A/N: As if there weren't enough plots to go around in the last chapter, there's more here. All of them are significant in their way, with the exception of Donald and Goofy's one. They'll show up later on.


The Dark Arcology
Science department 4 – Floor 82
Lab 12

"Curious creatures, these Heartless. In a way, not unlike yourself, Axel."
"Heartless and Nobodies are the same, except we keep our minds. They don't. But that's not what I asked you to find out."
"I haven't tracked down the mutations yet. There are still too many variables."
"Such as?"
"The Arcology itself may be having an effect on them, the presence of the Grandmaster and his Nobody, the presence of other Nobodies-"
"There aren't any other Nobodies. Just me, Rox and Jamie."
"I fear you may be wrong, Axel. I've determined there are more than three links to at least five of the specimens."
"Can you do anything about it?"
"Not personally. It would require another Nobody. As I understand it, you are the only Nobody without any major business."
"I'll look into it then. Get a team together and make yourself an away lab somewhere to study these Heartless."
The scientist coughed delicately, "Ah... I'm going to need a few more of them, in case the Arcology is the cause."
"There's always plenty around," Axel shrugged. "I'll track some down for you. Sort the lab first."
"Yes sir."
Axel stared into the tank that contained one of the 'specimens'. The Heartless had begun to turn up in strange new forms lately, and some older ones but with unusual mutations. Having been a part of Organization XIII, he knew at least something of them, but they were hardly his speciality. Zexion would be the one to ask, but like the rest of the Organization, he was no more. Roxas had left the Organization, and he... well, something had intervened, that much was certain – otherwise why was he still here?
Axel had no idea who or what exactly was behind that though, or what the motive was, and this mystery had bothered him since he'd turned up here in the Arcology among the rogues.
It had been a simple task to bring some order to them and start making them useful to the Firsts of the Arcology – for a price. The rogues were residents, but shared none of the power or the authority linked to it. They lived on disused, damaged, burnt out and other similar floors of the Arcology, hid out and generally didn't bother the real residents unless they strayed onto rogue territory.
Roxas had hired out Axel and his band of them originally to protect Sora from an insurrection against him, instigated by Sephiroth. When Sora went missing, Axel continued to support Roxas while his friend took Sora's position as a First until they found Roxas' other again. Even then, Sephiroth had muddied the waters by creating a clone of Sora and attempting to supplant the real one with him, using a dangerous drug to make the real Sora believe he was someone completely different.
Once Sora was given the antidote and restored to his normal self, he had been livid of course. He couldn't take back his position from Roxas without first confronting Sephiroth, and in doing that they all discovered a nasty streak in him that wouldn't let the one-winged angel walk free.
Now Sora had made Roxas an Advisor, and in turn left Axel in charge of what had once been Sora's people and part of the Arcology. He didn't like this any more than Roxas had done, but took it anyway. It was better than being lower in rank.
"Keep me informed," he told the scientist, then left the lab. Whatever was mutating the Heartless was the immediate concern.

Unknown

"A Heart of any kind has a beat.
A Heart of any kind has a pulse.
Some pulses are slow.
Some pulses are quick.
It all depends on the size of the Heart.
It all depends on the where it all goes.
Where what goes?
No one knows."
Thump. Thump.

"It beats again. Away it goes.
Right through them all.
Right back again.
A slow one this is.
A large one this is.
A long time until it next beats.
A long time to... experiment."

Site of the Old Arcology

Long ago, the Arcology now called the Dark Arcology hadn't moved about at will. It had been a fixed structure, towering over anything nearby.
Something in it's past had changed that however, tearing it from the ground and sending it into the half existance it now lead, only partially existing in the real world, and only ever fully existing for brief moments at a time.
The site where it had once stood was littered with ruins of crumbling stones, in the middle of a great basin around it. If the edges of the ruins were anything to go by, this tower was immense in all directions, not just upward.
A vague idea of the ground floor's layout could be guessed. In the centre was a large central chamber, with no obvious access routes from here. The remains of a staircase led to the upper floors, wrapped around that central column. Around it were a series of smaller rooms, each adjoined to one other, and one of those two always had a corridor that lead to the edge. Many of them led to an earthy patch with a tree growing in it. One larger, triangular room took up a part of the southern edge of the ruins, it's purpose also unclear. The floors of all these areas had the remains of tiles over them. In some places the tiled floors remained almost completely intact, some even showing parts of a design on them.
Though the ruins were clearly ancient, not a single bit of moss or plant life had touched them in the slightest. Weather had damaged them certainly, but it was not as much as it should have been.
Whatever had ripped the Arcology from the foundations had left it's mark on the landscape around far more clearly, however. The hills around were littered with immense cracks and fissures that seemed to have no end to them, looking like spiders had spun webs of them all over. In some places, it was possible to cross them safely, but in others the gap was simply too great. It made reaching the ruins difficult.
Kairi and Riku stood on top of one of the hills trying to plan a route to reach them all the same.
"What about that crack there? If we cross that one, we can get to one of those smaller bits."
"And do what? That rubble is too high to climb over. All we'd get is a closer look at it."
"But that's what we want, Riku."
"I think you ought to try figuring out how to reach that larger area first."
"What for? It's just rubble."
"So's the rest of it though, but at least that gives us a larger area to have a look at, without having to do all the climbing over the ruins. You're not really dressed for that, either."
"I've never been exploring ruins before."
"It shows. Not that I'd mind," he teased with a sly smirk.
"You're terrible," she accused back.

