"Four of us. Four, on a search-and-recovery mission. This must be a damn scary world."

"Can't be that scary, if they're sending me instead of, say, anyone useful." Demyx ducked a wadded pair of socks that came sailing through the bathroom from Axel's room. "Thanks, I always need more socks."

"Give my socks back, you dumbass." Demyx threw them underhand, instead of throwing them with force like Axel had; the redhead caught them easily. "Besides, you're easier to take along than a few dozen gallons of water. Maybe it's a desert world."

"Oh, lovely. I have some use besides entertainment value. I'm the official Organization waterboy." Demyx stared critically at the oversized backpack that was meant to be the only luggage he was allowed to bring. "I still don't get why they need to send four of us, but can afford to send Zexion, who's not much good in a fight, and me, who's no good at all in a fight unless you need someone to run away."

"Well, Zexion's the only one who's ever been to the Nexus before and has the only hope of ever getting us oriented before something tragic and unfortunate happens to the new guy before we ever see him. I'm good in a fight. Roxas is pretty handy in a fight, and is in need of experience. You..." Axel stuck his head through the bathroom door and looked carefully at Demyx. "I guess they sent you because your self-esteem is so light to pack."

"Oh, because they needed something to balance out your ego?"

"Bite me." Demyx snapped his teeth at Axel. "Not literally, dumbass."

"If I really wanted to bite you, I'd have to come closer." Demyx looked into his backpack again. "How much underwear do I really need?"

"Depends. How much of it do you think you're gonna crap from fright before we're through?"

Since Demyx tended to make a lot of jokes about his reputation for cowardice - which wasn't entirely undeserved - Axel figured he was perfectly in the clear to make a joke of his own. It wasn't until Demyx's bathroom door slammed and locked that he realized maybe he'd gone a little too far.


Demyx wasn't one to hold a grudge for very long - usually just until he got distracted. So it was a bit of a surprise when the four of them assembled and he still refused to look at Axel. Axel was left wondering what the hell he'd said.

"Hopefully this uncharacteristic hostility isn't going to interfere with our mission?" Zexion asked in a "say-yes-or-I'll-make-your-existence-hell" sort of tone. As the most senior member of the party, and the only one who came within shouting distance of knowing his way around the four-worlds-in-one known as the Nexus, he was the unofficial leader of the group.

Roxas was more direct. "So what did you do this time?" Axel shrugged helplessly while Demyx pretended there wasn't anything wrong, it's just that everything interesting, such as that wall over there, was in the opposite direction from Axel.

Zexion sighed and shook his head. "I do hope the two of you bear in mind that if you make our existences any less pleasant, we will return the favor. Now, if we may begin our actual mission..." He gestured, and a portal opened.

Zexion's appearance didn't change on the other side of the portal; the only alteration to Demyx's appearance was a little tattoo of a wave next to his right eye. Axel didn't feel any different as he crossed between worlds. But... "Roxas...the hell?!"

Roxas looked down at himself in confusion. "What?"

Axel hesitated, wondering where to begin. The clothes and the voice were the only way he was sure it was still Roxas he was talking to. His skin had suddenly turned black - not African black, but truly jet black - and his teeth, hair, and eyes were all the same so-bright-it-glows white. In fact, his whole body seemed to glow the faintest bit, despite his skin tone. Demyx eventually spoke up. "Wow, Roxas...you look different."

Roxas blinked. "How different?"

Axel swallowed hard. "I think we need to get you a mirror."

Roxas looked critically at Axel. "I'm sure whatever's happened to me is at least as spectacular, if not more so, but your tattoos seem to have grown."

"...Grown?"

Roxas nodded. "They used to be about yea long; now they extend all the way down your face and neck and disappear under your collar."

"Huh?" Axel unzipped his robe just far enough to peer down his shirt. "Holy shit..." He hastily peeled off his robe and shirt. His entire body was apparently covered in an intricate network of spidery black and red tattoos. On a hunch, he peeked down the waistband of his pants. Yes, the tattoos continued all the way down. "Kingdom Hearts on a hot dog bun..."

Demyx, who was apparently now distracted enough to forget he wasn't supposed to be acknowledging Axel's existence, circled him curiously. "Wow. That's coverage. Hey, I can see a little origami tiger in there...right there..."

Axel brushed perfunctorily at the spot Demyx indicated. "You're seeing things..." Except the tattoo over that spot suddenly faded, and a piece of folded paper - an origami tiger - suddenly fell to the ground, growing as it fell, until by the time it landed on the grass it was a full-grown, living tiger. "...Please tell me I'm seeing things."

Roxas hastily summoned his Keyblades and assumed a defensive stance. Demyx backed up into the nearest tree. "Nice kitty," he whimpered.

The tiger growled and lashed its tail at the world in general, then forced its head under Axel's hand like a kitten asking to be petted. He stroked it gingerly, and it growled softly, almost like a purr. "Wow...um...it seems to like me..."

"Well, you conjured it; I kind of hope it does..." Roxas murmured, lowering his Keyblades. "Now that tiger would be convenient in a fight, if it's not so friendly to everyone."

"An experienced Nexus Champion would be convenient in a fight, with or without an origami tiger." The three of them jumped - none of them had noticed Zexion had left until he suddenly reappeared. "A Paladin, however, may be something of an inconvenience, if we were more eager to avoid fights than engage in them."

"Is that what Roxas is?" Demyx asked.

"What do you mean, if we want to avoid fights?" Roxas asked.

