblades." Sombra replied, where she could see that both Leon and Yuffie were surprised by this piece of information, meaning they likely had no idea that there were other weapons like this, somewhere in the vastness of the universe, which was fascinating to see, all while Radiant remained silent while she talked, "Look, all I was told was that I had to find the one who carried the Kingdom Key, and I was even shown an image of what it looked like, though in all honestly I was not expecting to discover it so quickly... I was also told that, once I found it and it's wielder, I could do whatever I wanted."

"And what is it that you want to do?" Yuffie asked, because she had witnessed Sombra fight a few times before Leon had caught up with her and Sora and had to admit that, while she seemed like he was getting used to her body, an odd thing to think about really, her skills in combat were top notch, like she was a master that had been reborn in a younger body or a body that was different from her old one.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I had only just arrived in Traverse Town when I found Sora... I really haven't had too much time to think about what to do next." Sombra admitted, which was partly true, as she had a plan and didn't want to tell them it since she barely knew them, but she wanted them to think that she was an unfortunate traveler, like Sora she guessed, all to keep her true plan from being discovered.

"And what about you?" Yuffie asked, turning her head for a moment so she could focus on Radiant, who had been silent for the most part, meaning she must have been deep in thought since their arrival in the room, about what she had no idea and she wasn't about to start prying.

"All I wanted was to find Sombra... now that I have, well, I'm not leaving her side." Radiant replied, which interested Sombra, as she had expected Radiant to go out and live her life without being connected to her and her plans, though it did quickly confirm one thing, that no matter what she did Radiant would follow her to the ends of the universe.

"Might I suggest traveling with the kid? He's a novice when it comes to fighting and could use someone like you to at least get him in fighting shape." Leon remarked, because based on what he had seen of Sombra's skills he had determined that she was a decent fighter, someone he would have trusted the Keyblade to instead of a novice kid, but, thanks to the dark power both he and Yuffie had seen her use at the end of the fight, he had no desire to see it in her hands, "And while I haven't seen you in action, Radiant, I'm sure you can help Sora and Sombra in their respective quests."

Sombra had no time to make a reply to that comment, as Sora came to, which made sense due to the fact that Leon didn't deliver a blow that would knock him out for more than a few minutes at most, though Yuffie walked over to him to make sure he was fine, meaning she suspected Leon might have done some serious harm to the boy. Sure enough they found that Sora thought Yuffie was actually Kairi, which had to be due to the fact that he was still waking up and his focus was shaken from being knocked around like that, a fact they cleared up as he fully woke up and found that he had called someone the wrong name. It also allowed her and Radiant to discover that Yuffie really liked calling Leon 'Squall', meaning she either didn't care about him changing his name or she honestly preferred the old one more, while the man himself did seem a little annoyed that she kept doing it, but, since he made no move to convince her otherwise, she had to assume that Leon had given up on doing that a long time ago. They also gave Sora a bit of time to fully regain himself, since there was a lot of information he had to learn due to him being the wielder of the Kingdom Key and none of them wanted to waste more time by repeating information, since there was no telling when more Heartless would appear.

"So, we had to get the Keyblade away from you... sorry, Kingdom Key... to shake off the Heartless." Yuffie said, showing that it would take some time for her and Leon to get used to the fact that the weapon they had been searching for had a different name than what they had been told, but Sombra was sure they would get it down in no time, "As it turns out, that's how they've been tracking you: they're drawn to the light's radiance."

"Honestly, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that you are it's chosen wielder... though I suppose beggars can't be choosers." Leon remarked, where he held a hand out and Sombra handed the weapon over, though as soon as Leon took hold of the handle the Kingdom Key turned into light before reappearing in Sora's right hand, an interesting thing to see as it confirmed that it only let it's chosen wielder carry it and use it.

"What in the world are you guys talking about?" Sora stated, showing that he was utterly confused as to what was going on right now, which was understandable since he had been uprooted from everything he knew, was given a weapon that was incredibly important to the safety of the World, and had been thrust into a secret war he had known nothing about before this point in time, "Why don't you start by making sense!"

