Hi y'all! Saelia here. This is the first chapter of Twentyfour., my first fanfic. Please submit a review to let me know whatcha think! ^^

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any other brand names mentioned herein.

The Characters:

Jason (Sonjax), Age 17

Ricky (Xyckri), Age 17

Tony (Xyton), Age 17

Woody (Woodyx), Age 17

Saxon (Saxxon), Age 17

Doug (Xogud), Age 18

Stacey (Caestyx), Age 15

Danni (Daxinn), Age 15

Stormy/Leigha (Xielagh), Age 14

Morgan (Xangrom), Age 14

Aleise (Saeliax), Age 14

Chapter 1

As usual, our group decided to go see a movie that Friday. Little did we know that seeing a movie together was the last thing we'd ever be doing. As humans, at least.

Ricky, a senior from school, had planned the whole trip earlier that week in hopes of alleviating some of the tension within our group; things had been pretty awkward after Tony and Danni's breakup. Since then, Danni had refused to sit at the same lunch table as Tony, or even on the same side of a classroom at times; so, the rest of the group was forced into choosing between the Tony Faction or the Danni faction. To make things less tense between the two of them at the movies, Ricky had invited along Woody and Stacey, another sophomore/senior couple just like Tony and Danni had been, and Tony's best friend, Jason. Saxon, one of Ricky's closest friends, had had some involvement in the planning, too; particularly extending an invitation to Woody, Stacey, and Jason. It was set for Friday night, at 7:30 at the Autumn Hollow Promenade's theater.

Thankfully, Tony had volunteered to pick everybody up from their houses to ensure that nobody would be late. He picked Morgan, Stormy and I up first from kendo club.

"Hey, freshies," he said as we climbed into the back seat of his car.

"Hi, Tony!" I said back, setting my shinai bag down on the floor of the car. "Thanks again for picking us up."

Ricky, Saxon, Jason, and Doug were next. They all squished into the front seat, save for Ricky, who decided to sit in the very back of the car. He climbed over our seats and settled himself on top of a cardboard box.

"You're going to get killed," Morgan warned him.

"You worry too much," he replied.

Next up were Woody, Stacey, and Danni. Danni lagged behind the couple walking in front of her, still hesitant about getting into Tony's car. I got the feeling that she wasn't too happy about seeing him, but nonetheless, after Woody and Stacey had taken a seat on the floor of the car between the passenger seat, Danni climbed into the back seat slowly and sat with us.

"Passenger seat's open," Tony called as the car began moving. "Any takers?"

"ME!" Ricky flew over the seats of the car, planting his butt in the passenger seat and sitting on his seatbelt to make it appear as though it was fastened.

"He's such an idiot," Stormy laughed. It was silent for much of the way, save for Danni and Stormy whispering back and forth and the occasional awkward conversation. Tony kept his eyes on the road for much of the way, but I caught him glancing back at Danni now and then.

We arrived at the Promenade a few minutes later, at exactly seven o' clock. The Promenade was a popular outdoor shopping mall in the center of Autumn Hollow, and we scrambled out of Tony's SUV, gasping for air and shouting at one another.

"Doug!" Stormy shouted. Doug was grinning ear-to-ear triumphantly at her. "Why the Hell didn't you roll down a window?"

Doug laughed at the remark. "Two words- child lock. Next time, let me sit in the passenger seat." Ricky had nearly fallen out of the car, choking and covering his eyes dramatically. (A/N: Dude, I'm pretty sure you don't smell with your eyes. xD)

"My eyes are burning!" he wailed. "Don't EVER eat beans again, man! EVER!"

Danni rolled her eyes and stepped out of the car gracefully after Ricky, holding her nose.

"Can we please not make a scene?" she sighed, playing with a strand of her pink-and-purple hair.

After the 'Doug Fart' scene had come to its noisy conclusion, Tony locked the car and Ricky rushed us to the ticket counter, insisting that we were going to be late.

"Eleven for Scott Pilgrim at 7:30, please," he said, collecting money hurriedly from everyone. After receiving the tickets, he quickly passed them out to us and ushered us inside. The lady at the front of the theater checking our tickets smiled at our ridiculously huge group. She tucked a strand of blonde hair behind one ear as she examined us, finally taking our tickets.

"Couples night?" she asked.

Danni and Tony glanced at each other, then immediately looked away, scowling. Tony walked over to Jason and tried to start an awkward conversation, while Danni went back to fussing over her hair and trying to get a black bow to stay in place.

After a short silence, Ricky finally spoke up. "Eh, not really," he replied. "Just celebrating our first month of school together."

"Oh, okay. Have a fun time, then," she said with a cheery grin.

"SCOTT PILGRIM!"

"Ricky, shut up!"

"But… Scott Pilgrim."

"No," Stacey snapped, hitting him with a Hershey's chocolate wrapper as we exited the theater. He looked down, pretending to be hurt, then scowled and put his hand on his chest as if he was saying the pledge of allegiance. He patted his chest a few times before looking up.

" … Why is there popcorn down my shirt?" He asked.

"Morgan and I burst out laughing. We had been trying to get popcorn down each other's keikogi and we'd both thrown a little too hard.

