Dear Reader,

Okay... This chapter is a little longer than the others. When I wrote this I was in kind of a crappy mood and made it really dramatic. It's really hard to describe things when you can see them so well in your head. Oh well... I tried. Sorry if I made Riku too emotional, but it kind of makes sense if you think about it. He's so messed up from all he's been through that things affect him in strange ways. That and the place he's in right now is bringing up unpleasent memories.

I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

I don't own Final Fantasy VII.

Thank you to FogDragon for all the support. Labu-labu, Foggy-chan!

Here's also to EverFire. Hugs and kisses to you, I hope to see you soon.

Stay safe
Stay healthy
Sincerely,

Starr

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Riku handed Yuffie a cloth mask soaked in peppermint and cracked his neck, staring at the imposing door of Number IV's laboratory.

"You ready?"

"Yep!"

Together they pushed at the door until the rusted bolts and hinges gave way.

"Whoa... Hello, Freakenstein..." Yuffie stated, bouncing in and immdiately poking around in a nearby cupboard. Riku looked around uneasily. Sharing the same memories as his Replica had given him a disturbing insight into Vexen's lab. The room was dim with brightly lit lamps that hurt the eyes. The entire room was sterile and steely and chilled. Wander over to a the nearest counter he found a half withered experimental garden. He recognized most of the plants from the faint, prodding memories of Repliku as either hallucinogens or narcotics mostly used for medicinal purposes.

"Some of these are still salvageable..." He muttered, half to himself. Aerith was quickly becoming one of the most well known herbalists in Hollow Bastion and was admired for her healing gifts. Besides that the woman just hated seeing things wither. Even if they were plants that could be made into potentially dangerous illegal substances.

"Hey, Yuffie!" He called, "Come help me with these-"

"Ooooh!" Came an excited squeal from the wall, "Materia!" Riku sighed in exasperation and began to carry the plant trays out into the hallway himself. On the third trip Yuffie came to help, pocket's bulging and a contented cat's smile on her face.

To the dead Acedemic's credit the Laboratory was neat and tidy, but had been left just as it was. Untouched with the day's half-finished projects and notes abandoned as they were. Neon toxic fumes rising from potions mixtures left to boil over. Files for finished experiments and the Organization's profiles were tucked neatly away in cabinets and drawers. Yuffie huffed in dismay when Riku set her to sorting papers while he went through the OrgXII's files.

When the origional six had come into being Vexen had wasted experiements on his brethren. Conducting intense studies on both Heartless and Nobody alike. Riku blinked before grinning wickedly. Vexen had been exceptionally thorough and utterly merciless in his observations.

It seemed that Xemnas had high blood pressure and was given to fits of insomnia with a high risk of forming an ucler. He was also violently alergic to pickles.

Zexion had a phobia to blood and an exceptionally strong sense of semll. So strong in fact that he often had seizures and had trouble breathing, see 'asthma'.

Vexen himself had insomnia and it seemed that he risked malnutrition from forgetting to eat. He also had weak vision but disliked glasses; and contacts made his eyes inflamed. Riku snorted. That explained the squint. Flipping through the files he reached #VIII. Axel had suffered from pyromania and hyperactivity, although riku argued the word 'suffered'.

It was #XIII's file that was extremely sobering and proved just how opposite from Sora, Roxas was. Depression, apathy, a violent temper, borderline passive-agressive, borderline personality disorder. Semi-suicidal when it came to missions. Maybe this explained why Roxas was, even now, refusing to meld completely with Sora.

Namine herself, listed as XIIII in pencil next to her name, had a weak constitution and had the gift of clairvoyancy, read 'halucinations'. In the notes Vexen expressed frustration at the fact that Nobodies were immune to most drugs. Axel and Larxene had volunteered to test anything and everything that Vexen had with interesting, and often down right dangerous, results. But the reactions never lasted very long.

Since the records from Hollow Bastion had all been destroyed and the ones in the Castle That Never Was were almost impossible to get to now it was impossible to guess what the Org.XIII had been like as Sombodies.

"YEEEK!" Yuffie shrieked suddenly and, before he really knew what he was doing, Riku was up, Way To Dawn in hand, and at the ninja's side.