Yuffie and Leon, upon finding that Sora was clueless on just about everything they had said so far, especially when talking about the Heartless, started to explain some things to the boy as Sombra and Radiant listened to them, just to see if there were a few things they had missed, as it seemed like both of them got the basic explanation earlier. One of the things the pair explained was the fact that there were far more worlds out there, places that aren't supposed to know about the existence of the others, but that very secrecy was breaking since the worlds were now connected to each other in ways that no one had seen before. Sora was confused as to who the Heartless were and got the same explanation that Sombra and Radiant had gotten during their time in their respective training areas, but none of them knew who 'Ansem' was, as Yuffie asked about him and Leon said he had been studying hearts, the Heartless, and the connections between worlds. It was easy to assume that Ansem the Wise, as that was his full title, was the cause of what was going on with the various worlds, or at least the key that made it all possible, which only made Sombra more interested in the figure and his secret reports, articles that were scattered to the wind, before they returned to the topic of the Kingdom Key.

The Heartless feared the Keyblades, as Leon and Yuffie had to believe Sombra's word that there were more out there, and that they wanted nothing more than to strike down their wielders, hence why Sora had been assaulted by them after he started exploring with Sombra, before learning that these weapons could unlock nearly anything, as Leon had Sora open a chest they had prepared for the one carrying what they had assumed was the only Keyblade in existence.

After getting the elixir, which Sora stared at for a moment before slipping it into a pouch that Yuffie showed him, Leon said it was time to meet up with the other individuals who had been found by their other friend, Aerith, though as he said that a Heartless, one of the Soldiers, popped into the room they were in. Yuffie ran into the other room to get Aerith, likely due to the fact that the mysterious lady didn't seem to be a fighter, while Leon quickly kicked the Soldier out the window and beckoned for Sora, Sombra, and Radiant to follow him as he jumped down into a back alley that Sombra knew they hadn't been in previously. As all of them dropped down onto the ground, and Sombra slashed through one of the Soldiers that happened to be in the way, Leon told both of them to track down the leader of the Heartless that were attacking this world, as each group had a very strong one that directed their actions. He also told both of them to ignore the small fry, which was a stupid move when Sombra thought about it, because if the Heartless ran amok, unchecked, there was no telling how many more hearts they would consume, though when she glanced at her companions she found that they agreed with her, taking down all of the Heartless was the best move right now.

This did allow her to confirm what she had discovered earlier and what she had been told in her training area, the Shadows returned to the darkness when they were defeated while the Soldiers offered up their hearts when they were taken out, a fact that was followed by her dark power snatching the freed hearts before they could escape.

As they dealt with the Soldiers and Shadows, however, Sombra felt a powerful force of darkness gathering in part of the town, which was thanks to her own connection to the darkness she guessed, so she started to follow the pull she was feeling and the other two followed after her, tearing through the Heartless that were in their way. This was a good thing for Sombra, because this meant she could capture more hearts as they quickly made their way deeper into the town, though she did absorb one of the hearts from the Soldiers and found that she got a bit of a power boost from them, making her slightly stronger than before. With that in mind she made her way towards the third district, where she found that Sora didn't seem to mind following her directions, in fact he didn't question why she was able to detect what Leon had told them about, and Radiant trusted her with every fiber of her being, though she did offer a valid excuse to explain herself, referring to the large arena like area they had seen earlier. Sora thought about it for a time and decided that it was more reasonable than Sombra having some connection to the darkness, something that neither she nor Radiant commented on as they focused on making their way to the district that Sombra was leading them to.

This also gave Sombra a good opportunity to observe Radiant in battle, as she stayed back while she and Sora charged into melee range and loosed arrows that slammed into her targets, often weakening them so either warrior could take care of them, or even take them out herself, allowing Sombra to snatch the freed hearts as they kept moving.

Eventually they reached the open area of the third district Sombra heard something explode and stopped for just a second, where she found that Sora was knocked to the ground by the duck and tall dog she had seen earlier, the former carrying a magical wand and the latter carrying a decent sized shield. As she turned around for a moment she, too, was knocked to the ground by something else, her back hitting the floor in the process, though that was when Sombra found that the person who landed on her was none other than Fluttershy, the missing individual she had been wondering about since her arrival in Traverse Town. The yellow mare was just like her now, possessing a body that stood on two legs and was more like her new form, in fact it looked like their chests were the same size, which just confirmed what she had been told previously, that her form had been based off of Fluttershy's transformed body. As the duck and tall dog realized that they had found the weapon they were looking for, as they mentioned the 'key' again, Sombra found that Fluttershy carried a staff on her back, a long blue rod with a golden circle at the top with what appeared to be a sun rays coming off of it, which only made her wonder what sort of power the World had given her, all while noting that Radiant was the only one still standing.

