Author's Note: This is a special collaboration story with fellow fanfic writer 'WriterRoxas' who's a very good friend of mine. Took us a while to write our first chapter (when you're trying to balance this and our college work it can be very difficult hehe *scratches head*) but we eventually got it done. Enjoy!

Crashing to the ground with a grunt, the shadow glared at its opponent through large luminous orbs in rage whereas a figure clad in nothing but black, stared blankly back at it. The creature immediately rose from the ground, levitating a few feet from the air as it tightly gripped its sword.

"Figured this would be tougher," the cloaked young man said, sounding incredibly bored. "Guess the sword's just for show."

The creature hissed violently at his words, and prepared to lunge. The boy didn't move or prepare to counter-attack, only folded his arms and waited. It growled and charged, sword thrust towards the boy's chest. Still, he didn't move - there wasn't any need to.

Barely an inch from the young man's chest, the swords tip suddenly halted. The boy smirked ever so slightly as his opponent struggled to move, apparently fighting some invisible force.

"Were you the designated weakling of the group?" the boy taunted, although he expected no response.

He doubted that the things really understood English at all. They would react to the emotions behind the words; not that the boy himself possessed any.

"Ya done talking to it?" a female voice asked from nearby. "Or are you going to start a philosophical discussion about The Heart next?"

"I thought it was decided that I was the snarky one?" the boy retorted as he held his hands out on either side summoning dark energy which gathered around them.

The sword-wielding shadow, meanwhile, finally had the sense to try retreating, and promptly did so. Only to be blocked by some other invisible wall.

The young man gave the creature another blank look, a cymbal held in either hand. Unlike normal cymbals, the boy's particular model was as black as his cloak, with razor sharp edges.

With not many choices available, the shadowy creature decided to try another lunge attack. This time, there was no wall to block it, but the boy was aware of that little fact. Sidestepping the simple lunge, the young man extended his right arm, letting the creature practically shred itself on his weapon.

Falling to the ground, wisps of a black, smoke-like substance began to rise to the air. His job done, the boy's weapons instantly disappeared.

"Well, guess we're finally done?" the female voice asked, and another cloaked figure fell from a rooftop above.

Wearing an identical cloak, it was obvious these two figures were affiliated (not that anyone would know who or what they were). The Organisation was very secretive. It probably helped that no one ever seemed to be around when a member had to go hunting Heartless.

"Might as well head back," the male replied, and extended his hand once again.

This time, a portal of darkness sprung from the ground, leading to their next destination. "Let's report to 'Lycan McGee' and proceed to stare blankly at a wall until tomorrow."

The female sighed. "The usual then? Not very adventurous, are you?"

"Not my fault the base is lacking in pastimes."

"Well, how 'bout we put some blue hair dye in Larxene's shampoo?" The girl suggested with a sly – yet unseen- smirk. "You can still see traces of the pink dye from last time!"

The corners of the male's mouth rose slightly, forming into the shape of a smile. "Heh. Guess there's that. Want to try and cut a string on Demyx's sitar after that?"

The female stepped towards the portal, glancing over her shoulder as she spoke, "Assuming you can get him to let go of the damn thing; I've literally never seen him stop playing it."

The boy followed his companion, chuckling as he moved to pull his hood down. "Could use a challenge."

"Saxen, Merix," the silver haired man greeted them coldly as the two figures emerged before him. "I assume it was a success?"

"Guess so," the dark-haired boy said with a shrug. "Bit too easy for a 'powerful' Heartless, though."

"Well, duh: I was throwing walls in front of it," the girl replied, pulling her hood down and shaking her long, brown hair free of her coat.

The silver haired man - with a cross-shaped scar located above his nose - stared emotionlessly at the two with his bitter yellow eyes. "Whether or not you found it easy is irrelevant. You finished your assignment, correct?"

"Yes, Sai'x." Saxen and Merix sighed, with Merix adding a small huff at the end.

"Good."

And with that, they were wordlessly dismissed. Sai'x - the Organisation's number VI - was in charge of delegating missions to the other members, effectively making him second in command to their leader. Even for a Nobody, he was a cold, unlikable fellow…to put it nicely.

The room they were located in was large, white and circular. A whole wall was dedicated to a window view of the ever-dark sky, in which a heart-shaped moon was suspended. Saxen often wondered why Sai'x spent his free time looking at it. Sure, he understood that it was sort of important to their work, but there had to be better pastimes than moon gazing.

