Cirque du Mort

by Kuromori Barba

Fiftyfive years have passed since the fall of Organization XIII. Life for everyone seems to be going great, until a mysterious albino named Helios sets out to take over the world. Now, three new keybearers must set out to defeat the great threat.

-1-

WILLOW CASTLE

Helios stared out of a window in the lofty castle known as Willow Castle. The decrepid fortress sat on the edge of a great abyss that stretched into eternity. Helios gazed at the sky, the night stars, the white sliver of a waning moon. Although his name was derived from the Greek Sun God, the mysterious man loved the night.

"Sir, your...er...guests have arrived." Helios turned to see the small of his manservant, Treble. He was a short man in his early fifties with thinning salt and pepper hair. He wore a grey suit and a white bowt ie. Helios nodded at the butler who promptly left. Gathering a few items, he followed Treble down the staircase and into the Grand Hall of Willow Castle. Helios could see five people standing around the hall, gazing around at the conditions. Helios could pick them out by their appearances.

There was the short, stocky man with blonde hair named Iod, a master of technology who wore some blue overalls, a green shirt, and goggles perched on his brow. Next to him was a tall dark-headed man in a teal cloak; This was Qell-Hadr, prince of the world of Yornzo and a talented summoner. Then their was the woman Tryllya, whose mastery of the fire element could be seen in her bright red and orange jumpsuit and her crimson hair. Sitting on a bench in the corner was Jors, the black-furred Canus warrior who was a good eight feet in height. And lastly was the boy with silver hair and golden clothes: Sidrix. Once the dark warlord Idris, he was a now a nobody in child form.

Helios finished descending the steps and greeted his guests, ushering them into a study off to the side. When everyone had settled in, Helios began the meeting. The five watched as the man with snow white hair and pink eyes began to speak.

"Welcome, my friends. I trust your journey was safe."

Tryllya rolled her eyes. Qell-Hadr nodded. The rest remained motionless.

"I have summoned you here today to reveal my latest plot for total domination of the worlds. As you know, many in the past have tried to achieve this goal, but I have a fool proof plan that will succeed where countless others have failed."

"Well," Iod grumbled," what's the plan, eh?"

Helios took a deep breath as if savoring the moment, then continued. The five members of the congregation stared at him in anticipation.

"Here's my plan. It all starts with... games."

"Games?! That's it?" Sidrix yelled.

"I can sense that these are not playtime games," Jors stated flatly

Helios smiled." Indeed. If you will allow me to, I will elaborate. These games I'm talking about are gladiatorial games. Fights and bloodshed will be everywhere. Many acts going on at once. Like a circus."

"A circus of death." Tryllya muttered.

"Precisely, my fiery mistress. That is why I have aptly named it Cirque du Mort. It is a foreign language of no real consequence here, but it gives the games an exotic flare."

"So where do we come in in your little plan?" Iod asked.

"You will all be competitors in it. As will I."

"How does this help you take the universe?" Sidrix asked.

"These games will draw the attention of a band of young heroes. These heroes are the ones who have always foiled domination plots before."

" And what makes them beatable now?" Tryllya said caustically.

"They haven't met a mind like mine before."

"What is this 'band of young heroes.' Does it have a name?"

"Yes. They are the keybearers."

-2-

CELESTIAL CONVENT

The Celestial Convent had been the training grounds of all keybearers since the great epidemic of heartless many years ago. The grounds inside its high granite walls held countless tournaments to see who would be the next Lead-bearers.

It had been fifty-five years since the outbreak of Heartless caused by Xehanort's heartless and nobody. Elder Sora stared out at the training grounds from the high tower. It had been too peaceful too long. He sighed, wishing what he thought wouldn't be true. But he knew it had to be. He knew that a great evil would once again threaten all existence.

He looked up at the clock. 12:15 p.m: time for lunch. Sora slowly hobbled down the stairs. How he wished he had the energy of his youth. Many steps later, he set foot at the bottom, took a right, then strolled into the large dining hall. Rows and rows were filled with eager teens, tired from a morning of practice, they all talked with their friends and laughed. As the elder walked by, they all bowed their heads in resepect. Upon reaching a door that led into dining room for the elders, he paused and looked back at the tables that held the kids and found the promising recruits.

Their was the girl Harmony, with long black hair and green eyes, who despite her shy disposition was an ample wielder of her keyblade, Sands of Time. Seated a couple tables back was the most interesting one, the boy Nire. His heart and organs were human, but his flesh was that of a robot. He always wore a tinted facemask that covered his mangled face. His key was called Celestial Thorn. And lastly, there was Dirst. This boy was a trouble maker who always messed around with the elders, but when put up to fighting, he was the best there was. He had blue hair and hazel eyes, and he wielded the keyblade known as Light Side.

Sora quickly turned around entered the Elder's dining room. Seated at the table was a man known to most as Fury, but Sora knew his true idenity. Sora looked at the man with short white hair and blue eyes. He looked as if he hadn't aged a bit.

"Riku, what do you have to report?" Sora asked.

Fury smiled. "Only that you seem to be losing more hair."

Sora scowled. "Just because you haven't seemed to age doesn't mean you can tease me about it. What has happened at the Prison?"

Sora was referring to the Prison of the Void, a vast black space where the evilest people in the world were kept if they were caught.

"If you really want to know...," Fury sighed, "Helios escaped, along with five others."

"WHAT?!" Sora yelled. "That man? How? I mean-."

"Yes, I'm just as clueless about what happened as you. All I know is that the others were Iod, Qell-Hadr, Tryllya, Jors, and Sidrix."

"Interesting entourage," Sora mused. "Have you been able to track him?"

"Believe me, if I had, I'd be beating him up right now."

"Yes. Anyway, keep an eye on him. I'll have to move ahead the Selection to accommodate this."

"But it could be nothing," Fury said.

"My gut feeling is that he is planning something big. And if he is, we'll need new keybearers."

"Why not let me go?"

"Because we're not the ones anymore. Its time to pass on the torch."

Fury sighed and nodded, then left the room. Sora sank into a chair at the table. Suddenly, his worst fears had come true."

-3-

Dirst

Dirst stared around the tables of the cafeteria in the Celestial Convent. He lazily prodded his food and thought about all of the life that he had seen in his short 14 years of life. The whole ordeal started with smoke. And where there's smoke, there's...

Fire spread throughout the castle. Wails and shrieks filled the air. The young Dirst, only a three year old, cried as he watched his whole world go up in flames. Quite literally, for a vicious plague of Heartless had swept through the world of the Radiant Garden, pillaging the town, destroying the castle, and creating vast armies of Heartless with the old computer that once belonged to Ansem the Wise. In the vanguard of this assault was a tall albino wielding a rapier whose hilt was solid gold and jewel encrusted; the blade was made of crystal.

Dirst's mother silently watched the devastation, so sad yet unable to cry tears. Dirst's father had gone out to fight the Plague, but he was cut down by the albino in the lead before any damage could be done. The Heartless were nearing Dirst's home when a masked figure in a red cloak stood before them. The Heartless abruptly stopped and the albino stepped forward, brandishing his rapier and readying for battle. The cloaked figure summoned some weapon that looked somewhat like a key. The albino charged, and the cloaked one merely stepped aside and slashed out. Blood spurted from the wound on the albino's arm. Furious with his mistake, he ordered his army of Heartless to attack. With mindless obedience, they followed orders. They circled around the cloaked figure like buzzards waiting for a meal.

A flash of light appeared, and suddenly the Heartless were just gone. The albino, shocked beyond belief, stared at the figure. The one in red simply lifted his hand and uttered a phrase. Then he threw forth a small thing shaped like a keyhole. Harnessing the keyblade's power, the one in red shot a beam of light at the keyhole. In response, a large black swirling vortex opened up. The albino was sucked in without even realizing it. Then the cloaked figure turned towards the small figure of Dirst, who was now on the street with his mother cheering the man who had ended the great pestilence. Dirst caught a glimpse of one thing.

A glint of light off of a bright blue eye.

"Dirst? Hello?"

Dirst looked around and saw a bunch of kids staring at him. The speaker was a girl named Ilirian. "Are you okay?"

Dirst simply nodded, then got up and cleaned up his tray. After the necessary chores were finished, he walked off towards the dorm rooms where the bearers slept.

"Why do I keep having the same memory so often?" he pondered. He slowly strolled up the stairs towards his room. Perhaps a nice nap would do him some good.

He was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by the sight of a red cloak. Dirst looked closer and saw a man with short white hair and blue eyes.

The same blue as the eyes from that day in the Radiant Garden.

Using some techniques he had seen from spy movies, Dirst slowly crept closer. If this was the guy who had killed a whole horde of Heartless in one attack, he was going to find out who he was. He kept sliding closer until the man said one remark.

"What the heck are you doing kid?" he stated without even turning his head. Dirst sighed; perhaps espionage wasn't going to be his forte like he hoped. The man turned to face him.

"Well?"

"I was going to find out who you were."

"If you wanted to know, you should have just asked me."

Dirst sighed. "I wanted to know if you were the one who saved the Radiant Garden from the Heartless eleven years ago."

The man grinned and a flicker of light came into his eyes. "And are you the small child who watched the whole thing while everyone else cowered in fear?"

Dirst slowly nodded, unsure of the situation. The man smiled. "Well, if you must know, my name is Fury. So who are you?"

"I'm Dirst. Could you... er... tell me how you did the whole magic light thingy?"

Fury gave a small chuckle. "Sure, I'll tell you how... among other things."

The two walked off in the direction of a lounge room. Dirst smiled inwardly. Finally he was going to learn something about this whole keyblade deal.

-4-

The Prison of the Void

"Those idiots! They'll pay for my suffering!"

A teen sat against a cell wall, cursing his stupid mistakes and those who had taken advantage of his life.

The teen was Trisn, a fourteen-year-old with purple spiky hair and blue eyes. He stood pretty tall for his age and wore a keychain around his neck and the attire of a Prisoner of the Void: a grey jumpsuit with three stripes across the chest diagonally.

\\\
"That albino and his little crew are going to pay for what they've done to me. First, I just have to get out of here."

He looked around, half searching for an exit, half reminiscing.

Snow fell on the shores of the Tenth Dimension. Trisn was comfortable in his small hut on the beach. He lived alone then, until they came.

The day came when six beings came to his home: five humans and a canus. Trisn was unused to company; the only people he ever saw were in the faraway market cities that he visited every once in a while. The teen took them in and gave them what little food he could give them. For his hospitality, they promised him a reward. Excited at the idea of riches and power, Trisn agreed. Then it all went down hill from there.

The six came for a few days before going away. Trisn was unpaid at this time, and as they left his greed overtook him and he demanded the payment. Helios smiled at his request.

"Very well, your reward is here." With that, he threw a black keyhole at Trisn. It fused to his chest, and then Sidrix calmly summoned a keyblade and shot a beam of light into the hole. A gaping portal opened, and Trisn was sucked into the Prison of the Void.

"No easy way out. Guess I'll have to use... it."

Without hesitation, Trisn summoned his own keyblade, one known as Darkside. Its keychain had been the one thing that hadn't been taken from him when he came to rest in this forsaken prison. Focusing intently on a lock on the outside of the door, he summoned the keyblade's power and shot a beam towards the lock. There was a blinding light and Trisn shielded his eyes. But he didn't need to see that it worked, for a click sounded. Trisn uncovered his eyes and dashed to the unlocked cell door. He looked both ways and saw three guards running at him from the right.

"Left it is."

He sped off in that direction as the guards tailed him. He took a few twists and turns and found his way to the exit of the entire Prison, with the help of a few signs of course. He was surprised for a moment at how easy it was to get out, but then he dashed out into the black world that surrounded the Prison. Far in the distance, Trisn saw a white light. When he looked back, he noticed the guards had stopped at the entrance. They weren't making any motion to follow.

Now that was odd. He faced back ahead and realized why they weren't following him.

Before him stood three beings. One was a creature known as a Voidrunner: a beast with a curled, barbed tail, two tentacles in the front of its body, and a skull-shaped and -colored head. Next to the Voidrunner was a man in all black with the head of a Voidrunner. He was shorter than Trisn, but he had immense bulk and strength. And the last person was a knight in armor, his breastplate in the shape of a Voidrunner. He had black hair, tunic, and chain mail, and the rest of his armor was the color of the Voidrunner skull breastplate.

"What are you? Last time I checked, none of the good fighters were themed."

The short man walked forward. "Well then, I guess we're the first ones," he said, his voice full of arrogance.

Then the knight stepped forward. "Forgive my friend's attitude. We don't meet many escapees that are like him."

"And how am I like him?" Trisn retorted.

"Hot-headed, arrogant, calm-minded in all instances. Anyway, I am Nestor, he is Laocoon," he said whilst pointing at the short man. "And our little Voidrunner friend is Ajax."

Trisn rolled his eyes. Two themes in one squad.

"And we are the Guardians of the Void," the knight continued. "And keepers of the Nexus Stone."

Nexus Stone? "What is all this stuff?" Trisn thought.

"The Nexus Stone is the only way to get back to the realm outside of this Void." a voice whispered. Trisn turned his head about. His eyes rested on Ajax, and the Voidrunner nodded his head.

-5-

Treble

The man sighed. How could this life as a servant be anymore boring. All Treble did all day was help please his master, a job which was growing more tedious as the days went by. For the first step in making the Cirque du Mort a reality was beginning. The whole thing was an amazing undertaking. Step one was...

They were going to build a world.

Well, that was Iod the master builder's job. The rest of the fugitives with Helios were training to make sure that no keybearer could beat them once they opened the games to the worlds And that meant that Treble was busier than ever. How he wished he could go back to the old days... back when he was a mercenary so many years ago...

"Treble, you've got a job to do today."

The young Treble looked up from a book. He had thick silver hair and sharp yellow eyes. He wore a grey suit with a crimson bow tie. Slung across his back was a handheld gattling gun.

"Well, what is it?" the mercenary answered.

"You're going to take out Helios." the man, Ghanatorio said calmly.

Treble laughed. "Why him? Aren't there more able politicians to get rid of."

"Yeah, probably, but he's the one that needs to be taken out before he gets any ideas."

"And who is our client?" Treble asked.

"A certain... Riku." Ghanatorio saw a small flashing emotion in Treble's eyes. Was that really what he saw? That emotion didn't exist in Treble. But it was there, for however short a time, nonetheless.

Ghanatorio had seen fear.

"Well, if Riku can't handle it, then I guess he had to bring the case to me."

The two men got up and walked down a dimly lit hall until they reached their destination: the gummi ship hangar. They jumped into a sleek red one with three blizzard guns and a stealth gummi. Then they cleared the launch area and took off.

Their destination was a far off world known as Velo-City, a world that was surrounded by a huge race track. But the two of them never made it.

On the edge of the map their Navi-gummi had made, they saw the dot that marked Velo-City. They flew contently until they noticed a huge swarm of dots heading towards their ship. Both looked out of the window and saw a vast armada of ships, all bearing the Emblem. In the lead was an all white ship. Treble and Ghanatorio were close enough to see the albino seated comfortably in a chair and watching the small gummi ship as it neared his massive fleet.

A voice came into the gummi ship. "Good to see you. I was wondering when the greatest mercenaries ever known were going to show up."

Then the gummi ship was grabbed by a plume of darkness and sucked into the hull of the large ship in the vanguard. The mercenaries came to a rest and the airlock doors closed. Like clockwork, a mass of Heartless swarmed out of the adjacent chambers and into the hangar. Once the ship was surrounded, Helios walked out and walked through the mass of Heartless to reach the hostage ship. He motioned for the two men to get out, and they obediently followed. Treble got out last and made sure the cockpit was still open.

"Would you like to surrender to me? If not, martyrdom is always an option," Helios stated with a mocking tone while drawing his rapier out.

"Over my dead body!" Ghanatorio shouted.

"As you like." Then the rapier flew forward and went right through Ghanatorio. The man fell to the ground and was suddenly engulfed in a huge flame. It quickly went out, leaving nothing left.

"H-how did you d-do that?" Treble gawked at the spot where his friend and coworker had just stood.

"The power of magic weapons. This one happens to be known as the Solar Rapier. Magnificent, isn't it?"

"Magic or no magic, your still gonna die!" He punctuated that sentence by quickly grabbing the gattling gun from the cockpit and sending a barrage of lead at Helios. The albino smiled and simply stood there. Treble watched wide-eyed as the most extraordinary thing happened.

The bullets went right through him.

Frozen in shock, Treble was unaware when Helios beat the hilt of the rapier down on his skull. Treble, unconscious, slipped onto the ground. The Heartless carried him to another room.

"Finally," Helios remarked. "Some good help."

Treble sighed as he remembered Ghanatorio and all the things he had before Helios. And right at that moment, the albino walked into the room.

"I take it you were contemplating your capture once again."

Treble had grown used to having his thoughts read by his master.

"What if I were to tell you that you could have your old, young self back."

Treble turned to face the albino. "How is it possible?"

Helios smiled. "Have you ever heard of the Nexus Stone?"

-6-

Nire

Nire sighed. The boy in the bionic suit was alone again. Then again, he was always alone. The only friends he had were Elder Sora and Harmony, but it was Sora's job to be nice and Harmony was just nice to everyone. Why had it been him who was blessed with a keyblade, yet cursed with the injuries that resulted from the accident.

He could picture it now. The flames coming out of the hovercar as it lay upside down in the Velo-City streets. They wail of the police sirens sounding despair as they neared the scene. The cold wet of his tears in the burning car and the chill of fear: the chill of death. It was all so clear. How unfortunate it was that the worst memories were the most prominent.

Nire was six, a young child with blonde hair and soft violet eyes. He looked like his mother, Amelie, who had the same hair and eye colors. His dad, Mortego had salt and pepper hair and friendly brown eyes. The three of them lived in large penthouse apartment in the downtown area of Velo-City.

The day had not yet come. Nire watched the blood-red skies wash away as the sunlight bathed the world. The far off sounds of dragsters on the Rim Racetrack made a rhythmic beat. Everything was pointing towards a wonderful day.

How horribly misguided assumptions can be.

In Velo-City, everything is built on the principle that things should be quick and efficient. So it was a great surprise to Nire's family when they were stuck in a traffic jam. Far ahead, Nire's father and mother could glimpse a plum of smoke rising like a lone grey column. "Honey, I'm going to go check on it," Mortego calmly whispered. Amelie simply nodded and gave him a peck on the cheek. Then he opened the door of the hovercar and walked up to the front of the jam.

A few minutes passed and Amelie began to worry. But she had no idea what she was worrying about.

Mortego ran back to the car, scratches on his face. "Honey, there are a bunch of Heartless up there and they are making their way back here. Senator Helios is leading them."

The two of them were about to get out of the car when a pair of black antennae poked up over the window, followed by a black head with blank yellow eyes. Amelie screamed. Nire said nothing, for he had fallen asleep in the back. Mortego beat it out of the window, then looked forward to see Helios pointing his Solar Rapier at their car.

"Goodbye sir and madam." With that, he shot a wave of heat out of the rapier. It collided with the car which abruptly burst into flames. Nire was awoken by the crackling of the fire, and he looked to the front seat where his parents lay.

They were dead.

