//------------------------------//
// Heartless: Return to Traverse Town 
// Story: Kingdom Hearts: The World's Reluctant Heroes 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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After chatting with Phil for a time, and giving Fluttershy time with 'Cerbi', her name for the three headed dog that had come out to attack them, Sora and the others returned to the Gummi Ship, only after she told him to behave and that she would have some treats the next time she came by. Sombra knew that she was sad to not take the dog with them, even though it would be a heart attack for the other animals that lived in their work world, but a part of her knew that, at some point in time, the shy one would come back and take the dog away from whoever owned it. Other than what happened with Cerbi there wasn't anything for them to worry about, so they were able to board the ship and depart from the Coliseum without much delay, though Sombra had a large smile on her face as she returned to her room for a new moments. This world was going to be one of her favorites, she could tell that much at a glance, because a villain was working behind the scenes to do 'something', a fact she didn't care about at all, rather she was more interested in the endless hordes of Heartless that they could fight in the various games.

The Coliseum was an endless source of hearts, meaning it was a place where she could grind her abilities if she desired such a thing, and it only made her wonder what the future held for them when they returned to the world in the future, since they still needed to find the Keyhole at some point.

Such a thing made her realize that she had yet to actually absorb many of the hearts she had obtained over the course of the last couple of worlds, save for the more powerful ones like the Trickmaster and the Sneak, before realizing that, in their haste due to Donald's fight with Sora and it's aftermath, she had forgotten something. The heart that had turned into the Sneak was still in her possession, in fact she pulled it out to confirm that it was still in her collection, before absorbing it like the first couple she had acquired during her time testing it's power out, adding the power inside it to her own. From what she could tell Sneak's power came from it's agility, even though that was a decent boost on it's own, meaning if they had arrived later, when Clayton's heart had more darkness inside it, the Heartless he eventually created would have had more power to offer her, before a familiar blue window appeared in front of her. She had seen it during her time training before she had been sent to Traverse Town, though instead of having a message from either the World or the Speaker, like she was expecting, it contained an interesting piece of information that she wasn't expecting to discover.

The message was 'You have obtained the Chameleon skill', where she found that she could do as the Sneak did, bend light to fade into her surroundings, something that caused her to grin as Sombra realized what it meant, that she could steal even the skills of their enemies and add them to her arsenal.

She wasn't the only one that used the new training area to improve themselves, as she found that Fluttershy and Radiant came in to train as well, the former being trained in how to use her Keyblade more effectively, plus ease her into the fact that not all battles could be ended by just petting or calming down animals. Of course such a thing still surprised Donald and Goofy, since they were expecting there to only be one wielder in their group, then they found two thanks to Fluttershy, and now there were three of them, and Donald was still expecting Sombra to pull out a Keyblade in the future. It was amusing to see that the duck thought she was pulling his leg and having a joke at his expense, though Sombra knew that such a thing wasn't that simple, not after seeing what happened back when she tried to grasp the first power the World had offered her, the power to summon a Keyblade. There was some crucial piece of the puzzle she was missing, some aspect of herself that had yet to be uncovered, that had prevented her from calling forth such a weapon, something she would have to uncover for herself before she could make progress in that regard, before deciding to worry about it later.

Sombra also got a chuckle out of scaring Donald as she cancelled the chameleon skill and appeared out of thin air, which was a shock to those who didn't know her true, potential, before she returned to both her studies and the fact that she was their cook, something she honestly wasn't expecting to do and yet found some measure of joy in.