And speaking of pastimes…

"ARGHHHHH! Not again!" shrieked Larxene as she burst through the large, white doors in nothing but an organization-brand, deep black towel with her number imprinted in gold and lightning bolts surrounding it.

Upon viewing such a scene, Axel declared 'hot' and continued his game of cards with Roxas and Luxord (who was winning for obvious reasons).

"Well…minus the blue," chided in Merix pointing at the electric blue shade forming into Larxene's once golden (then pink) locks.

Larxene's eye began to twitch with anger as she stared with relentless rage at her fellow organization members who were gathered in the room.

"You shut up!" Larxene growled ferociously at Merix, then pointed at Axel, "And you! You're dead!"

"Hm?" Axel glanced up from his card game at his enraged comrade. "Me? What'd I do?"

"Take a wild guess." The blonde/pink/blue haired woman spat menacingly, and Axel made a show of pretending to think exceptionally hard.

Finally, the red, spikey-haired man shrugged, "Sorry, dunno what I've done."

"This is great!" Merix whispered to Saxen, stifling her laughter. There wasn't much chance of Larxene overhearing them as she stomped off to deal with the 'obvious' perpetrator. "She doesn't suspect a thing!"

"Must be your completely innocent face," Saxen commented.

An enraged Larxene chasing an alarmed Axel, who protested his innocence in between dodging bolts of lightning and knives, occupied the next few minutes. Roxas seemed to be the only one making an effort not to watch. Given his age, the young Nobody's reasons could've been attributed to innocence (which sometimes gets mistaken for naiveté).

Finally, after Larxene successfully chased Axel from the room - without losing the grip on her towel - Roxas and Luxord re-shuffled the deck of cards; Axel wasn't coming back for a while.

"Pub?" Saxen asked Merix in a casual tone.

"'Kay." Merix nodded as she got to her feet, still snickering over Larxene's reaction. She was probably already thinking about the next hair colour Larxene should have.

The duo were engulfed into a large portal which appeared suddenly in front of them from a mere flick of the wrist by Merix. Moments later, they stood at the entrance to a building that was quite significant for both, much like Roxas and Axel had some clock tower somewhere.

'That Pub That Wished It Was', was its name. Maybe. There wasn't a bright, neon sign proudly displaying such a title. In fact, it was quite weathered and beaten (by the Heartless, probably. Guess they can't appreciate a good drink), showing off its age.

Inside, Saxen and Merix sat at the bar counter, a pint of 'Existent-ale-ism' before each of them. They often came to this place, in between work and screwing with the other Organisation members. It was much easier to voice their thoughts without the risk of someone like Sai'x suddenly appearing and overhearing; he didn't much like 'rebellious' thoughts.

"Keep the change," said Saxen as he handed over 10 munny to the bartender.

The two clinked their pints together, drank the entire contents of it in one smooth gulp then slammed the empty glasses down onto the counter, sitting in what was a comfortable silence – their usual, a rather ritual kind of manner.

A ritual that was shattered when Saxen suddenly asked, "So how long's it been now?"

"Huh?" Merix was surprised at the question.

"Since we first came here," Saxen explained, staring at his empty pint glass. "It's been a while."

Merix looked thoughtful as she tried to recall exactly how long it had been since they were 'born'. "Uh… two years, I guess. Why?"

"Already?" Saxen frowned slightly. "Huh…"

Merix raised an eyebrow and nudged his side. "What's on your mind, then?"

Saxen remained in thoughtful silence for a moment more, while Merix impatiently awaited an answer, mindlessly tapping her foot on the black and white checkered floor in anticipation. Finally, the male turned and glanced out the window, where not much more than skyscrapers could be seen.

"Two years and we still have barely any idea what we're doing," Saxen commented. "I know we need hearts and stuff, but I'm not buying the whole 'restore ourselves' excuse."

Merix looked shocked at Saxen's words: he normally wasn't one to talk about their work. 'Too boring', he claimed. "Why not? Half the group are scientists, and they say it'll work out."

Saxen snorted. "Would you believe anything Vexen says? He's shiftier looking than the Heartless."

"You feeling okay?" Merix asked suddenly in a concerned tone, moving in front of Saxen and pressed her hand to his forehead. "You don't normally speak about anything that doesn't involve screwing around with the others."

Saxen stared blankly at his friend, a small smile forming. He lightly gripped Merix's wrist and moved her hand away. "Truth be told, I think someone's keeping a secret or six from us."

Merix folded her arms, now grinning. "Your basis?"

"I just get that feeling," Saxen shrugged. "What about you? You enjoy working with the Organisation?"