Nire screamed and cried, but he couldn't get out of the car. It seemed like an eternity of pain before anyone came to his aid. The paramedics pulled the burnt boy out of the car and rushed him to the hospital, where they tried to save his life. They succeeded, but it cost Nire his limbs, and his normality.

Besides losing his limbs, Nire's once handsome face was scorched and burned, and his blonde hair was going except for a few scraggly strands. The doctors placed the child in a bionic suit with limbs connected to his nervous system so they could be controlled. They encased his feeble body and misshapen face in a beautiful white suit that would grow as he would. When he awoke from surgery, he marveled at his new self for a few seconds, then broke down crying. Tears of pain and sorrow. But behind those tears burned something else.

Hatred.

Nire walked upstairs. At this time of day, he normally went to the lounge and read in a book. But as he neared the lounge, he heard voices. One was Elder Sora's friend Fury's, but the other voice was that of Dirst. From what he could here, they were talking about life in general. But then two words entered his mind and struck him as being the difference from a normal conversation and a scheme of some sort.

Nexus Stone.

-7-

Nostalgia Part 1

Elder Sora slowly ate his lunch in the private dining hall. Things were so dull now. Sora often felt lonely. Riku, or Fury as he liked to be called, was never around, and Kairi had been killed many years ago in a heartless wave in Destiny Islands. That had been 15 years ago. Fifteen long years ago...

"Kairi!" Sora exclaimed. He was 55, but he was still in pretty good shape. Kairi, his same age, came to greet him, her red hair beginning to lighten. How Sora wished for his youth. Sora walked toward her on that warm spring night

"How have your travels been?" Kairi asked, taking Sora away from his gummi ship and into the house she lived in.

"Fine," Sora stated. He had been roaming the galaxy for years, searching for new worlds and fighting Heartless. But through the years, it was becoming increasingly harder to do it. He looked at Kairi. "The years haven't been kind to me I'm afraid."

Kairi smiled. "At least your at home once again. You can rest and liven up some. You must be dog tired." Sora nodded uneasily, then walked upstairs. Kairi watched him leave, then sighed.

"He never could settle down."

She followed him up and helped him get a room. He never carried any possessions other than the clothes on his back and his trusty keychains. Kairi pointed out where the shower was and where he would rest for the night. Sora thanked her, then settled down. He slowly closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

It seemed only a minute until he was woken up by the sound of flames. Sora jumped out of bed as fast as his aging bones would let him. He looked around and his heartbeat slowed as he noted that the house was not on fire. He breathed a sigh of relief, but the reprieve only lasted a moment. Sora noticed light coming from outside. He walked to the window and looked. He almost had a heart attack.

A vast sea of blackness crawled along the beach. Sora knew that his was a large multitude of Heartless coming towards the house. In the lead was a white being carrying a golden weapon. Sora hurried down the stairs, summoning the Kingdom Key as he did. He burst outside and came face to face with Kairi who was brandishing her keyblade. The white figure in front halted just short of the front steps. He stepped forward onto the porch, and the army of Heartless obediently weighted behind him.

"Good evening sir and madam," he politely began. "Such a lovely evening is it not." Sora rolled his eyes; an army of heartless and a burning beachfront did not amount to a lovely evening.

The albino turned to face Sora. "I take it you don't appreciate my jest?" Sora nodded, and his response was responded to by a quick punch in the stomach. Sora doubled over in pain.

"Sora!" Kairi screamed and knelt down to help him. The golden rapier's tip whipped out and stood a millimeter from her neck.

"On your feet!" the albino commanded. Kairi obediently followed his orders. "Now madam, I will ask you to get rid of that keyblade." Kairi again followed his wishes for fear of the crystal blade slitting her throat.

"Might I have the pleasure of your names?" the albino asked. Sora got up from the ground.

"Only if you give us yours."

"Very well. I am Helios, and this is my army of Heartless," he said whilst motioning at the black sea. "And you are?"

"I am Sora, and this is Kairi."

"What lovely names. To bad they won't have owners anymore!" With that, he flicked out the rapier. It caught Kairi on the neck. She immediately burst into flame and was no more. Sora screamed and lashed out at Helios with the Kingdom Key. Unused to such an onslaught, the albino quickly retreated into the mass of Heartless and commanded them to go forward. Sora, oblivious to pain, hacked away at wave after wave of Heartless as they clawed and bit at him. He slowly diminished their ranks until there were no more. Helios smiled.

"Unlike you, I rely on my heart to battle!" Sora yelled.

"And I rely on my Heartless." Helios summoned up another vast sea of Heartless. Only now did Sora begin to weaken. He lashed out the heartless, but they swarmed him and Sora was sucked into a pool of darkness.

-8-

Nostalgia Part 2

When Sora awoke, he was in a place that was familiar to him. That was a decided plus. The aged keybearer slowly got up and looked around, his brain flooded with memories.

It was the Station of Awakening. He looked at his feet to see his figure and others etched into the stained glass. There was Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi. Sora's eyes welled with tears as he remembered her last moments: a blazing flame, then nothing. He remembered the albino Helios cold hateful eyes, and as Sora remembered, his eyes grew hateful to. He slammed the keyblade into the stained glass

It shattered.

Sora fell through the giant hole he created with strange silence. He looked around and saw tall arched windows on both sides of him He then looked down as the ground came up to meet him. He landed like a cat, upright on his feet. Unsure of what was going on, he looked around and saw that he was on another stained glass platform. Now, instead of his friends faces, he saw eleven faces spiraling around a greyish glass panel. Beneath each face was a name. Sora followed them around clockwise spiraling inward. The names went as follows.

Ajax
Laocoon
Nestor
Trisn
Treble
Sidrix
Jors
Tryllya
Qell-Hadr
Iod
Helios

Every face except for the last one Sora didn't know.

"This must be the place where villains are remembered." Sora looked about and saw nothing except blackness. Then, off in the distance, Sora spotted a strange shape. He ran toward it, and as it got closer, he realized what it was. The shape he had seen was in fact a large Keyhole. But how the shape was colored was more interesting.

It was a giant Yin-Yang.

Sora was astounded. What could such a thing be? But because he was a keybearer, he immediately knew what to do with keyholes.

Summoning his keyblade, for it had dissipated in the fall, he shot abeam of light into the Yin-Yang Keyhole. The Keyhole's edges lit up, and the Yin and Yang slid aside, revealing a path out of this world. Sora jogged out the door, and once outside he looked back to where he had been only moments before.

A giant castle stood before him. At the top was a floating area that looked like the tops of the palace in Agrabah. Sora was fascinated by this architecture. He turned back around away from the building and saw that he was inside of a giant force field. It looked as if there was no way in... or out for that matter.

"I'll call this world...The Impenetrable World!" he whispered. But this led to a problem. How would he get off of this world. He walked around to the back of the castle and found something odd.

A large swirling vortex lay before him. Sora, seeing this as a way out, carelessly leapt into it. He was knocked unconscious

He awoke to find himself on the floors of a new world. He looked around and saw he was in a large hall. He looked up and saw a towering ceiling. Upon returning his gaze to the ground, he noticed a face of a man looking at him.

"Hello there, weary traveler," The man said. "I am Elder Caymaioc, and this is the Celestial Convent. Home of Keybearers such as yourself."

Sora looked at his hand to see the Kingdom Key still clutched in his grip. Caymaioc leaned down and helped Sora up. "You must be Sora."

Sora was surprised. How could this complete stranger know him? But his question was quickly answered as he was led into the Elder's Dining Room.

On the far side of the table was a portrait painting. His portrait. Sora looked at Caymaioc, and Caymaioc smiled and said one simple phrase.

"We've been expecting you."

Sora sighed. It was amazing to him how he could remember it all so clearly. He remembered when Caymaioc died and when he was made Elder Sora, leader of all of the keybearers of the Celestial Convent. He'd seen a lot of destruction over the years. Yet he never expected his own.

A soft whirring made Sora look up from his plate. A portal of darkness had opened. Sora was just standing when a six barreled weapon poked through. He summoned his keyblade, but it was too late.

A barrage of bullets fired from the gunmetal colored gattling gun. They all hit Sora in the chest, knocking him flat. Then, just as abruptly as it had come, it disappeared. Sora broke out in a cold sweat. His vision blurred, but one last clear thought entered his mind. A voice. Sora would have known it anywhere.

"Kairi?"

-9-

Jors

The black furred Canus warrior was tiring down. Today's training regimen had been hard, but Jors never backed down. He watched as Qell-Hadr stopped for multiple breaks.

"Spoiled potentate."

Qell-Hadr apparently had heard Jors, and the prince walked up to the Canus.

"I'll have you know that I can handle myself. On Yornzo, the people are rebellious, and it takes a talented warrior and adept ruler to keep them in line."

"I guess that's your father." Jors grinned, showing a row of sharpened teeth.

The prince flew into a rage. "Qell-Urtrin?! He hasn't done any ruling for the past twenty years! I've ruled my world well since I was ten and you will show me some more respect!" With that, the prince went on with the training. Jors smiled, remembering his days as a noble warrior.

The Canus home world is a place known as the Village of the Serpent. It is a relatively small planet, home to only two peoples: the Canus, and the Via. The Via are a race of Reptilian people only found here, for the are the offspring of The Serpent, a huge snake that has shimmering blue scales and black eyes. The Canus were constantly at war with the Via, and they usually lost to the vicious reptiles.

Jors was a knight of the noble Canus king Nevortalion. He remembered the times he spent fighting for a better world, but one day in his mind stood out.

The day he fought for a worse world.

----------------

Jors sat against a tall tree in the midst of the forest. He had been sent by the King himself to do some reconnaissance. Jors could jut glimpse the small town that the Via called their own. In the middle of the town was a pit that held The Serpent. Jors got up and crept closer to the town. He saw several Via soldiers getting ready for war. Having enough information, Jors hurried back towards the Canus side of the forest. He would have made it, had it not been for... him

Jors was running back to King Nevortalion when a large black portal opened before him. Jors immediately stopped, the inertia carrying him a bit farther. He came face to face with a strange creature.

A human.

Jors sized him up. "What manner of creature are you?"

The totally white skinned man smiled. "I am a human being. You must be the Canus named Jors."

Jors was taken aback. "How do you know of me, yet I know not of you?"

The albino smiled once more. "Magic. Anyway, I am a friend to your people. My name is Helios."

Jors bowed to the newcomer. "Welcome to our humble world. May I ask how you plan to help our cause?"

"Like so." With that, Helios drew his Solar Rapier, and thrust it in the direction of the Via town. A huge blast of flame flew forward, catching several trees on fire until it reached the intended target. The entire town, and everyone in it, burst into flames, then abruptly went out. The only things left were some smoldering stones and some dead trees.

Responding to the flames, a large rumble came that nearly knocked Helios and Jors off their feet. Then, out of the hole in the middle of the village, came The Serpent, glistening in the sun like a brilliant sapphire. It stared around the entire village, and a hiss of pain and loss came from its mouth. Then it slithered forward in a direct path to the Canus town. Jors stared at Helios with a malevolent glare.

"You've brought about the destruction of the world!"

"Their gonna love the part about you wanting me to help." Helios stated flatly.

"But I must help my people!"

"If you don't leave now, you will die with all your Canus brethren. So come with me. There is nothing left for you here."

Jors looked at Helios, then he looked at the Serpent coming towards them, then to the Canus town. He looked back and forth for a while, and as the Serpent drew near he made his decision.

"Alright, Helios. I'm coming with you."

"About time." And with that, Helios summoned a portal and they walked through. The last sight of his world was that of the giant Serpent slithering through the smoldering forest.

So much had changed since then. Jors sighed, then continued the training regimen.

-10-

Harmony

Harmony sat with a bunch of friends at a table. She laughed as one member of the table told a joke. But this was only a superficial expression. Deep down, Harmony was remembering all of the things that had happened to her life since the day- the one, fateful day...

The streets were quiet that night on Velo-City. A young Harmony stared out of her room's window at the city below. Her family was a prominent one in this society. But they lacked a patriarch: no one knew what happened to Harmony's father. Her mother was one of the representatives in the Velo-City congress. So, Harmony was usually left alone with her older brother, Balian.

The moon shone down brightly on the empty streets. Harmony rarely went to sleep as early as her mother told her to, so she would stay up and just think of all the things that made up her life. She would be thankful for her restless nature.

Two figures walked around the streets. Harmony watched as they turned a corner and headed away from her house. That was an odd sight. Harmony followed their path with her eyes until they passed around another corner. They weren't criminals doing anything bad, just late night walkers. Harmony saw them occasionally, but these two seemed different.

"They're just normal people," she kept telling herself. Just normal people, not criminals.

For the moment.

A few minutes later, Harmony's quiet thoughts were broken by the sound of an automatic weapon firing. Harmony jumped up out of her bed. She slowly walked out of her room and down the stairs. The sight that met her was a gruesome one.

Her mother and Balian were dead. A multitude of bullet holes riddled them both. Blood spatter was everywhere. Even on the assailants' faces.

Ones was an older man, with salt and pepper hair. He was wearing a suit with a bow tie, and his shirt was stained red. The one next to him was an albino gripping a rapier made of gems and precious metals. With all of the shock, Harmony forgot something very important.

The bottom stair creaked.

The two murderers looked at the small girl descending the steps. The one in the suit raised a gattling gun and aimed it at her head. The albino pushed it away with his rapier.

"Go, girl," the albino said. "Run to the police. Tell them what happened, and who we are."

The girl was extremely surprised on top of all of her shock. Why the heck would two murderers want to turn themselves in? The thought was so puzzling that Harmony simply stood there thinking.

"Go now, or my friend will open fire."

That was all the incentive she needed. Without a single thought, she instinctively ran out of the house and towards the police station. Soon, she would get all of this solved and everything would be better. She stopped for a moment. Wouldn't it?

Nothing was better, even now. Harmony slowly got up and cleaned up her area. She needed council on what to do to heal her pain. Elder Sora would give her all of the help she needed. Harmony headed over to the Elders dining room. She pushed open the door, then stopped in her tracks.

Elder Sora stared at her with cold, lifeless eyes. He lay in a pool of blood, a bullet wound in his chest. The scene was almost familiar.

She screamed.

-11-

Iod

The master mechanic wiped sweat off of his brow. His greatest work was nearing completion. The coliseum world that would hold Helios's little "games" needed only a GEM (gravity enhancement module, Iod's own creation) to get it running. The thrill of completion rushed through him. It was almost as great as the thrill of freedom that he had experienced not to long ago.

Iod sat alone in his cell at The Prison of the Void. He pondered all of the things that he could be doing if he were free. He had been locked up for treason, murder, and arms dealing- he made his own massively destructive weapons. He was also pretty handy with his shotgun.

It had taken the proper authorities many years to track down Iod, and it took many more to capture him. Once in custody, he was immediately taken to the Prison of the Void without trial. He had been stuck in this forsaken place for a year now, and his only recognition of this anniversary was a reprieve from the boring monotony of the prison life.

On this day, Iod looked up at the sound of footsteps. He watched as two guards escorted a Canus, a woman, a man, a teenage boy, and an albino man. Each of them had solemn looks on their faces, except for the albino. He had a small smile placed firmly upon his face. At the rear of the quintet was another pair of guards. Iod watched with growing curiosity. Now why would these five be coming in together?

"I think I'll find out."

A few hours passed. Iod walked to the cafeteria and recreation area with host of inmates and guards. He walked up in line and got a tray. The food was the same as always: a bland soup, some toast, and a drink. He looked around and saw the five people from earlier at a table in the corner. Iod made his way over to it and sat down at the end of the table; this way he could hear and be inconspicuous. He nonchalantly ate his food while listening to the conversation at the other side of the table.

"It's all your fault we're here," the woman said, directing her gaze at the albino. "I have a good mind to torch you right where you stand, Helios."

Iod tried to keep a cool facade, but inside his heart skipped a beat. Helios! He was the most wanted man in the worlds because of his atrocities on Velo-City and elsewhere. Iod began to listen again.

"Tryllya, you must know by now that I always have a plan for everything. There is a very good reason I got us caught." Helios grinned.

"Well," prompted the Canus.

"What's the reason?" the teen asked.

Helios sat, relishing the others displeasure. Then he spoke.

"I'm looking for one last cohort in my plans-."

"The ones you haven't told us about," the man interrupted.

Helios's eyes shined. "Yes, those plans. Anyway, we need one more person to help make my plans a reality. We need a master engineer. Someone who can build an entire world to house my project for total domination of all things." Helios looked over at Iod. "You," the albino called. "Come here."

Iod did as he was bidden and sat down next to the canus. Helios looked at him for a moment and sized him up, then began again.

"You look like a good builder. Am I correct in this assumption."

Iod nodded.

"Its settled. Meet the newest member of our team."

Everyone was taken aback. Tryllya was the first to speak.

"Shouldn't we check him out first? Maybe see what he's capable of."

Iod smiled. "Look lady, if you need an engineer, I've got you covered. I've also got some new inventions up my sleeve."

Helios looked at the new addition and smiled once more. "Now, I need to go over a few things with you."

They all huddled in and listened as Helios laid out a plan for escape. Iod had to admit, it was too simple.

When the meal was over, everyone was led back to their respective cells. After the guards had left, the plan went into action. Sidrix's part came first. He summoned his keyblade, known as Simple Sadism, and unlocked the cell. Then he did the same for his cohorts, including Iod. They all slowly walked towards the front doors of the vast prison. At the last turn, they encountered a patrol of guards who immediately began pursuit. The six escapees ran out the front doors and into the black forsaken landscape that was the Void. The guards stood by and watched the escapees run into the distance. On the way, they did not encounter the Guardians of the Void. That had been Tryllya's doing; she had sent a spell to imprison them in a cage of flame. So they all escaped to the large white keyhole that was the Nexus of Light. Using it, they re-entered the outside world. They were free.

Free to enslave the universe.

Fresh from his nostalgic reprieve, Iod placed a welding mask upon his face and began to make the mechanical systems ready for the placement of the GEM. Soon, Helios would have his Coliseum. And Iod would have what he wanted.

-12-

Requiem

There was a teen sitting on a cliff edge. This world was peaceful, quiet. The Tenth Dimension held many places of beauty. The teen began to meditate. His long black hair flowed in the wind, and his face was protected from the chill wind by a grey mask. He wore a red trench coat with a black dress shirt underneath and black pants. Fastened across his back was a sheathed claymore. He was of normal height, but he cast a long shadow. For he was the greatest assassin of all time, in all worlds.

Requiem.

He tuned out his surroundings and began to think about all of the things that his life was. His half life, really. For he knew that he was cursed; he was one of the few, the rare.

The destined.

Requiem was a Reflection, a being carrying an exact replica of another's heart, but inverted. For instance, light would turn to darkness. Requiem knew that while his heart sang the song of death, his opposite's was singing the song of life. Requiem knew that he would one day find his other.

The wind whistling through the ravine was drowned out by the sudden tread of hundreds of feet. Requiem slowly got up and turned. In his sight was a battalion of Neo-shadow Heartless. At their head was Helios, brandishing his Solar Rapier.

"Well, well," Requiem said. "Helios, destroyer of worlds, is to scared to meet me alone."

Helios smiled, his white teeth blending in with his skin. "And you have the audacity to taunt me. You surprise me sometimes, how you can kill as an assassin yet feel sorrow for your victims."

