To his surprise, Sora ends up back in Traverse Town, where he meets Joshua again. He explains to Sora that Neku and his friends have to win the "Reapers' Game" in order to return home, and that they're fighting a powerful Dream Eater that can summon more Dream Eaters. Sora goes to see Neku and his partner Shiki, whom he has never met before. The Dream Eater, known as the Spellican, summons smaller Dream Eaters. They almost hit an overwhelmed Neku, but Sora appears and protects them. Neku at first says that he doesn't need any help, but Sora convinces him to escape. After defeating the smaller Dream Eaters, the Spellican escapes. Joshua tells them that the Spellican keeps jumping from one side of the world to the other, i.e. to Riku's side. He says that they need to trap it to prevent it from escaping, so the go to help at the Third District.
Riku manages to drive the Spellican back to Sora's side. Neku and Joshua go to deal with the small Dream Eaters while Sora fights Spellican itself; however, it summons several of the large Dream Eaters Sora has fought up to this point. He once again fights the Hockomonkey and Wargoyle along with the Char Clawbster, a fiery version of the Chill Clawbster that Riku had contended with earlier, but the Spellican manages to escape after the battle. Joshua explains that it left Traverse Town, and Sora offers to go track it down for them. The Sleeping Keyhole appears, and Sora unlocks it. Neku and Shiki ask Sora to come visit them in Shibuya after his journey is over, which he agrees to do.
Meanwhile, back in Disney Castle, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy confront Pete and Maleficent, who have kidnapped Minnie. Maleficent threatens to kill the Queen if Mickey doesn't give in to her demands, so he relents. Maleficent says that she wants to take Disney Castle for herself so she can return it to the way it was when she corrupted the Cornerstone of Light. Mickey knows that Maleficent must want the castle for an ulterior motive, so he asks her what her true goal is. She reveals to them that Xehanort was the one who told her about the existence of other worlds as well as the seven Princesses of Hearts. Since her original plan to use the princesses to conquer the worlds failed, now she wants to use the data that they got from Jiminy's journal. Maleficent prepares to attack Mickey and friends, but she is suddenly stopped by flaming chakrams. The chakrams cause Pete to stumble, giving Minnie a chance to attack him with light and escape. With their hostage freed, Maleficent and Pete decide to flee. Lea emerges from a corridor of darkness, much to Mickey's surprise. When he calls him Axel, Lea corrects him by telling them his true name. As they listen as he explains why he saved them, Sora and Riku continue their journey...
Tropes:
- Boss Rush: The Spellican doesn't fight Sora directly; rather, it summons the Brute Hockomonkey, the wingless Wargoyle, and the Char Clawbster to fight Sora instead in that order.