Merix didn't take too long to decide. She shook her head vigorously from left to right as a response, her hair waving with the motion. Reclaiming her seat, she replied, "The hours are pretty bad, y'know? I think I preferred our brief stint of unemployment."

Saxen waved at the faceless and nameless barkeep, signaling for another round of drinks. "Seriously? You preferred having no idea who you were?"

"Uh, we did!" Merix reminded him. "You're thinking of Roxas."

"Whatever." The drinks arrived, and Saxen passed some more munny over the counter. "What I mean is, did you prefer having no meaning to your not-existence?"

For the first time, her eyes blinked open (well, technically). She had woken up hundreds of times before… no, that was someone else, right?

Vague memories floated through her mind, displaying events from her life. No, that person's life. Strange, she knew that person, but it was herself with the memories…

With a groan, the girl sat up, looking at her surroundings. Dark, towering buildings, ascending to the distant sky. Clouded by the skyscrapers was a bright, yellow moon. Where was this place?

The girl got to her feet, cautiously searching where she was standing. The whole city seemed deserted, as if evacuated just recently. A stranger thought; maybe no one ever lived here?

No, that wasn't right, some of the buildings were boarded up and barricaded, from the looks of things. Someone had to have done that.

The brown haired girl, deciding that standing idly in an empty street wasn't all that productive, decided she should look for someone - it wasn't like there was much else to do.

For several minutes, she searched the city. Scanning the area around her, she looked for signs of life. This was odd, where was everyone? Had they really deserted this place?

Finally, the girl came to a stop and with a sigh surrendered to the darkness of the place. Perhaps she was alone here? Unless the residents were shut inside all of these colossal buildings, there wasn't a soul in sight.

Well, she could check that large, bright and ominous castle somewhere in the distance, but something told her that would be a dangerous venture. Lovely, the only inhabitants of this place were untrustworthy.

Footsteps echoed close by, and the girl was on guard, looking for the source. The noise was getting closer, and whoever was approaching was in no real rush.

Just ahead, someone rounded the corner. Some boy of similar approximate age stepped into view. He hadn't noticed the girl, too busy studying the ground as he walked.

"Hey." The girl called waving her hand in his direction. The boy looked up, slightly surprised. He didn't answer, only looked.

"…Where are we?" She asked hesitantly hoping for an answer. However, the boy only shrugged in response.

"What's your name?"

The boy glanced up at the sky, as if expecting an answer to rain down into his subconscious. When it was apparent that no, no such thing would happen, he simply replied in a matter-of-factly tone, "Don't have one."

"Did you forget?" The girl enquired, and the boy shook his head again.

"Not really mine, so I won't use it."

The brown haired girl was confused. "…The name you have isn't yours?"

"It's the same for you, right?" the male asked before glancing over his shoulder. "You remember stuff that you specifically didn't experience."

Well, the female couldn't deny that seemed to be what she was experiencing. She was remembering events that she technically never saw, and this boy was apparently going through the same.

It was then that she noticed the boy glancing over his shoulder again, as if searching for something. "Something wrong?"

The boy didn't reply immediately. He finished inspecting the area behind him before saying, "I just felt like we were being watched: had that feeling for a while."

Peeking behind him, the girl couldn't see anything from the darkness. "You sure?"

As if answering the girl's question, pale yellow spheres seemed to just blink into view from the shadows, watching them eerily.

"I am now." The male replied as more yellow lights appeared before them. From the shadows, creatures darker than the night sky emerged. They were tiny - not even knee-high - but a huge group of pitch-black monsters skittering towards you with a predatory look tended to make things look slightly more intimidating.

With a quick glance at each other, the boy and girl immediately took off in the opposite direction of the living shadows, with said creatures sinking into the ground and following.

"What are they?" The female huffed, gasping for breath, as they rounded another corner.

"Evil, I'm guessing," was the reply. There wasn't another exchange of words until they came to a stop in what was apparently a safe area: one of the buildings was actually unbarred and open.

The two exchanged a quick glance at one another then darted their gaze at this unbarred place.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the girl enquired towards her companion.

The boy responded with, "If you're thinking of making a run for that place," he nodded his head towards the area in question, then you've got that right."

At once, the boy and girl made a dash for the unbarred place, swiftly dodging and evading creatures that suddenly came across their path. From out of nowhere, one of those monsters charged. It aimed directly for one of the young girl's legs, successfully knocking her off-balance. The girl abruptly fell backwards, hitting her head off of the ground. She lifted herself into a sitting position in one quick movement and with one of her hands, touched upon the tender lump, which was now forming.

