Kingdom Hearts: Tonight, We Are Young in Gamer's Gaming

The Road So Far…

Sora, chosen by the Keyblade, along with his companions Donald and Goofy, subjects of Disney Castle, travel from world to world to combat the Heartless, a race of dark beings bent on capturing the hearts of all living things. The Heartless are led by a coalition of evil that includes: Hades, God of the Underworld; Jafar, the vizier of Agrabah; Ursula, the sea witch from Atlantica; Oogie Boogie, the nightmare creature from Halloween Town; and Captain Hook, dread pirate from Neverland. They are led by Maleficent, the evil sorceress, whose only goal is complete dominion over all worlds. In addition to fighting the Heartless, our trio of heroes is also searching for their friends. Donald and Goofy search for their king, Mickey, another Keyblade wielder who left Disney Castle to find out why worlds were blinking out of existence. Sora searches for his friends Riku and Kairi, who were both taken when their home, the Destiny Islands, was taken by the Heartless. Sora has run into Riku multiple times on his journey and learned that Riku has been manipulated by Maleficent to serve the darkness in an effort to help Kairi, who has fallen into a slumber from which she cannot awaken. In their most recent stop, the trio landed in Halloween Town and came upon the Heartless…except that the Heartless had no urge to fight. This was due to the leader of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington. Jack, the Pumpkin King, was experimenting on the Heartless in an effort to create the scariest Halloween celebration the world had ever seen. However, the Heartless were not quite doing what Jack hoped they would, so he asked Sora and company for their help in finding the right ingredients to make a heart to control the Heartless more fully. First, they retrieved flowers from Sally for “memory” and then were guided by the Mayor to a jack-in-the-box for “surprise”. With all the ingredients, Dr. Finkelstein completed the heart…which was promptly stolen by Lock, Shock, and Barrel, the child cronies of Oogie Boogie. The children returned the heart to Oogie Boogie to allow him to control the Heartless. The trio, along with Jack, infiltrated Oogie’s Manor and defeated the evil nightmare creature…or so they thought. Oogie somehow managed to merge with his Manor, using balls made of pure darkness to fuel his power. Sora and company managed to attack and defeat the gigantic Oogie Manor and seal the Halloween Town Keyhole, protecting the world from the Heartless. Jack seemed down, realizing that his Heartless Halloween idea would have to be put on hold, but Sally cheered him up, telling him that they would figure out something together. With that, the trio left Halloween Town and began their journey to the final world available to them…