Eventually they found that their next destination was a familiar one, Traverse Town, as Sora couldn't figure out how to get to any of the other worlds Donald and Goofy had told them about, like the Gummi Ship was missing a component, so for the time being he figured that returning to their starting point was a good thing. Fluttershy made sure to gather the couple of puppies they had recovered during their visits to the other worlds in her companion sphere, keeping them safe until they were able to reach their house, since there was no telling how many Heartless might be wandering around the town, especially after they beat the Armor up. The first district was just as they remembered it, people were hanging out, talking or just having fun doing whatever they wanted, while finding that Yuffie was standing by an odd shaped mail box like she was waiting for someone, potentially them since her group had helped them before finding Donald and Goofy. Other than that there didn't to be anyone new for Sora and the others to interact with, meaning no new worlds had gone dark due to the Heartless devouring their own hearts, which had to make Sora happy that they were making progress.

With how normal everything was, and no one panicking over potential danger in the other districts, Sombra almost felt that the world was far safer than the last time they were here, though what stopped that thought in it's tracks was the simple fact that she could feel the darkness growing in the town, no doubt frantically searching for the Keyhole.

"Hey guys! We've been wondering when you would come back." Yuffie said, waving them over as some of the people just looked the other way, showing that they were more interested in their own goals and didn't want to get involved with her, which was fine with Sombra since it meant they could go about their business without having to worry about people listening in on the conversation, "I take it you've seen a couple of worlds now?"

"Oh yeah, though we need to restock our supplies and figure out how to get to the other worlds." Sora replied, which was the truth, since he had no idea how they were supposed to get to continue their adventure, or quest if one was asking either Donald or Goofy, something that prompted him to pull out one of the gummi blocks they had picked up.

Yuffie looked at it for a few moments and told them to show it to Cid, he was the expert on that sort of thing, though at the same time she asked for a list of supplies so she could go get them for the group, because they were doing good work and figured that she and her friends should repay the group of six in some manner. She was, of course, surprised by the fact that most of it was food items, ingredients and everything needed to prepare meals, where Radiant informed her that there had been a development, Sombra had some decent cooking skills and was using them on their ship. Yuffie looked at them for a moment before nodding her head, though before departing she told the group that Cid was back in his shop, as he was planning on having his manager take over for an extended period of time, as he figured that they would need some help at some point in time. Leon and Aerith, on the other hand, were hanging out in an underground area that they could access from either the alley behind the hotel they had talked in or from a path in Merlin's place, though she did tell them that Cid might have a delivery for them to make in compensation for working on their ship.

Cid, as Yuffie had said, was inside his shop and his manager was out getting things ready for when it was time for them to switch for a time, though he instantly knew the gummi pieces that Sora showed him and called them idiots for not even realizing that these were navigation blocks. Sombra had to remind him that four of them had never seen a gummi block, much less a gummi ship, until meeting Donald and Goofy, causing Cid to sigh as he nodded his head, showing them that he understood her point and didn't want to fight them over who was right and who was wrong. True to what Yuffie said he was willing to install the navigation pieces, in exchange for them delivering a simple book to Merlin, as he knew that they had encountered him and figured this was the best way for Sora to repay him, causing the boy to agree without delay, as it was a good deal. The book in question was called 'Winnie the Pooh' and had a picture of a yellow bear with a red shirt on, though as Sora took hold of it Sombra realized something, it seemed to be it's own world, like the contents of the book were real to the characters inside it, making her wonder if the Heartless would be drawn to it.

As she thought about that they heard a loud chime that Cid told them was supposed to be the bell at the gizmo shop in the second district, something he didn't care about all too much and said that they could check it out if they wanted, after delivering the book to Merlin.

Instead of going straight to Merlin's place the group headed into the second district to return the puppies to their parents, where they found that the Heartless were definitely wandering around, yellow Nocturnes that cast thunder at them, like how the red ones used fire and the blue used blizzard. Such a thing interested Sombra a little, because these enemies were either learning the same elements at the same time that she and the others were, given how the yellow ones came out after acquiring the base thunder spell, or the Heartless already knew that magic and their growing power was causing more to come out into the open. In the end it didn't matter to her as she slashed her way through the Heartless and took their freed hearts, as she found more and more Nocturnes waiting for them, plus red and blue ones, which caused some of them to lash out with their own magic to stun the Heartless so the others could take them down. Other than that there didn't seem to be any other enemies for them to face, which was weird as Sombra, Fluttershy, and Radiant looked around for any other Heartless that might be lurking in the shadows, allowing them to reach their destination without wasting too much time.