"What is it?!" He demanded. He blinked. Part of the wall had been fack and had creaked outward to reveal another part of the room.

"I... What was that?" Yuffie gasped, clutching her chest with one hand, shuriken at the ready in the other. Stepping foreward she peered into the room and reached delicately around the corner, flipping the light switch. The lights flickered and only one was really working while the others blinked erraticly. Peering inside Yuffie suddenly yelped and flung herself back. Riku stepped foreward and raised his hand, calling light into his fingertips with a muttered word. On a taple that had been tilted vertically was pinned a half-discted Dusk. Unable to die it hissed and squirmed, it's insides half-spilled and flesh half-healing.

"Oh... Oh, Omni..." Yuffie shuddered, looking ill. The hooded face turned in her direction, its tendrils reaching for her feebly. Riku suddenly found himself unable to move. A grey haze falling over his vision and ice covering his guy. He could barely hear Yuffie calling his name, as if he were far away. As her voice faded another became louder. A soft lilting voice singing a soft song. Like a mother singing a lullaby to comfort a frightened child. A familiar sound. A familiar song. But he couldn't place where-

"FIRAGA!"

Riku blinked and the singing stopped, the haze falling away as the Dusk burned. As it did so the head turned and stared at him and for the first, and hopefully last, time he heard it speak, hissing and slurring throuhg features no longer meant for human tongue, a vaguely feminine sound.

"...Aaabommmiiiinnnaaaatiiioonnnnnnnnn..."

A shuriken through the face silenced it as it burned into ash.

"Speak for yourself." The ninja muttered, tucking a sparkling red spehere into her pocket. Riku shook himself. He had the feeling that the Duck hadn't been talking about him but TOO him. A warning. The pathetic creature had been beyond the instinct to hunt and feed and the only darkness that he had smelled had been from the tools pinning it in place. A creature kept on the edge of death, warning others from the same fate. Looking around Riku had to agree with the warning. Experiments, too evil and immoral to be described had been commited in this room by a scientist who no longer had the ability to feel morality or guilt or conscience. From the moment he had first stepping into that laboratory it had been pure, unrestrained science.

As usual, Yuffie wandered around poking into 'interesting' places. Riku proceeded with more caution, flickers of faded memory teasing at his brain. He knew. Deep inside he knew that his Replica had been created here.

"Hey, Riku!" Yuffie called from across the room, "Whattaya make of this?" The ninja was standing next to a long set of tubes that had been covered with a half rotted burlap cloth. Riku suppressed a shivver.

"Bad things." He said simply, busily picking up a stack of papers. They were files. Riku blinked. At the top, written in Vexen's quick hand was scrawled 'Replical Project'.

"What the-" Riku muttered, turning to the first page. There was the firle for his own Replica.

"Riku #1, designation: Repliku, one part Human, one part Dusk, status: Terminated." Turning the page again he swallowed hard,

"Riku #2, designation: Repliku2, one part Human, one part Dusk status: On Hold." He turned the page, "Sephiroth #1, designation: Kadaj, one part Human, one part Human-clone, one part Dusk, status: On Hold." He turned the page,
"Vexen #1, designation: Yazoo, one part Human, one part Human-clone, one part Org. 4, status: On Hold." He turned the page,
"Lexeaus #1, designation: Loz, one part Human, one part Human-clone, one part Org.5, status: On Hold." He turned the page to the notes.

"Subjects Riku and Sephiroth seem to be similar in constitution, not just in appearance. Further studies to be conducted at a later date. Subject Sephiroth seems to be a copy of a copy of some creature that is neither Heartless or Nobody or Human. Pity world was destroyed. Proffessor Hojo's papers would prove handy..." Yuffie choked.

"Hojo?!" She demanded, "That bastard's been dead for years! And how the Hell did this bastard get his hand on Sephiroth?!" As the small ninja continued her rant Riku continued.

