
He leads them to Kairi's living but unfeeling body Riku then reveals himself as completely possessed by Ansem. They soon after meet a strangely-behaving Riku with a new Keyblade that unlocks hearts. Sora, Donald, and Goofy, meanwhile, engage and destroy Maleficent. Shamed, Riku flees and meets a cloaked man who goads him to give into the darkness. His friends return to him, as does the Keyblade, leaving Riku into being bested in combat against his former friend. Sora calls on his courage and enters the Bastion anyway, then challenges Riku again, stating that his heart derives strength from his friends. Donald and Goofy, taking their order to follow the "key" seriously, reluctantly leave with Riku. Riku takes the Keyblade from Sora, claiming that he was fated to have it all along and Sora was simply the "delivery boy". Sora and his friends eventually arrive at Hollow Bastion, the home world of Ansem and the headquarters of Maleficent. Riku manages to find Kairi's body, but her heart is missing. At the same time, Maleficent sows distrust in Riku, telling him that Sora has abandoned him and Kairi for new friends and the Keyblade. This group now includes Riku, who is swayed by Maleficent's promises that she will help find Kairi. A group of villains, led by Maleficent, seek out the seven Princesses of Heart to unlock the Keyhole that leads to Kingdom Hearts: a repository of knowledge and power and the source of all hearts. The three travel to different worlds based on Disney films, finding that the Keyblade also locks "Keyholes": passages that the Heartless would use to try and take the heart of the world.

From there, they decide to travel together: Donald and Goofy to find Mickey, and Sora to find Kairi and Riku. Soon after, Sora meets Donald and Goofy rather hastily, and the three work together to take down a large armored Heartless, the Guard Armor, leader of the Heartless in Traverse Town. Donald and Goofy are approached by Leon's ally, Aerith, who also tells them what they may be looking for. The king of Leon's home world, a man named Ansem, is said to have studied the Heartless. Sora encounters the creatures yet again in the town, and eventually meets Leon, a mysterious swordsman who explains they are Heartless: creatures that consume hearts, and that the Keyblade is the only weapon capable of defeating them. Donald and Goofy use a Gummi Ship to travel to Traverse Town, where it happens Sora has also drifted to after the destruction of Destiny Islands. Meanwhile, King Mickey has left his world to deal with the increasing power of darkness and left instructions for court mage Donald Duck and Captain of the Royal Guard Goofy to find the "key". The islands are soon destroyed, and Sora is left adrift, with both Riku and Kairi's whereabouts unknown. The ensuing blast of darkness sends Sora and Kairi both out of the cave. She turns to him, saying his name as the door behind her blows open. Using it to fend off the creatures, he heads for a secret cave, where he finds Kairi near a door.

Soon after, Sora obtains a mysterious weapon called the Keyblade to defend himself with from the Heartless. Sora seeks out his friends, finding Riku first Riku disappears into darkness, curious about what it contains. One night, the islands are attacked by shadow creatures called Heartless. During this time, Sora meets a mysterious hooded figure who vanishes after giving Sora some cryptic words.

They have even prepared a raft for this purpose. The three friends seek to leave the islands to explore new worlds. Kingdom Hearts begins with Sora's Dive to the Heart, but soon progresses to Destiny Islands, where Sora lives with his two best friends, Riku and Kairi.