As Sombra opened her mouth, to tell Fluttershy to get off of her, the ground rumbled for a moment before several of the tiles rose up, forming pillars that trapped the five of them in this place, causing him to get up as Sora and the others did the same, leaving Fluttershy to pale as she found Sombra standing in front of her. Fortunately there was no time to talk as she found that a large number of Soldiers, twenty by her count, appeared on top of the pillars, causing her and the other three to turn their weapons on the enemies, as she was interested in how the other two would fight the Heartless. From what she could tell the tall dog's plan was to whack his foes with the shield, both knocking them back and using the edge to hurt his opponents, which seemed to be an interesting idea since it did a decent job on the Soldiers, while the duck started to launch fireballs from his wand's tip, confirming that he was a wizard. Fluttershy, as Sombra expected, ducked when she was attacked and cowered as she faced the Heartless, showing that whatever power or skill she had been given was basically worthless since she refused to fight, all while Radiant continued to move around the area as she loosed arrows at her targets.

In the following moments she found a trio of Soldiers rushing at Fluttershy, who was leaving herself exposed, though before she or the others could react all three of them were slashed down by something, which was when Sombra discovered that the shy one wasn't as useless as she previously thought. Her change in opinion was due to the fact that Fluttershy had a new weapon in her right hand, a weapon that was as long as the Kingdom Key, with a guard that was different from the one that Sora's had, in fact it looked like a cyan root in the shape of a horseshoe, while the blade resembled a purple pillar with what looked like a rosebud where the crown rested. It was a Keyblade, an entirely different one from the one Sora carried, yet it seemed to have the same powers that the young boy's had, as when she struck down the Soldiers their hearts were freed in an instant, allowing Sombra to capture them before they escaped. This made her realize something important, the World had deemed Fluttershy, and possibly Radiant, worthy of wielding the key shaped weapons, even though the latter used her bow to deal with her targets, meaning it was something she would have to investigate later.

In that moment Sombra considered the staff that Fluttershy carried, as she seemed more like a support type and less like a melee warrior, in fact her Keyblade might be to help keep herself safe from harm, and found it amusing that out of the six of them there were two melee warriors, two support fighters, and two ranged combatants, before slashing through a couple of Heartless that came at her.

As the last Soldier fell Sora relaxed, figuring that the battle was over, before Sombra glanced up at the air and found what appeared to be a large suit of armor falling towards them, only to find that the arms and legs could move on their own as they reattached, in a sense, to the main piece, as there was some separation between them. A moment later the helmet came down and locked into it's temporary place before the entire suit started to move, coming at the group as Sombra quickly found that they had to deal with six foes in a sense, the arms, the legs, the chest, and the head. They found that the armor moved like it was all one entity, and Sombra could tell that it was since she only felt one heart inside it, but the way it moved sure looked like there were more Heartless than just the one, as while the feet stomped around in one area both the chest and arms moved to another. Fluttershy dived out of the way as they found that the chest and arms could spin around, using the sharpened bits of the hands to attack whatever was around it, where Sombra spared her a glance and found that she did, in fact, still have her feathered wings, like how she and Radiant had their horns, but refocused on the Armor as she slashed at the chest.

She found that the Armor was definitely tougher than she was expecting, since this was the first 'boss' Heartless she had encountered, though interestingly enough that same toughness didn't seem to apply to it's arms or feet, as they seemed to take a decent amount of damage before falling apart. By that Sombra meant that when enough damage was dealt to one of the Armor's legs that very leg simply ceased to exist, likely temporarily knocked out or teleported to a private area so it could be mended and brought back into battle, but that just caused her to shout at the others, to press the assault. Sora realized that she had a plan, that they had to carefully dismantle the Heartless that was in front of them, and did the same as both he and the tall dog smashed one of the arms apart, while finding that the duck launched more fireballs at the other foot while Radiant hit it with a few arrows. With that in mind they turned their attention to the other arm as Fluttershy raised her staff for a moment and set up a barrier between them and the attacking limb, stunning it so Sombra, Sora, and their allies could deliver a number of blows to it so it disappeared as well, leaving just them and the Armor's core.

With only the chest piece left, and the helmet doing nothing, the group was able to focus their full power on it without delay, delivering blow after blow to it in the span of a few moments, and when enough was enough the Armor shook for a few seconds before the helmet struck the ground, the Heartless went still, and a large heart emerged from it's core, causing Sombra to capture it as the Armor just dissolved, leaving nothing behind.

