Last time found our heroes racing up Lord Xenu's tower to save Sofia from being sacrificed. One thing lead to another, resulting in Zortarius's escape, Davis Blackwood's capture and the death of Halenio'Ketalc. Atop the tower, our heroes reached Sofia in time and captured Lord Xenu. But then Darklight showed up to try and kill Sofia, yet was stopped by the appearance of Columbina's Dark Spear. In a startlight twist, Darklight destroyed the Dark Spear, then left to confront Columbina. Meanwhile Annie Leonhart, as The Female Titan, killed Lord Xenu and vanished with Bertold and Reiner, while Alegra returned with the identity of Columbina; Katrina Spellman, Sabrina's evil twin. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

Epilog: The Real War Begins

...Castle Oblivion...

"Okay, we know who you are for real," said Gaston as he and the others stood in front of Katrina Spellman, "so, what now?"

"Now?" asked Katrina, "now I get back to work. I still have five Keyholes to smash open, five worlds still needing to be flooded with darkness. Once I have all twelve Drowned Worlds of Darkness, and the necessary reagents, I will, at long last, be able to create The Sampo!"

"Yeah, about that," said Regina, "just what do you want with The Sampo? How is an unlimited supply of gold, grain and salt going to help you?"

"Aside from making you filthy rich," said Dio Brando, earning nods of agreement from Gaston and Lady Tremaine.

"I think you owe us an explanation, my dear," said Young Xehanort.

"Very well," said Katrina, "as I've already explained, I am one of a set of twins, how the magical society I was born into separated me and my sister at birth and placed us with different parents. My twin, Sabrina, stayed with our biological mother, while I was raised in a foster family and found out the truth many years later.

"I've also explained how, once we came into our full powers, my sister and I were forced into a humiliating ritual to determine which of us was good and the other evil. I was so close to killing my disgustingly good sister, yet I failed and was exiled to The Other Realm.

"My hatred for Sabrina and everything she stood for simmered until I was ready to explode, and take both Mortal and Other Realms with me. Again, my plans for vengeance and conquest were foiled, again by Sabrina. I fled into the past of another dimension to regain my strength and grow stronger.

"Then I had the idea that if I alone couldn't defeat Sabrina, then maybe another of me could do it. When I was able to, I went forward in time and introduced myself to a version of me from another dimension. Needless to say, things didn't go well and I wound up destroying myself, so to speak."

"You killed your alternate self?" asked Regina, "that's akin to suicide, depending on how you look at it."

"In a way, it was both murder and suicide at once," said Katrina, "but it had an unexpected benefit. I found myself stronger in both mind and magic in a small increment. I then postulated that if killing one alternate of myself increased my powers, then how strong will I be if I destroy hundreds of myself, if not thousands?"

"Yet the more I pondered, the more I realized that this would be a fool's errand; each slain version of me would increase my powers by a fraction. It would take an eternity of me to seek out and destroy enough versions of myself to make me, the original, strong enough to overwhelm my enemies.

"But then I learned the legend of The Sampo. Aside from granting an unlimited supply of commodities, The Sampo has the power to grant a single feat of magic, any feat, no matter how impossible it seemed to do with normal magic."

"So you wish to use The Sampo to wipe out all your alternates across space and time?" asked Sephiroth.

"No, I've given up on mere murder," said Katrina, "I seek to merge all my alternates with me, the original Katrina Spellman."

"Like Kira, Light Yagami," said Young Xehanort, "how all his alternate selves merged into one in Mu."

"But you won't be trapped in limbo," said Lady Tremaine, "you're free to act."

"Precisely," said Katrina, "once I've become The One and Only Katrina Spellman, I will then use my power to wipe out Sabrina and all her alternates from existence, from all existences. I will be the only Spellman daughter, then, and only then, will I have what I truly want; ultimate and unrivaled power across space and time!"

"How melodramatic," said Zotarius as he walked into the room.

"Well, if it isn't the loser of the week," said Katrina as she glared contemptuously at Zotarius.

"If that's so, how come I've won?" asked Zotarius.

