Authors Notes: Well, here goes, the next major fiction work I shall be spending all my free time on. Tracton will finally be revealed as an important planet in the plot of the balance. I am going to try and set a minumum word count for each chapter (not including title, disclaimer or authors notes) of either 2000 or 2100. Hope you enjoy the prologue of the story despite the lack of action and fight scenes which I usually cram into my fics. The main story will come soon with appearances from Zen and Zalak from the world of Astanta, Cloud Strife and Leon Lionheart, the Dark Wizard Orachron and many more!

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts except Dav Strife, the storyline of the Balance, Dav's Nobody Seth, the events of this story and the world of Tracton. Zen, Zalak, Orachron and Ashura belong to MASmaster and Dark Lord Sigma who are good friends of mine! (It think lol) I do not profit in any way from this story except the satisfaction of writing for my fans lol!

The Dark World

By Dav Strife

Chapter 00: Prologue or Revelations

"I'm soooo bored!" moaned a particularly agitated Tidus who was nudging Wakka's Blitzball around lazily with his foot. "C'mon Dav, lets go do something… anything!"

Dav, who was sat on the beach with his back resting up against the side of the seaside shack cleaning one of his handguns merely glanced up at Tidus but then brought his attention back to cleaning the inside of his weapon's barrel. "Tidus, these guns don't clean themselves you know, go and ask Sora if he wants to fight or something"

"Are you kidding?" Tidus asked loudly "Since the whole Heartless fighting thing he has become stupidly strong! I'd stand a much better chance against a weaker opponent… I don't know, someone like you…"

"…What!" Dav yelled, getting up quickly to stand over Tidus menacingly who grinned back sheepishly.

"Well… you know, compared to Sora that is…"

"Bad move brudda, remember last time when Riku tried calling Dav weak…" Wakka added which caused a shudder to run up Tidus' spine.

"Oh yeah… I swear Riku doesn't walk the same since that time…"

"I'll show you blondie!" Dav growled as he scanned the Island hangout for Sora. Tidus got the urge to point out that Dav was blonder than he is but decided for his own safety to keep quiet. "Ah! There he is… we'll see who is the stronger fighter…"

"Dav, maybe you should reconsider this… Just calm down, ya?"

"I know you are trying to the sensible one Wakka but I'm not gonna back down, I've always wanted to fight with Sora anyway"

"You do know that you're unarmed, don't you?" Tidus pointed out quietly.

"Good point… I know, I'll go home, get my sword and then fight him on the mainland! Sora just left for there anyway so I'll follow him, see ya later ladies"

"You think he'll really do it? Sora is pretty strong for such a little guy" Wakka asked once Dav had left the Island.

"Dav isn't a pushover either ya know… but Sora is the Keyblade master. But then again Dav is the balance… geez… let's go for some ice crem or something"

"Sure" Wakka said quickly trying to get off the subject.

A8A

Tidus and Wakka went to the mainland and immediately headed for an ice cream bar in the town. After each consuming a large three flavour surprise they left for their houses which were a twenty minute walk down the road. After walking for ten minutes the two teens stopped to watch a soccer game in the park which then lead them to sit on a large hill overlooking most of the island.

"Hey man, isn't that your phone going off?" Wakka asked his blonde friend regarding an annoying buzzing sound coming from Tidus' bag.

"Oh yeah…" Tidus took out the phone and pushed a button and placed it next to his right ear, collapsing backwards to lie on the hill as he did so. "Aloha…"

"Tidus, it's me, Ashura"

"Oh, right, hey… whats up?"

Do you know where Strife is? I've tried his mobile phone and house phone and even been round and he's not at home. Did he say anything to you about going out?"

"He said something about going to fight Sora to see who is the strongest…"

"Oh no… what did you say to him…"

"Nothing really, just said he is not as strong as Sora is"

"I bet they are not the words you used though… You know how competitive they are Tidus! If you find him, ring me back" Ashura hung up, leaving Tidus grinning weakly which got Wakka laughing.

"We better go look for him, ya?"

"Yeah, let's go"

A8A

"Doesn't look like he's home…" Wakka stated as he peered in through a window.

"Where else could he have gone… if he received a job from anyone Ashura or me would have been told about it…"

"Let's look inside" Wakka suggested, pointing towards the door.

"How? I'm not breaking into a mercenary's house, let alone a mercenary who controls both light and dark… and is Dav…"

"No dufus!" Wakka laughed "I have a key"

"He gave you a key? No way! I didn't get one!"

"Heh… ask him when we find him, here, open the door T"

Wakka handed Tidus a small key which he inserted into the door and a click resonated from within the lock, allowing the teenagers access to the Strife house hold. Wakka stayed in the kitchen to look for any indication of where Dav had gone while Tidus went up to the young warrior's bedroom and then returned to Wakka who was staring out of the window.

"Ya know, I bet there's an innocent explanation for all of this…" Wakka explained, but stopped when he saw Tidus' face. "What's up brudda?"

"All three swords, both guns, Keyblade, potions, ethers and combat gear are missing… but I did find this note…" Tidus handed a piece of paper to Wakka who read the note aloud, stopping every few sentences to absorb the information.

Guys,

Sorry to ditch you like this but there is something stirring in the darkness so I've gone to check it out. I'm with Riku, King Mickey, Seth, Sora and his friends Donald and Goofy. According to the king there is a very dark and powerful darkness rising on a distant world but here's the bit your going to love, it's our old favourite Tracton. What exactly it is we don't know, could be Heartless, Nobodies or someone powerful like Maleficent or even Xenhort (Ansem Impostor if you forgot). If you want to catch us up take the ship and head straight for Tracton, don't stop anywhere else because we don't know if something is happening all over or whether its just Tracton. I also heard from the king that Orachron has been spotted around and about so you might run into him on the way.