"It's our fault," she said. Ricky rolled his eyes (A/N: Haha! Rick Roll! xD) and removed the popcorn from his shirt, raising an eyebrow as about five pieces fell out. I followed suit, pulling my shirt away slightly and shaking it.

"If it makes you feel any better, I got some down my shirt, too," I laughed.

"Me too," Stormy huffed, pointing at me and turning towards Ricky. "She was so busy trying to flirt with you that she didn't realize she was getting popcorn down everybody else's shirt."

I blushed and shook my head. "I was not flirting!"

"Whatever," she replied smugly. "You know you were."

I stuck out my tongue childishly as she and Saxon walked arm-in-arm down the flight of stairs to the theater's first floor, past the concession stand, and towards the front of the theater. They waited for the rest of the group to get outside before Saxon shouted, "Race you to the fountain!"

Morgan and I smiled at each other and dashed ahead of the group, determined to get there first. We jumped over stairs and raced through the Promenade, past restaurant patios, various stores, and several other visitors. Finally reaching the fountain, we took our sandals off and waited for the rest of the group.

Ricky already had his shoes off, screaming as he barreled past us and through the fountain, emerging from the other side completely soaked.

"SCOTT PILGRIM!"

We screamed as he chased us around, eventually forcing us to run through the fountain ourselves. I gasped as the freezing fountain water splashed me.

"Gotcha!" he laughed. Morgan growled and jumped on his back, and Ricky screamed as she covered his eyes. "Get it off!" he shouted, spinning around before falling to the ground. I couldn't help but laugh at the two of them.

"You know what's funny?" Saxon said to me in his usual awkward way as I turned away from the spectacle. "I got the whole thing on camera." I giggled and watched as he played it back, unaware of Ricky and Morgan behind me.

"Super-Glomp!" They shouted in unison, glomping me from behind. I squeaked as Morgan let go and Ricky picked me up, carrying me through the fountain again.

"Hey!" I giggled. "Put me down! My uniform!"

Laughing, he did as he was told and set me down. I turned and made a pouty face at him. "Why uniform's all wet now," I whined, trying to surpress a smile.

"I'm sorry," he chuckled. We both stood there for a few seconds, laughing at what had just happened. It was strange making eye contact with him, but I couldn't look away. His eyes were absolutely beautiful in the last rays of the setting sun, the bright yellowish brown contrasting perfectly with his black hair. Subconsciously, we both began to lean in towards each other- for a kiss? - Until Danni interjected, which snapped us both out of it.

"Awwwww!" she teased. "How cute! They were gonna kiss!" Stacey joined in, and a whole chorus of 'awwwwws' started.

"Shut up," I said, blushing a little. The group was silent for a moment as everyone stood, scrutinizing us.

"Hey, I have an idea," Tony said, breaking the silence. "Let's go get dinner." Just then, a few drops of rain began to fall on us. Jason mumbled something under his breath and looked around. He pulled a black umbrella from his ever-present messenger bag and looked up at the sky, scowling.

"The weatherman didn't say it was going to rain."

By the time we'd gotten done with dinner, it was pouring pretty heavily, and black clouds had accumulated over the Promenade. Lightning flashed nearby, followed closely by a deafening clap of thunder. I whined and leaned in towards Ricky, who put his arm around me protectively. It was pitch black by then, and the Promenade was almost completely empty. The clock tower above the movie theater showed that it was about 11:00.

"Let's get back to the car, quick," Tony said, lifting his jacket above his head. In our rush to the parking lot, we didn't notice anything strange about our surroundings.

For one thing, the sky was purple and black, not a natural color for a summer night's sky- stormy or not. We didn't realize that the "people" following us weren't actually people, either; not even the hunched backs, twitchy movements, antennae, or glowing yellow eyes tipped us off.

About a hundred feet from the car, one of the shady "people" made its move. Tony fell to the ground with two of them on top of him. He screamed as one of them tore open his back with its sharp claws.

The next thing we knew, Morgan had been knocked to the ground with a cluster of the black things on top of her as well; after that, the group had begun dropping like flies. When we tried to run one way, a group of the little monsters blocked our path. Before we knew what had happened, a cluster of about forty little black creatures had surrounded us.

"Shit!" Jason cursed. "Heartless, here?"

I looked at Jason, bewildered, and gulped.

"Is… is that what they are?" I stammered.

"Yeah," he replied. "I don't think we're going to make it out of this alive, either."

I froze. "…What?"

"If we make it out of this, I'll explain. Grab a weapon, though. Doesn't matter what."

I nodded in acknowledgement, quickly brandishing my butterfly knife. Three of the creatures leapt at me, razor claws at the ready. I grazed the side of one of them, and it made a high-pitched shrieking noise as it dissipated into a thin black mist. Jason had been using his umbrella to beat the Heartless down, but it was like killing a hydra; Every time one would die, three more seemingly appeared in front of him to take their fallen comrade's place. Before we knew it, we were completely surrounded. A larger Heartless ambushed me from behind and I was knocked to the ground. I felt its claws tear into my back, and in a matter of seconds I was out cold.

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