The dalmatian parents were happy to have some of their puppies back, even though there were far more missing, though after checking the area for enemies the group made their way into the third district and entered Merlin's portion of the town, jumping over the rocks to enter his house.

"Oh, so Cid asked you to deliver the book... I'm not surprised, since you seem quite capable at protecting yourselves from our enemies." Merlin said, where he took the book from Sora and looked over it, finding that it matched his specifications on how he wanted it restored, before turning his attention to the group that was watching him, "I found this book once upon a time, back when I encountered three young Keyblade wielders, and it was damaged some time ago, hence why I had Cid repair it for me. I do not know what sort of book it is, but you are more than welcome to look into it whenever you want."

"Maybe later. For now, we have to chat with Leon before worrying about whatever world we're heading to next." Sora said, as while he was interested in the book, and whatever might be inside it, his focus was on seeing what Leon had to say on what happened during their visits to the other worlds and what it meant to seal the Keyholes, since he knew more than he and his friends did.

Merlin nodded for a moment and revealed the staircase leading down into the lower area that Leon was in, where the six companions headed down the steps for a time and found a rocky cavern below the house, where the man was training with his blade as Aerith stood near him, only to stop when they noticed the group.

"We took longer than you might have been expecting, but we ended up visiting three worlds and sealed two Keyholes on the way." Sombra commented, figuring that they should at least get the main parts of the conversation out of the way, as it would no doubt interest the pair and might grant them more information on where Traverse Town's Keyhole might be lurking, all while the others stood around her, "We couldn't find one, but I'm sure we'll discover it in due time... and while we're here we'll try to find Traverse Town's as well."

"Good. This means two worlds have been saved from the Heartless, as locking their Keyholes prevents the Darkness from devouring them whole, like what happened to Sora's world." Leon replied, though while his expression remained the same he was happy with this discovery, as it meant they could save more worlds and, maybe, bring an end to the danger that took over the world that he and his own group had come from, "We've been searching for the Keyhole to this world since we got here, to prevent it from falling to darkness, but the only thing the four of us have figured out is that it's somehow connected to the gizmo shop, which we have been unable to investigate."

The group found that Leon had nothing else to say and Aerith was focused on making sure he didn't exhaust himself with his training, causing Sora and the others to leave the underground area and return to the second district, where most of the group remained near the fountain as Fluttershy flew up to an upper area that was above the shop.

"I see the bell, but it looks like it's been boarded up." Fluttershy stated, as there was a tall wall of wood planks that were between a platform they could stand on and where the bell was resting, though by studying them for a moment she was sure that a swift strike from her Keyblade might dislodge some of the planks, "I'm... I'm going to break the boards."

Sombra and the others watched from below as they heard her strike the boards, actually meaning it based on what they heard, before she rang the bell and the fountain came to life with fire as it's icon spun to a new image, the second ring gave them a tree icon, and the third brought one more icon that clearly had the Keyhole on it... though as Fluttershy flew down to the others they found a large Heartless drop down into the arena.

"Wait, is that the armored Heartless?" Sora asked, staring at the armored foe that was in front of them, though as he and the others readied themselves he noticed that this one was more silver with red and blue sections, causing him to realize that his assumptions were wrong, it had to be a whole new one, "No, it's a new foe."

