I'm back! Life has been really hectic, adjusting to post college life has prevented me from updating an of my stories. Please review and encourage me to keep going, if you want to know what adventures await the group! Anyway, enjoy the next installment of When Worlds Collide!

It had been days since Harry, Sora, Donald and Goofy encountered the tailed beast in the Eerie Village. The group was on high alert since the markings on the beast's shoulders verified that Sora, Donald and Goofy were once again facing Organization XIII. Following a path that led away from the village; things along the path had been quiet but would not stay that way for long…

"The sun will be setting soon, we should be on the lookout for a place to make camp for the night," declared Sora.

Harry's eyes scanned the path before he answered. "Over there, about forty paces from the path, there looks to be a good sized clearing in the trees."

"A-hyuck, Harry's right," Goofy agreed "This area reminds me of the mountain path in the Land of Dragons."

"Land of Dragons?" Harry questioned with a turn of his head.

Donald's eyes were filled with apprehension as he reassessed the proposed campsite. "In the Land of Dragons we helped our friend Mulan save her country…"

"But the enemy was pretty tricky and we ended up walking into several traps," finished Sora with a grim expression.

"Shucks," Goofy said as he recalled being ambushed and separated from his friends. "That Shan Yu was a tough one."

"It seems that the Organization has been recruiting," Sora asserted while surveying the path. "We'll have to be on guard."

An amicable silence fell over the group as they followed the trail that went unbroken, until a series of explosions reverberated through the air and caused thoughts of another peaceful night on the road to be forgotten.

"Sounds like we need to pick up the pace," Sora stated while breaking into a run.

The rest of the group followed suit and, after a few minutes, a plume of smoke came into view in the distance.

"Faster," urged Donald.

These three are intense, thought Harry as he increased the speed of his run so as not to be left behind. If that creature from the previous village was anything to judge by, the Organization is very dangerous. Yet, these three are running toward the attack as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Harry, if we run into another member of the organization then you need to stay behind us. It will be easier for us to protect you if we know that you won't be caught in the cross-fire if we need to fight," Donald reasoned as the group entered the burning village. It was impossible to determine how many of the buildings had been targeted initially and how many had been engulfed as the flames had spread but one thing was clear, the attackers did not care to differentiate between friend and foe.

Smoke filled Harry's lungs causing him to sputter. As he took in the scene, a series of images flashed before Harry's eyes. Jets of light flying through the air, flames and destruction where those jets of light came into contact with the town, a red haired man cradling an equally red haired child, a woman with curly, jet black hair that framed her face like a mane cackling in glee as she wrought destruction like a beautiful demon. Harry gasped and clutched at the lightning shaped scar on his forehead as he slowed to a stop.

"Harry, are you ok," Goofy asked with concern while stopping and turning to face the young man, his canine ears having heard Harry's sharp intake of breath.

"Yeah, just needed to catch my breath," Harry replied while electing to keep the images to himself. "The group that did this…"

"Yeah, they are very dangerous," Goofy agreed with Harry's unstated observation. "But stick with us and we'll make sure that you come out alright"

Harry nodded reassured by Goofy's optimism.

The group turned the corner and found the source of the destruction. A group of seven people in black cloaks with skull-like masks keeping their faces from view had casually milled about a square littered with corpses.

"What did these people do to you," Donald shouted furiously drawing the attention of the group.

"They resisted the dominion of our lord. For that, they have been tried and found guilty," one of the cloaked individuals drawled while walking toward the new arrivals. "You would do well to learn from their mistake."

The cloaked figures drew together behind the speaker who was apparently their leader. As he approached the four, he drew a wand and pointed it toward the sky causing a ghostly green skull with a snake undulating from the mouth in an ominous approximation of a tongue.

"The master does not tolerate anything less than complete obedience from his subjects, these fools deluded themselves into thinking that their disloyalty would go unnoticed and have now paid the price. If you want to avoid the same fate, then it would be best if you left and spread the word of our master's benevolence," the masked man continued in a condescending tone.