Requiem shrugged. "No one wants to die."

"Except for the depressed or deranged." Helios stared into the assassin's eyes. "You can take your mask off; I'm not going to punish you here."

Requiem faltered for a moment, then slowly removed the grey clay mask that was placed on his face. He took it off and dropped it on the ground. His face carried two large scars, one going diagonally across his right eye, the other on his left cheek. Helios smiled.

"The only one ever to survive the Solar Rapier's slice."

Requiem glared at Helios. "You should be shaking right now." The albino simply laughed. Then Requiem unleashed the attack.

He drew a circle on his palm, and it began to glow purple. Requiem then pushed his finger into the center of his palm. Suddenly, the sky clouded. The wind stopped, and rain began to pour down.

"A little drizzle?" Helios taunted. "The rumors say you can flood cities with your little move here."

Then something unthinkable happened. The sky rained flaming boulders. They struck the Heartless horde that had been assembled. The rocks continued to fall until Helios nodded to the assassin.

"So that is the "Tears of Fate," is it not?" Helios asked Requiem, both soaked to the bone.

"Yeah, that's it." Requiem stated. Helios walked up to him. "I have a little job for you to practice that with."

"Who's the target?" Requiem asked, nonchalant as ever.

Helios smiled and his eyes burned with hatred for one person.

"Fury."

-13-

The Princess and the Organization

Tryllya sat alone in her bedroom at Willow Castle. It was night time, and she could still here the sounds of Iod tirelessly working on the new Coliseum world. Only the base had been assembled so far: the rest was to come later. She couldn't go to sleep. Memories kept her awake.

Tryllya stared out of a small window in her cell at the Castle that Never Was. She had been taken captive by a small group of Nobodies calling themselves the Neo-Organization. Tryllya didn't know how they got the name; all she knew was that she was captive inside of this place. And her powers of flame were useless for escape purposes.

Tryllya had been born into the royal family of Hephaestion, a world that was one huge caldera. The palace of her father, King Vlacun, rested on top of a dormant volcano. She led the life of any princess until she was fifteen. At this age, she was sent off to the world of Radiant Garden, where she studied with teachers in the Great Library. She was lucky that she was away, for one year into her schooling the dormant volcano erupted and sent flames and smoke into the air. The palace, along with her parents, were obliterated instantaneously. Tryllya's life went down hill from there.

Without her parents, she was unable to pay for her schooling, and therefore was forced to drop out. She took up wandering the streets and stealing to get what she needed, a task which she quickly gained expertise in. It was at this time that she realized her gift: the control of fire. She used it to get many a thing. But now, it was getting her nowhere.

Footsteps entered the hallway. Tryllya saw one of the Neo-Organization members coming to meet here. She recognized him as Number VI: Xermoch, the Chromatic Knight. He walked up to the cell and was followed by Number XI: Nuxsod, the Sonic Troubadour. Nuxsod carried to red castanets, each with the nobody symbol imprinted on them.

"Oh Princess Tryllya of Hephaestion
Where wouldst thou be if thy parents weren't gone?"

Nuxsod said the poem while rhythmically clicking the castanets. Xermoch simply kept a nonchalant look on his face.

"Anywhere from here, that's for sure," Tryllya snapped, answering the poem's rhetorical question.

Xermoch grinned. "But that, my hot-headed lady, is not relevant. Fate has left you here, in the Neo-Organization's hands. So, you would do best to come with us."

The two nobodies unlocked the cell, and Tryllya stepped out. She immediately used her powers of fire to summon two fire balls. She hurled them point blank at the two nobodies. Nuxsod was hit in the chest, knocking him flat against the wall. The flame went out instantaneously, leaving the Sonic Troubadour with only minor burns.

Xermoch was quicker though. Instinctively, he summoned his weapons, two handheld circular saws, and deflected the blast. The flame dissipated as quick as the one that had hit Nuxsod. Then the Chromatic Knight simply took the stunned Tryllya by her hand and led her towards the center room where the thirteen thrones of the organization was.

"How..." Tryllya muttered.

"I'm a well trained knight, Lady Tryllya. For your own safety, I would suggest you not perform that stunt in front of all the rest of the Organization."

Tryllya rolled her eyes. This guy was truly a knight: chivalry and all.

Nuxsod slowly got up, glaring at Tryllya, and followed the two to the throne room.

Upon entering, Tryllya glanced at all the thrones. The room was solid white, with the exceptions of some light grey Nobody symbols set into the walls. Two thrones were empty: Those of Nuxsod and Xermoch. The rest were filled, according to their ranks. Tryllya didn't know who they were, so Xermoch filled her in.

I- Miltuxhi, The Steeled Scientist
II-Niox, The Static Lord
III-Xynox, The Stone Samurai
IV- Ulmox, The Duchess of Light
V- Rasceax, The Imperator of Shadows
VI- Xermoch, The Chromatic Knight
VII- Xie, The Dune Vassal
VIII- Vaxyd, The Memory Pirate
IX- Jexson, The Scourge of Seas
X- Honcrox, The Time Twister
XI- Nuxsod, The Sonic Troubadour
XII- Edox- The Floral Maiden
XIII- Sidrix, The Lunar Orphan

-14-

Elements Attack

Xermoch and Nuxsod took their seats. Tryllya was left standing alone in the center of the room. Miltuxhi called down from his throne.

"Would you care to sit down?"

With that, he used his powers of metal to create a solid steel chair out of thin air. Tryllya was stunned, but only for a moment; she calmly sat down in the newly made chair.

Nuxsod spoke next in his odd poetic way.

"Superior Miltuxhi, leader of our band.
The princess can summon fire from the palm of her hand."

"Can she now." Vaxyd said, his pirate accent thick.

"I believe we should show her that she is not the only one with special powers here," suggested Rasceax.

"Good idea," Miltuxhi said. "I've shown my element, so lets go on down the line. Niox, your next."

The Static Lord nodded to the Steeled Scientist, then turned to face Tryllya. He pointed his weapon, a mace, at the princess, and a bolt of lightning flew forth towards the girl. Tryllya was scared, but only for a moment, for the bolt arched outward and surrounded her in one ring. Niox looked at the next one to show off and nodded.

Xynox, the Stone Samurai, leapt down from his throne and summoned his giant stone zanbato. He stabbed it into the ground, and all around Tryllya huge columns of crystal erupted out of the floor. Tryllya stayed nonchalant, and Xynox withdrew, allowing the Ulmox to do her thing. The Duchess of Light waved her hand and an explosion of light occurred. Tryllya shielded her eyes. Then Rasceax came. The Imperator of Shadows with drew the light that Ulmox had created and engulfed the room in darkness. Tryllya looked ahead and saw two beady yellow eyes staring back at her. She let out a small shriek. Rasceax laughed at this, then ended the black night.

Next came the Chromatic Knight. Xermoch drew one of his circular saws and pointed it at Tryllya. Instantly, all of the colors drained away until she was nothing more than white. He replaced the colors then handed the reigns over to Xie. The Dune Vassal used his crossbow to shoot arrows into the ground all around the princess. Tryllya stared up at him, and from the corner of her eye she noticed that the arrows were turning into sand dunes. The sand filled up the entire chamber until it was level with her neck; at this time Xie ended the spell.

Tryllya was still unfazed. "You guys are pathetic."

Vaxyd sneered at her. "We're only showing you a tiny sampling of our power." With that, he pulled out his cutlass and threw it into the ground at Tryllya's feet. It stuck and quivered for a moment, then it began to change. Tryllya gazed in wonder as the cutlass changed shape into her father. But he was long dead. How could this be?

"Memory. A powerful thing." Vaxyd said, reading her thoughts.

Everyone in the Neo-Organization could tell that she was unnerved by the apparition of her father. But the continued their elemental show nonetheless. Jexson stared down and using his panpipe played a song that sounded like one that might be played at a time of great sorrow, a requiem of sorts. Tryllya, lost in the hypnotic tones, did not realize that the floor was now flooding with water. Jexson soon stopped playing and the water receded. Next came Honcrox. He calmly pointed his palm at Tryllya and then pressed forward. She was immediately frozen in time. After a few minutes of watching the totally immobile Tryllya, Honcrox released the spell. Nuxsod stood up, clicked his castanets together, and pointed at the princess. A loud screeching filled the room, and a shock wave of sound hit Tryllya square on.

Nuxsod smiled. Payback.

Now came Edox, the Floral Maiden. She calmly sat on her chair, and with a tap of her taint a huge shrub engulfed the princess. It quickly subsided, leaving room for the last member of the Neo-Organization.

Sidrix, the Moonlit Orphan.

The teen nobody leered at Tryllya with cold eyes. He then rose to from his chair and began to hover above the floor. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Slowly, a small moon began to appear in the room. Tryllya stared at it and watched it grow until it covered the ceiling. Then Sidrix slowly opened his eyes. The moon cast light upon the nobody and he began to glow with a sort of spectral essence. Tryllya could only watch as the strange ritual went on. Then, suddenly, Sidrix thrust his hand for ward and a blast of energy hit the unsuspecting Tryllya. She was knocked out of her steel chair, unconscious.

-15-

Fire, Sun, and Moon

Tryllya woke up in the same place she had been earlier. The thrones of the Neo- Organization were all empty, save for one. Sidrix stared down at her, his yellow eyes glimmering like the light of a pale moon. He slowly descended from his chair and floated down to rest next to the recovering princess. Tryllya gave him an evil glare. Sidrix remained stoic.

"I'm as sorry as a nobody can be for having to hurt you, dear princess." Sidrix said. "I had to do it so as not to arouse he suspicion of the other members. For you see, I am not truly one of them."

Tryllya was unmoved. "So, what exactly are you doing?"

Sidrix sighed. "Its a long story, so I'll start from the top. I was once, when I had a heart, a great and powerful dark king. I, Idris, ruled several worlds that bowed down to me because they feared me."

Tryllya had a hard time imagining anyone would bow down to this kid. However, she acted as if she was politely listening to the story Sidrix was telling.

"One day, however, my domain was overrun by a vast army of Heartless minions led by an albino man named Helios. Helios stormed through my empire and took everything that was precious to me. Soon, he reached the gates of my magnificent palace and broke in. I tried fighting him off, but it was no use; his army swallowed me up and took my heart. However, I was reborn in this child form, as a nobody."

Tryllya was starting to understand... just barely. At this time, a figure entered the room. he was wearing a bright purple suit and a green tie. His skin was pure white, as was his hair. His pink eyes glimmered in the white light of the throne room. He stepped forward to greet the duo. Tryllya recognized that the newcomer must be the albino Helios. "After my minions took Idris's heart," Helios said, continuing the story," Sidrix was immediately born. At first, the anger at losing his heart was so great that he insisted on fighting me, a futile effort. However, after an hour or so, the boy decided that he would come to terms with it. I then guaranteed him a position in my plot for world domination. As I have prepared for you, Tryllya." Helios stared into Tryllya's eyes, and somehow this deeply unnerved the fiery princess. The feeling wore off soon, and Tryllya began to realize the merits of the situation.

"What will this 'position in the plot for world domination' be, and what will it bring me?"

Helios smiled. "I'll tell you once all of the arrangements are made. Until then, you'll be staying at the world of Willow Castle; I will tell you and the others of their roles then and there."

Irritated at this but cautiously optimistic, Tryllya followed Helios's judgement. Soon, if this Helios could be trusted, she would be swimming in power.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Slowly, sleep drifted into Tryllya's thoughts. So much had happened in her life; the memories often pained her. But she knew that the future was bright for her. She knew Helios better now. She knew that he was extremely intelligent and cunning.

She knew that he would never lose.

-16-

How to Twist a Guardian's Heart

Trisn was in shock. This strange creature from the Black Lagoon (probably a real place since everything in this world was black) had just spoken to him without speaking. How could a mere animal master techniques the humans had not mastered?

"Our species was blessed with this gift in the beginning of time."

Trisn shook his head. Oh yeah. Mind reader.

"Whoever you guys are, be it the Voidrunner Patrol or the Iliad Force, you're not going to stop me from getting out of here and taking my revenge." With that, Trisn gripped his keyblade tight and lunged at the hulking figure of Laocoon. The Voidrunner-headed man, seeing this blow coming, pulled his hands up and gripped the oncoming blade. The jolt shook him up, but not as much as it did Trisn. The immediate stop to forward motion slammed the hilt of the keyblade into Trisn's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Laocoon then let go of the blade, and Trisn fell on the ground.

"So much for,' you're not going to stop me,'" Laocoon jeered. He turned around to rejoin his comrades in a line- a fatal mistake. Trisn, not as hurt as he pretended to be, quietly leapt up. Taking a solid aim, he threw the keyblade. It struck Laocoon square in the back, and he fell over with a grunt. The blade was strong, but the Guardian's heart was not released. He merely lay there unconscious

"I don't make empty promises," Trisn retorted. He then gazed at the remaining two Guardians of the Void. Ajax hovered forward next, his tentacle like arms almost dragging on the black surface of the world. Trisn steadied for battle.

"I'll feint right," he thought," then get him in the side." Shortly after this hasty plan, he made his move. Trisn charged forward and moved to the right, but Ajax did not react as expected. The Voidrunner immediately moved to the left, knowing that was where Trisn planned to strike. Thrown off by Ajax's sudden movement, Trisn was open to an attack. And an attack came.

Ajax lashed out with his tentacles. Trisn merely expected them to whip him and leave a mark. He had no idea that they were charged with electricity. One crashed down on his shoulder, the other whipping across his face diagonally from his right ear down to his left cheek. Trisn shrieked in pain and collapsed on the ground.

"Mind reader, remember?" The thought came clear as spoken words. Trisn slowly got up, barely able to open his right eye which had been lashed by Ajax. He felt blood trickle down his shoulder and face. Severely angered, Trisn flew into an uncontrollable rage. Lucky for him, he wasn't thinking.

Bewildered by his lack of thought, Ajax fell victim almost instantly to the ferocious beast that Trisn had become. He was knocked out of the air without a sound and fell a few feet from the unconscious Laocoon.

Breathing heavily, Trisn motioned for Nestor to come and oppose him. The black armored knight obliged and approached his tired foe. Nestor could see that Trisn didn't resemble the person who had been challenging the Guardians a few minutes before. Now he was a sweating, scarred, bedraggled subhuman beast whose only purpose was to kill. Nestor reached behind his back and pulled out a large broadsword. He pointed it at Trisn.

"I'm sorry I must eliminate you. You have been a most formidable opponent." With that, Nestor heaved and swung the massive blade down at Trisn. The teen feebly thrust his keyblade into the air, blocking the heavy blow. Nestor felt the large jolt from the impact and suddenly stopped fighting. Perhaps the keyblade had unlocked some memories. Perhaps he had a sudden bout of nostalgia in this odd time. Whatever the case, Nestor saw in Trisn himself when he was much younger.

Nestor grew up in Radiant Garden, training to guard the world from the frequent heartless attacks that plagued the town. He quickly rose through the ranks as a powerful warrior and one day was appointed as the governor's personal bodyguard and esteemed First Knight, a position a select few had achieved. Nestor grew to know the governor quite well. He also came to know that the albino governor was a sadistic madman.

Seeing the man for who he really was, Nestor devised a plan to leave the Radiant Garden while he was young enough to have a choice. So one day, in the dead of knight, he ran out of his room in the castle and headed towards the gummi hangar in town. However, he was stopped by the governor. They each drew blades and Nestor fought madly against the evil governor whom he wished to kill. However, the albino could not be beat. Finally, he knocked Nestor down. But instead of finishing him off, the albino let him free, saying," You'll come back to me one day." Nestor, unsure of the situation, headed away and out of the world.

Nestor saw in Trisn the same spirit he had: the ability to know that doing something that was considered wrong to do what was right would help. On the spur of the moment, Nestor asked the panting keybearer one question.

"Tell me, who do you seek vengeance on."

"His name is Helios."

Nestor was struck by this. Helios was who he was trying to defeat when he had been sent away. Nestor dropped the broadsword and began to bargain with Trisn.

"You and I share a common enemy, Trisn. I propose that we get rid of him together."

Trisn looked up at him. "You hate Helios?"

Nestor nodded." Together, along with Ajax and Laocoon, we can get rid of him once and for all. Our enemy will be defeated and our differences will be settled."

Trisn thought about this for a little while. "Fair enough," he finally said. With that, they quickly put away there arms and sat down. Nestor looked at the unconscious bodies of his comrades, then turned to Trisn.

"So, what brought you in contact with Helios?"

Trisn awkwardly began telling of what had happened to him that brought him face to face with the albino. Then Nestor shared his story.

"Well I guess we do have a common enemy," Trisn said aloud to himself.

"We'll leave to find him at dawn."

"How can you tell what time it is here?" Trisn said. The black skies gave the impression of eternal midnight. In response to the question, Nestor held up an antique pocket watch on a chain.

"Right now its around... nine o'clock P.M. So get some sleep, for tomorrow we begin our quest."

- 17 -

Namesake

The assassin sat alone once more, meditating on his rocky outpost. The 10th dimension, home to all Reflections, held many different landscapes. Requiem preferred the rocky terrain that the craggy mountains and canyons provided. Here, he would be alone, un-persecuted, but also unwanted. Requiem knew that in his profession, attachments could easily be costly to both in life and grief. It had happened to him once before. He wasn't going to let it happen again.

He tried to keep it out of his mind, but this was a futile effort. Her face came back to him every time he stopped to think. The grey eyes, the blonde hair, the ever present smile; it was all there. Requiem sometimes cried when he thought of his lost love. Only because of what he had done. He knew it was his fault that she was dead.

"Akiné…" he whispered. The soft words were barely heard above the howling of the wind through the canyons and crevices. He quietly got up, content that his meditations were complete, and put on his mask. Requiem got up and walked away; he turned back once, sensing that there was someone behind him. Perhaps it was Akiné's spirit…

Silence enveloped all as Requiem descended from the high rocks. The monolithic mountains gave way to forests, thin foliage at first, then increasing as the elevation decreased. Requiem had to stop every once in a while to become more acclimated to the area he was in. After several hours, the assassin had made his way out of the forests and into the outskirts of the sprawling city of Aismon. The giant metropolis had been started long ago by two twin brothers who had come to the 10th Dimension as a result of an experiment done by Ansem the Wise. With an increasing number of Reflections being created in the 10th Dimension, the city eventually spread out to a size that rivaled many cities. In its center was a central keep, modeled after the castle of Hollow Bastion.

Requiem quietly made his way into downtown area of Aismon. The skies overhead were a reddish brown hue- the color they always were. Requiem stuck to the shadows, knowing that if someone saw him they would become immediately suspicious. Mask or not, his head was wanted all over this world and many others for his role in the murders of hundreds of high ranking and popular figures.

He slowly crept down alleys, watching as civilians walked by, unaware of his presence. Seeing that very few people were out, Requiem began to relax. It cost him dearly.

His feet knocked into a stray can on the street. The loud crunch that followed made one man turn his head. And that one man saw the mask.

"Requiem!" the elderly man screamed. "It's Requiem!"

Seeing no other alternative, the assassin leapt forward and grabbed the screaming man. With little effort, he drew the claymore strapped to his back and plunged into the man's leg. The bewildered man screamed in agony. Requiem wiped the blood off on his trench coat, dying it a darker shade of red.