The World That Never Was
Remains of Dark City

He lay for a few moments, trying to reach a decision. Then finally: "Alive? I'm... alive? Fascinating."
"Oh alive you most certainly are, yes." He knew the voice.
"You again."
"Is that any way to greet a friends, Zexion? After all... I am responsible for your return to life."
"How... curious," he managed to force out. "I suppose you think I'll owe you something for it."
"It is expected, you know."
"What are you up to, Vexen?"
"Kingdom Hearts, Zexion – the Organization's goal, remember? At least one of us is still working toward it."
"Our Kingdom Hearts was destroyed, and without a keyblade master you've no way to go about raising another."
"Oh, I don't need one. Sora is still unaware that every Heartless he destroys still lends itself to our cause. Now my cause."
"Fascinating," Zexion repeated, finally sitting up. He was somewhere in Dark City, or what was left of it. Beside him lay one of his lexicons.
"I took the trouble to retrieve it for you," Vexen, crouched nearby, told him as he reached for it.
"Don't think this gives me reason to like you."
"Never dream of it. Now, how about helping me in return?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Find your way to my new base of operations, and I'll tell you. Just look within a little place called the Dark Arcology."
Seemingly detached still, he observed Vexen call on a dark corridor and leave.
He gave himself a look over, noting he looked exactly as he always had within the Organization, then stood up, brushed himself off and thought for a few more moments, staring upwards.
Their castle here was little more than a few stray chunks barely hanging together now. Most of it lay in parts of the city.
The normal supply of Nobodies and Heartless that used to infest the area were long gone. Presumably some survival instinct had made them flee, or maybe they too had been destroyed.
Apparently reaching a conclusion, he glance briefly into the Lexicon, then followed Vexen.

The Dark Arcology
Ground Floor – Visitor's Entrance

Merle did not like the Visitors shift. There had never been a recorded case of anyone visiting the Dark Arcology in it's known history. There wasn't even any way someone could reach it.
But agreeing to take it had been the first step out of being a first rank, and back into the normal ranks.
Once, over a year ago, she'd been a First – one of the often feared individuals that held sway over the Arcology's inhabitants. She owned a part of the Arcology and anyone that worked for or was assigned to her. It wasn't slavery, just a claim of ownership over them. They belonged to her.
Then one of the rogues that hid out in the Arcology persuaded her to bring the Keyblade Master Sora into the Arcology. No one had wanted to bring him in before because he was deemed unpredictable, but she'd taken it on herself to prove them wrong, and succeeded.
Her distaste for the rules set by the Upper Management, the more powerful few who were ranked even higher than Firsts, caught up with her then. She was reduced down to only a second rank, the rank she now had once more. Her own Second took her place, and Sora become his Second.
She'd tried to steal an artefact to try and use to gain her place back – breaking more rules in the process – but Sora got in the way again, who moved her back down to a lowly first rank, the lowest of them all.
Not long after that, he became a First and went missing. She didn't find out anything about this until more recently. News is hard to come by as a first rank, having to constantly answer to everyone and do whatever they told her to do.
One of the Advisors had finally relented just a few weeks ago, and given her back the second rank, on the provision that she take this job.
It involved sitting at a single desk, waiting for a visitor to come into the Arcology, and handling the situation whenever it came up.
Which was likely to be never.
The room was darkened except around her. The room would light up only around a member of the Arcology normally, unless there were guests – then the entire room lit up, showing a mostly empty room, and a few rows of benches for anyone waiting.
Hardly worth note, but someone had to do it, it seemed.
She was just dozing off into a half-sleep when the room lit up of it's own accord, rousing her again.
There was no one there at all, just what was expected, and a kind of purple-black cloud... thing.
A figure emerged from it, the thing vanishing behind him. He wore black, robe, boots, gloves, everything. Silver-blue hair covered most of his face, and he carried in one hand a black book.
He strode confidently toward her, not pausing to wait until she called for him.
"This is the Dark Arcology, no?" he asked quietly.
"Uh, yes. I'll need your name and the reason you're visiting before I can let you in. And you'll have to wait for the Registry to authorise it too."
"I'm... looking for someone. I don't wish to involve anyone else in my search."
"And your name?"
"Zexion."
She dutifully took down the details on a form, filling out additional ones as necessary, put the form into a capsule and then put the capsule into a tube on the desk that would take it up to the Registry.
"Take a seat. The Registry should get back to us shortly."
"How shortly?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "You're the first visitor to use this entrance. As far as I knew, no one could use it, so they might not believe what I've sent them."
"What then?"
"They're probably investigate to make sure. Just be patient, I'm sure it won't be long."