"We won't let you get away with this," Sora declared from his position at the front of the group while extending his arm and causing his Keyblade to appear in a flash.

Donald and Goofy took the queue and readied their staff and shield respectively.

"You will not live to regret your mistake," the leader promised as he advanced with the tip of his wand glowing.

"Leave him to me," Sora commanded while taking a step forward.

"Right," Donald and Goofy answered while each taking a step closer to one another to fill the gap Sora had left in the protective formation that kept Harry from being directly in harm's way.

The masked man cast a series of probing spells at Sora that were casually batted away. Sora tried to close the gap but his opponent was able to cast at a rapid pace that kept Sora from using his melee weapon to its fullest potential. Growing frustrated by the constant defensive effort, Sora raised the Keyblade to the sky and shouted "Aero" causing a barrier of wind to rotate around his body at high speed. The barrier was sufficient to divert the course of his opponent's spells and allowing Sora to get close enough to his opponent to land a heavy four hit combo that resulted in his opponent being launched back into a building causing cracks to appear in the wall before his opponent slouched to the ground.

The other members of the group had turned their heads to view their fallen comrade before one decided to take charge. "Even with that fool down, we still have the superior number. We cannot fail our Lord!"

The remaining six cloaked figures began launching spells at Sora, Donald and Goofy only to be met with the resistance of the barrier, magical staff and shield. Donald either sent elemental spells to intercept the spells of his opponent or batted the offending spells away with practiced ease. Goofy's shield was durable enough to bear the brunt of his adversaries' attacks and he was able to stand his ground while keeping Harry safe.

As the battle began to turn against the cloaked group, there was a sharp ripping sound and a large black portal formed in the middle of the clearing. As the seconds passed, the portal expanded until it was roughly the size of a doorway. The darkness in the portal seemed to swirl intensely before another hooded figure emerged with the symbol of Organization XIII prominently displayed upon his chest.

"Well, well, well what do we have here," the new arrival asked, clearly not expecting an answer. "It seems that you Death Eaters have done a pretty good job of living up to your name but you seem to be having some trouble finishing the job. Where is Lucius, I need to have a word with him regarding our captive."

Collectively, the Death Eaters turned to the crumpled form of their leader answering the stranger's question. "Ah, so Lucius' boasts have proven to be empty words. I can't say that I'm surprise. I suppose I must pick up where he left off in order to ensure the mission's success," The man continued as he pulled his hood back to reveal a face with twin scars that marred each cheek and tapered to points just short of his nose. The man's left eye was covered by a patch and he had a long ponytail that was a mix of charcoal grey and black hair. "My name is Xigbar and you will find me to be a significantly more difficult opponent than that more specimen of a wizard."

As Xigbar spoke he materialized a pair of blasters in each hand and began targeting the group that had been opposing the Death Eaters. Xigbar's precision blasts came at absurd speed and he was able to turn the tide of battle and force Harry, Sora, Donald and Goofy to abort their attacks for fear of falling prey to the blasts of energy that the blasters launched.

Having been emboldened by Xigbar's assault, the Death Eaters attacked with renewed vigor. Sora's Keyblade and Donald's staff seemed to have minds of their own as they expertly deflected the projectiles aimed at them. Goofy's shield bore the assault with an ease that belied years of training and many battles worth of experience. However, Harry found himself in a much more precarious situation as he lacked a weapon and didn't have the battle-honed reflexes of his comrades. So he was forced to weave through the barrage of spells and energy bolts without having any option to fall back upon.

Unfortunately, Xigbar decided to take advantage of Harry's relative defenselessness and the boy found himself targeted much more frequently than his companions. After several increasingly dodges, the first of the energy beams nicked Harry's left arm causing him to cry out in pain before stumbling and receiving another glancing blow to his right leg.

The boy fell forward and, to the surprise of all that had been watching, was then blocked from view temporarily as a bright light shone in front of him. When the light subsided, Harry was seen to be leaning on a staff-like object that was about six feet long with a series of lightning bolt shaped prongs approximately seven inches in length perpendicular to the top point causing the object to vaguely resemble a large key. In surprise, Harry lifted the object and heard a jingling sound caused by a lightning bolt pendant attached to the end that had previously rested upon the ground.