Now…

As the trio made their way past Halloween Town once more on their way to the new, and last, world available to them, they were bombarded by attacks from the Heartless, but the crew managed to dodge and repel all attacks until they were nearly to the new planet. However, as they closed in, Goofy noted that a big ship was catching up to them. As it passed by, Donaled noted that it was a pirate ship! He seemed unphased until the pirate ship made a U-turn and set course right at our heroes gummi ship. Sora warned everyone to brace for impact. The next thing Sora knew, he was on the deck of the ship. A voice called out to him from above, telling Sora that he didn’t think Sora would come and that it was good to see him again. Sora spun around at the sound of the familiar voice and spotted Riku standing on another part of the deck above him. Sora asked Riku where Donald and Goofy were. Riku seemed perturbed, asking if those two were really THAT important to him, more important than old friends for instance. Riku said that instead of worrying about them, Sora should be asking about…Kairi! Kairi sat slumped behind Riku, devoid of any signs of awareness. Riku told Sora that while he was off “goofing around” (read this as saving an assload of people from the Heartless), Riku had found her. Sora tried to run to Kairi, but was cut off by a giant hook…as in Captain Hook. Hook told Sora there would be no shenanigans aboard his vessel. Sora was shocked by the side his friend had taken and asked why Riku had taken up with the Heartless. Riku told him that the Heartless obeyed him now, so he had nothing to fear. Sora called Riku stupid, telling him that, sooner or later, the Heartless would swallow his heart. Riku told him there was no chance of that because his heart was too strong. Riku told Sora that he had picked up a few other tricks as well, such as this! An identical copy of Sora popped up in front of him. The only difference was that this Sora was completely dark. Riku told Sora that he could go see his friends now as a trapdoor opened underneath Sora’s feet and dropped him into the ship’s hold. Riku told Hook that it was time to get underway and commanded that they keep Sora away from Kairi until they were ready to land. Hook seemed annoyed that Riku was ordering him around, but could do nothing about it. He figured the Heartless could keep an eye on Sora, Donald, and Goofy. Hook’s first mate, Smee, tried to remind Hook that “you-know-who” was also down there, but Hook cut him off, insisting that he heard some dreadful sound. Smee couldn’t hear it, though, so Hook chalked it up to his nerves playing tricks on him. Meanwhile, down in the hold, Sora had been reunited with Donald and Goofy. Sora told them that Kairi was on board. Goofy suggested that they go ahead up and talk to her. Donald told them that sounded great, but first, they needed to get the heck up off of his back! The trio regained their feet, but as they peered out the door, a voice came from behind them, asking if they were looking for a way out. Suddenly, a boy dressed all in green leaped out from behind some barrels in the back of the room. Goofy asked who he was and the boy replied that he was the answer to their prayers. Donald, as always, was skeptical, so the boy told them to have it their way. Sora seemed confused and asked if the boy wasn’t also stuck in the room. The boy scoffed and told them he was just waiting for someone. As Sora asked who, a tiny ball of light flew around him and settled in front of the boy. The boy asked what had taken Tinker Bell so long. The brightness of the light dimmed and a tiny fairy appeared in front of the boy. He told Tinker Bell that she did a great job and asked if she had found Wendy. Tinker Bell replied and the boy asked about the other girl she had found. Tinker Bell crossed her arms and the boy told her she was crazy if she thought he was just going to leave Wendy there. Donald surmised that Tinker Bell must be pretty jealous and Tink just spun around and huffed at him… well, that is until she flew up to his face and kicked him in the beak. Tinker Bell then flew back out of the room as the boy called after her to open up the door. Sora and company tried not to laugh at the situation as the boy introduced himself as Peter Pan. Sora introduced himself and Peter said that they were in this together, but only until they found Wendy. With the introductions out of the way, it was time for the group to find a way to rescue Wendy. I guess Tinker Bell must have opened the door, because the group was able to exit right out of the hold to face off with the Heartless in the next room. These new Heartless were called Pirates. Surprising, huh? Not only that, the dark Sora kept making an appearance as well. After some battles with both the Heartless and the AntiSora, the group managed to make their way out of the aft of the ship. As they made their way into a new hallway, Goofy asked why it was that Peter Pan could fly. Peter told them that anyone could fly and asked if they wanted to try. Peter whistled and Tink came flying into the room. Peter asked her if she had managed to cool off yet. Tink hadn’t, but she helped anyway and showered the group in pixie dust. Peter said that now they could fly. Donald flapped his arms really fast and got a few feet off the ground, but crashed back down in a hurry. Tink flew up to him and laughed in his face as the scene cut away to Hook’s quarters where Hook and Riku were talking. Hook seemed surprised that Wendy was not one of the chosen ones. Riku told him that there were seven, supposedly, and that Wendy was not one of them. He commanded Hook to hoist anchor and leave all the dead weight behind, including Wendy. Hook was flabbergasted. After all the trouble he had gone to in capturing the girl, and why did it matter who the seven were. Hook asked what it was that Maleficent was planning anyway. Riku told Hook he didn’t know, but as long as it meant getting Kairi’s heart back, he didn’t care either. Hook mocked Riku, telling him he was wasting his time. The Heartless had devoured the girl’s heart and it couldn’t be recovered. Riku promised that he would find it, no matter what. Just then, Smee entered the cabin and told Hook that the trio had escaped and that Peter Pan was with them. Hook cursed Pan and told Smee to bring the hostage to his cabin. Back with the group, Tink attempted to get Peter’s attention to an area just above their heads. Inside the room above them, Wendy sat on a cot and heard Peter’s voice. She ran over to a gate in the floor and caught sight of the group. Wendy told Peter to hurry as the pirates were coming to take her. Peter told her to hold on, that he would be right there. Sora asked Wendy if there was another girl with her. Wendy told him there was, but she seemed to be asleep. Sora tried calling out to Kairi. Suddenly, Kairi’s fingers twitched just a little and Sora beamed out. Kairi was somewhere in there. Her heart wasn’t completely gone. Just then, the pirates came and grabbed both Wendy and Kairi. Peter said that they needed to go after then and the group made off to rescue the girls.

