"Sora! Sora, wake up!" The chipmunk tugged at the Keybearer's sleeve.

Sora had fallen asleep playing with a bubble pipe, and so when he awoke he almost snorted bubbles into his nose. "I... guh... what is it, Dale? Chip? I can't tell you guys apart."

"Chip," the animal said. Ordinarily he would have been seriously annoyed at this drowsy admission, but he wasn't, and so Sora knew something was wrong. "We've found a new world."

"Okay, sweet. Awesomesauce. Let's get to it. What's it called?"

"Earth."

Sora narrowed his eyes. "You sure this one needs our help? Last time we went to Earth, we all ended up in high school for some reason. It was totally not cool."

Chip shook his head. "No, no, this one definitely needs our help. You see..." He chittered anxiously and pulled at his whiskers.

Sora sat up, now a little unnerved. "What? What's wrong with it?"

"It..." The chipmunk curled his tail and shook his head again. "You just have to see this one for yourself. I'll beam you down."

"Well, alright." Sora hopped out of his seat and grabbed his keyblade off the shelf. "Hey Donald! Goofy! Let's roll."

---

Sora got what Chip meant now.

At first, he was sure nothing could live on this world. The air was thick with smoke that made him gag and a smell he realized must be a combination of blood, decay, and burnt flesh. The ground was muddy and crawling with cockroaches and the occasional overfat rat, and oozed something Sora didn't want to know the nature of. Around him were the sounds of explosions and screams that were so painful he didn't even know if they were human. Sora had been to Hades. This was worse.

But to his sides there were definitely people, young men only a little older than him, shaking in fear and getting exploded in ways too horrible to think about. This couldn't go on. "Goofy, Donald, are you guys here?" Sora asked through the hand he held over his nose and mouth.

"Yearp."

"At yer side," Donald quacked weakly.

"We have to stop this!" Sora tried to sound as brave as possible through his nervous tears. "Come on! Let's go kill whatever's doing this to them!"

Sora peeked over the foxhole he was in to see a landscape of cratered ground and barbed wire. "Goofy, shield us. Donald, get ready with a Firaga." He jumped out, feet squishing in the muck, and started to run, his friends right after him. Bullets whizzed by, but they pinged harmlessly off the swirling energy shield Goofy projected. The enemy was in sight now. Sora drew his keyblade as he sprinted. "TRINITY... LIMIT!"

This was the largest horde of enemies he had ever seen, but they went down remarkably fast. A single shot of light at most of the smaller creatures and they went down like Shadows. The big mechanical ones took a few more tries to break down, and the flying ones required exceptional aim with a Thundaga, but it was all simple enough. Sora was used to huge brawls, and he and his friends fought as always, woofing and quacking encouragements to each other, healing whenever necessary. After a half hour or so, the only things within about a mile were smoking wrecks, and Sora and friends surveyed their triumph. That should do it. Now to check back on the poor people he had saved.

As the trio trudged back through the mud, they began to see helmeted heads poking out from their hole. When they approached, they began to be able to hear whispers around them. "Who... who is he?" "Did he just break the line?" "How on earth did they kill all those Krauts?" "Is he real?" "Are they angels?" "Is that a duck?"

Sora hopped back in the trench and stood, hands on hips. "Hey guys, I beat up those Heartless for you! You're safe now! Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Everyone just gaped in silence. Donald and Goofy were getting stares as usual, but most people just seemed to be in awe. Sora stood and basked in the glory for a while. Then one man stepped up, and the others shrank away from him. The man stared them down with cold china eyes. "Is it true that you broke the German ranks?"

"Uh, yep! That's me!" Sora beamed. "And they helped too," he added quickly, seeing his friends' glares.

The man gave them a cursory glance, and seemed to reject the idea that he should address a dog and a duck. "I am Sergeant Giblette. Your name and rank?"

"I'm Sora. These are Donald and Goofy." He gestured to them. "And... uh... I dunno if we have ranks."

The man's eyes narrowed. "Very well. We will discuss this. You shall meet with... l'esprit."

"What's a lespree?" Sora asked.

The man snorted and began walking. "You shall know him when you see him." Sora and company shrugged at each other and followed.

---

They walked to a tent that was behind the reserve trenches and the artillery line, one that flew a bright little three-colored flag. Sora wanted to take a look around and gape at the guns and vehicles he had never seen the likes of before, not to mention the pretty horsies, but the sergeant kept him marching. The stink of death was still around this far back, and Sora found himself wishing for the sweet scent of the Hundred-Acre Wood. But as they pulled aside the tent flap, the scent of roses filled the candlelit air instead. The man sitting on a futon did have a hint of the Marluxia about him, come to think of it. Firstly, he had the same kind of long-haired pretty-boy looks – Sora might almost call him beautiful, but he really didn't think he swung that way. (Though this fella might make someone second-guess that.) And second, there was that strange air about him, something that made one feel that he wasn't quite human. Not that creepy emptiness that Nobodies had, though, but more of an intensity – like standing around this guy was like standing before an audience of a thousand King Mickeys.

"Ah, Giblette, ma cher!" the pretty man exclaimed, standing up. "I hear your squadron has broken the ranks? A fine achievement, that! You shall be rewarded most handsomely!"

"I cannot lie to you, sir," said the sergeant, scowling as though he wished he could. "The soldier – or soldiers, I suppose – that performed that feat were not mine. None of my men knew where they came from."

"Huh. Very well, then. Your honesty is much appreciated. You're on your way to a promotion, you know that?" The bishie winked and flashed a seductive smile. Giblette bowed and left. "And you," said the strange man, turning to Sora and his comrades, "do you realize that your valiant deeds have earned you a face-to-face chat with France itself?" He gave them a sweeping bow. Sora and his friends bowed back, confused. Seeing their confusion, the pretty man frowned. "You know, France? Only the most beautiful country? Moi?"

"Never heard of it," said Goofy, with as much confusion as Sora felt. Was this guy saying he was a place?

Realizing they did not know him, France's brow furrowed. He stood up with a flourish. "You are not one of my people, are you? Where are you from, boy?"

"Well, I'm from Destiny Islands..." said Sora.

"...And we're from Disney Castle," Donald finished, a little disgruntled at being ignored all the time.

France looked puzzled. "I've never met those places."

"Oh, they're in another world," Sora explained. "We flew here on our gummi ship, you see, because we thought you needed help fighting all these Heartless."

France blinked at him a few times. "It's true!" Goofy interjected.

France shrugged. "Well, I suppose I can't argue with the talking dog. So why were you killing Germans again?"

Sora sighed as he had to explain again. "See, those things that were killing people are called Heartless. I get rid of them and seal the world away to save it, because I'm the Keybearer and that's how I save people." He grinned and showed off his keyblade.

France chuckled. "Heartless? Is that what you call Nazis? I love it!" The man stroked his very small beard as he pondered. "You know, I think I shall show you to my friends, and we'll decide how you can help us best. They'll adore you. Come along now." He began to saunter out of his tent.

"Wait wait wait," said Sora. "Did you say you were a place?"

France looked back over his shoulder. "Yes, yes, it's very strange. Now, run along, we can't keep the Allies waiting. Vite vite." He continued his stride. Sora and pals shrugged at each other, then ran after him.