"You didn't succeed," said Gaston, "you got your tail kicked, just like the other two in The Black Triangle."

"That's 'Triskellion,' you oafish ape!" snapped Zotarius, "and where my colleagues failed, I succeeded!"

"Oh really?" asked Katrina as she placed her hands on her hips, "How?"

"It's quite simple, actually," said an overtly smug Zotarius, "My success came in three levels. First and foremost, out of the three members of The Black Triskellion, I am still alive and free."

"Only because you ran like the cowardly dog you are," said Sephiroth, "oh, and that so called planet-killing spell of yours, a complete waste of time."

"An amateur could've figured out how to disarm that spell!" said Insano.

"Amateur?! AMATEUR!?" exclaimed Zotarius, "I was concocting world-devastating feats of magic while you were fantasizing about the female grade-school teachers!"

"You're still more bark than bite," said Gaston.

'Yes, well this dog is smarter than your average canine," said Zotarius. He then looked at Katrina, "which brings me to the second level of my success." He then looked at Regina and the other villains, "while you all were wracking your pitiful brains for the answer to the riddle that was Columbina, I knew, I knew, from the moment I first stood in these horrid halls, that Columbina is Katrina Spellman."

"You did not!" said Dio Brando, "you're as dumb as the rest of us!" He then saw the venomous glares from the other villains, "uh…nothing personal."

"Which brings me to the third level," said Zotarius to Katrina, "my gift to you!" With that he aimed his hands and zapped the floor. With a flash of magic, there stood Annie, Reiner and Bertold, all three of whom were gasping for air.

"Finally!" said a sobbing Bertold, "I thought we were gonna be stuck in there forever!"

"You idiot!" snapped Annie at Zotarius, "that place you stashed us in, there wasn't any air!"

"Of course there isn't any air in Limbo," said Zotarius, "there isn't anything, which makes it perfect for storing things you want kept safe."

"What's this supposed to be?" Lady Tremaine asked as she looked at the three renegade Survey Corps members, "a trio of brats? This is not a daycare center!"

"Didn't you pay any attention to what happened in Parzon?" asked Regina as she looked at Annie, Reiner and Bertold with intrigued eyes, "they can become Titans."

"And we have these," said Bertold as he stood up and pulled out the beaker of Titan serum, while Reiner had the control device.

"With these, you'll be able to make and control your own Titans," said Annie as Reiner and Bertold handed the device and serum to Katrina.

"Just imagine!" said an eager Zotarius, "an army of Titans at your command! No human force will be able to stand against them! The fools in The Realms of Light are as good as doomed!"

"But Titans do have weaknesses," said Young Xehanort, "they vulnerable against electricity."

"And of course there's the old standby of cutting the back of the neck," said Sephiroth.

"Which is why you have the demonic intellect of Dr. Insano at your service!" said the mad genius as he took the control device and serum, "I'll see what I can do with these."

"And you have these three prime specimens of Titan Power at your disposal as well," said Zotarius as he indicated Annie, Reiner and Bertold, "each, a formidable warrior, as a human and a Titan."

"So you're joining us, huh?" asked Dio Brando of the three renegades, "what's in it for you?"

"Aside for our lives?" asked Reiner.

"If we hadn't accepted Zotarius's offer," said Bertold, "we'd be back under the whammy of that psychic freak. Then Eren and the others would be dragging us back to our world in chains."

"Regardless of our reasons," said Annie, "our mission remains the same; the extermination of humankind; it's just expanded to beyond our world."

"There's untold worlds out there just full of humans," said Reiner, "all waiting to meet The Titans."

"We'll visit them one by one," said Bertold, "and create new Titans on each one, until all worlds are wiped clean of humans."

"And then what?" asked Regina, "What do you gain from genocide?"

"Our reasons are our own," said Bertold, "what's it to you?"

"Just curious," said Regina.

"Whatever the reasons," said Katrina, "their help is more than welcolme."

"Then, you are pleased?" asked Zotarius.

"Yes, I am pleased," said Katrina as she smiled warmly, then frowned coldly, "now get out of my sight, you worm! I don't want to see you until I need you, if I ever need you again."