The group leaped up through a hole in a nearby grate. On the floor near the door to the room they had leaped into was a green trinity mark. Activating the mark allowed the group to access a ladder that, when lowered, led up to a trap door in the ceiling above. Climbing the ladder, the trio came out into Captain Hook’s cabin. As they entered the room, Sora spotted Riku holding Kairi’s unconscious form. As Riku stepped backwards, however, the AntiSora flowed into the cabin in a pool of darkness and attacked Sora. The AntiSora attacked the group with many of the same attacks that Sora used, but also was able to collapse himself into a small puddle and flash around the room, similar to how the Shadows attacked. The worst part was that AntiSora could split himself into three different pieces. Only the real AntiSora could be damaged. The fight was tough, but the group emerged victorious once more. Defeated, the AntiSora was driven into the darkness. As the group looked around the cabin, they spotted another trap door in the floor. Opening it and dropping down into the room below, the group found Wendy laying on the floor. Peter ran up to the girl. Peter called out to Wendy, but the girl slept on, so Peter left the trio behind, telling them he needed to help Wendy. With their guide gone, the trio made their way back into the Hook’s cabin. Back inside the cabin, they found a chest which contained three more dalmatians. Sixty-three down, thirty-six to go. The trio exited the cabin through a nearby door and came out onto the deck of the ship where they were met by Captain Hook and his crew of Pirate Heartless. Sora demanded to know where Riku had gone. Hook told him that Riku had gone to the ruins of Hollow Bastion, where Maleficent resided. But the trio, however, would not be following. Hook reached behind him and pulled out a lantern which he had used to capture Tinker Bell. Sora, realizing he was in a bad situation, put away the Keyblade. Hook offered them a choice: if Sora gave him the Keyblade, he would spare their lives. So which would it be: the Keyblade or the plank. From behind Hook, their came a ticking from down below in the water. Hook gazed back in horror, spotting the crocodile that had eaten his hand laying in wait down in the water! Hook started bawling like a small child and ran away. Sora, knowing that he could never give the Keyblade to someone like Hook, walked out along the plank. As he looked back at his friends, Sora jumped backwards off the plank towards the waiting mouth of the crocodile, but as the croc leaped up to snap his jaws shut on Sora, the Keyblade wielder sprung off and floated in the air. As Smee and the rest of the crew stared on in shock, Peter Pan dove in and snatched the lantern away from Smee, setting Tinker Bell loose. Sora thanked Peter for his help. Peter told them it was no problem. After all, Sora didn’t really believe that Peter would leave him and Tink behind, did he? The show of friendship improved Sora’s understanding of the power of healing and upgraded Sora’s Cure spell to a Cura spell. Feeling more powerful than ever, Sora vowed that all his enemies on the ship were going down and the fight was on! With his new ability to fly, Sora took to the skies and fought off both Pirates and Air Pirates. With the enemies defeated, Peter and Sora stood together outside of Hook’s cabin. Peter knocked on the door and laughed as Hook called out, asking if Sora and company had been defeated. Peter, pinching his nose to create the proper effect, answered in a perfect expression of Smee’s voice that Sora and company had all walked the plank. Hook came charging out of his cabin and looked around. Peter snuck up behind him and poked Hook in the butt with his knife, sending Hook flying into the air. Hook cursed Peter, but Pan told Hook that it was time for HIM to walk the plank. With that, the fight with Captain Hook began. Hook attacked the group with sword slashes and thrusts, as well as explosive gift boxes. He was aided by a number of flying Battleship Heartless, but the group pressed the attack and, with their new found flying abilities, they were able to take Hook down like the bilge rat he was. A last blow from Pan sent Hook into the water…right beside the crocodile! Hook made like a divine figure and started running on top of the water with the crocodile in hot pursuit. Sora learned the Ars Arcanum ability from winning the fight and found Ansem’s Report 9 that Hook had dropped on the deck of the ship.