See You later

D.S

p.s. I won! But boy was it close!

"I better ring Ashura and let him know, then we'll go after them…" Tidus informed Wakka who seemed to be surprised.

"You mean me as well?"

"Yeah, we'll need the help"

"What am I goin' to do? Yell at the enemies to death?"

"…That reminds me, Dav's brother made you a weapon… well, he got it off someone else but still… I think they called it the World Champion"

"Why did no one tell me man? Where is it?"

"In his room, on top of his desk"

"Sweet!"

Wakka ran up the stairs and almost knocked Dav's bedroom door down and there he saw his new weapon.

"A lamp? He wants me to fight the Heartless with a lamp!" Wakka yelled in surprise to Tidus who had just come up the stairs.

"The other desk genius!" Tidus said sarcastically.

Wakka turned round to find a deep red variation of Wakka's Blitzball with two black stripes running right round the middle. A line of spikes that curved to the right at their tips ran in between the two black stripes, the weapon itself was tinted with a light red aura that made the weapon look even more evil and dangerous than it already would have without the glow.

"Man, that rules…" Wakka said breathlessly as he picked the weapon up and found that despite the spikes running around its centre it was light and easy to handle. "What's with the wicked glow?" Wakka asked Tidus who was reading a piece of paper.

"It says on this note that the red glow is an enchantment Dav managed to persuade Merlin to put on it. 'When thrown at an enemy it will instantly comeback to you so you won't ever lose it should you miss a target' It also says the spikes retract for easy storage and handling, you simply press a concealed black button that is on one of the stripes. You have to push really hard though but that's a good thing, don't wanna impale yourself accidentally" Tidus mocked but Wakka was too absorbed in the weapon to bother about insults.

"Hey, did you hear something from downstairs?" Wakka asked Tidus who was now stood at the bedroom door peering down the stairs to see who was there.

"Uh-huh, coming up now… hide quick!" Tidus whispered frantically

To hide Wakka opened Dav's wardrobe, pushed aside some of his hanged up clothes, sat in the bottom of it and closed its door softly. Tidus hid behind the door as a figure entered the room slowly, crouched down so he could sneak around. Without thinking Tidus launched himself at the figure and slung his arms around his neck and head to cover the intruder's eyes. Wakka then emerged from the wardrobe and slammed his new throwing weapon into the figure's stomach while making sure the spikes were inside the ball itself. The figure despite being winded grabbed Wakka by the shirt and shoved him into the wall to try and knock him out but instead Wakka was forced against Dav's spare bed which was folded up against the wall and so Wakka escaped pain free. Tidus took his sword that until now had been resting in its sheath in his back and aimed for the attacker's throat while still hanging by one arm around the muscular attacker's neck but at the same time another bladed weapon aimed for Tidus' head but it stopped just short. Tidus looked at the attacker properly who he nearly skewered and nearly had the favour returned to find a slightly flustered Ashura who had one of his hidden arm blades held at Tidus' neck, his un-bladed arm still clutched onto Wakka's T-shirt who was about to stab Ashura's arm with his spiked weapon.

"That was a close one, ya?" Wakka voiced as Ashura and Tidus exchanged confused looks.

"So we thought you were a burglar and you thought we were assassins or something?"

"Something like that, you idiots shouldn't have left the door open… Since when did you have a proper weapon?" Ashura questioned Wakka who held the weapon up proudly.

"Dav got me it for some reason… Maybe so he has more help in dealing with the Heartless…"

"Oh, yeah, read this big man" Tidus suggested, thrusting the note into Ashura's free hand. Ashura held his bladed arm up and flicked a small switch under his sleeve and the blade retracted back under his sleeve. He then un-crumpled the note and read it, taking his time so he understood things properly.

"Interesting…" Ashura announced slowly.

"Meaning what exactly? While Dav and Sora could be in real danger all you can say is interesting?"

"Don't get so flustered Tidus, they are strong, they will be fine… but still we should proceed to follow them and help with their investigation"

"Hey, do you think it could be that demon dude again?" Wakka asked Ashura who looked at him with an interested expression.

"I doubt it, but how do you know of the Demon Zalak?"

"Tidus. He told me all about your adventures. That's why I want to come along and join the team. That's okay with you, ya?"

"I have no objections. I warn you now though. Dav, myself and even your best friend Tidus are different people in battle. Some things that we do are a little questionable at times and some of the things you may see will be hard to deal with. Especially the world of Tracton. Myself and Dav visited there not long after the Heartless obliterated the world's populace and it was difficult for even me who has been doing this sort of work for a long time"

"I'm prepared for that. Gotta take all the good with the bad, ya?"

"Exactly, well then, welcome to the team Wakka"

"I am honoured to fight alongside you Mr. Ashura Dragoon. We will be a great team, ya?"

"Indeed… how do you know my full name? Tidus?"

"Tidus!" Wakka confirmed with a laugh that snapped Tidus to attention.

"I suggest that you go and collect your belongings that you require on the journey and meet back here in twenty minutes… Will your parents allow you to come along?" As Ashura finished his sentence Tidus winced slightly at the question.

"My err… parents died when I was a baby, I never really knew them. My big brother brought me up single handed. Dav's parents are not alive either, did you know?"

"I did not and I am sorry to hear that, but at present it does not particularly matter. We have to hurry and get to our friends… before something happens to them"

R + R if you enjoy this story!