"I'm sorry, sir. May they find you and save your life."

But it was of no use. The shocked man had died of a heart attack. Requiem, feeling a bit of remorse, summoned the other tool he used most. His ocarina.

He stood beside the dead body and put the ivory and ebony instrument and played a lilting song. It almost spoke of a sad poem or a tragic epic. This song was his namesake. It was a requiem.

After a minute or two, footsteps overpowered the melancholy melody. Requiem looked around himself for an exit. A small door in a fence looked to be his only way out. And he took it.

The two police officers rounded the corner and found an elderly man who had died of a heart attack. Blood lay in a pool around his leg. But this wasn't the most astonishing part. They knew that the killer had stuck around to play a requiem for the departed. Only one person came to mind.

-18-

The Quest is Set

Up in the sitting room of the Celestial Convent, Dirst was sitting back, still listening to all that Fury had said. The boy realized that Nire was half listening to his conversation, but still Dirst listened as the white-haired man related his story. Although he sounded older, Fury only looked to be around twenty or twenty-five; his voice didn't sound much older. By all rights, Riku should have been older than Sora. But that was not the case…

Screams echoed throughout the entire building. The three in the room each nearly had a heart attack, plus the additional shock that came with the cacophony of steps as some of the other elders of the Convent came rushing down the steps followed by students. Dirst and Nire hurried out of the room, but Fury nonchalantly walked towards the source of the disturbance. He wasn't so sure he wanted to see what had happened. His most irrational fears were slowly turning into very realistic nightmares. Hundreds of people crowded the steps to get down the Main Hall. Fury slowly passed through the crowd which had opened up to let him through. The mass of people was clustered around the door to the Elder's Dining room. Now there was little doubt in Fury's mind of what had occurred. Still, there was stubborn hope clinging tightly to his heart that the imagined scene would not be there. Once he entered, hope quickly lost its grip and fell into a well of despair.

The blood on the table. The dead man on the floor. The bullet wounds. The limp keychain clutched in Sora's hand. All of it was straight from Fury's worst fears. It was as if some magic had twisted his reality to be everything he feared. Fury desperately wished to wake up or to find some semblance of this scene being false. But deep down, Fury knew that none of it was false; he knew that his denial was a futile shield. Soon enough, these thoughts came to the surface, and Fury did something very uncharacteristic of him.

He cried.

His heart was not that of Fury, the stoic and rough enforcer of light. He was once again Riku, Sora's best friend. He wept knowing that he was the last one of them all. Sora, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Mickey: they were all gone. Riku was the only one left, and he knew that it would only be a matter of time until his own demise came. Not from age, but from the treacherous forces that resided somewhere. Riku didn't need to investigate. He knew that Helios, the albino demon, was behind this murder.

Riku fell to his knees, his bangs covering his eyes. Tears rolled down his cheeks and onto the blood soaked robe that Sora wore. He reached out and grabbed the Kingdom Key's keychain. The other elders in the room quietly prayed. An endless hiss of whispers echoed throughout the massed keybearers. Harmony, who was clutching one of the elder's arms, quietly sobbed. The scene: it was all so familiar. Nire, knowing what had happened from the whispers of the crowd, silently prayed for Sora's soul. Sora had been a surrogate father to the bionic boy; once again, Nire was an orphan.

Dirst sat on the stairway in the back of the room. He had never felt any loss in his life. His father had never been there, his mother had sent him off to the Celestial Convent to become a great keybearer. Dirst now felt the icy chill that was the realization of mortality. He solemnly stood up and watched the crowd slowly begin to dissipate and head back to their rooms. Dirst simply stood there as the mass of keybearers moved past him. He was lost in thought, and they moved by as if Dirst was a ghost.

After the majority of the mob had moved by, Dirst slowly headed down the steps and towards the Elder's Dining room. He entered unnoticed by Fury. The elders looked at him, then motioned for him to join them. He obliged and headed over. He heard the sounds of the hydraulic pumps in Nire's legs enter the doorway. The cyborg joined Dirst and Harmony with the elders. All three keybearers watched as Fury slowly rose up from the floor, his eyes red from crying. He looked at the three. Each wore their keychains as necklaces. Dirst's was the symbol of Yin, Nire's was that of a thorn, and Harmony's that or a sand dune. Each had stayed around to show their kindness of heart. Three: only three actually wanted to share their condolences.

"Leadbearers," Fury said calmly. The three teens were shocked to hear themselves referred to as Leadbearers. Nevertheless, the three met the man's stare.

"As keybearer in Sora's stead-," Fury said, his voice starting to tremble at the end. "I grant you the title of leadbearers. Also, I charge you with your first task to rid the worlds of evil. I ask you to avenge the death of Elder Sora and defeat the man known as Helios and his team of miscreants. I ask you to destroy them all and show them the same amount of mercy that they showed to Sora, your families, and you homes."

They all got the message. No mercy to this Helios guy and his crew.

"You will set out from here to begin your quest tomorrow at-." Fury paused to look at his watch, a slim piece with a digital and analog reading. "Tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. I will accompany you to get near Helios."

"Fury, where are-," Harmony began, interrupted by the man in the middle.

"Please. Call me Riku."

Harmony nodded then began again. "Riku, where are we going?"

"We'll follow Helios's trail through the worlds until we end up at his base. Then, we avenge all those who have been wronged by Helios. We'll settle the score with him. He'll go down… or we will."

-19-

Hopes Dashed

Twilight fell upon the world of Willow Castle. The last rays of sunlight poured onto the decrepit ruin in purples, golds, and reds. The large heart-shaped window in the center of the main castle building refracted the light and turned it pink like the window. Everyone under Helios's command was at work doing something. Iod was putting the finishing touches on the base for the coliseum where Helios's Cirque du Mort would be held. Tryllya, Jors, Qell-Hadr, and Sidrix were all training in the dungeon levels of Willow Castle. Treble was attending Helios as he sat around and did nothing.

"Treble," Helios said. "I have a feeling that our oasis of evil is being encroached upon. Send a patrol downstairs to root out the newcomers."

"How do you know if anyone's down there?" Treble asked. He added a quick sir when he saw Helios's malicious glare.

"Because I have…senses that tell me these things." Helios glared at Treble.

"I'll send a patrol down."

"You'll be with them," Helios commanded. "I have a feeling that my Heartless won't stop these people. Whoever they are…"

And with that, Treble left the room. Once outside, he watched as there as ten balls of darkness appeared. Two of them turned into Battleship heartless, two changed into Defender heartless, two changed into Green Requiem, and four turned into Soldier heartless. Ten puddles formed on the floor, and from those rose Shadow heartless. Satisfied with the group, Treble led them down to his room in the castle. From there, he picked up the Gattling gun he used for a weapon. Then they all headed down to the dungeon levels. Treble passed by as Tryllya and Jors sparred, while Sidrix faced Qell-Hadr in a magic fight. Sidrix used his power of the moon; Qell-Hadr, prince of Yornzo, used his mastery of summoning. Treble briefly forgot his task as he watched Qell-Hadr summon a giant beast that Treble knew was a Hydra. Although amazed, Treble kept going with the twenty heartless following behind.

Soon enough, they reached the lowest level of Willow Castle. To Treble's amazement, it was a large spacious room with towering ceilings. In the center was a pillar that extended about three feet off of the floor. Imbedded in its surface was a keyhole. Treble was unsure of what this meant, but he didn't have time to wonder. For on one side of the room, an indigo-colored portal was opening.

Trisn had not had a very comfortable sleep. Lying on his back on the strange obsidian ground that covered The Void had was definitely not something he enjoyed doing. What the teen did enjoy was his freedom. He was able to do what he wanted, and no one (other than the 'Iliad Squad') would care. But all the freedom in the world couldn't make the ground any more comfortable.

Now, it was time to go. Nestor had woken up Laocoon and Ajax to tell them of their plans. The Voidrunner agreed heartily, but Laocoon was less eager to let Trisn into the group. Especially after the beating Trisn had given him. Laocoon's pride had been damaged once; twice was unbearable. But he had to suck it up and deal with it.

Nestor began the briefing. "Today, we set out to find the evil man known as Helios. We go to destroy him and all trace of him so that everyone will be spared of his demonic ways. Now, we will utilize the power of the Nexus Stone to easily find where Helios is, and when we get there we will try to remain concealed. The first chance we get, we strike. We'll think of how closer to the confrontation. Any questions."

Laocoon nodded. "How the hell are we supposed to pull this off?"

Nestor took this as a blow to his ego. "Well, we follow the plan." Being Mr. Obvious didn't quite suit Nestor, but he played the role anyway.

"The plan's not much to go by. It's haphazard at best."

"Look, if you have anything better, we'll go by yours. If you don't, then stop bashing the plan and let's get going!"

With that, Nestor walked away. Trisn, who was standing by Laocoon, leaned towards the bulky Void-man.

"I have to agree with you there. Nestor's plan is pretty bad."

Laocoon didn't say anything, but a faint grin grew on his face. Maybe this kid wasn't so bad after all. And with that, the rest followed Nestor. After about thirty minutes of walking, the four reached the enormous white Keyhole that led out of The Void. Nestor boldly walked into it and was lost from sight. Trisn was afraid something had happened to the knight, but then he heard his voice exclaim, "Helios!" Suddenly, an invisible tornado sucked Trisn, Ajax, and Laocoon into the keyhole.

Treble watched as the portal grew larger and larger until it was big enough for an elephant to walk through. How Helios knew that somebody was actual coming to Willow Castle was beyond him, but apparently Helios was right. Soon enough, Four figures materialized out of the portal. One of them was a Voidrunner- Treble had seen one when during his days as a bounty hunter. The next was a Voidrunner human mix: a Void-man of myth. Then there was the man in black armor with Voidrunner bones lining the plating. And lastly there was a youth wearing a black jumpsuit with three diagonal grey strips running across it. His hair was red as blood, and his face had a scar running across it, as if he had been whipped across the face. In his hands was a strange weapon, and because of Sidrix, Treble knew that the weapon was a keyblade. Treble also knew who this kid was from Helios's description: Trisn.

"How'd you get out of the Void?" Treble asked.

Trisn smiled. "Thanks to Dark Side here, I'm free to make you pay." He said this while lifting his keyblade and surveying the room and the patrol of heartless. Then he made his move.

He lunged forward and struck one of the Shadow heartless. It immediately evaporated and released a heart. Then he moved on to one of the Battleship heartless. Wary of the attack by this time, it fired one of its cannons at the teen. Trisn managed to deflect the blow and inflict a string of blows on the Heartless. By this time, the three others had joined in the fight. Laocoon had quickly taken care of the Shadow heartless, dispatching them with a quick jab with his powerful fists. Nestor drew his claymore and went to work on the Defender Heartless. Ajax swiped at the Green Requiem, realizing that their healing powers were a definite hindrance to the battle. Treble, untouched by the battle so far, opened fire on the four. His aim missed at first, but it quickly found his target.

Trisn yelled as a bullet went into his thigh.

The teen fell on the ground and dropped his keyblade. At this point, the battle stopped. Treble walked over and leaned over Trisn.

"I could kill you right now. But you know that. So I'll throw in a twist. Some doctors will get you fixed up and then you'll see Helios. Capiche?"

Trisn groaned. "I'd rather you shot me now. I'm not going to flinch. I don't care. And no one else will care for that matter. I'm a Reflection- unwanted by all. So go ahead. Kill me. Just know that you're killing half of someone else; perhaps it's someone you care about."

Treble laughed. "Seeing as it would be torture to keep you alive, I'll do just that. Oh, and by the way, I don't care about anyone."

With that, Treble knocked Trisn unconscious. The Soldier heartless took Nestor and Ajax away, while a Defender that was still left led Laocoon. Treble lifted up Trisn's limp body and took it away. Soon enough, these four intruders would be in front of Helios, and then their lives would be subject to the merciless whims of Helios's cruel personality. Treble smiled.

It was times like these that he actually liked his boss.

-20-

Blast Away!

Birds chirped outside in the courtyard of the Celestial Convent. The morning was issued in with the tolling of the carillon. Dirst slowly opened his eyes, letting his pupils adjust to the incoming light that flooded his vision. He pulled himself up and stretched. The perfect morning was almost surreal. Dirst knew that it didn't fit the day's agenda. In around half an hour he would be leaving this place that had been his home since he was seven. Eight years had made this monolithic stone structure into a peaceful reprieve of light. Now he had to leave.

Might as well grin and bear it.

Nire awoke to the same wonderful sounds and sights as Dirst. However, everything Nire saw was turned some shade of blue due to the mask in front of his face. Nire knew he had a personal vendetta against Helios. An albino with a mean streak a mile wide and a rapier of flames: no one else could have fit the description. The sixteen year old unplugged his body from the cable that charged it and walked out of the room. Today he would start on a journey of vengeance. For himself. For Sora. For his parents.

He felt tears come to his eyes when he remembered their smiling faces. Helios would definitely pay.

Harmony hadn't slept a wink. Anticipation of the upcoming journey had kept her up. She wanted to tell all of her friends, but she knew that this was not to be. Fear of the unknown filled her mind. Lastly, she was uncertain of her abilities as a keybearer. She was sixteen like Nire, but she wasn't much of a fighter. She always tried to please people. However, something in the words of Riku had spurred an emotion she very rarely felt.

Anger.

Harmony realized that Helios was a pure evil. She felt the pain of a thousand people. But most of all, she came to a very solemn conclusion. Helios had murdered her mother and brother. Harmony often wished that Balian were here to comfort her. He wasn't like most brothers. He understood and helped.

She sighed. Nostalgia wasn't helping right now. The desire for all that is lost would have to be put on hold.

The three lead-bearers eventually made their way down to the main gates. One by one they filed out into the courtyard. Riku was now black gloves, black shoes, and a black cloak. In around his eyes was tied a bandana.

"What's with the Goth motif?" Dirst asked.

Riku gave him a blank stare. "Black happens to be the color of mourners. Also, last time I wore this I was on a mission for light. Now, I am once again on such a mission. But enough talk. Are we ready to go?"

The three teens nodded. Riku gave a faint smile. "Show me the keys."

Dirst was first. He pulled out his keychain, and it immediately materialized into Light Side. Nire pulled his out next, and it turned into Cosmic Thorn. Lastly, Harmony confidently held out her keychain which changed into Sands of Time. Satisfied, Riku thrust forward Way to the Dawn. Everyone put their keyblade in the center of the group. All the tips touched, and when this occurred a blinding light engulfed the courtyard. When it subsided, and everyone could see again (besides Riku), they noticed that in the middle of the high wall surrounding the courtyard there was a keyhole. Surprised, the three teens walked forward to examine it. With the magic of the keyblade, the wall had seamlessly re-formed to make room for the keyhole.

A bright light zipped past them and into the keyhole. It glimmered for a moment, then it closed up. Bewildered, the three looked back at Riku.

"That is what you do when you see a keyhole. Now that we've got this world sealed off from the Heartless, we can continue on our journey. This won't be the only keyhole we'll have to seal, so be on the lookout for them. We not only need to avenge Sora, but we have to save the worlds from the Heartless and Nobodies. It's our duty as keybearers."

Riku was met with blank stares from the teens.

"Uh…,"Dirst began. "What are Heartless and Nobodies?"

Riku shook his head and smiled. "I'll tell you on the way."

"One more question," Nire added. "How are we leaving here to go to other worlds. I don't see any gummi ships around."

Riku smiled once more. "That's where you are wrong." With that, he opened the gates that led outside the confines of the main wall. Sitting outside on a rocky precipice overlooking empty space sat a gummi ship. The cockpit was a large clear orb, and jutting out from there were two wings. Two guns were attached to each wing, and on one there sat a radar-like mechanism. Two large engines were stuck at the back of each gun.

"Off we go," Riku said, and with that everyone climbed into the cockpit. It seated each person comfortably. Riku pulled up a control panel on the clear surface. He pressed a few buttons, and the engines roared to life. He pushed another set of buttons, and the ship took off into the star filled sky. And off they went. Some of the elders looked out their windows and saw them disappear into a twinkle in the sky.

-21-

Station of Destruction

Blinding light seared into Trisn's retinas. How long he had been out he did not know. All he did know that on top of the pain in his eyes, his leg burned from the bullet wound that he had been given by Treble. When his eyes had adjusted to the light, he began to truly assess his situation. He was in some sort of cell. Next to him lay Nestor, Laocoon, and Ajax. All four of them were bound tightly to the wall in shackles. Trisn's feet were able to touch the ground, and his hands had fairly unrestricted movement. Instinctively, he moved to the pocket of his jumpsuit. What he felt in there made him sick. More like the lack of what he felt.

His keychain was missing.

He hurriedly glanced around the room. It didn't take long for him to spot Dark Side's keychain on the wall on a hook. Resting on some pegs next to it lay Nestor's claymore. Thinking quickly, Trisn tried to summon his keyblade. But nothing happened.

"Come on," he muttered to himself. He tried again: still nothing. He kept trying, each time growing more and more frantic. But no matter how hard he tried or wished, nothing happened. Finally, he gave up hope. He rolled his eyes. "It always happens to me."

Seemingly responding to his call, a figure materialized from the shadows on one side of the room. Trisn was momentarily surprised, but then he regained his composure.

"What do you want, Qell?"

Qell-Hadr smiled. "You will address as me as Your Majesty. A prince should not have to spend time in here with trash like you, but my interests are being fulfilled with this. Also, I take pleasure in watching your hopeless attempts at breaking my magical barriers. I have a permanent Reflega spell placed over your pathetic keychain. My magic doesn't only block physical attacks; it blocks mental attempts as well!"

Trisn laughed. "Prince of what? Kingdom Ignorance?"

Qell-Hadr laughed as well, then thrust his fist into Trisn's stomach. Trisn lost his breath and began gasping.

"That ought to teach you to respect royalty. You are a pathetic, worthless nothing. But for some reason, Helios wants you with him."

Trisn was angered. "I'll never join that albino as long as I live!"

Qell-Hadr smiled. "Anyone of us here in this castle can make sure that your wish is fulfilled. Speaking of wishes, Helios wishes for you to come see him." With that, Qell-Hadr shot four fireballs out of his palms. Each split and melted off the shackles. Trisn caught himself when he fell, and he saw that the other three did as well. Good, they were awake. But there was nothing they could do.

Darkness flooded the floor of the room. Qell-Hadr immediately sank in; his face looked like he was reading a good book. Trisn and the others sank with a little less nonchalance.
The darkness flooded their mouths and ears and blotted out their eyes. They were near drowning when they reappeared in a new location.

All around them was pitch black, except for at their feet. Below them was an elaborate stained glass panel. All around were shades of blue, black, and purple. However, there were eleven circles that spiraled around the panel that were bordered green. Each held a picture that resembled the person standing on top of it. The background of each was red. A voice read each name aloud, starting from the outermost of the spiral.

"Ajax, Laocoon, Nestor, Trisn, Qell-Hadr, Jors, Tryllya, Sidrix, Iod, Treble, and Helios. A fine crew we have here."

Trisn recognized the voice as that of Helios, the one person he was here to destroy.

"Before anyone says anything, I'd like to say one thing to Nestor. I told you you'd come back to me one day."

Nestor groaned from the pain in his body, then he lashed out at the un-pigmented demon. "I'll never join your 'fine crew.'"