She was preoccupied with the searing pain coming over her that the girl didn't notice three of those monsters creeping towards her, ready to attack. In a sneaky manner, they slowly crept behind the girl and were ready to pounce. The boy did not notice the girl's fall and was a few meters ahead. He turned around to look over his shoulder, surprised to find his ally was no longer by his side. The boy stopped in his tracks and scanned all around him to find the girl and could clearly see what her fate was to be.

Shock coursed through his body and straight away, he sprinted towards her, attempting to rescue his new-found (and only) ally here.

"Watch out! Behind you!" he yelled to her.

The girl blinked and looked confused at the boy's outburst but did what he said momentarily. She shrieked in horror as a reaction to the sight before her. As if the shriek was a signal, the creatures made a pounce for the girl, just like a lion would when stalking its prey, ready to silence her. Forever.

Paralysed to the ground, the girl closed her eyes whilst throwing her arm in front of her face in hopes of defending herself. All of a sudden, the creatures were gone. The girl looked around her puzzled; no sign of them.

Footsteps filled the air and soon enough, the male was at the young girl's side, "Are you alright?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.

The girl nodded, "Yeah, except my head hurts like Hell! What happened to them?"

The young man looked at her in a confused manner, "I was kinda hoping you'd tell me."

"Huh?"

"You don't really know what happened do you?" The girl shook her head. " Well, when you moved your arm, you knocked those things flying in the other direction. Right onto those buildings – you squashed them. Was cool."

The girl's eyes widened in disbelief, "What! No way! I did that?" The boy nodded. "Wow." She gasped as she stared at her hands.

"Don't you have any memories of doing that?" The boy asked. "A vague idea?"

The girl shook her head, and winced at the fresh wave of pain that brought. She then glanced in the direction that those monsters were allegedly thrown. Yeah, looked like she had handily disposed of them.

"Well, at any rate, we're safe now," the male commented, sounding more monotone than he was a moment ago. "Guess I should thank you as well."

"S'fine…" she muttered, still marveling at what she had done.

"Come on," the girl brought her attention back to the boy, who was already walking towards the open building titled, 'That Pub That Wished It Was'. A very strange title, thought Merix. "Might as well drink before something jumps at us again."

The female wondered why that guy would want to drink after what happened. If there had been another attack, wouldn't it be easier to flee if they weren't struggling to walk?

But on the other hand, it sounded appealing. And she would rather not be left alone, powers be damned. Silently, she followed her new companion inside.

"Reminiscing is fun," Merix commented, resting her head on her arms as she leaned on the counter. "But it's getting a little late I think." She giggled, nodding her head towards the small clock that hung above the shelves of liquor which held vibrant colors of the many different brands of alcohol.

"Yeah, you're right," agreed Saxen staring at the clock (or the alcohol). With a sigh, he pushed himself off of the bar stool and made his way to the exit – Merix following behind of course.

The sky in this world was it's usual pitch black, the giant silver shade of the heart-shaped moon was the only thing placing forms of color into the city shrouded completely by darkness.

Merix held out her hand palm-faced in front of her, summoning their usual means of transport. "Suppose we better head back to the castle for some sleep before Sai'x summons us…yet again," huffed Merix annoyed.

Saxen turned his head slightly into Merix's direction, "My aren't we grumpy?"

Merix folded her arms over her chest for emphasis, "Well I haven't sleptyet," she pouted.

Saxen chuckled at her, "Come on then, wouldn't want you to miss out on any of your beauty sleep; looks like you could use some…maybe a lot," he teased when pretending to examine Merix's face.

Merix gasped, covered her face with her hands and let out a small cry, "Aw man! You had to do that didn't you?"

"If it annoys you then yes."

Merix stuck out her tongue at Saxen before running into the portal, disappearing into its blackness. Saxen soon followed, becoming shrouded entirely by the shadows and soon reappeared back in the castle's white circular room.

With a wave, Merix trudged exhaustingly down one of the many narrow hallways towards her room for some 'beauty sleep' before their next mission: which would probably be soon knowing their luck. Saxen followed his companion's actions and proceeded to go to his room to sleep - or possibly just stare at the walls blankly until summoned by either 'Mansex' or 'Lycan McGee' for a mission (Merix's theory of how Saxen likes to spend his spare hours) – closing his room door securely behind him for the night.

So what do you think so far? Reviews very much appreciated! WriterRoxas and I will get onto writing chapter 2 a.s.a.p. Thanks!