A group of shadowed villains watches Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy after their victory over Guard Armor. One expresses disbelief that Sora managed to accomplish such a feat, but another reassures that the power is not the kid's, but the Keyblade's. A third suggests turning him into a Heartless to get rid of him. A fourth notices that Donald and Goofy are the King's lackeys, but dismisses them as bilge rats. A short fight breaks out, but their leader, Maleficent, stops them. She tells her comrades that the Keyblade has chosen Sora and wonders if he will conquer the darkness or if it would devour him.
In Traverse Town, Sora is eager to depart, but Donald informs him that since they're traveling to other worlds, he'll have to refrain from telling the worlds' citizens where they're from. Sora questions this, and Goofy answers that they have to protect the world border which Donald corrects as world order. Leon informs Sora that the world order is being disrupted because of the Heartless. Sora asks Leon about the nature of the Heartless and he answers that they lack hearts and informs them of a researcher named Ansem the Wise who filed a report on them. Yuffie shares her belief that the report could help solve the mystery of the Heartless, but tells them that the report is scattered across various worlds. Goofy and Donald theorize that the King could have gone looking for the report. Leon warns Sora to be careful as they feed off the darkness in people's hearts which he claims is in every heart.