"Oh, but you will. You see, you have no choice. It's your cooperation, or your lives. Comprende?"

Nestor bottled up his rage for a moment.

"Now that we've got the terms straight, we'll lay out the plan. In two weeks, the Cirque du Mort begins in our newly made coliseum, named… What did you christen it, Iod?"

"Simply Mechano Coliseum, sir."

Helios smiled. "Mechano Coliseum. So, when the games begin we will have 32 competitors. Three of these will include the newest keybearers. So, our plan is to compete!"

Sidrix was still critical of the plan as before. "We just compete. That plan is haphazard at best."

Helios laughed. "Don't worry, the details are worked out. If we must, I can always make some Heartless competitors to play in the games. So now, we wait one fortnight until the Cirque du Mort begin and our domination of the worlds begin. Meeting adjourned."

With that, every single person was swallowed in a wave of light that transported them back to Willow Castle. Trisn was left in his own personal room, thinking out what he had just heard.

"Fighting for Helios? That isn't going to work," he said to himself. Then he thought. "Wait. It just might..."

-22-

Target in Range

The sun was gone as Requiem slowly crept through the back alleys of the city. He cursed his rash actions. He should have known that an elderly man would have died of shock long before his leg wound would have bled him dry. And now, because the police man knew that the murderer was Requiem, they would be hot on his trail with a force of bloodhounds and crime scene investigators. However, Requiem wasn't worrying. Well, at least not yet.

He had a chance to make this all go away.

Requiem knew he just had to make it to the Door. When he reached it and was safely behind it, all of his troubles here in the Tenth Dimension would be non-existent. But it was just a matter of getting to the Door.

Lost in his thoughts, Requiem didn't hear the sound of footsteps until they were right behind him. He turned just in time to see an armed S.W.A.T. team officer lunge at him. Requiem ducked out of the way, drew his claymore, and ran the man through the chest.

"Sorry, sir, but I have a mission," Requiem said to the guard. The only response was a gurgling sound as the guard's blood rose up into his mouth. Realizing the threat of a shootout, Requiem pushed himself down on the ground and crawled behind the corner of a building. The ground where he had once been was pelted with an RPG missile. Debris and fire rained down.

"Apparently you mean business," Requiem shouted to a S.W.A.T. team member he knew was near.

"Aye, Requiem. We're here for your head."

"Well, you're not the only one who can make a fireworks show!" With that, Requiem pushed his finger into his palm. The torrential downpour began, followed by the falling flaming rocks. The powerful attack caught the S.W.A.T. team unawares, and each member there was taken out by the attack. Requiem sighed. So much for a quiet escape.

Knowing that caution would do him no good, the Reflection assassin ran through the city towards the central Fallax Museum. Requiem knew that the Door was hidden inside somewhere. There was one small problem though: he had no idea where it was. The Door was invisible to reflections, for they were supposed to stay in the Tenth Dimension. Only outsiders could see it.

Requiem saw the large dome-topped building rise in the distance. Somewhere inside resided his freedom. With each passing second, the Fallax Museum rose up taller and taller until Requiem, tired and out of breath, reached its doors. They were locked, but that didn't matter. He punched through the glass and heard the loud wail of the alarms. He crawled through the makeshift entrance and began frantically searching for somewhere the Door might be. He checked each hall, each with its own special exhibits and themes.

After around five minutes of spot-searching, Requiem stumbled upon a large open area. He examined it and found it to be a large hole. From the underground levels to above was one giant cylinder of nothing in this spot. Requiem suddenly realized that the Door had to be here. He reached the railing and stepped over cautiously. He placed one foot on the edge and he put another out into open space. It slowly came down until Requiem felt a hard surface, totally invisible to the eye. Requiem smiled. He then put his other foot forward and walked out onto the invisible platform. When he got to the center of the 'empty' area, he felt around and found the Door. He found the knob, and when he touched it the Door materialized. It was in the shape of a Reflection symbol, only the empty space at the bottom was filled in by a door. Requiem heard the tramping of footsteps behind him and quickly dashed through the door. Finally, he was free.

Now came the mission.
()(Open Ocean)()
Requiem found himself in the middle of an empty island. For miles all around was open ocean. He smiled.

"The city's true self. How appropriate."

However, his mind wandered elsewhere at the sight of four distinct figures on the horizon. Three of them were teens, but the one in the middle was looked two be in his twenties. Requiem recognized the silvery hairstyle immediately. It was Fury.

This was going to be a quick job.

-23-

The Arena is Set

The gummi ship sped trudged ever farther into space. Nire intently gazed out at the various stars and other cosmic anomalies. Harmony was thinking about the future and what lay in store for the four that were in the gummi ship at the moment. Dirst was totally bored. Normally, he could tell jokes to people, run around, or train, but the gummi ship offered no such comforts. He sighed. This was going to be a long trip.

Riku turned to look at the three teens. "We're nearing a new world. We'll stop here to stretch our legs and find out which way Helios is."

Nire nodded, Dirst yawned, and Harmony, still wrapped up in her own thoughts, paid no attention whatsoever. Riku turned back to pay attention to his flying. Nire, who was staring out of the cockpit, saw the upcoming world.

"It looks like it's nothing but an island. No buildings, no people, nothing. Just one island in an endless sea."

"We can't lose hope yet," Riku said, still staring straight ahead. "There's bound to be someone here. Even if there's not, we can still search for a keyhole to seal."

Nire nodded, Dirst yawned, and Harmony still did nothing. Riku didn't turn to look at them, but he simply smiled. The four of them made an unlikely team, but they would pull through. At least, he hoped they would.

The gummi ship landed on the shore of the island. The cockpit opened, and the four keybearers climbed out and onto the sandy beach. Dirst yawned once more and stretched. Harmony silently walked around to get her blood pumping once more, and Riku did the same. Nire simply stood there, for his android body did not need any sort of movement to become active again. After everyone felt reasonably fit to move on around the world, Riku addressed them.

"Right now, we are on a world known as Open Ocean-."

"I wonder where they got that name?" Dirst interrupted with sarcasm.

Riku glared at him, then continued. "So, right now, we're searching for a) a living person that can help us and b) the keyhole to this world. I would suggest we split up, but I sense that trouble is a foot and that we should go together on this search. So, let's get going!"

The teens obeyed, and the four headed off in the direction that the gummi ships nose was pointing toward. The size the island had seemed from the gummi ship was correct; Riku surmised that it must have been about the size of the smallest of the Destiny Islands. The thought of his home world made him glad at first, but of course it brought back memories of Sora and Kairi. His nostalgia soon went gloomy, and he tried to snap back to reality. However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't put their deaths out of his mind. He sighed, then focused his attention ahead. The timing was almost perfect.

Ahead on the horizon was a figure. Riku saw the red trenchcoat, the black shirt and pants, and the long black hair. And the scars that ran across his face. Riku froze up for a moment as he recognized the description. The other figure stopped for a moment with the same sensation of recognition. Riku knew that this guy was here for one reason.

Riku's life.

"Lead-bearers, hold tight. We've got an enemy up ahead."

"Is it one of those Heartless or Nobodies that you have yet to describe?" Dirst asked.

"Your quips are becoming rather annoying, and I don't need them," Riku snapped. "In response to your question, no. This is far worse than a Heartless or Nobody."

Dirst turned and looked ahead at the figure. As they approached him, Dirst saw clearly that he was around sixteen or seventeen. He also saw the malicious smirk that was on his face. Definite trouble was coming up.

"Hello, Fury," the figure said.

"Hello, Requiem."

"Requiem? Who is this guy?" Harmony asked Riku.

"He's an assassin. And a good one at that. So, I'd appreciate it if you stayed out of the way while I take him on."

"No, we have to fight!" Dirst exclaimed.

"No!" Riku responded. "You have to find Helios. I can't allow you to get killed here. You stay back!"

Dirst tried to stand fast, but Requiem interrupted. "What's the matter? Too scared to face me? That's not what I've heard about Fury!" Requiem reached into his trenchcoat and pulled out his mask. He placed it on his face, then he stuck his arm out so that it pointed to the sea. In response, the waters began to churn. The lapping surf quickly grew into larger whitecaps as a large whale-like creature emerged from the ocean.

Riku looked at Dirst. "That is a Heartless out there." He then turned to face the others. "I need you to destroy that Heartless while I take on Requiem. Got it?"

The teens nodded, then headed out towards the whale heartless. Dirst stared up at the massive bulk and noticed a strange emblem on the whale's forehead. The eyes, instead of pupils, had giant spirals. The mouth had strange teeth and was colored light green. Along its back were several large spikes, and the tail fin looked like a giant axe-blade.

"Interesting," Nire said.

Dirst looked at him. "Bit of an understatement, isn't it?"

-24-

The Legend of the Nexus Stone

Treble walked into Helios's chambers. The sun was setting, signaling only twelve more days until the Cirque du Mort began. However, Treble had no desire for serving his master at this point. He wanted answers.

"Answers to what?" Treble thought. Then he laughed at the simplicity of his question and its answer. "Answers to everything."

The albino, who was reading a novel, didn't glance up at Treble but acknowledged his presence with a nod.

"What have you come for, Treble?" Helios began. "I didn't call you, you have nothing to report, and you aren't reporting any resistance from that Trisn kid. So, why did you interrupt my perfectly good book to come up here?" To punctuate his sentence, he slammed the hardbound novel shut. Treble merely glared at Helios.

"I came here for an explanation."

"An explanation of what?" Helios pried.

"The Nexus Stone."

The sadistic albino smiled. "Aha, so you've finally come back to that. We left that subject a while ago. I suspected that you had forgotten."

"You had no such luck, Helios." Treble smirked at Helios.

"Very well. So, where to begin with the legendary Nexus Stone..."

"Try the beginning."

Helios laughed. "Your bluntness is exactly what I need. You want the beginning, so we'll start there.

"In the beginning, when all worlds came into existence and the subsequent life came to be, the Nexus Stone was forged to help keep order in the worlds. Through its powers, the worlds could be connected and a never ending flow of heart energy could circulate through every world. This time, long, long ago, was a time of peace and immeasurable prosperity. Everything that was was fine, until the day that darkness came into being.

"The first Heartless, the true Heartless, were brought forth out of the growing corruption that was growing in the era after the Golden Age of Beginning. Soon enough, the darkness had swallowed more hearts. However, nothing was done until the world known as Phoenix fell to the darkness. It was destroyed and turned into a heartless, a dark desolate forsaken land now known as Apocalypse. After the destruction of this world, the king of all worlds, Ezana, took it upon himself to create the law that all worlds must now abide by: stay separate to stay safe. For a time, the Heartless threat was downplayed. However, the Nexus Stone was lost in this transition, and it lay hidden in a forgotten world for many years

"Then, not too terribly long ago, Ansem the Wise began experimenting with the darkness in hearts and the hearts of worlds. Through these experiments, he managed to create the Emblem heartless and the first recorded Nobodies. These new Heartless found a way to tap into the forgotten connections between worlds and circulate once more. The new Heartless plague was ten times worse than the old one, and many more worlds succumbed to the darkness. However, the chosen wielder of the Keyblade set out to stop the evil and succeeded in this. During the Keybearer's time, the worlds were reconnected, and the Nexus Stone was once again pouring light into the worlds. However, this was only a short reprieve. The worlds closed up again, and things weren't to bad.

"Now, the part of the worlds that the Nexus Stone is connected to is always connected. The ties are never severed. However, the worlds are cut off by a series of nexuses. The nexuses didn't really separate the worlds, just grouped them. For instance, the Void is only accessible through the Nexus of Darkness. Likewise, outside the Void is reachable by the Nexus of Light. Also, there is one world that is only reachable by the Yin-Yang Nexus: the Impenetrable World. Housed inside of the Impenetrable World is the Genesis Fountain and the Genesis Key. This key is the only way to reach the Nexus Stone. Also, there is the Nexus of Nothingness that goes to Eternity Castle. This castle holds the Ragnarok Fountain and the Ragnarok Key. Using the combined elements of the Genesis and Ragnarok keys, one can access the Heart of all worlds. But that's not what we're talking about.

"Anyway, the Genesis Key must be taken into the Void. The holder of said key must travel to the Mystic Port world and take the Ironclad of Lore to the mysterious world known as Lotus Tower. Inside the tower lies a doorway, and the Genesis Key unlocks the doorway. Once behind the door, the Nexus Stone is there.

"As to what the Nexus Stone does other than connect worlds, there is little known. However, it is said that shards chipped off of the stone will make one not age a day if they are injected into the body. However, if one shard can make one almost immortal, what could the whole stone do? That is the mystery that I intend to solve."

Treble stood soaking in all of the information that he had just received. Then a thought dawned on him.

"The Cirque du Mort is a cover. A cover so that you can go to the Lotus Tower and retrieve the Nexus Stone."

"Yes. I intend to lose in the first round, leave Willow Castle, find the Genesis Key, and make my way to Lotus Tower. And I can promise you a free trip with me to glory and power. What say you?"

Treble smiled. "I like the sound of glory and power. Count me in."

-25-

Marine Executioner

Dirst, Nire, and Harmony stared in amazement at the large Heartless whale. They were stunned into submission. That is, until the Heartless made a move.

The giant being opened its mouth, revealing a large, cavernous opening. Then, with all of the strength it could muster, it created a huge gust of wind. The three novice keybearers were taken by surprise and blown into the shallows. The salty seawater brought them to their senses, and when they got up, they were ready for action.

"Okay," Dirst said, taking command. "We have to get rid of this thing."

"Obviously," Harmony retorted.

Dirst was unshaken. "Anyway, we just have to disable it, then go in for the kill. Any questions?"

"Could your plan be any more haphazard?" Nire replied.

Dirst rolled his eyes, then headed out into the deeper water. Nire and Harmony exchanged glances, then followed Dirst in for the battle.

(&&(--)&&)

Seeing that the three youths were ready, Riku decided that he would face Requiem. The masked mercenary drew his claymore while Riku summoned Way to the Dawn.

"I'm going to be paid a pretty large sum for your head, fury," Requiem said as calmly as if they were good friends.

"Too bad you won't get it!" Riku retorted. Without thinking twice, Riku ran forward and made a stab for Requiem's chest. The assassin parried and struck Riku's arm with a glancing blow with the flat of the blade. Riku winced and jumped back.

"Come on. You aren't any sort of threat like Helios said," Requiem teased. Unfazed, Riku struck once again, and Requiem parried again. However, this time, Riku unleashed an Explosion move. The technique took Requiem by surprise, and the mercenary was sent flying backwards. Taking a risk, Riku looked out at the giant Heartless.

/\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\//\\/

Dirst scanned the Heartless for any particular weak points. One presented itself in the eyes of the whale. He motioned to Harmony and Nire to attack the eyes. They understood, and everyone headed to get on the head. On the way to the down the back, the only way onto the whale, the Heartless slapped the three keybearers down with its fins. They were tossed back several feet, but they managed to get back up with resolve. They ran forward and jumped onto the back. As a result, many sharp spines erupted from the Heartless. Nire was struck by one, but the bionic suit protected him from impalement.

The group reassembled, and they headed with utmost care to the head. When they reached the eyes, Dirst motioned for Nire and Harmony to take one while he took the other. They followed, and then they struck.

The whale roared with pain, which shook the island and caused the breakers to rise. Harmony and Nire quickly disabled the whale's right eye, and a little bit after Dirst took out the left. The whale rolled violently, tossing the three off. They landed hard in the water, but only bruises were made.

"Well, now that the eyes are out, what are we going to do?" Harmony asked Dirst.

"We find a new weak spot," Dirst replied.

"And where is that?" Nire asked.

"Well…er…" Dirst stammered. He looked at the whale from head to tail and noticed a strange glowing spot on the tail. Without consulting the others, Dirst ran off to see what it was. Not wishing to miss an opportunity, Harmony and Nire followed closely. They reached it after about twenty seconds of running. Dirst, Harmony, and Nire gazed at the source of the glowing Heartless Emblem. Without wasting any time, Dirst spun his keyblade and slammed it into the Emblem.

The blinded whale once again roared, and once again the entire world shook. Then the Heartless curled into a ball. The axe-like tail fit around the head and the spheres protruded out to make a deadly ball. With visible strain, the Heartless rolled upright and turned to face the three keybearers. Then, it spun towards them.

"Nice going, Mr. Impulsive," Harmony said. Then the three of them ran away, the only strategy available. The rolling Heartless was slowly gaining on them as it skimmed the water. After around ten minutes of the chase, they keybearers began to wear down. Soon enough, so did the whale. The giant Heartless rolled into a circle and uncurled. In an explosion of darkness, it dissipated and released an enormous heart.

Nire stood in the shallows, Harmony fell into the water, and Dirst climbed onto shore, smiling inwardly.

"I say 'Mr. Impulsive' did well!" he thought.

-26-

Traitors in Darkness

Night time had long ago fallen on the world of Willow Castle, blocking out the light like an enormous black blanket over a light bulb. However, all signs of life were not put out in the castle. For there were those still there who needed time to think...

Trisn was tired and frustrated. He was tired of Helios, tired of the castle he was in, and he was tired of being taken the better of by others. Despite the obvious friction between him and the sadistic albino, Trisn had been given a lavish room with a four-post bed, fireplace, tables, a mirror, and a bathroom, all of which were extremely well made. But none of this mattered to him now. He silently cursed his useless thoughts as he tried to plan a way to weasel out of Helios's stupid tournament. So far, none of his thoughts had brought him any thing but more questions. He wished that Nestor, Ajax, or even Laocoon were there with him to help. But that was not the case, and so Trisn began to think out loud.

"Well, I could try to run away from here... No, I don't have a means of transportation... Maybe if I stole a gummi ship... No, that's to obvious. Helios is sure to have it locked down and guarded... I could try to fight in the first round. It's nothing more than an analysis round-."

As Trisn said these last words, he knew that he had struck gold. "Yes! That's it!" he exclaimed, then suddenly realized loud noises were not the best thing during the evening hours. He waited to see if anyone was coming by to investigate the source of the disturbance. After a few minutes of silence, Trisn relaxed and began to think again.

"The first round is going to be an analysis round. No one knows my true fighting skill except for those who are friendly to me. So, if I fight like I'm weak, no one, not even Helios, will notice. And then I can get out in the first round and leave, but not before my vendetta has been fulfilled." Trisn ended with the thought of Helios's slow and painful demise at his own hands. Then another thought entered his mind.

How was he going to tell the others? Nestor and Laocoon had rooms in various levels of the castle, unknown to Trisn, and Ajax was locked up in a cage in the basement that had been hexed by Qell- Hadr. So, after his moment of great triumph, Trisn once again found himself slightly lacking in the planning department. But, as fate would have it, this would not last for long.

"Embrace the power."

Trisn looked around to find the source of the silent voice. He hadn't really heard the words, but more like he had thought them without knowing.

"Who are you?" Trisn asked the voice.

"Embrace the power. Embrace the darkness. With the darkness, all your problems will be answered."

"Who are you?!" Trisn asked again, this time more fervent.

The voice gave no answer, but just repeated the message from before. "Embrace the power. Embrace the darkness. With the darkness, all your problems will be answered. You need only choose your path. But choose wisely, for once you go one way your path never deviates."