In that moment Sombra and the other Equestrians lashed out with their magic, striking the Silver Armor in the chest and forced it backwards, making her wonder if it was stronger than the other or if it was just weak as well, though before it had a chance to recover the others struck it with their weapons. It fought the same as the previous version they had clashed with, causing them to dodge out of the way of attacks that they were familiar with, struck it with even stronger attacks than the last time they fought it, and Sombra even left a gash on it's back. All of those attacks eventually caused it to stall for a moment, like it had taken enough for them to break it down, before it shifted it's stance, placing it's hands on the ground while lifting itself until it was upside down, 'Reverse' Armor as Sombra thought about it, especially since the feet turned into new hands and the helm opened to show yellow eyes. Somehow it's attacks were stronger than before, like it had been keeping itself in check or something, but, at the same time, none of them were caught off guard by that fact as Radiant and Goofy smashed the new legs, Donald and Fluttershy crushed the arms, and Sombra and Sora used the wound on it's chest to utterly ruin it.

Sombra was sure that this was due to the fact that it was six on one, with some of them having embraced their powers as a whole, though it hardly mattered as Reverse Armor released it's heart and dissolved, allowing her to capture the heart as Sora quickly sealed the Keyhole before it could be used by the Heartless.

"That takes care of that. Come on, we should tell Leon and the others the good news." Radiant remarked, though she found it amusing that not long after their friends mentioned Traverse Town's mysterious Keyhole, something they couldn't find in all of their years of looking, she and her companions were able to find it and lock it within about ten minutes, which only made her curious as to what the future worlds might offer them.

With victory on their minds Sora, Sombra, and the others made their way back to the third district, so they could return to Leon and see if he could find the others so they could give them the good news, only to find some Soldiers wandering in front of the fountain, but before they could deal with them a boy matching Sora's description of Riku slashed through the trio with a Keyblade that looked like a black wing of some kind.

"I found you at last, Sora." Riku stated, all while Sombra made sure to snatch the freed hearts, since she didn't want them to go to waste, despite the fact that the boy was focused solely on Sora right now, before he realized that there were more in the group than he noticed when he first spotted his friend, even if said friend proceeded to yank his mouth around.

"Riku! It is you!" Sora said, with possibly the greatest smile on his face that he could muster right now, because they had just found one of his missing friends and, somehow, his friend was also carrying a Keyblade, or at least he assumed it was one since it freed the hearts of the Soldiers, "Where's Kairi? Did you find her?"

"No, not yet. Who are your friends?" Riku asked, something that told Sombra that the boy might not be pleased with the fact that his friend had found so many new friends since their separations, like he might assume Sora didn't care about Kairi and might do something stupid in the near future.

"Well, there's Fluttershy, Radiant Hope, Donald, Goofy, and Sombra." Sora replied, though in that moment an idea came to mind as he realized something, Riku had his own Keyblade and that meant that Donald had to let him come with them, even if he and Goofy were only after the Kingdom Key, "You should totally come with us. You see, we have this awesome ship that let's us travel from world to world, we've met some interesting people during our search for you and Kairi, and Sombra's an awesome cook... trust me, her food is beyond what our parents made us in the past."

As Donald started to say something about how Riku couldn't come with them, however, Sombra smacked him in the back of the head, stunning the annoying duck as she stepped forward, causing the boy to look at her for a time, and by that she meant focus on her and no one else.

"Ignore Donald, he's yet to understand the rules we've set up. In all honesty, you should come with us, as Sora would love to have you as part of the team." Sombra stated, where she held a hand out towards the boy, figuring that being friendly, the one aspect she had no real experience in, would help convince Riku to join them, especially since she could feel the dark power that was inside him, confirming Sora's tale on what happened to him before their world was devoured.

"I... um... right, of course... you're hot..." Riku replied, something that surprised Sombra for a moment, because now she was getting positive responses to her body from the opposite gender, especially a boy that was right around her new age, and she could tell that Riku was fighting new emotions that he had likely never felt before this point, due to the surprised look on his face as he realized what he had said and the slight blush he tried to hide from everyone else.

Sombra smiled and thanked him as she got him to join the group for a time, allowing them to continue on their way to Merlin's place, though while Riku followed them, maybe falling for her for some reason, she could only wonder what this might mean for them and their adventures.