"Hey Demyx, hurry up and finish eating! I'll go get him, okay?" Called Axel from the doorway to the kitchen. When Demyx didn't respond, the red-haired man leaned over the table and yanked a pair of headphones off Demyx's head. "YO, DEMYX!"

Demyx looked up from his breakfast. "Huh? Oh yeah. Sure, I'll hurry up!'

"Turn down your music once in a while. You're gonna go deaf or something." Axel placed the headphones on the table. "I'll be right back."

As Axel left, Xigbar jumped out of a portal into one of the chairs and started pouring some coffee. "Hey dude! What are you two up to?"

"We're going to New York!" Replied Demyx cheerfully. "For a break, since we don't have any missions today. I have a lot of music from the world it's on. And Zexion's coming too. But he doesn't know yet." Some thuds and crashes suddenly interrupted their conversation from below.

"Maybe he didn't want to know?" chuckled Xigbar.

Axel came running through the door. "!!!!" He screamed as a huge lion came in and started chasing him around the table.

The other two Nobodies in the room just stared.

Demyx sighed. "I'll get him-Geez, Axel, YOU get scared by an illusion of a CAT?"

"I don't like big cats..."

"Whatever." Demyx rose from his seat, sitar in hand, and stalked out of the room, following the illusion out. The lion illusion gone, Axel seated himself at the table and started collecting various types of bread from some baskets.

"Axel, you eat like it's you last meal all the time, and yet you're as skinny as a supermodel. How do you stay thin?"

Axel tossed the slices of bread in the air of toasted them with a well-aimed fireball. "Maybe being a fire elemental literally burns calories," He laughed, jamming three pieces of toast into his mouth at once.

"Heh, good one. Pass the milk before you decide to drink it all, will ya?"

The redhead threw the jug at Xigbar, who stuck his hand through a portal and caught the badly-aimed milk jug. "Sure, here you go. I prefer vodka, anyway. It's better to keep the fire burning,' he said, pulling a bottle out of white stone liquor cabinet, which Xigbar snatched out of his hot little hands.

"Hey!"

"Sorry dude, no drinking before-geez, its only 7:30 in the morning?!? Axel, speaking as a man who once attempted to down ten gallons of rum, bourbon, and scotch on a bet with Luxord, and got so blotto I went dancing down a 50-foot staircase with Xaldin, and thus broke an arm, a leg, and a foot, never mind owing 10,000 munny to that British prick, I recommend that you quit drinking like a fish. Except on Poker Nights. Then it gets really interesting, and we've got Larxene hanging around to sober us up."

"…Okay, I get the point, and I also now fear poker nights. I wouldn't let Larxene sober up anybody, no matter how much they irritate me. That's just cruel."

"It is. But it sure is fun to watch."

Some clattering and something that was definitely rock music came up from the lower levels, followed by some thumping noises and muffled shrieks. Demyx emerged from the doorway triumphantly, only slightly worse for wear, carrying Zexion who appeared to be bound and gagged loosely.

"Zexy has been kidnapped 100% successfully!" He announced, dropping Zexion gracefully in a chair. Zexion glared up at Demyx murderously.

Axel rubbed his hands together, pleased, inadvertently creating sparks. "Great. Although you didn't have to tie him up…"

"Yes, actually, I did. He has sharp teeth and long fingernails. And casts SPELLS. Trust me; you got off lucky with an illusionary lion."

"Well, he might kill us if we drag him to New York and don't untie him, so let's get rid of those…neckties?"

"Yeah, neckties. THEY WERE THERE. And you can untie him, I'm not feeling suicidal."

Axel walked over to Zexion and yanked off the makeshift bonds. "Let's go to New York now!"

"Why are you bringing me!?!"

"Because one, we have no missions today and we know you don't either, two, you're always hiding in the library in the basement! It's unhealthy!"

"And also because we don't know much about New York, and we thought you could look it up in your book?" Demyx piped up.

"Shut up, Demyx, you just revealed our ulterior motive."

Zexion did not seem amused. "Do you mean to tell me that you have been planning an off-world trip without doing any research about the region you're visiting?"

"In a nutshell, yes."

Zexion sighed deeply. "You're amazing."

Axel grinned. "Why thank you."

"That was not intended as a compliment." Zexion stood up and summoned his Lexicon. "Let's see...New York is on Oerth...Xigbar, you WILL stop hanging over my shoulder or so help me...On the Northern Continents..." He started muttering absently, while the rest of them watched him intently.

"Well, Zex, what did you find?"

"...Don't call me that."

"Zexion..."

"Fine, its okay for us to go. That world-at least that part of it- seems relatively harmless. Something important of note, however. Our powers and control over our respective elements may be unreliable at best while we are on world there."

"Huh? Why?"

"Technology and the sciences became more commonly used and practiced than magic, until the 'Renaissance Period' where widespread use of magic died out. Today, there are small pockets of people who still practice the magical arts, but its flow of magic is stagnant.

Demyx looked interested. "'Flow of magic'?"

Zexion seemed to be getting into full-blown lecture mode. "Yes. All worlds have a circulation or 'flow' of magical energy. In many worlds it remains undisturbed, or in a particularly magical world it flourishes, but on Oerth-called 'Earth' by its residents-magic is mostly referred to in fantasy books, and games, and only a few people, as I said, even know of true magic's existence. Now-"

By this point, Xigbar and Axel had grown bored. 'Okay, okay, okay, enough boring lecturing. Let's go!"

"Wait-doesn't Roxas want to come?"

Demyx seemed surprised. "Zexion, did you forget? He's out on a mission with Larxene and Luxord."

"Oh-Perhaps I did forget..."

Axel shrugged. "Yeah, it's too bad. We'll bring something back for him though." He stood up. "You're coming too, Xigbar?"

"Of course dudes! I've been itching to get out of the castle! Or maybe just itching. Anyway, Zex, what's the day and time there?"

Zexion flipped his book open, scanned a few lines of text, and snapped it shut. "The local time is 8:02 am. The date is September 11th, 2001."

AN: A CLIFFHANGER! HUZZAH! Everyone knows where this is going, of course....

I enjoyed writing this chapter. The bickering is very realistic, in my opinon. 'Twas based off arguments I've had with Feyroad and Mother.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts. If I did, it'd be alot cooler. Liek ,say...not killing off the villans that I sympathsise with. But that's just me.

Reviews and favorites most welcome!