Zexion cleared his throat. "The Nexal worlds have a reputation, not entirely undeserved, of being largely every man and woman for themselves. Finding and killing enemies, or anyone one comes across who seems weak enough to defeat, is a popular pastime. Only the Angels are an exception to this rule, as they risk corrupting themselves by going around killing all and sundry, especially each other, but I'm reasonably confident the Nobody we're looking for is not a former Angel, and a young, inexperienced Paladin, even one in the company of a powerful, experienced Nexus Champion, is a tempting target for any mortal or Demon."

Axel tried to puzzle out Zexion's meanings. "You mean that all of us are basically targets for anyone who thinks they're tough enough to beat us...especially Roxas because he's the youngest and weakest...wait a second, do you mean Roxas is an angel?"

"Yes."

"Okay, now there's a surprise...and I'm a what?"

"A Nexus Champion. A mortal hero who derives power from a series of mystical tattoos."

Axel looked down at his decorated torso. "Are they permanent now?"

"You'll find out the first time you return for more insulin."

Axel hissed in irritation, glad his insulin pump was more-or-less out of sight except for a short length of tubing. He pulled his robe on over his bare chest, wadding his shirt up and sticking it in a pocket. "So what about you and Demyx?"

"I'm not certain yet." Demyx was discreetly checking himself over for tattoos, and apparently coming up dry; he couldn't see the one on his face. "I do, however, believe we should find some sort of shelter soon." Zexion pointed to the fading red glow in the sky. "The sun has just set, and we'll need steady light. Besides, outdoors is too exposed."

"And I don't suppose any of the rest of you have noticed, but...we're in a graveyard." Roxas gestured at a headstone. "I'm reluctant to say I'm scared of spending the night camped out in a graveyard, but I don't really like the idea."

"Oh...joy." Axel would have taken an instinctive step back, but the tiger was now sitting on his foot. "So where do we go from here?"

Demyx, who'd flattened himself even more against the tree, pointed at the lighted buildings outside the graveyard fence. "There looks good."


Axel continued to yank uselessly at the locked doorknob. "So what do we do now, just break down the door?"

Roxas pushed him aside. "Let me." In approximately two minutes, he had the door open, using what looked like a handful of wire.

Axel watched in confusion. "I didn't know you could pick locks."

"Neither did I, but it's a good thing. Now we can close and lock the door behind us."

Axel gestured to Demyx and Zexion, who were still waiting behind the fence. "We're in." Zexion immediately went for the gate, and Demyx just climbed over the fence. The tiger bounded up the stairs ahead of them to a long-abandoned but still somewhat livable apartment. "Guess this is as good a place to crash as any."

Inspection proved the apartment to be truly abandoned, except for a spider and a couple moths, so the Nobodies immediately started claiming various soft surfaces to sleep on. Axel called the couch; Zexion and Roxas each claimed one of the two beds. Demyx, oddly enough, kept silent; when pressed, he said he'd be content to sleep on the floor.

Axel rolled his eyes. "You're not going to be all angsty and down on yourself this mission, are you?" Demyx shrugged. "I'll take that as a yes."

Demyx glared at him. "Axel, has it ever occurred to you that we might need someone to keep watch while the rest of you are enjoying your sweet dreams?"

"...The tiger can do that."

"The tiger can't tell you the difference between a lost kid on a skateboard and a small army of guys with machine guns, can it?"

Axel glanced back at the animal in question, which was sprawled in front of the couch doing its best imitation of a rug. "Point. Hey, Zexion, is there any danger of being overrun by guys with machine guns?"

"In the Nexus? Perpetually."

"Great...well, Demyx, I think you had an excellent idea there." Axel sat down on the couch, being careful of the tiger, and found the remote which might have controlled the big-screen TV if said screen wasn't broken. "Where are we, anyway?"

"In order of specificity, the Nexus, Valhalla, St. Germaine Island, 2936 Eastshore, apartment 2A. The roof of apartment 2B appears to be caved in."

"That's the least reassuring thing I've heard all week, got it memorized?"

"So assuming the roof doesn't cave in on us while we sleep...or that Demyx notices and warns us so we can get out before it does...how are we going to go about actually finding the new guy?" Roxas asked.

"That's an excellent question. I believe I can narrow down the search area, but unless Seven is able to provide us with any more useful information than merely gender and world of origin, this is likely to be a very long and arduous search."

"What do you mean by long and arduous?" Demyx asked, staring out the window at the ocean glimmering in the moonlight.

"The Nexus is four worlds in one. I believe we can safely eliminate Paradise and restrict our search to Valhalla, Stygia, and Purgatorio. Beyond that..."

The rest of them all turned and stared at Zexion as if he was the source of all their future misery. "...Get off the couch. I wanna get some sleep."


"Ricky!" Lea had been awake for nearly 24 hours by now, but he had no intention of going home as long as he was still on his feet and able to search. His little brother was missing; sleep was irrelevant. Finding Ricky was.

He shone his flashlight around the dark woods, desperately searching for so much as a footprint in the mud. It had only been three days; three days wasn't all that long; they'd find him again, no matter what the odds were supposed to be...

There. In that tangle of dead branches - Lea wasn't enough of a woodsman to think of it as anything else. But that scrap of vivid lime-green fabric...the same color as the soccer uniform Ricky would have been wearing...

As he came closer for a better look, he heard the unmistakable sound of a pump-action shotgun.

Axel jerked awake, nearly falling off the couch. The rest of it had been a dream, but that pump-action shotgun was real.


AN: O noes! Someone's got a gun! Who is gonna have to wait...(snickers) I love cliffhangers.

Next chapter, we might also find out what Demyx and Zexion are and what cool abilities they might have. Now, pause to imagine tattooed Axel in an open robe with no shirt. You like? I like. Paladin!Roxas is giving me a few more problems, though.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts or Nexus War, got it memorized? Though Nexus War doesn't even have its own fandom...