"I shall be waiting your beck and call, oh most vile and wicked one," said Zotarius as he bowed in an overly dramatic manner, then zapped himself out of the room.

"What a dick," said Dio Brando. He then looked at Katrina, "why didn't you go back and save Davis Blackwood? He was kinda cool."

"Whatever," said Katrina, "I'll keep him as long as he's useful."

Just then a Dark Corridor opened up, from which emerged Darklight and The Lord of Illusions. "What about me?" asked Darklight, "am I still useful."

"Depends," said an irate Katrina, "are you useful? Have you come back to apologize?"

"I do not apologize," said Darklight, "if anything, you owe me an apology for trying to replace me with an overgrown Heartless."

"Uh…I'm just going to step out and keep looking for the stuff for the Sampo," said The Lord of Illusions. He then summoned another Dark Corridor and walked through.

"I think we have much to talk about," said Darklight.

"That we do," said Katrina, "that we do."

"Aww, look at them," said Dio Brando as he and the other villains watched Katrina and Darklight walk out of the room, "they're gonna work out their differences like a family."

"Please, I just ate," said a nauseated Lady Tremaine.

"Well, here's to another caper where the Keyblade Wielders survived," said Regina as she summoned a glass of wine and toasted Aiden, Tess and Malcolm.

"Oh, just admit it!" snapped Gaston, "you're on their side!"

"Their side?" asked Regina, "on the contrary, I wish nothing more than their complete and utter destruction."

"Then why are you always hoping they'll win?" asked Sephiroth.

"I study them," said Regina, "while you all have been making idiotic commentaries, I've been studying their strengths and weaknesses."

"In hopes of coming up with a plan to destroy them?" asked Young Xehanort.

"Not yet," said Regina as she sipped her wine, "but I think I may have found the Achilles Heal of one particular Keyblade Wielder," she then turned the control disk of the Interocitor 18° to the left, causing the screen to focus on Kairi, "I just need to figure out the perfect way to exploit it."

…Radiant Garden…

"What's with this thing?" asked Hayner as he and the others crowded around the Interocitor, which was now showing only static, "why won't it work?!" he then bashed his fist on the machine.

"Don't do that!" snapped Ansem as he shoved Hayner out of the way and began examining the controls of the Interocitor.

"Please say you can fix it, Ansem!" said Yuffie, "we need to know what happened on Enchancia."

"The stupid thing cut out after Darklight destroyed that big spear Heartless," said Wakka, "it was wild, man."

"And weird," said Leon,"She's evil, but she saved Aiden and the others."

"Who knows what's going on with that lunatic?" asked Ansem as he took off the side panel of the Interocitor and examined the inner workings.

Just then Quistis came stomping into the room, a look of utter rage on her case, "I'll kill them!" she shouted, "I'll kill them all!"

"Kill who?" asked Leon.

"Who do you think, Squall?" asked Quistis irately, "those bastards in charge of SeeD! They've raised the yellow flag."

"No!" said a shocked and outraged Selphie, "they didn't! They wouldn't!"

"They did!" said Quistis.

"What's a yellow flag?" asked Tidus.

"It's a recall order from the upper echelon of SeeD," said Leon, "it basically means abandon the mission and return to headquarters."

"They've basically said 'screw you, we're going home' to the Realms of Light," said Quistis, "all SeeD operatives in The Realms are to pack up and return to HQ immediately."

"Why would they do that?" asked Yuffie, "give up when we're so desperately in need of help?"

"I don't know," said Quistis, "but I'm going to find out. In the meantime, we're all going to carry on as if nothing's happened."

"Disobeying an order from the upper echelon of SeeD?" asked Ansem, "even for you, Quistis, that's going a little too far."

"The bastards in charge have gone too far, old bear," said Quistis, "I merely replied to HQ that the message was garbled due to enemy interference, then I 'accidentally' broke the communicator. I'm now heading back to HQ to get to the bottom of this nonsense before they send someone to force our people to leave."