"Okay, note to self: boss level Heartless are definitely tougher than their various minions." Sombra remarked, though as she said that she absorbed the heart of the Armor, finding that it gave her a drastic boost to her defensive capabilities, about a ten point increase as she looked at her screen while Sora walked over to the two animals that had fought beside them, causing her to wonder what the other boss level Heartless might give her when she absorbed their hearts.

"Y... You are Sombra, a... aren't you?" Fluttershy asked, showing that she really hadn't changed, not that Sombra knew her all that well since she had seen the mare for a few seconds before the Crystal Heart blasted her apart, while not counting the short period of time she spent in control of her body, though as she said that Sombra dismissed her scythe.

"That's right. Glad to see that you recognize me, despite my current form." Sombra replied, where she took another look at Fluttershy's body and found that they were nearly mirror images of each other, as in their age and body frames were the same, plus their chest size was identical, leaving the only differences being the coloration of their bodies and the color of their hair and tails, before she noticed the look of confusion on the other Equestrian's face, "Apparently possessing your body, and then being knocked into that portal, was a bad idea, since your form was used to make my new one... I've already told the Speaker and the World that they made me the wrong body."

"Is that so? Well, I honestly don't mind the change... you're still Sombra to me, no matter what form you take." Radiant said, as while she was sure that it would take some time for her and Fluttershy to get used to the new body that Sombra had been given, as she believed her statement about the beings that had talked to them in the training areas, she was just fine with her friend's changes.

Sombra paused as she heard that, because she wasn't expecting anyone to say something like that, especially someone from her home world no less, and decided that it might be best if she didn't say anything at all, especially since the one who spoke was Radiant, causing her to turn towards Sora, the two animals, and two newcomers, Leon and Yuffie.

"Sora, I would suggest that you go with them... especially if you want to track down your missing friends." Leon said, as he felt better having some of King Mickey's elite soldiers, his personal friends if what he heard was any indication, guarding the Kingdom Key, before he glanced over to Sombra, Radiant, and Fluttershy for a few seconds, as while he loathed the idea of even letting someone as dark as the former near the weapon he knew it had to be done, "Also, why don't you take those three with you as well? From what I've seen all of them are skilled in their own way and they should be able to help you on your quest."

"No! Only the Keyblade Wielder! No one else!" the duck stated, sounding outraged by the idea of having more people on the team, even though all six of them had worked rather well together despite being total strangers, though Sombra felt it was wrong for the duck to even say such a thing, calling Sora by his 'title' and not his name, all while ignoring the fact that there was a second Keyblade present.

"Come on Donald, you heard Leon and saw them in action. We could use the help." the tall dog said, showing that he was more willing to take them along for the ride, in fact Sombra suspected that there might be more to him than what the dog was showing, like he was smarter than others thought when they first saw him, "Besides, there's two Keyblades now, not just the one we were told to find."

The duck, Donald, frowned for a moment before admitting defeat, though as he turned on the four individuals that they were taking on, as apparently he and the dog, Goofy he said, had a ship capable of traversing the space between worlds, so they could leave Traverse Town and go somewhere else in their search, though he did have one requirement. What he wanted from them was that they turn their frowns upside down, as in he wanted them to smile, because according to him their ship 'ran on happy faces', only to be surprised by the fact that Fluttershy gave them a wonderful happy face without wasting a second. Such a thing stunned the pair, though it quickly turned to laughter as they found that Sora gave them his smile, a forced one that made it look like he was really trying to impress the pair, and when it started to disappear Donald slapped him on the back, accepting him into the group without delay. When it came to be Sombra's turn she just stood there for a few seconds and crossed her arms, showing the pair that she wasn't having any of their nonsense, all while Radiant offered one without delay, earning her passage as well, only for Sombra to be surprised as the pair from her world turned on her with a pair of pouts.

Sombra stared at the pair for a few seconds, wondering what they were trying to achieve, before she sighed as she just decided to get it over with, causing her to turn towards the animal pair as she flashed them a grin, like she was happy that she had won a great battle or something.

"Eh, good enough... I guess." Donald remarked, as he wasn't sure what he should make of the grin, as it wasn't forced and funny like Sora's, nor was it an actual happy smile like what Fluttershy and Radiant had just given them, but since there were more people in favor of Sombra coming with them he figured he'd bow out now and go with the flow.

Fluttershy and Radiant cheered a little as they heard that, as it meant all three of them could join Sora and the others in exploring other planets and seeing what each one had to offer them, where Sombra simply nodded her head for a couple of seconds as she wondered what the future help for them.





