The Corrupted Journal

First Appearance: KINGDOM HEARTS (2002)

Sora, Mickey and the group overlook a motionless Riku, whose body is infused with Bugs, which is the work of Pete. Sora declares that he is going to rescue Riku because he doesn't want him to stay asleep forever; everyone says that it is too dangerous, but Sora says that it is the only way to save his friend, and so he points his Keyblade at Riku's sleeping form, which reveals a Keyblade through which Sora goes.

Sora appears inside a new world that is in fact Riku's data; the world is dark with green data strings writhing and floating in the background. As soon as he steps through, there are several flashes of light and crowns fall from his body - they are his abilities, and without them, he is powerless. Before Sora can start properly panicking, Riku suddenly appears behind Sora; he is a manifestation of the last of his consciousness which is partitioned off from the data. He tells Sora that they are in a Bug-infested part of Riku, which is why Sora has lost his abilities; it is a dangerous world, and Riku, after telling Sora that he must escape, gives Sora some new data. The new data isn't a part of Jiminy's original journal but was added by someone who also stored data inside Riku to keep it safe. Riku then says that there should be no Bugs left anywhere apart from this last world, and if Sora can link up the new data, he should be able to restore the journal and solve the mystery behind it; it will also enable Mickey and the others to get home. Sora says that he will have enough time to fight off the Bugs; Riku is amazed at Sora's loyalty to his friends, and tells him that he must first get back his abilities. A door to Destiny Islands appears; it is made from Riku's memories of that world. There are other worlds of the same make-up, and if Sora goes through each one, he will get back his powers.

Destiny Islands is black and red and Buggy, and Sora starts off very weak. By fighting through this world, he regains some of his abilities and grows stronger, and eventually he is able to fight the source of the corruption and Bugs in this world. After clearing the source, the Islands return to normal, and Riku appears; it's revealed that it was Riku who showed Sora the Keyhole in the Secret Spot at the beginning of the quest - Riku wanted to give Sora hands-on experience; he reveals that just like the walls around worlds began to collapse when the Heartless invaded, the walls between the real and data worlds were beginning to collapse too, so he had to bring in Mickey and co. from the outside to help with the problem. With no time to spare, Sora rushes off to the remaining worlds: Traverse Town, Wonderland and Agrabah, destroying the source of the corruption and getting power back each time. After Agrabah is restored, a fifth and final door appears - at the end of it lays the source of all of Riku's corruption. Before he goes through it, Sora thanks Riku for his help. Riku says he didn't do anything, but Sora says that if Riku hadn't been by his side when he got his Keyblade in his Destati, he would never have been able to do any of this; Riku is confused and says that the first time they met was at Destiny Islands, adding a new mystery to the quest: who was the man at the Destati?

With no time to spare, Sora steps through the door which takes him to the Dark Depths in Hollow Bastion. There he sees the Bug-infected Riku from the previous episode. After a long battle, Sora defeats him and recovers all his power. After Sora leaves that particular world, the screen shows a message that reads "Collecting Data... 90% Complete." Sora appears back in Riku's data world, where the subconscious Riku awaits; before Sora can leave, the area starts to shake - something is wrong. It seems that something is interfering with Riku's connection to the data world, and he tells Sora to leave through a gate which has just appeared. Sora goes through, but appears on a platform in a space full of distorted objects, and he must fight his way out of Riku's data.

Eventually, Sora escapes, but Maleficent is awaiting him; it was her that caused Riku's corruption because she wanted to engulf the worlds in darkness. Her plan was to have Sora and Riku sleep forever and since the plan failed she makes another attempt to defeat Sora by turning into her dragon form. However, she is defeated and Sora returns to Mickey and the group. With the journey seemingly complete, a pathway to the real world opens, and Mickey and co. go back through. Sora and Riku are still in the data world, where they belong. Riku says that the data collected over the duration of the journey will now be deleted, and that the journal will return to normal. This means that Sora and Riku will be deleted, too, since they are made of data. Everybody is sad but the time comes for the connection between the data and real worlds to be cut. Before it does, a message on the screen says "Collecting Data... 100% Complete. Corruption fallen to darkness... the time for Awakening approaches." Everything starts to shake suddenly and everyone is frantic and confused since the Bugs should have all been destroyed. Riku is going to lock down the data but Jiminy remembers that Maleficent and Pete are still in the data world, and if they don't come out, they will also be deleted from the real world; though they are evil, they must be retrieved because they belong in the real world.

Sora runs off past through the Great Crest at Hollow Bastion, which, like the other worlds, is gradually being deleted; words are floating in the air that say "Defeated in battle, wandering flesh... Offer that flesh to darkness and the mind shall be reborn." Though they seem familiar, Sora doesn't hasten in his step and finds Maleficent and Pete fighting a massive Heartless, but they are defeated before Sora can intervene. Riku makes contact from the outside and tells Sora what he's realised: the Heartless is Sora's own Heartless and is the cause of the Bugs in the journal; every time Sora has defeated a Heartless, the hearts have been consumed by this Heartless since the hearts weren't real since they can't be turned into data. The Heartless is powerful and it must be stopped or else it could get into the outside world. Due to the Heartless' colossal strength, Sora is almost defeated since he loses some of his abilities, but Mickey steps in near the end of its defeat and helps Sora finish it off; they are return to Hollow Bastion, where Riku, Maleficent and Pete are waiting. Riku managed to get the two villains out through a rift in the data, and he leads them out. Now it is really time for the journal to be deleted, and Mickey says that they'll all be friends forever. Mickey goes back to the outside world along with the rest of his group, and the data from the journal is deleted.

Back in the real world, Mickey and co. are watching the computer screen when four new windows appear on the monitor; two are made from data and two show Riku against a white background, who says that a new world has been opened inside the journal, made from new data that an unknown person added. A new window pops up, showing the page of the journal that says, "Their hurting will be mended when you return to end it" and Mickey suggests going into the new world with Sora, to solve the mystery behind the words, but remembers that Sora's memory has already been deleted. Now, Mickey is the only one qualified to go back into the journal and see the final world and has no choice but to ask Riku if it is possible to be taken back inside the data world.