"They'll crucify you for disobeying a direct order," said Leon, "or drum you out of SeeD."

"That's a risk I'll be willing to take," said Quistis, "whatever reason they have for raising the yellow flag, it's not good enough to justify running away."

"You are," said Pence, "running away that is."

"Only to get some answers," said Quistis. She then looked back to Leon, "which leaves you in charge of things in my absence, Squall Leonhart."

"Uh…technically I'm not part of SeeD anymore," said Leon.

"Technically I'm the senior operative," said Selphie.

"Yeah, but I trust Squall to hold things together while I'm gone," said Quistis, "and I trust you to keep him in line. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I've a transport to catch." With that she hurried out of the room before anyone could protest.

"Well, that I did not see coming," said Olette, "so, what now?"

"Now we tell Kairi that we're about to be further up the creek without a paddle," said Yuffie.

"No, wait a bit," said Selphie, "she just found out Aiden, Tess and Malcolm are alive, so don't spoil things for her."

"She'll have to be told eventually," said Ansem.

"I know," said Selphie, "but let her have a bit to feel good, it's been too long since she's had that feeling."

Up on the castle roof sat Kairi, gazing up at the stars. She focused on a group of stars that, according to Tron, was where Enchancia was supposed to be located, in this universe that is. Kairi didn't care that the world Aiden, Tess and Malcolm were on was in parallel reality; they were alive, and for the moment, that's all that mattered.

She then widened her gaze to the rest of the sky, hoping that her eyes would fall on a world where the other two close to her heart may be.

"Riku, Sora," said Kairi, "please, be safe. Please, come home soon."

…The Land of Ooo…

"Ooo is safe, for now," said Princess Bubblegum atop the balcony of the Candy Castle, having the full attention of the Candy People and representatives of other kingdoms below, "but we must all be vigilant in the days to come. The Red Lectroids are still out there, as long as they're allowed to run rampant through our world, no one is truly safe. We must all stand together against this darkness that seeks to destroy all that we hold dear!"

At that the various peoples cheered and applauded.

You gotta admit," said Jake as he, Finn, Riku, Marceline, Flame Princess, Cinnamon Bun, Lumpy Space Princess and Ice King, stood a few paces behind Princess Bubblegum, "she got a way with the crowd."

"You sure you're alright, Finn?" asked Flame Princess, "that ray thingy really burned your bridges or something."

"Never better," said Finn, "ready to go out and kick more Red Lectroid butt."

"Assuming we can find them," said Riku, "I've fought interdimensional villains before. Believe me, we won't find them until they want us to find them, and by then it may be too late to stop them."

"Or we could get lucky and find them first," said Marceline, "just wait till I fix my guitar, then we'll see how easily the axe slices through the alien meat."

"And I'll be there to serve the meat to the customers," said Riku.

"Oh, so does this mean you're sticking around?" asked Marceline as she smiled mischievously.

"Might as well," said Riku, "The Heartless as still as much a threat as the Red Lectroids, your father too."

"Don't remind me," said Marceline irately through gritted teeth, "I don't need my axe to bust his chops!"

"Yeah, your dad's a real jerk, Marceline," said Ice King, "just wait till I see him next! I'll turn him into demon popsicles! And then I'll give them to Gunter and the other Gunters!"

At that Gunter the penguin, whom was nearby lining up bottles to break, gave a disgusted 'wenk!'

"Yeah, you're probably right, Gunter, sweetie!" said Ice King as he picked up Gunter and placed him under his arm, "demons taste pretty awful."

"Eew! Simon!" said Marceline irately, "that's my dad you're talking about! I don't want anyone eating him, besides, you can't kill him!" She sighed and frowned, "I just want him out of my life forever."

"I'm sorry your father is involved, Marceline," said Princess Bubblegum as she walked over, "but whatever your issues with him, he is involved and he will be held accountable for his actions."

"Darn right he'll be punished!" said Lumpy Space Princess, "he lumping sold Ooo to those lizard aliens!"

"He didn't," said Riku, "remember? He only arranged it. No, the real fiend who sold Ooo is still out there."