While the group was chatting with each other, no doubt discussing their plans for the immediate future, another group was observing them from a faraway place, using magic to spy on them and even watched as they took down the armored Heartless that had been sent to find Traverse Town's precious Keyhole.

"That little squirt actually took down that Heartless! Who would have thought he'd be capable of such a thing?" a voice said, coming from a black robe wearing individual who had blue-gray colored skin and blue flaming hair, though as those words left his mouth he raised a hand to his chin as he observed the observation table that he and his comrades were in the middle of looking at, "Of course he couldn't do it on his own... those girls certainly helped him out."

"Such is the power of a Keyblade, especially THAT one... the child's strength is not his own." another male spoke up, which came from a black and red robed individual who carried a golden scepter, one that had a serpent's head at the top that he used with some of his spells, though his eyes were on another individual, the girl who used a Keyblade that wasn't the one they had been informed about, "The other wielder is lacking... she will be easy to break. Her light is insufferable."

"Why don't we turn both wielders into a pair of Heartless? That would settle things quickly." a third voice added, one that came from the sea witch that was among their number, a creature that had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of an octopus, though she saw no need to worry about the other four that were with the two wielders, because none of them had Keyblades, meaning they weren't worthy of their attention, "Their companions as well, even though the four of them seem rather useless."

"Useless?! Two of them happen to be the King's lackeys, the best in their personal fields." a fourth speaker stated, though his statement was more in outrage, as he couldn't believe that one of his comrades would dismiss the duck and dog that were with the wielders, all while he wore a red captain's outfit and had a hook in place of where his left hand used to be, before he looked at the group again, "I don't know who the other two are, but their skills are far more decent than the two wielders... most of them are just bilge rats, you can tell by looking at them."

"Yeah, they're no prize contestants... but then again, neither are you!" another male voice stated, one who enjoyed messing with his comrades every now and then, though he was a large figure who had an untold number of bugs inside him, while his body was that of a burlap sack that had a rotund body shape with stumpy legs, and sure enough he found that his hook wielding comrade pointed the hook at him in anger.

"Silence." their sixth and final member stated, which came from the strongest member of the group, the one that they took orders from, which annoyed some of them to no end, where the figure in question was a tall woman with a slender body, wearing a black robe with purple edges, plus she carried a staff with an orb at the top of it and she even had dark horns on top of her head, even though the others were unsure if those were real or part of her headdress.

The others glanced at each other for a moment as they went silent, as each of them knew that Maleficent was stronger than all of them, because her control over the Darkness and the Heartless far exceeded their own, especially since she was known as the 'incarnation of pure evil' on the world she came from, so speaking out against her was a bad idea, if what she did to her large henchman every now and then was anything to go by.

"As you can see, both the miserable brat and the shy one have been chosen to wield a Keyblade, meaning they will have to fight the Darkness... will they conquer it, or will they fall to it?" Maleficent continued, gesturing to the image for a moment as it revealed more of the fight to them, how Sora was a complete novice and needed others to aid him, while the one known as Fluttershy was far too cowardly to do anything on her own, before she waved her hand again as it shifted to the one that interested her far more than anyone else, "This one, however, shows great promise... you can practically sense the dark power she is hiding from the others, yet like all those who foolishly wield the power of Darkness she, too, will fall when the time comes."

"Still, one must wonder where she gained such a power, especially given her age." the golden scepter wielder commented, as it was interesting to see one so young have such a terrifying power, even though none of them had seen her do anything with her dark power, almost confirming Maleficent's comment about her potentially falling in the near future, "Let us hope the Heartless devour her heart soon... one can only imagine how strong her Heartless will be, when it finally takes form. Our conquest of the worlds would go a lot smoother with her Heartless on our side."

"Indeed, she would make a fine slave when she finally turns. For now, you have your orders: find the Princesses of Heart and bring them here." Maleficent remarked, because she knew that if she didn't remind the others of their missions they would just go and do whatever they wanted with the dark powers they had gained, in fact only Jafar and Hook seemed to have any real interest in gathering the keys that would grant them ultimate victory, "Once we have all seven of them we can open the final Keyhole and claim our true prize... all of your wishes will be granted, rest assured of that fact."

The other villains quickly glanced at each other again, remembering the promises that had been made to them when they joined Maleficent's council, or whatever she was calling their group, before nodding their heads as they opened portals to return to their various worlds, all while Maleficent grinned as she stared at the image of Sombra, as she was eager to see her fall to Darkness and had to wonder what the future held for her.