Traverse Town
First Appearance: KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)
Following the restoration of Destiny Islands from the Data Bugs, a new message which has not been written by Jiminy appeared within the Journal: There are more hurts than the one you have just undone. Thoughts on this new development are put to a halt when the computer successfully finds Data Sora, who is unconscious in a digital version of Traverse Town. Data Sora is alerted to his new surroundings by Pluto, who as always, seems to be one step ahead of everyone and bounds away the moment Sora comes to. Believing that Traverse Town is affected by the corruption, King Mickey sends Sora to check out the situation.
While exploring the town, Sora meets the Accessory Shop owner, Cid, who is looking for three kids named Huey, Dewey and Louie, who have not returned from their investigation of the Data Bugs. Sora agrees to look for them while he fixes the Journal, and his search leads him to the Second District, where Huey is being attacked by Heartless. Apparently, the kids became separated while block hunting, and it is Sora's responsibility to find the remaining two and bring them to safety. As the situation in town is too dangerous for Huey to help, he gives Sora a mystery fragment he found in the Data Blocks instead. Shortly after, Dewey is found in the Second District alleyway. Reckless and impulsive, he puts himself at risk when he runs off unguarded to search for the mystery fragment he dropped, realizing that the fragments Sora is collecting fit together. Not understanding the danger he is in, Dewey suggests that he and Sora go looking for the remaining pieces of the fragment puzzle together, but is forcibly taken back to Cid's shop once he attempts to run off on his own again when Sora rejects his offer. Back at the shop, nobody is able to find out what exactly are the fragments are, but it is certain that piecing them together would cause something to happen. Acting on leads given to him by Dewey, Sora heads to the Third District in search of Louie, but instead finds the Hooded Unknown, who promptly vanishes the moment Sora asks whether he is the cause of the corruption. Louie is revealed to be trapped beneath the corruption, and once he is saved, he gives Sora a third fragment, but there is still a piece missing. Being the quiet observer, Louie deduces that the fragments, once completed, will form the shape of a Keyhole.
The third piece is given to him by the Hooded Unknown, who vanishes without a word once again. Once the fragments are pieced together, a Keyhole is formed, and it is only by going through it would Sora be able to restore Traverse Town. Upon unlocking the Keyhole, Sora is teleported into a special battlefield and is stripped of some of his powers. After fighting through swarms of Heartless, Sora reaches the Guard Armor Heartless, whose defeat saves the town from corruption. The appearances of the Hooded Unknown and his reluctance to answer Sora's questions deepens his suspicions that the Unknown is behind the chaos. Nevertheless, with Traverse Town's safety ensured, Sora is free to proceed to other worlds within the Journal.
Back at Disney Castle, the monitor King Mickey is using to oversee the events occurring within the Journal begins to flicker with static, and the same message reappears once again in the notebook: There are more hurts than the one you have just undone. Apparently, every time a section within the Journal is fixed a new message would be given. Suddenly, the monitor shows a scene from the beginning of Sora's journey in the first Kingdom Hearts game: That of him, Donald and Goofy meeting and joining hands for the first time. However, the events play out a little differently than what they remember when the camera pans away to reveal Pluto going through a dark portal in the background, which Goofy takes as a sign that the Journal is trying to tell them something. However, in an unfortunate and shocking twist, Heartless choose that moment to invade the room, which should not have been possible due to Disney Castle being protected from darkness. Worried that something terrible has happened, King Mickey attempts to leave, but the doors have been bolted shut. He, Donald and Goofy are trapped.