Trisn sat and thought about the voice's proposal. Darkness or light. Which should he choose? He puzzled and puzzled until his gaze rested on the keychain he wore on his necklace. Darkside. His mind was made.

"I choose the darkness," he murmured allowed.

"Then the power shall be yours," the voice said. With that, Trisn's hand was automatically moved so that the palm faced the wall and his arm was straight. Suddenly, a portal began to appear. The purple and black swirling mass formed an oval about six or seven feet tall. Trisn looked at it for a moment, and then without thinking walked into the darkness, and into a new destiny.

(())&(())&(())

The top room of Willow Castle reverberated with the laughter of the albino. "It is done," he said, a smile firmly planted on his face.

-27-

The End of Heroes

Riku was pleasantly surprised at the speed with which the trio of young keybearers had disposed of the Marine Executioner. However, he was surprised also with the laugh coming from Requiem, who was now walking over to face Riku again.

"Well, well," the assassin said, his words drenched with confidence. "It looks like your proteges are doing well in their first adventure. Congratulations to you."

Riku scowled at his masked opponent. He knew that Requiem had some tricks up his sleeve, and he also knew that he had played his hand to early. However, he decided to play it cool.

"I didn't train them. Sora trained them, and Sora is the one I am here to avenge. Your master Helios orchestrated his murder. You will pay along with him." With that, the calm faded away and Riku charged forward, keyblade thrust forward.

So be it, Requiem thought. The assassin readied his claymore, and then the two clashed once more. Riku swung to the left, and Requiem parried quickly and jabbed at Riku's stomach. The keybearer jumped back from the blade and threw his keyblade at the assassin. It would have been a chest shot, but the agile Requiem jumped aside just in time so that he was unharmed. With a grunt of frustration, Riku stuck his hand out and his keyblade came back to him.

Then, without warning, a fireball flew at Riku. He tried jumping out of the way, but the magical flame caught Riku's right hand. It was instantly burnt beyond use.

"It's amazing what words can do," Requiem jeered. However, his pleasure was short lived as he saw and was shocked by the look on Riku's face.

A smile.

Despite the deep pain and sting that the fire brought on, Riku managed to be somewhat optimistic. "A Firagun spell, a step up from Firaga. Never seen one before." Riku then looked at his blackened hand. "I guess I'll just have to go lefty."

Still a bit shocked, Requiem didn't expect Riku's flash swing. The keyblade gouged into the assassin's left arm, and blood spurted out of the wound. The fabric of Requiem's trenchcoat turned even deeper red. However, instead of disabling the assassin, it gave him an extra boost. With his right hand, he swung the claymore and caught Riku across the chest, though only a small blow. Blood oozed from the small cut, and the keybearer once again smiled.

This was going to be a good fight.

()-----()-----()
The trio of young keybearer's began to make their way up to the beach. Aside from a few bruises (or dents, for Nire), they were basically unharmed. They stopped for a moment to dry off, but soon the adrenaline from fighting wore off and they remembered about Riku. They sprinted off to help their older comrade fend off Requiem's attacks.

They found them about 100 yards away, swinging at each other with mad ferocity. Sparks flew from the blades as they crashed into each other. One of Requiem's swings, however, managed to cut into Riku's side. He grunted and fell to the ground in pain.

"Riku!!!" Harmony screamed. She ran forward to help him, and Dirst and Nire followed after her.

Requiem paused for a moment, watching the form of the man he was attacking. "Riku?" he said. "That's your real name? Riku?! You're the one who was the dark keybearer. You were with Sora during the Heartless plague..." Then he paused for a moment, gathering his last words carefully. "You're the one who killed my father."

Riku looked up at the masked assassin. "You. You're-." He was interrupted by a deep nagging pain in his side.

Requiem looked over at the coming keybearers, and he pushed his arm out. A magical, invisible barrier was formed, only shown by a bright flash of fuschia light. Harmony paused for a moment and felt the wall that had just appeared, and so did Dirst and Nire. They leaned against it, peering inside at the tragedy that was unfolding.

After the pain had subsided, Riku managed to look back up at Requiem. " You're Argon's son?"

Requiem nodded, then responded. "You murdered my father in cold blood. He was just heading to his office when you assassinated him-."

"Ironic that you became an assassin after that," Riku interrupted, a small grin placed upon his weary face. However, Requiem was not so amused by this, and he dealt Riku a kick to the stomach. The resulting pressure made more blood pour from the gash in his side.

"He did nothing wrong. And so, I shall destroy you who has destroyed my father." With that, Requiem stepped away from Riku. He drew a circle in the sand with his finger and then pushed his palm down in it.

The once blue skies turned red and the clouds turned black. A heavy rain fell upon the small island world, and soon flaming boulders fell from the sky. The three teens backed away from the wall as they saw that the heavy rocks were coming for them. Then they looked at Riku. He gave them a look of calm.

"Remember: Don't give up your quest. You must avenge Sora's death, my death, and all of the lives lost due to Helios's influence. Stay strong and stay together, for if you split you may fall."

After he finished speaking, Riku looked up at the crimson sky and charcoal clouds that poured down death and destruction. He stared up, not paying attention to the coming doom, and he spoke his final words.

"I'm coming, Sora and Kairi."

()-----()-----()
Dirst, Nire, and Harmony watched in horror as a mountain of boulders fell upon Riku. They felt sick to their stomachs knowing that he had died before their eyes, but they were even more depressed by the fact that they were powerless to help. As the skies cleared back into a crisp blue that reflected the ocean's color, Dirst stared out at the figure of Requiem, who was staring intently at the pile of boulders that marked the tomb of a hero. Dirst was about to explode with rage and go after him, but then he watched as Requiem removed his mask, revealing the scarred face and black hair of the teen assassin. Dirst also watched as Requiem removed a small object from his pocket.

An ocarina.

The assassin began to play a soft, sad, haunting melody that made the air fill with melancholy. The song roused Harmony and Nire from thought, and all three silently watched the killer of their friend as he played. All Harmony was moved to tears by the events of today and the sad song. Nire silently stood, his mind lost in the melody and his memories. Dirst stood still, staring at Riku's tomb and remembering the day long ago when he had seen this man destroy hundreds of heartless with one flash of light. Where had that power been in this fight?, he thought. And then, he turned to look at Requiem, who was just finishing the macabre tune. As the Assassin put the pipe away, his eyes met Dirst's. Then the assassin summoned a portal and was gone.

Dirst once again looked at the rocks that covered Riku's body. And then he made his vendetta.

I swear, by the blood in my veins and the light in my heart, I will destroy the evil in this universe. I will not rest until I find the fiends Helios and Requiem and make sure they are dead.

-28-

Flying Lessons

Dawn came to Willow Castle in a myriad of inviting yellows, warm reds, and enigmatic purples. Helios stood in the Grand Hall which was off of the foyer. The dust covered stones in the hall added to the empty feeling the decrepid ruin emanated with naturally. Wrought iron chandeliers were adorned with various creatures, and on the walls hung tapestries depicting the ancient times. The albino smiled as he looked at the room. Soon enough, this place would make a stunning base to command the worlds controlled by the Nexus Stone.

A sudden knock came from the large oak door that led back out into the foyer. Once splendid and majestic, it was rotting out and the bolts and hinges had long ago rusted over. Helios walked over to the door and looked out to see Treble standing outside. Helios let his servant inside of the hall.

"What brings you here, Treble?"

"I was wondering how you were going to pull off your first round fiasco."

Helios smiled. "That is simple. You'll face me."

Treble was slightly taken aback. "What? You want me to face you in the tournament, first round?"

"That is the plan here. You are a powerful person, and when the Keybearers make their way here, they will have no idea of any of our fighting capabilities. So, you'll just beat me and I'll go easy. Simple, eh?"

Treble nodded in agreement. Almost in sync with the gesture, a black portal opened in the doorway. Treble studied the figure that walked out of it: black hair, scarred face, red coat, and a stern gaze.

"Ah, Requiem. I trust that you were successful in your venture."

Requiem nodded with obvious difficulty. Treble watched as the highly notorious assassin stumbled and fell to the ground. Only then did it become apparent the extent of the battle.

"Riku was an equal opponent, was he not?" Helios nonchalantly asked. "Anyway, I'll make sure you have a place in the castle to rest and heal. Treble, please escort him out."

Treble bent down and picked up the teen assassin, putting him over his shoulder with about as much care as he'd been a laundry bag.

Requiem looked at Helios as Treble carried him away. "You knew what he did. You knew he was the one all along."

Helios laughed. "What can I say? It's a gift!"

(--)

Dirst, Harmony, and Nire were still shaken as the sat on the beach of Open Ocean. Each was lost in their thoughts and the mesmerizing crash of the surf. Harmony was still sobbing softly, and Dirst clenched his fists in bottled up rage. Nire was tired of the whole thing.

"We have to get going. "

Dirst looked at him. "What do you mean? We have no idea what were doing, we don't know where to go, and we don't know how to get to the place we don't know!" Dirst's words became so passionate that by the end of his sentence, he was standing and yelling.

Nire responded with equal fervor. "Come on! You heard what Riku's last wishes were. We have to stop Helios and we have to stay together. Arguing will do nothing but bog us down."

Harmony nodded. "He's right."

Dirst sighed. "I'm sorry, guys. I'm just frustrated with this whole thing. I mean, I know we have to leave, it's just that we don't know how to pilot the Gummi ship thing, and we don't know where Helios is or where Requiem is-." Dirst was interrupted by Harmony.

"You know, they're probably both together. Requiem and Helios. So if we find one, we'll find the other."

"Harmony's right," Nire said. "Anyway, we have to try to get out of here and on the right track. And that means we have to try to get the Gummi ship running and off of this world."

"Okay, "Dirst agreed. "Then let's do it."

All three of them walked away from the hill of boulders that marked Riku's tomb and back towards the Gummi ship. Dirst turned back for one last look.

"I made a promise," he thought. "And I intend to keep it."

After around five minutes, they found the spot where the Gummi ship had landed. They all looked at the craft that would take them into space and towards their destiny. Then a thought hit Harmony.

"The keyhole."

"What?" Dirst asked.

"The keyhole. Remember at the Celestial Convent? Riku sealed the keyhole their so that the Heartless things couldn't get to it. He said that whenever we go to a world, we should have to seal a keyhole."

Nire turned from the ship to face Harmony. "Look, we don't have time. If we don't leave soon, it won't matter what happens because Helios may do something big. Besides, this world is uninhabited. The Heartless can have it as far as I'm concerned."

With defeat written on her facial expression, Harmony nodded, then climbed into the Gummi ship. Dirst followed, and then Nire came last. Dirst and Nire took the job of trying to fly it, while Harmony was going to navigate once they got off the world. But that would all come down toif they got off of the world.

"Okay, let's look for any wording on the console," Dirst put forward. Both boys began to search the ship for anything that would lead to how to drive the ship. Dirst found the steering wheel, and Nire found a button marked ignition. Without thinking, the bionic teen pressed the button. Instantly, lights flashed on the console, and the engines roared to life. Dirst looked at the steering wheel and pushed it. The gummi ship began to press down to the ground. Harmony grabbed one of his arms and pulled back. The ship began to rise some.

"Okay. So, push to land, pull to fly," Dirst said. "Turn to steer... how about acceleration?"

Nire pointed to glowing pads on the floor. One emanated a green aura, while the other one was red in color.

"I'm guessing green is accel, red is brake."

"Okay. So, I guess we're ready to fly!" Dirst exclaimed. With that, he pulled back on the steering wheel, and the Gummi ship rose up into the sky in response. Then he pressed down on the glowi9ng green pad, and the ship began to move forward. Dirst slowly watched as the island on Open Ocean slowly shrank until it was invisible. He also watched as the mound of black stones evaporated as they flew upward and away.

After watching the world disappear, Dirst turned back to look out before him. The emptiness of space shimmered with stars and other celestial objects. At this time, a screen lit up on the console. On it was what seemed to be some sort of a map of the cosmos. Their position was denoted by a red flashing dot flying away from a blue circle. Various other blue circles dotted the small screen.

Harmony, as resident navigator, studied the map and looked at the blue circles and noticed that they each had letters on them. They were leaving O.O. on the map. On the 'north' side of the map was a circle marked C.C., and close to them on the 'east' side of it was one marked V.C. Harmony instantly knew what it was. She pressed down on the blue circle marked V.C., and in response a full scale model of the world appeared as a hologram. A bustling metropolis materialized, and around it was a large ring with several small objects zipping around it.

Harmony looked to Dirst. "Let's go here."

Dirst looked to Nire. Nire, seeing the hologram of the world on the map marked as V.C., nodded in response. Dirst turned to face outward.

"Alright. V.C. it is."

Harmony sighed. "Yes. Finally I get to go... home."

-29-

The Beginnings of a Dark Keybearer

Ajax shuddered as a drop of water fell onto his head. The Voidrunner was still stuck in the dungeon of Willow Castle, waiting for someone to bring him some sustenance or company. Either would have done him a world of good. The only person he had seen since their capture was Qell-Hadr, and all that the arrogant summoner did was mock the creature and imprison it in a small, invisible cage. At first, Ajax had resisted and had tried to beat his way out with his whip like arms. All this did was make the Voidrunner extremely tired.

Despite his seemingly hopeless situation, Ajax still clung to some hope that he would be rescued in the near future. He didn't realize how soon his hopes would be realized.

As the rays of morning light filtered through his jail cell, Ajax was brought out of his thoughts by the stark contrast of scenery caused by a small black dot. In a matter of seconds, the black grew until it was noticable to the Voidrunner as a dark portal. When it reached the apex of its growth, the portal stabilized, and then Ajax watched as a familiar figure stepped out of it.

"Trisn!" The Voidrunner said, using the telepathic abilites he possessed to get the message to his keybearing friend.

The keybearer looked at the creature, who was now floating about a foot off of the floor. "I'm here to help you," Trisn spoke aloud.

"If you wish to help, use your keyblade to unlock my invisible cage," Ajax replied.

"Hold on a moment. Let me get set." With that, Trisn summoned Darkside and pointed the keyblade at Ajax's head. Instantly, a keyhole presented itself in front of Ajax's face. A blinding beam of white light shot out from Trisn's keyblade and entered the newly found keyhole. In response, the keyhole glimmered brightly and then went out.

Ajax hovered in a stunned state for a moment or two afterwards, but then decided to float forward. To his surprise and excitement, the invisible barrier that had held him was no longer there.

"Oh, Trisn, thank you so-." Ajax was stopped in mid thought as he saw a figure materialize out of the shadows. He wore a black cloak and had dark, slate grey hair. His eyes glimmered a cold green, and in his hands he held a keyblade.

"Sorry to interrupt this little rescue," the teen keybearer said, "but I'm afraid that this will not fit into Lord Helios's plans. Now, back away from the cage, Trisn."

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" Trisn shot back.

"I am Sidrix, and you are about to be in a world of pain."

Trisn watched as Sidrix drew his weapon into a fighting position. Trisn readied for the battle, but it was over in an instant. Without warning, Sidrix pushed his arm out, and the move caused the keyblade to go forward at an incredible speed. Trisn took the blow full on to the chest, and the impact threw him against the back wall with a harsh crack. Trisn gave a cry of pain, then he fell into what seemed to be an unconcious state.

Ajax, shocked to see his friend beaten so badly, decided to attack while there was a chance. He charged forward, arms swinging and raging with electrical current. However, Sidrix quickly summoned his keyblade away from Trisn's slumped form and mindlessly pointed out. Ajax, oblivious to the danger, was given a huge slice by the blade. The Voidrunner fell to the ground, blood pouring out of the ghastly wound.

Unbeknownst to Sidrix, Trisn was coming around from the hefty blow he had been dealt. Suddenly, in his mind, Trisn was visited by the Voice.

"Young keybearer, now is the time."

"What?" Trisn murmured aloud, still somewhat groggy.

"Now is the time to use the darkness bestowed upon you. Open your heart to it, and the darkness shall be yours."

Trisn, by his own volition or not, managed to follow the instructions of the Voice. He focused all of his thoughts onto one thing: darkness. Slowly, he felt strength returning to him, and as he was standing up he noticed several small black puddles form on the floor. When he reached a straight up position, Trisn watched as small black creatures with antennae and yellow eyes emerged from the black pools. Without second thoughts, Trisn knew that these strange beings were Heartless. He smiled, then turned to Sidrix.

"Okay, you ready to fight?"

Sidrix stared at Trisn. "Only if your ready to lose."

With that, both ran at each other with keyblades raised. Trisn swung first and delt Sidrix a blow to the arm. Sidrix slashed at Trisn but missed by a hair. However, Sidrix swung back and struck Trisn in the thigh. With a grunt, Trisn lashed out at Sidrix with a quick thrust. Sidrix saw the move coming and jumped backward. Trisn looked at wear the other keybearer had landed and saw the small group of Shadows clawing at Sidrix. The nobody dealt each one a slice to the head, and they all evaporated in a mist of black.

"Looks like your little helpers are a bit of a let down," Sidrix sneered.

Trisn, not at all amused, charged once more at the nobody. Sidrix glared at Trisn, then thrust forward. Like before, the blade flew forward at an incredible pace. And also like before, Trisn was taken totally unawares. Sidrix's keyblade hit Trisn square on, ending all movement on his part save for a backwards path. Trisn hit the stone floor with a loud noise, and he hit his head hard, resulting in instantaneous black out. He released his grip on Darkside, and the keyblade clattered on the floor. Sidrix smiled, his form practically unscathed by Trisn's attacks. Sidrix's keyblade disappeared, and he put the keychain in his pocket

"Hardly worth the effort," Sidrix murmured. He knelt down on the ground and picked up Trisn's Keyblade. He looked at the keychain, then unhooked it from the blade. The keyblade evaporated in his hands with a flash of light, leaving only the keychain. Sidrix got back up and put the keychain in the same pocket as the other keychain. He surveyed the scene: one of the targets was unconscious, the other severely wounded. With both foes neutralized, Sidrix walked out of the dungeon.

-30-

The Storm Draws Near

Dirst calmly piloted the gummi ship through the vast expanse of space, occasionally looking over at the map that Harmony had pulled up as a guide. So far, they were on a direct course for the planet V.C., whatever that happened to be. They would be there soon enough.

Dirst moved his gaze over to Harmony. She was intently looking out the window, a pensive look in her eyes. Whatever V.C. was, Harmony was definitely attached to the world. Dirst faced back ahead... just in time.

A flaming ball of metal hurtled toward them out of nowhere. Dirst swung the wheel hard to the left, but the random shrapnel still managed to hit the tip of the wing, jerking the ship violently. Harmony was immediately brought out of her reverie. She turned to Nire, who simply pointed out of the front of the ship. Dirst saw it too, and all he could do was gape.

An enormous fleet of Gummi Ships blocked their path. Each one was identical: a black, cone shaped ship with a conical red nose piece, two pairs of wings out of each side, each wing equipped with two small laser cannons. The cockpit was red tinted glass, and Dirst though he saw several different black creatures in each one. However, one thing really stood out.

Every single ship bore the Emblem on their nosepiece.

"Heartless," Nire gasped. "An entire armada of Heartless."