While Harry stared at the newly generated object with a dazed expression, Xigbar launched a series of blasts at his unsuspecting adversary only to be surprised when the lightning scythe began to spin and deflected the blasts away.

It's like the object has a mind of its own, Harry thought as he completed the last spin and once again rested the base of the object on the ground. As the object hit the ground, words came to Harry's mind the power of the mystic, inner strength; a staff of wonder and ruin.

"Well, well, well this is an interesting development. I'll show your group mercy today, I expect we'll be seeing each other again very soon. You'll have to do better than deflecting my weakest attack before you can truly pose a threat to Organization XIII." Xigbar stated before snapping his fingers causing portals of darkness to swallow the Death Eaters and stepping back into the portal that had opened behind him.

Sora, Donald and Goofy converged upon Harry and forced him to the ground in a dog pile as they proceeded to congratulate him on summoning a keyblade.

"Now we have to teach you how to use that thing," Sora exclaimed with a grin.

"Luckily, you have three very capable sparring partners to get you up to snuff," added Goofy.

"That staff isn't so special," Donald huffed with feigned resentment.

The group laughed at Donald's posturing before they were brought back to the reality of what had just happened in the village as a beam groaned loudly before snapping and causing a building to collapse.

"We'll have our work cut out for us, if we want to save this world," Sora asserted grimly.

The others nodded before Sora, Donald, and Goofy began the grim work of moving the bodies of the fallen villagers into a pile in the center of the clearing. The expressions of the trio were solemn as Donald lit the impromptu funeral ablaze with a quick fire spell before grabbing Harry's arm to turn him away from the spectacle before the group set off faced with the dire consequences that would be the result if the Death Eaters were not checked.

"A-hyuck, keep your chin up Harry, some acts of heroism aren't the most glamorous but those souls are now free and will not be used as Heartless to inflict this same fate upon other innocent people," Goofy assured in a surprisingly articulate manner.

"I'll help protect those who can't protect themselves," Harry agreed while slinging his large Keyblade over his shoulder before it disappeared in a less intense flash of light.

"That's part of what it means to be a bear the Keyblade," Sora admitted with gusto. "We are the heroes of light and shine brightest in the darkest of dark."

"Right," Harry nodded.

"Stop," a voice called from an alleyway that had escaped the battle miraculously unscathed. "I saw what you did." A man limped out of the alleyway clutching his arm to a wound that seemed blood from his stomach. "I'm not long for this world but those monsters can't be allowed to get away with this. *cough* There is a resistance movement *cough* that several members of this town were a part of *cough* that will be meeting in a town a few days walk from here. *cough* If you follow the path leaving from the West side of town *cough* you will find a town not too different from this one. *cough* The remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix were planning to meet in six days *cough* to figure out a way to stand *cough* against the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters. *cough* they could use more people like you. *cough* Tell them that Elphias Doge sent you. *cough* That should…" The man sank to his knees in front of the group.

Donald moved forward to check the man's pulse and shook his head with a serious expression. "He's gone."

"A resistance movement," Goofy mused. "It sounds like we know where to go to help save this world from the Organization and the Heartless."

The rest of the group nodded in agreement before Sora took the man to join the other villagers that fell to the Death Eaters. When Sora returned, there were a series of glances exchanged between the group as they silently agreed to follow Elphias' instructions and set out on the indicated path. By the time the moon was high in the sky, the group had put a fair amount of distance between them and the still burning town. The smoky pillar behind them paying homage to the lives that had been lost that day.

"Tomorrow is a new day, Harry, you are going to get extremely familiar with that Keyblade of yours," Sora stated as he crossed his arms behind his head. "We'll try not to bash you up too bad in the process.

Harry grimaced at the idea. I will not stand by and let Sora, Donald or Goofy be hurt because I can't defend myself.