"But who?" asked Flame Princess, "who would be so darn irresponsible and greedy enough to sell our world to those horrible Red Lectroids?"

"Well," said Princess Bubblegum as she pulled out a cell phone that resembled a Motorola Dynatac and dialed a number, "we can eliminate one unpleasant character right now."

The line connected, "mmm, hello?" asked Lemongrab on the other end of the line.

"Yo, Earl," said Princess Bubblegum.

"Oh, it's you," said Lemongrab, "what is it?"

"Look, did you sell Ooo to the Red Lectroids?" asked Princess Bubblegum.

"No," said Lemongrab.

"Okay, that's all," said Princess Bubblegum, "okay, bye!" with that she hung up, "he didn't do it."

"You sure about that, PB?" asked Jake, "Lemongrab's always been a jerk."

"The old Lemongrab may have done it," said Princess Bubblegum, "but not this Lemongrab. When I made the new one, I made him so he'll always tell the truth, at least with me that is."

"Well, that's one guy down," said Finn.

"And the rest of Ooo to go," said Riku.

Just then Peppermint Butler ran up to Princess Bubblegum, "My Lady!" exclaimed Peppermint Butler, "My Lady! Heartless! Heartless in Wizard City!"

"Lectroids!" said Princess Bubblegum, "they're going after all that magic!"

"Like heck we'll let them have it all," said Finn as he unsheathed his sword, while the others readied themselves for battle.

"Darn right!" said Jake, "what time is it!"

"ADVENTURE TIME!" shouted Finn, Princess Bubblegum and the others, while Riku smiled in a slightly embarrassed yet proud manner.

…Earth: Dimension C-359…

"Well," said Sidney as she observed the repairs she made to The Intrepid Heart, "I'd say I've done pretty darn good, considering the limited tools and raw materials at my disposal."

She then materialized on the bridge, "yeah, not too bad, considering I had to sacrifice what was left of the Life Support systems to restore navigation, propulsion and the dimensional drive, not to mention my brain." She closed her eyes, focusing on the computer core that was truly Sidney's brain.

The dimensional drive systems of The Intrepid Heart warmed up, "there, I've programmed the coordinates for Radiant Garden. Either I'll end up home and in the loving care of Cid and Tron, or it won't work. And if it doesn't work, I'll either still be stuck in orbit in a primitive time period, explode, or get lost in-between realities."

She sighed, then smiled, "well, fortune favors the bold! Activate Dimensional Drive!"

With a flash, The Intrepid Heart vanished from reality.

…The Exiled World of the Raztonians…

"Advanced and be recognized, Obler'intor," said one of the sitting members of The Council of Nine. The nine ruling Raztonians sat in a marble room lit by flickering torches.

"I await your command, My Council," said Obler'intor as he stood in the middle of the council chamber.

"As you and the rest of our race is aware," said another member of The Council, "master mage Halenio'ketalc and a large number of our warriors have been slain."

"A tragedy, my Council," said Obler'intor, "Halenio'Ketalc was among the best magic users of our race."

"And yet she was slain by mere humans!" snapped another Council member, "filthy, infidel humans!"

"And with her several of our best scientists," said another Council member, "while all their data on Titans was lost!"

"Which brings us to the point of summoning you, Obler'intor," said the seventh member of the Council, Yarblo'zotarn, "how to avenge this travesty? Surely Vykkao'shatl'uq will not allow our failures to go unpunished. We must satisfy our God."

"But how?" asked another Council member, "this is the second time The Keyblade Wielders have interfered in our affairs. They must be destroyed!"

"As well as Columbina," said another Council Member, "her meddling must be taken into account."

"If I may suggest, My Council," said Obler'intor, "perhaps we've been going about things the wrong way. The operation in Equestria involved a large amount of warriors and advanced operatives, as did the recent fiasco in Enchancia. Perhaps what's needed is a more subtle approach."

"Define subtle," said Yarblo'zotarn.

"A small team of commandos," said Obler'intor, "ten or twelve warriors and magic users specially trained in stealth and assassination."