In front of the Heartless fleet was the source of the trio of keybearers' near demise: a large gummi ship, possibly for transporting passengers to different worlds. The sleek white pyramid-like ship had been blown to pieces, leaving only twisted pieces of metal and plastic.

"How are we going to get by them?," Harmony whispered, almost fearing the Heartless might hear her. "They've probably spotted us, and if they didn't hesitate to shoot down a friendly passenger ship, they probably won't care about shooting the three of us!"

Dirst looked ahead, then a faint grin grew on his face.

"What is it?" Nire asked, seeing the smile on Dirst's face.

"How about some maneuvering lessons?"

Harmony almost fainted. "You're not seriously going to-." Her words wer futile. Before she could finish, Dirst pressed down hard on the acceleration pad, and the Gummi Ship roared forward at breakneck speed. Throwing caution to the wind, Dirst managed to make the Gummi Ship go right under the armada of Heartless. However, the fleet was quick to respond. Like satanic clockwork, every ship made an about face and faced the speeding gummi. Then, one by one, they flew after the ship, firing all eight lasers on each ship at once. Dirst managed to keep a level head as he raced forward, laser beams blasting by his head. Nire frantically searched the front panel for something that might indicate a weapons system. After about a minute of searching, Nire's eyes rested upon a button marked with a snowflake. Without thinking of possible outcomes, Nire pressed the button.

Instantly, several panels in the ship opened, and small laser guns took their place. On the dashboard, a pair of joysticks and a rearview console appeared. Without wasting time to learn the controls, Nire grabbed control of the joysticks, looked at the rearview camera, and began pressing the buttons. In response, several blue blasts fired from the cannons. Nire focused harder and harder on aiming until he had one gummi in his sights, then he fired again. It exploded into a mist of darkness, but in response a red beam hit one of the rear engines on the keybearers' gummi ship. There was an immense decrease in speed, but Dirst kept on pushing. Nire, realizing that preciseness would do no good, began pressing the firing buttons as fast as he could. A barrage of blue bolts blasted out of the ship, causing several more of the Heartless armada to vaporize.

Up ahead, Dirst saw the world marked V.C. emerge out of the blackness of space. It kept coming closer, but to Dirst it was taking to long. Nire kept firing the cannons at the armada of ships, but it seemed that whenever one went down, another ten took its place. Another red beam hit one of the gummi ships engines, leaving only one left to power them to safety. One more hit, and they would be sitting ducks. And after that... dead ducks.

Dirst kept on watching as V.C. got closer and closer until finally it was right under them. He dove the Gummi ship down towards the world, with the Heartless armada right behind them. They would have to land in the middle of a street. Dirst watched as the ground came up to meet them. Right when crash seemed inevitable, Dirst pulled with all his might and got the ship out of danger of a crash. He quickly pressed the same button he had pressed earlier to get the ship to work, and landing gear popped out, easing the ship with a soft bump in the middle of a street. Several skyscrapers loomed around as the keybearers took in the world. For a moment, Dirst thought they were safe, until he heard the sounds of the Heartless lasers firing at them. Nire jammed down a button on the console, popping the hatch. The three keybearer's jumped out of the gummi ship and ran towards a nearby building. Behind them, the lasers grew louder and louder until they hit the gummi ship.

An enormous explosion knocked the teens off of their feet and out of their conciousness. Small pieces of shrapnel flew out like angry hornets, cutting into their skin (or metallic suit) with a sharp sting. The heat was extraordinary. But then, as quickly as it had happened, it all died away into a small fire. The Heartless fleet, believing their mission was finished, turned and flew back out away from the planet.

Crowds of people emerged from the office buildings to see what had caused the commotion. Upon seeing the three battered teens in the middle of the street, the crowd rushed up to the keybearers.They all huddled around the three and studied the boy, girl, and cyborg, who were knocked out by the sudden blast. Emergency medical teams were called in, and ambulences carried away the three. The crowd turned to face the charred remains of the gummi ship, still burning in some places.

One person turned to another. "Wow, they were lucky."

The other turned to the first. "Yeah. No one's made it past that fleet since it was sent here."

--- (Velo-City)---

The first thing dirst saw when he woke up was light. Was he alive? Or was this heaven? He couldn't tell, but he hoped the former: he still had to avenge his mentors. Lucky for him, the sound of an electrocardiogram beeping. Dirst's vision cleared, and he managed to make out the panels of the ceiling. He slowly eased up into a sitting position and took in his settings. He was in a high-tech hospital room. A nurse stood next to his bed and smiled at him.

"Hello there. How are you doing?"

Dirst grunted as he began to move his arms. The painful cuts caused by the broken glass were everywhere, it seemed. But he shrugged it off and answered. "Pretty good, considering what happened." Then he changed subjects. "Do you know where my friends are?"

The nurse smiled again. "Yes, dear. They're in the rooms on either side of yours." Then she remembered something. "Oh, what is your name?"

"Dirst, ma'am. What's yours?"

"I'm Alélë. Now you get some rest, Dirst. You have all the time in the world."

With that, the nurse left. Dirst couldn't help but smile.

How wrong she is...

-()++++)Willow Castle(++++()-

Helios was taking a stroll through his library in Willow Castle. Seeing as there were only six more days to his grand tournament, he decided to do a little reading on some of the certain different peoples his crew would be facing. However, one book caught his attention. He looked at the strange name gilded in gold on the black volume. Dust coated the ancient text, and as he pulled it out from the shelf he almost sneezed. He blew off the dust and cobwebs and sat it down on the table. He opened it up and found a summary inside the front:

"A TREATISE ON TIME: THE TOME OF PROPHECY AND THE SECRETS IT HOLDS

Since the beginning of time, man has always wished to know about future, and some have claimed that they know how to predict the future. One such volume that was begun in the time of King Ezana is the Tome of Prophecy. Filled with words that would come true in the future, it was written over two centuries and has predicted things from the First Dark Age to the coming of Xehanort. However, it was deemed to be to powerful by King Maximian and was hidden away deep in the dark Void of the universe. Still, some of the words it contained survive to this day. This book delves deep into the minds of men and searches for the final resting place of the Tome. Join Jason Mohnson as he searches for the Tome of Prophecy."

Helios read this, then began flipping through the book until he landed in Section IV, Epiphany 481.

The white demon and the cursed angel stand off

The Kingdom holds room for one

Dark or light shall win

Beginning and End shall decide.

"Hmmm..." Helios pondered. "White demon." He paused. "Sounds a lot like me!"

(())--++ Xylek Satelite++--(())

The head of the Xylek Corporation looked down at the small world they were now orbiting. If he didn't know better, he would have guest it was one of their ingenious technological productions. However, he wasn't really concerned about this. He was concerned about Project A.B.

The sound of the pneumatic doors alerted the President to the a visitor. A short, grey-haired man walked in, wearing a black lab coat and white boots. He looked at the President.

"Mr. President, sir, I believe that Project A.B. is ready."

"Very well, Dr. Grifin. Just run one more diagnostic run to make sure."

"Yes sir, President Winn, sir." With that, Professor Grifin left the President to his own thoughts and headed to the laboratory. Inside, he found his creation exactly where he left it: cutting a prisoner to pieces.

"Project A.B.! It is time for the final stage!"

The mechanical creation turned around, its light blue eyes fixated on Dr. Grifin. The red haired and white tuxedo-ed android walked towards the doctor, leaving bloody body behind.

"Yes, Dr. Grifin?" The android towered over the short scientist.

"It is time for one last diagnostic run. Then, you'll be ready for the Cirque du Mort."

"Very well. But if you deceive me, he won't be the only bloody carcass in here." Project A.B. pointed at the dead prisoner.

"I assure you, this will only take ten seconds to check up on your circuitry."

The android nodded, then walked over to a table. He sprawled out on it, and the doctor placed a wire into his palm. Just as the doctor had said, ten seconds passed, the wire popped out, and a computer in the corner printed out a report. Dr. Grifin pulled it out, then examined it closely. His expression grew into gloom.

"It seems, Project, that you have a large circuitry flaw. I must go in and change it."

Without saying a word, the android used his knife-like fingers to carve up the small doctor like a holiday turkey. When his frenzy was over, the android stared at the lifeless corpse and smiled.

"The name is Alpha Beta, foolish doctor."

-31-

Regular Lawbreakers

It had been two days since the keybearers had been admitted into the Velo- City General Hospital Dirst sat upright in his hospital bed, which was set in a position so that he could easily watch the small television screen that was placed in the left corner of the room. Of course, all he had been getting from it was thumb exercise from flipping channels for about an hour. Since he had awoken from a quick nap about, he had just sat in the sterile room and dumbly stared at the television. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of monotony, Alélë entered the room with a clipboard. The nurse glanced at it for a moment, then looked at Dirst with a smile on her face.

"Well, Dirst, it looks like you're ready to leave here. The last check on you shows that you have healed at an abnormal rate, just like your friends in the adjacent rooms. Where exactly are you from?"

"Celestial Convent," Dirst replied, the pangs of nostalgia reverberating inside of him.

"Hmmm... Don't know that world. Well, we brought you some new clothes, and whenever you're ready we'll take you back outside." With that, the nurse quickly walked outside, grabbed the clothes she had mentioned, placed them on a side table, and closed the door as she went out.

Dirst slowly got out of bed, the bruises from the explosion still troubling him somewhat. He stretched his back, then walked over to the table where Alélë had placed the clothes. He took off his hospital gown, then put on the khaki pair of baggy cargo pants. He slipped on the dark grey t-shirt and then a black fleece vest with a zipper running down the front, and slipped on a pair of sneakers that were red with black stripes on the side. Everything fit well. He laced up the shoes, then headed outside the room.

The hallway was just as white and clean as the room was, and several nurses and doctors were going to and from the various rooms. In front of Dirst was a window that ran the length of the hallway, letting in a view of the residential district.

Dirst saw Alélë at the nurse's station at the end of the hallway. He walked down to greet her and called out her name as well. She turned and responded.

"Yes, Dirst?"

"I was wondering where my friends were. Could you point me in their direction?"

"Why of course! They are in the main lobby."

"And that is... where exactly?"

"First floor. The elevators right here will take you straight down there."

"Great," Dirst said, then added a quick, "thank you." Before Alélë had time to respond, Dirst was in an elevator and heading down to the first floor. The elevator ride was smooth and quick, and when the doors opened Dirst saw Harmony and Nire waiting in front of the main desk. Dirst walked forward to meet them.

"Hi. How are you?"

Harmony shrugged, then smiled. "A little worse for wear, but I'm good enough to go!"

"The doctors rebuffed my shell and replaced all the nerve wires in the suit, so I am better than before," Nire nonchalantly stated.

"Well, that makes three up and ready keybearers," Dirst replied. They each walked out of the hospital, and then onto the street. It was nearing noon when Dirst finally asked.

"So... err... what world are we on?"

"Velo-City," Harmony and Nire said in unison.

"I'm gonna take a guess: you two used to live on this planet, no?"

Harmony nodded. "My mom was a Congresswoman in the Governing Assembly." She then sighed, the flashback of her mother's body on the couch along with her brother Balian. The dark memory of the aging mercenary... and the albino.

"I too lived here," Nire said. "My parents were doctors at this very hospital. That is, until Helios came. He destroyed the car my parents and I were in. I bear the scars of that incident today, insided this shell."

"I'm sorry about your parents, Nire," Dirst said in a quiet voice. "But that's why were going after him. To avenge all those who have been lost to his evil and make sure that no one else falls prey to it!" By the end of his sentence, Dirst was almost shouting.

"So...," Harmony said, trying to change subject. "Do we have any munny?"

Dirst checked his pockets, trying to see if Alélë had slipped him any cash in the clothes. He found a pouch in one pocket. He opened it up and counted the contents.

"One thousand in here. How about you?"

"Eight hundred stored in a shell compartment," Nire answered.

"The doctor gave me eleven hundred munny, "Harmony replied.

"So that gives us...," Dirst quickly counted it up,"twenty-nine hundred munny. What can we get with that?"

"Food, maybe a room for the night," Harmony speculated. "But we need to find out where Helios is. It shouldn't be too hard... should it?"

"There's an idea," Nire said. "We should go around town, looking for anything that might lead us to Helios."

"Yeah, but we should stick together," Dirst added. "It may go slower, but I don't know my way around here, and we can't easily communicate with each other."

They all agreed on this proposition, then chose to head towards Market District in downtown Velo-City. Harmony and Nire knew that the Tudor Street Library in that district would perhaps hold a clue.

The walk down to the edge of the Market District was about a half-mile. Along the way, the three kept their eyes out for anything that might hold a clue as to where Helios might be: a poster, billboard, flyer, anything. Nothing came up, so they continued on to the library. When they reached it, it was about two in the afternoon. The three headed into the massive marble structure. Inside was three levels of around fifty shelves, each holding around three hundred different volumes. Each level had a different theme. One was fiction, one non-fiction, and the other reference.

The three first headed to a desk on the first floor, the one for reference books. An elderly man who looked to be in his mid-seventies greeted the keybearers with a smile and a hello.

"What can I do for you? Any topic you wish to search in particular?"

"Yes sir," Harmony answered, who had previous been elected the speaker for the group. "I was wondering if you had anything concerning Helios." Harmony was interested in seeing the man's reaction.

"As in the criminal Helios, or the brand of fluorescent lighting?" The librarian asked.

"The criminal," Harmony added.

"What do you need this for?"

Harmony took a quick look at Dirst, then looked back at the librarian. "In our civics class, we are studying master criminals. The subject we three were given was Helios."

Seemingly satisfied with the lie, the Librarian turned to a flat screen computer and began typing in all sorts of numbers and letters. After about a minute of searching, the Librarian turned back.

"The only references we have on him are in the encyclopedias, which are over to my left. Anything else?"

"No, thank you."

The old man nodded, and the trio of keybearers walked away.

Nire leaned over to Harmony as they headed over to the encyclopedia shelf. "You are a good actor, you know."

Harmony smiled. "I try."

Meanwhile, Dirst had already begun to peruse the volumes on the wall, and it didn't take long before he found one labeled 'H'. He pulled it out of its place and set it down on a table next to the shelf. He pulled up a chair, and Nire and Harmony sat next to him. He quickly began flipping through the volume, watching as the page labels changed from Haa to Haj to Hap to Haz, and finally he landed on Hel, and he slowed his search until finally his eyes found what they had been searching for.

"Helios- Universally Wanted Criminal

Nothing known of early life. First known record of Helios comes when he pops as a congressman in Velo-City. He was a radical, often promoting bills that would harm the people for his own profit. He was eventually kicked out of the Governing Assembly, but his revenged followed when he killed Congresswoman Leia Raiana and her son, Balian Raiana. He was banished from Velo-City, but around a year later he reappeared as the governor of Radiant Garden. He ruled successfully for one month, then turned on the people and led an enormous army of Heartless to terrorize the world. He was stopped by Grand Officer Fury and banished to the Prison of the Void. It has been rumored that he had a personal stronghold on the world of Willow Castle."

"Willow Castle," Dirst murmured. "That's our best bet."

"Yeah. Now, we can just take the gummi... ship..." Harmony remembered the reason they were in the hospital.

"How do we get to Helios?" Nire asked. "We have no gummi ship."

"We could borrow one..." Dirst said.

"STEAL?!" Harmony shouted. Dirst put a finger to his lips, motioning her to silence. She immediately shrunk down, then began again. "Steal?! We can't just steal a gummi ship. We don't know where to get one!"

"They have some at the Potentate's Port," Nire said.

"Where's that?" Dirst said.

"Wait!" Harmony said with force. Dirst and Nire looked at her. "I'm sure that there is another way to get a gummi ship other than theft."

"Unfortunately, we don't have enough money to even by car, much less a gummi shp," Nire said. "So, I'm afraid that stealing a gummi ship is our only chance at getting to this Willow Castle place. Like I said, I know there are some at Potentate's Port. Besides, we have the keyblade-." He was cut off by Harmony.

"And the port police have guns! What could a keyblade do to a gun? Unlock the safety?"

"Harmony, calm down. " Dirst said. "Yes, stealing a gummi ship is not the most risk free of ventures, but its the only way we have to get at Helios. So, are you with us or not?"

Harmony sighed. "Against my better judgement... I guess you're right, and I'm in."

"Good. So, where is this Potentate's Port?"

"About a half-mile past market street. It's a wide stretch of the old racetrack that has been converted into a spaceport. People who have their own gummi ships keep them locked up there. However, we will have to sneak past the port police's security cameras."

"Let's just get over there, and one we know the lay out of the cameras, we'll form a plan, okay?"

Harmony and Nire nodded. With that, Dirst placed the encyclopedia back on the shelf. They headed back out of the library, and the old librarian waved good bye to them. However, they were to rapped up in their own thoughts to respond.

The wire fence around Potentate's Port loomed forbodingly before the keybearers. The razor wire that adorned the top definitely gave them a little fear about their plan. Nire looked back and forth, then turned to face the other two.

"Well, I don't see any cameras right here. So, this is the gate by which we enter."

"How?" Harmony asked. "It's locked."

"Ah, the power of keyblade,"Dirst said. He summoned up his, Lightside, and then pointed it at the padlock that held the gate closed from intruders. Instantly, a beam of white light shout forth, and the lock clicked open. Harmony pulled it out of the gate, and Nire pushed it open. They were in.

They slowly made their way towards the closest gummi ship they could find. Unfortunately, that was about one hundred yards of open, clear space down the way. No wonder there weren't any cameras. They ducked low, hoping it would help, and jogged towards the nearest gummi ship. It was a black, conical ship that had three sets of grey wings running on it. It was of superb aerodynamic shape, and it would make for a fast get away.

It was a miracle that the three keybearers weren't caught on the open expanse that led to the sleek ship they were going to steal. The three of them eased up to it, and Nire pulled a latch that would open the hatch. It was unlocked, a total surprise to the three. And it was there that their luck ran out.

The alarm from the gummi ship blared out at them. Across the way, one of the port policemen heard the commotion and looked at the three. Without questioning them, he immediately pulled out the pistol at his side and opened fire. A bulled hit the wing right in front of Dirst's face. Without further encouragement, the three hopped in the gummi ship. Another bullet hit the fuselage of the gummi ship. Dirst looked around the cockpit. Thankfully, the console, steering, and propulsion were nearly identical to that of the old gummi ship. He immediately pressed the ignition button , pulled back on the steering wheel, and then pressed his foot down on the green acceleration pad. The ship immediately rose off of the ground and flew upward. The port policeman pulled out his radio, made a dispatch, and then stopped firing.

Dirst looked back for a moment as the guard stopped firing then turned back forward as they began to leave the atmosphere. There was a slight resistance as the ship left, but then they were sailing away. Dirst was content looking forward until he saw several red dots materialize from far away. As they neared, Dirst remembered what they were.

The Heartless Armada...

32

Close Encounters of the Fatal Kind

Helios sat in an ancient silver throne that was first put into Willow Castle at its conception. The albino was nonchalantly flipping through his new found treasure: the book A Treatise on Time that he had stumbled across in the library. However, his focus wasn't in the excerpts of epiphanies and revelations from the Tome of Prophecy. His thoughts were on the delinquent figure kneeling in shackles in front of him.