After the fight, Sora looked out on the ocean from the deck of the ship, wondering what to do about Riku and Kairi. Goofy started saying something that because Kairi wouldn’t wake up, perhaps her heart was gone, but Donald hushed him before he could finish his thought out loud. Peter called out to Sora from behind, concerned that Sora was going to a dark place in his heart, but Sora looked skyward and beamed. He couldn’t believe that he really flew and said that he couldn’t wait to tell Kairi about it. He wondered if Kairi would believe him and figured she probably wouldn’t. Peter told Sora that he should just bring her to Neverland sometime and she could try it herself. Sora said that if a person believed, they could do anything, right? Sora vowed that he would find Kairi and that there was so much he wanted to tell her: about flying, the pirates, and everything else that had happened. Just then, Tinker Bell arrived back on the scene and flew up to Peter. She was beckoning him to the clock tower. Something was going on there. Tinker Bell led Sora, Peter, Donald, and Goofy to the clock tower in London. Wendy sat there waiting for them. She told Sora that he would find Kairi and that he should check the faces of the clock tower as something was off about it. Sora flew around the clock and noticed that only one of the clock faces wasn’t set to midnight. Sora struck the minute hand a couple of times until it moved into the same position as the other three faces. As the group floated a short distance away, a light shown out from the clock and revealed the Neverland Keyhole. Sora locked the Keyhole away and was rewarded with a new Navigation gummi.

The scene switched to a flashback of when Sora and Riku were children. It was the same scene from before where the boys went into the cave and found nothing but a small door. As the boys went to leave and were talking about the new girl that had appeared at the Mayor’s house, Riku turned back and saw a Keyhole in the door that wasn’t there a minute ago. Foreboding music played as Riku recognized the feeling of darkness coming from the Keyhole. Flashing forward, Riku had collapsed on the floor of a chamber. He was kneeling in front of Maleficent. The sorceress told Riku that it was reckless for him to bring Kairi back to Hollow Bastion without a vessel of some sort. She reminded him that relying too heavily on the dark powers could cost him his heart. A roar from far away caught Riku’s attention. Maleficent said that it was a castaway from a lost world. When the evil coalition had taken the princess from his castle, whatever creature had made that sound had followed her to Hollow Bastion by sheer force of will. But Riku had nothing to fear as no harm would come to him. The creature was no match for Riku’s power. Maleficent told him that he still had untapped power within him and that it was time to reveal it. Suddenly, Riku started glowing green and the scene faded out. Back at the clock tower, Wendy and Peter were talking. Wendy asked if Peter was really returning to Neverland. Peter said he was, but that they could see each other anytime. Tinker Bell shook with rage and Donald laughed at her. Tink flew off and circled Peter then flew back and circled Sora. Peter asked Sora if he would look after Tink. Sora seemed confused, but agreed. Tink made a few small tinkling sounds and Sora gained the ability to summon Tinker Bell into battle. He also learned the glide ability. He may not be able to fly outside of Neverland, but Sora could still glide and access areas far away. Looking at Ansem’s Report 9, Ansem had written about a guest he had received from another world who was a king. Think we know who that is at this point. The king told him about his ship which was comprised of gummi pieces, the same things that Ansem had been researching. Apparently, the door he had opened had opened a path to interworld travel also. In the midst of conversation, the king had told Ansem about the Keyblade. There were conflicting legends about the Keyblade. One legend read that the wielde had saved the world while another stated that the wielder had wrought chaos and ruin upon it. Ansem swore that he would find out all about the Keyblade. With yet another piece of the puzzle in place, the crew traveled back to the gummi ship. Donald suggested that it was time to give Cid a visit and have him install their new navigation gummi. Chip mentioned that another tournament was being held at the Coliseum. With a few destinations in mind before trying to find Riku and Kairi, Sora and company set off for Traverse Town once more.