"A hit team to take out the Keyblade Wielders?" asked one of the Council members.

"And Columbina," said Obler'intor, "and anyone else who might stand in our way, on both side of the struggle gripping The Realms of Light. Then, once all those loose cannons are out of the way, then we invade."

"An intriguing suggestion, Obler'intor," said one of the council members, "one that must be carefully considered."

"But very probable," said Yarblo'zotarn, "I'd be wise for you to begin assembling your team of assassinations."

"It will be my pleasure, my Council," said Obler'intor. "All glory to Vykkao'shatl'uq!" With that he bowed and walked out of the room.

"Do you think he really has what it takes?" asked one of the council members.

"To take our all those heroes and villains who might hinder our goals?" asked Yarblo'zotarn, "he might have a chance. And if he doesn't, one less unworthy of Vykkao'shatl'uq's glory to deal with. Regardless, the time to invade and destroy The Realms of Light draws near. And from The Realms of Light, all of existence shall be ours to devour at our leisure! All glory to Vykkao'shatl'uq!"

"All glory to Vykkao'shatl'uq!" shouted the other members of The Council of Nine.

…The Mobius Continuum…

"Two bottles of beer on the wall, two bottles of beer, you take one down, pass it around, one bottle of beer on the wall! One bottle of beer on the wall one bottle of beer, you take it down, pass it around, no more bottles of beer on the wall!"

Sora drifted aimlessly through the primal darkness, doing whatever he could do to maintain his sanity. Yet he had already remembered all his memories, played every mental game he could think of and ran through every song he knew. To say the isolation and lonliness were taking their toll on Sora's mind and heart was a gross understatement.

"Well, here I am," sighed Sora, "still stuck in nowhere. Here I am, where I've always been and always will be."

'It doesn't have to be that way.'

"Huh!?" asked Sora as he looked around, "who said that? There's no one here!"

'But I am here,' said the voice, 'trapped in this endless darkness, just like you.'

"Who…what are you?" asked Sora, "you're not a demon or a Wamphyri or something, are you?"

'I am neither of those things,' said the voice, 'I am…power.'

"Power?" asked Sora, "what kind of power?"

'The power to leave this place,' said the voice, 'yet on my own, I am powerless.'

"Power that's powerless?" asked Sora, "that doesn't make any sense."

'Then permit me to illuminate your confusion.'

A spark of light shone in the darkness far away. Taken aback by the light after being stuck in the dark for so long, Sora was briefly blinded, yet his eyes quickly adjusted. After so long without light, Sora found the spark utterly beautiful.

With sheer willpower, Sora propelled himself towards the light.

'Yes, come to me, mortal,' said the voice, 'come so we can be together, come so we can be one.'

"Whatever!" said Sora as he willed himself to move faster. The light grew brighter as he approached it, taking on a sinister yellowish green hue. Yet Sora didn't care, he was so desperate to be in the light after so much darkness.

'Come to me,' said the voice, 'come so that I may be free once again!'

By now, Sora could see that the light was a sphere of yellowish green fire, a sphere that was, upon closer viewing, wasn't a sphere, but more of a burning horned skull.

"Uh," said Sora nervously, "on second thought, I don't really want to leave the darkness."

'It's too late, boy,' said the voice.

"No, really, I kinda like it here," said Sora as he tried to turn around, "I think I'll stay."

But the burning skull shot towards Sora, hitting him in the torso. Sora screamed in agony as the burning skull merged with his body, corrupting his heart and twisting his soul.

Sora's body took on a yellowish green aura, while his eyes burned with yellowish green fire.

"This will do," said The Litch through Sora. Summoning a machete-like Keyblade that glowed with yellowish green fire, The Litch tore open a portal to the physical realm, leaving the darkness, to spread darkness.

The End of Volume 11

And that's it, fellow readers and writers! Volume 11 is done! If you think this volume was the best, wait until the next, for all lose ends will be tied up! So get ready for the read of your lives, for things will truly get wild!

Coming soon…the final chapter in Path of the Keyblade Master!

Volume 12: The Grand Culmination

See you then!