Sidrix walked into the room through the open doorway, then closed the door behind him. The main hall of Willow Castle was currently filled with the other occupants. Helios was at the head of the table, and to his immediate right and left sat Qell-Hadr and Tryllya. Next to Qell-Hadr sat Iod, Nestor, Requiem, and Laocoon. Next to Tryllya were Treble, Jors, and Ajax (hovering over the chair). The former member of the Neo- Organization sat next to the Voidrunner, and watched as Helios rose from his chair to address the kneeling teen.

"Ah, Trisn," Helios began. "Resistent as always. Allow me to use a cliche phrase, if I may. " The albino leaned close to Trisn's face. "Resistance is futile."

"Allow me to use a cliche as well, Helios," Trisn sneered, spitting out the albino's name as if it were week old rotting meat. "You're not the boss of me!" With that, the Reflection spat in Helios's face. But the albino was quicker. He jumped back, pulled out his Solar Rapier, and placed the crystal tip at the teen's throat.

"You are so misguided. You see, you have given your heart to the darkness. And as you continue to exist as a foolish Reflection, your heart will become increasingly corrupt, until there is nothing left but darkness. That is when you will become a Heartless. And I am the ultimate keeper of Heartless. The false Ansem doesn't hold a candle to the power at my disposal. In a manner of speaking, I am darkness. And by submitting to the Darkness, you have submitted to me..."

The glowing red gummi blocks shone like an enormous wall, signalling almost certain death. Harmony shook her head.

"Out of the frying pan..." she mumbled. Dirst sighed, then turned to Nire.

"Got any ideas?"

"Well, we coul do the same thing as last time..."

Dirst nodded. "A repeat it is. Strap in, it's going to be one wild ride!"

Without any warning, the ship lurched forward as Dirst pressed down on the acceleration pad and flew at the Heartless Armada. In response, twenty identical ships, each bearing the Emblem, flew after the trio of keybearers. Nire looked around for a button for weaponry like the other one had, but unfortunately the ship was only for civilian use.

"Out of luck. No weapons," Nire said.

Dirst rolled his eyes, then refocused. "Harmony and Nire, I need you to keep a look out at the Heartless, and tell me when the open fire. I intend to get us out of here with better results than last time."

Harmony nodded and turned around, and Nire followed suit. Dirst took his eyes off of the window for one second to bring up the Navi-G system. He pressed a button marked with a globe shape, and a holographic projection flickered to life. Each orb in the projection was marked with the various letters of their names. Dirst quickly searched through them and finally found the one he was looking for. He put his finger through the one labeled 'W.C.', and the projection faded. It reappeared as a hologram of the world itself, and a dashboard screen lit up with the words 'Course to Willow Castle Marked.' With this objective finished, Dirst focused back on driving just in time.

"Their firing!" Harmony shouted. In response, several beams of light sped toward the keybearers' ship. Dirst swung the steering wheel hard to the left, pushing down at the same time. The lasers from the Heartless ships flew by harmlessly. Again, Harmony gave the cue that the ships were firing. This time, Dirst moved up and left. However, one ship had managed to get a lock on him.

A laser flashed out from behind. The beam swerved, surprising Nire and Harmony, and the resulting hit made the entire gummi ship shudder.

"Where are we hit?" Dirst shouted to them.

"Tip of the dorsal wing. We should be okay." Harmony responded. She turned around, looking at the projection of the world Willow Castle.She also looked at the screen and noticed that it seemed they were nearing some sort of milestone for the directions to it. She tapped Dirst on the shoulder, who looked back at her.

"What?"

"We're nearing... something," Harmony said, pointing at the directional computer. Dirst looked at the screen, then looked ahead in the distance as a strange orange glow appeared. He didn't have time to ponder what it was, for Nire announced the onslaught of more Heartless fighters.

This time, Dirst tried to swerve up, down, back, and forth in a random sequence. As the laser blasts flew by, Dirst decided that this hastily developed tactic would work. Before the next volley of Heartless fire came, Dirst looked at the strange glow, which now appeared to be some sort of swiriling orange mass.

Electrical bolts flew out of it at an alarming rate.

Harmony saw it too, and then she looked at the Navi-G computer. The display now read 'Nearing Warp Hole. Use to go to Willow Castle.' She tapped Dirst on the shoulder, and he once again turned around.

"Yes? I'm a little busy-."

"Turn for the Warp Hole,"Harmony stated. Dirst's face went blank.

"What?"

"The orange swirly vortex thing in front of us!"

"Oh...," Dirst said, then caught himself. "That thing is spitting lightning like some sort of demonic beast! If we fly into it, we'll-."

"Just do it!" Harmony screamed. Dirst reluctantly obeyed, seeing it as the only way to get out of their predicament with the Heartless armada. As he thought, more lasers flew, nearly all finding their mark. The main engine shut down, drastically slowing the ship. Without further need to think, Dirst twisted the steering wheel and headed for the Warp Hole.

"This better work." He grumbled," or else this is going to be a very short escape."

-33-

Thirty- Two

Dirst piloted the gummi ship into the warp hole, Harmony and Nire no longer keeping watch on the rear of the Gummi ship. The only thing they saw at first was the orange clouds and lightning bolts that filled the turbulent celestial anomaly. The Gummi ship was jostled back and forth, and Dirst was beginning to lose hope in this plan. However, none of the lightning bolts in the clouds struck the ship, and after the beginning seconds of their voyage, the flight became much easier to deal with. Within one minute of their entrance of the warp hole, the three keybearers made it onto the other side with ease. They all let out a sigh of relief, and Dirst turned to Harmony.

"I guess I owe you an apology and a thank you for monitoring the Navi-Gummi. You really saved our skins."

Harmony smiled. "I wouldn't have had skins to save if you and Nire hadn't worked together when we first arrived on Velo-City."

They sat back down; Dirst gave Nire a quick fist-pump, and Harmony took another look at the Navi-Gummi computer. The display panel currently read: "Continue on straight course to WillowCastle." She pointed the directions out to Dirst, who slammed the accel-pad. His eyes focused intently on the star filled expanse of space ahead, and as he watched, one of them grew larger until it was discernable as a world.

"It is here that our journey ends." Dirst thought. "And I swear, Helios will pay for all that he has done to wreak havoc among the worlds."

"Only one more day until the Cirque du Mort commences," Helios pondered, sitting quietly in the library and reading his new found favorite, A Treatise on Time. "Yet the keybearers are not here. Was my Heartless Armada to powerful? Will there be no keybearers for sport here at my games?"

He had no further time to think about the fate of his nemeses, for Treble entered the room, bearing a message.

"Sir, there are two contestants here for the Cirque du Mort."

"And they are… who?" Helios replied.

"Victor Xylek Winn, chairman of the Xylek Robotics Corporation, and AlphaBeta, a robotics project of the Xylek Corporation."

"So that gives us… thirteen competitors present, including the eleven currently residing in the castle. Tell Chairman Winn that he is welcome to the Grand Bedroom on floor four for his personal quarters, and his robot may have a spot in Iod's technical laboratory. Anything else?"

Treble began to shake his head, and then watched as several gummi ships landed on the outskirts of the castle. "Actually, sir, it seems that more contestants have arrived."

"I'll meet them in the Foyer," Helios said, thus ending the conversation. Treble bowed, and then crept out of the room. He walked down a hallway from the Library and into the Foyer. Chairman Winn and AlphaBeta stood off in a corner. Treble was instantly reminded of the gathering of the escaped prisoners here in the beginning stages of the Cirque du Mort. As his reveries over took him, he watched as other people began to walk into the Foyer through the main gates. He counted as each one walked in, beginning with one after the thirteen already present. He counted twenty-seven tournament combatants, meaning there were fourteen new arrivals. However, the keybearers were still not present.

"Where are they?" Treble muttered under his breath. "If they don't show up, Helios will be extremely angry, and one way or another, that anger is going to be released on one person: me." He kept a vigilant watch, waiting for the keybearers to arrive, silently praying that they would arrive in order to save his own skin and also for another reason.

He wanted to see them fail miserably.

Dusk was beginning to settle in as Dirst landed the Gummi ship safely on the ground around a hundred yards from the castle. The three keybearers got out of the Gummi ship and looked at the immense fortress that was WillowCastle. The ruin stood around fifteen stories high, surrounded by a slowly thinning row of willow trees. It had one main building, a circular tower covered with a dome, and several connecting structures of the same shape, yet only about one third of the size of the inner tower. Nire was the first one to notice that they weren't the only ones here. He counted ten different ships, each of varying size, shape, and color.

"What's going on here?" Nire asked. "Some sort of villain party?"

"Maybe so," Harmony said. "Let's take a look inside." She then pointed to the main door, made of some indistinguishable rotting wood. Without consent from the others, she headed over to examine it. Dirst looked at Nire and then followed Harmony to the main entrance. As he walked, he observed the scenery. Other than the ring of willow trees around the castle, the only indigenous life was the scraggly remnants of grass that sprouted up randomly in the rough dirt. When they hit the tree grove, Dirst noted that a ring of perfectly manicured grass ran where the trees did. Then, the natural landscape gave way to a low staircase made of granite, which led the way up to the main door. The trio of keybearers jogged up the staircase, walked to the door, and peeked inside a hole in the rotting wood. Standing in side was a group of beings, each as widely varied as the gummi ships that had carried them to the decrepid ruin of WillowCastle. Dirst looked at the other two, and began to plan.

"Okay. We're going to go in there and blend in with the crowd. When we see who we think is Helios, we will wait until he walks to a secluded area to attack. Got it?"

"Uh, Dirst," Harmony said.

"Yes, Harmony?" Dirst replied.

"Helios is supposed to be the most powerful and most violent character in all of the worlds. How exactly are we, three novice Lead-bearers, supposed to defeat him?"

"Well…," Dirst murmured, searching for one way to kill the madman they were after. He finally gave up, then revised the plan. "Nevermind the attack part. Just study him for now." With that, he budged the door open so they could slip through, entered the Foyer, and the other two reluctantly followed.

The Foyer was a wide open space, and even with the several occupants it held there was plenty of space to do just about whatever. Dirst took a quick survey of his surroundings, then walked into the crowd. Nire and Harmony followed suit, and right when they were in the group, Helios emerged from an upper level balcony.

"Greetings, great heroes and cunning warriors. I am Helios, your host here in this castle, and I cordially welcome you to the Cirque du Mort. Now, if you will, please say your names so that I might know who the combatants are for this tournament. Starting… here." He pointed to a man in the corner, who began the proceedings.

"Treble." The names went down the line.

"Iod."

"Tryllya."

"Jors."

"Qell-Hadr, prince of Yornzo."

"Nestor."

"Trisn."

"Laocoon."

Dirst noticed that the next being in line was a strange creature with a skull like head and tentacled arms. It spoke no words, but the name was clear in all minds.

"Ajax." The names continued.

"Requiem." Dirst nearly jumped out of his skin at hearing the name. He was silently delighted, knowing that Requiem would face vengeance just as Helios would.

"Xeo."

"Bruce."

"Ajedel."

"Lapux."

"Naetes."

"Takeshi Uior."

"War."

"Tsunayoshi Hightes."

"Aiduramer."

"Carcaroth, The Warg Knight."

"Volnar Balrung."

"Dartanian Cryoliz."

Seeing no other alternatives, Dirst gave his name. Despite obvious stealth problems, Harmony and Nire followed his example.

"Well, now that we are aquainted, let us get some rest," Helios proclaimed, his voice echoing around the massive Foyer. "Tomorrow, the tournament begins. Seeing as the 'sign-ups', so to speak, are closed, I will enter my self and three Heartless minions into the tournament. Good night, and may more than one of the thirty-two combatants make it out alive…"

-34-

Ask Not For Whom The Bell Tolls...

The morning sun shone bright on the metallic surface of Mechano Coliseum. The only mar on the mirror of a floor was Iod, who was doing some last minute checking on systems for the Cirque du Mort. PDA in hand, he pulled up a program, plugged a small cord into the device, and inserted the other end into a small jack in the middle of the floor. A screen popped up, announcing "Scan in Progress." After about a minute of computerized scrutiny, the screen read "All Functions Normal. Environments Unphased." The devious mechanic smiled, knowing that this, his most glorious creation, was a success.

Iod unplugged the cord from the jack in the coliseum. It immediately filled in with a mercury-like fluid, leaving the battlefield perfect. Iod then walked off of the floor and into a concourse. The darkness in the tunnel left Iod effectively blind, so he slipped on his goggles. Instantly, the concourse seemed to be in full daylight, thanks to a night-vision upgrade in his goggles. The concourse branched into a T-shape, and Iod turned to the left. After about twenty feet, the tunnel opened up into a terminal, inside of which was a small Gummi ship. Iod pulled out his PDA, and pressed a small button on the side. A door of the gummi ship opened up. He walked over and hopped in.

Grabbing the steering wheel, he pressed his foot down on the accel-pad and pulled the wheel out. The Gummi ship lifted up and hovered over the floor. Iod turned the ship around, and in response a small grey wall opened up, revealing the blackness of space with Willow Castle looming near. Iod pressed the accelerator down and flew out of the terminal to Willow Castle.

"Things are going to begin," Iod told himself. "Now, the fruit of my effort shall be put to the test. It's show time."

Helios placed a new white suit on, looking at the new tailored clothing piece in a mirror. After he was satisfied, he tied a black tie around his neck, and stuffed a small watch into his white trousers. The albino then walked outside of his room and onto the balcony. The sun was bright and shining, but the shadow of a small Gummi ship marred the sky. Helios smiled, knowing that Iod was finished with the preparations. He looked around the balcony, then climbed up onto the barrier around it. After a quick glance down, the albino jumped off of the ledge. Air rushed by as he fell for about twenty-nine stories, and at the beginning of the thirtieth story the fall abruptly slowed, allowing him to hit the ground noiselessly. He patted his hair down to make it look better, then headed over to where the Gummi ship containing Iod had landed.

"So, I presume everything is going perfectly," Helios stated as Iod hopped out of the small craft.

"Yessir, things are going very well. Soon, all of the fighters will enter the Coliseum, and the games shall begin."

"Good... Soon, the Stone shall be mine..." Helios's voice dropped off towards the end of his sentence.

"Excuse me?" Iod asked.

Helios shook his head, then headed to the main doors of Willow Castle, leaving Iod to ponder the albino's words.

Dirst was awakened by the sound of knocking on his bedroom door. For a sadistic maniac, Helios was very generous in his accommodation. Dirst looked around and noticed that the room was bathed in light from the large window on one side of his bed. He quickly hopped out of bed and slipped on a pair of shoes, for he had slept in his clothes.

"Yes?" Dirst asked.

The door opened, and Treble stuck his head inside.

"Your presence is requested in the foyer along with the rest of the fighters."

Dirst nodded his thanks, then Treble left. Dirst looked in the mirror and stared himself down.

"Today is where my revenge starts."

Dirst met up with Harmony and Nire at the top of the stair case on their floor. They each greeted one another with a simple hello, but everyone knew that today was more than simple. They walked down the staircase in a row, and upon reaching the bottom the saw a few others there. One was a man in a suit. He walked up to the three and shook each of their hands in turn.

"Victor Xylek Winn at your service, president of the Xylek Robotics Corporation," he said. The three young keybearers each gave their names. The three then saw tall, red-haired figure in the corner. Dirst was about to walk over when President Winn held him back.

"That's Alpha-Beta, and android creation of my company. He's rather, shall we say... psychopathic?"

Another figure was dressed in a black cloak. Dirst looked at the one who looked to be a young guy, but then another caught his attention. Dirst would have recognized that black mane from anywhere.

Instead of acting rash, however, Dirst calmly walked up to the assassin and stared him straight in the eyes.

"We meet again, Requiem."

The reflection smiled. "Indeed we do, pupil of Riku. It is an honor to once again fight with you."

"Shut up!" Dirst snapped. "By the end of this tournament, I will have beaten you."

"Your heart wishes it, but you know that there is a black pit of doubt there," Requiem nonchalantly replied. Dirst was about to retort, but Helios appeared in the light of the main gate, his white-clad figure barely discernible in the bright light.

"Good morning, competitors. The rest of the fighters have already awoken and have gone to the Coliseum. So please, hurry, so we may begin the tournament!"

With that, the albino turned and walked out of the door way. The group of combatants followed, with Dirst still glowering at Requiem. They all headed out into the bright morning light and into a large shuttle Gummi ship. The craft looked like it could easily seat around twenty people. All of them climbed in. Dirst noticed that one man was already in the pilot's seat; he recalled that the pilot's name was Iod. However, Dirst paid him no more attention and strapped into his seat. When all were seated, Iod lifted the ship off of the ground and flew it off into the distance.

The flight took around five minutes. As the ship approached Mechano Coliseum, Helios could tell that everyone was in awe of Iod's master creation. The one thing that stood out most in his mind was the terminal entrance: it was in the mouth of a giant skull. Iod, although a major engineer, definitely had good decorative ideas. The ship neared the giant skull, and the mouth opened to show a landing terminal. Iod piloted the ship in effortlessly and landed it in the center of the terminal. The door opened, and all of them including the pilot clambered out. Helios led them all into the concourse tunnels and onto the glossy surface of the coliseum fighting grounds. The others were already standing there, and the entire group together made twenty-nine participants.

Helios pointed to the floor of the coliseum, and it began to swirl around him. Finally, the mercurial substance created a podium and a platform. He stepped up and addressed the crowd, which was stunned into silence by the strange happening.

"As you may or may not have realized, we only have twenty-nine fighters here including all of us. In order to have a perfect tournament, the closest number is thirty-two without excluding any fighters. So, I have taken the liberty of summoning three powerful Heartless who will enter the tournament as merely place fillers; they should be no match for fighters of your caliber."

With that, he pointed to the concourse tunnel. Instantly, three creatures came out. The first was a creeping blue and white mass with sporadic energy bolts shooting out of it. As it came into the sunshine, it formed two hands and eyes that glared at the others. The Emblem was visible on its chest. The second heartless was a three-headed dragon creature. Its necks were covered in thorns, and on each foot it had a strange blade structure. The third creature did not come out of the concourse; rather, it materialized right in front of it. The bright sun was blocked out as a twenty-story tall behemoth towered above. It was coated in a thick wall of stone armor, and around its arms were orange rings. It glared down on the other competitor with cold blue eyes.

Helios looked at his latest Heartless, then glanced at the crowd. "Now, some things to now. Number one: each battle will feature a new environment for the combatants. Number two: the battle match-ups will be random in each round; there will be no bracket. Number three: fight until one gives up or dies. Any questions?"

No one said a word, but the strange looks in each of their eyes communicated all that was needed. Helios smiled; he felt their anticipation and fear.

"Now, let us begin. Our first match is... DIRST VERSUS SORCERER TOWER!!!"

Immediately, the other thirty competitors not fighting were transported into the stands, leaving Dirst in the shadow of the colossal heartless standing on the field next to him. As they stood there, the flawless floor transformed. Silver blobs formed into sparse grass, old ruins, and one tower that was only about half as tall as the Sorcerer Tower. At the top of it was a bell.

Soon, Helios's voice resonated throughout the coliseum. "Let the match begin." And with that, the bell began to ring a slow, macabre drone. Simultaneously, the colossal Heartless pointed its arm at Dirst, and a strange hissing noise sounded. Dirst looked up to see the Sorcerer Tower forming a bolt of energy.

"This is not good..."

105