"Fortunately remenants of Project Jenova were found intact. The few cells successfully recovered with minimal damage. The fusion of Jenova cells and Dusk cells created interesting results. Project Jexebel will be a complete success. Research on 'Reunion' lacks ample information, however what was harvested from Subject Sephiroth's memories proved handy. Attempts to resurrect 'UnderGround' failed and #VII refuses to attempt another memory drive. Flashbacks proved his Somebody's involvement without a doubt. The recreation of the Sephiroth clones should be a success following what notes on the project were found. Mixing Nobdy cells with Somebody cells should bring us that much closer to our goals. The Superior will be pleased." Riku looked up to see Yuffie staring at him in horror.

"The bastard..." She breathed, "The utter, utter bastard. All the trouble we went through the first tijme around and the Organization wanted to bring them BACK?!" Riku skimmed through more of the notes, "It seems he was attempting to hide it from everyone else, hoping to get in good with Xemnas." He smirked painfully, "Too bad it didn't work..." Something caught his eyes. A rushed note at the bottem.

"Reunion will begin as soon as I return from this mission. Switching the Children's life pods to backup generators for now. Jezebel will be placed in cryogenic freeze until needed. False memories already loaded onto template. Will download into the children later..."Putting the file down Riku looked around wildly, ripping off his mask the reek of darkness and chemicle decay poured into his lungs, half choking him. After a moment his olfactory nerves went numb and the scent he was searching for reached him. Like one of Hades' Hellhounds he followed it to a half open false door in the far corner of the room. Upon opening it he saw a tube, broken from the inside, fluids and blood dried on the broken glass.

"Shit..." He hissed as the reek of darkness that was neither Heartless or Nobody assaulted his senses. Then a more horrible thought struck him, almost like a physical blow.

"If Jezebel was there... Then where are..." His gaze shot past a shocked Yuffie to the covered pods behind her.

"Shit..." He breathed again, racing over he ripped the cloth down and tossed it aside as it disinitigrated in his hands. All of Riku's senses were trained on the four life pods in front of him.

Floating in once clean fluid were four teenagers, their names scrawled on labels tacked above them. Repliku2, Kadaj, Yazoo and Loz.

"Shit..." He said a third time, "Yuffie, get the king." She paused, uncertain that she should leave him alone, but a harsh "NOW!" sent her racing out of the door, yelling for Leon and Mickey at the top of her lungs.

Desperatley Riku pressed his hand against the first tube, sending his senses inward. Par him, part Sephiroth, part Vexen, part Lexeaus, part Dusk, part Jenova. Abonimations all. But no scent of darkness reached him. They were nothing but fetuses, stillborn in the womb. His nostrils flared. Not stillborn. Alive.

"Oh, god..." A voice choked and Riku realized it was his own. The horrors of being trapped in darkness returning to him in a flood. A keen of pure desperation caught in his throat. It was then that something inside snapped. Whenever there was danger. Whenever he felt that he couldn't go on, something the King had nonchalantly called 'Battle Mode' took over. Colors faded and details became sharper. Vision narrowed and the senses became alive.

"Back up generators..." He whispered. The lights hadn't been working properly in this part of the lab. Whatever Vexen was using wasn't working anymore. They had turned the full generators on when they first got to the castle, but the tubes were no longer connected to it. His eyes caught the electrical box near the door. Almost sobbing he ran to it and, ripping the cover from it he grabbed the, thankfully simple, lever and pulled. The lights flickered and came on full. With a soft hum the tubes came to like, bringing their occupants into sharp relief. All except the second from the left. Kadaj was dark and lifeless.

"No..." Riku knew he wasn't thinking clearly. His over-augmented senses picking up things that overwhelmed, memories his clone had fed into his mind the moment of his death, making him see things in a new way. In a new light. They weren't clones. They weren't abominations. They were children. His children. His brothers. His family. With a sharp cry he summoned Way To Dawn and charged the dark tube, slamming it with all his might. With a shatter it broke open and gave up the foul liquid and precious contents trapped within. Pulling the naked boy out carefully, not caring as sharp glass cut into his own arms, he cradled the clone carefully close.

"Kadaj?" He whispered, eyes blurred by tears, "Kadaj, wake up!" He shook the delicate and too thin body gently, "Wake up!" A soft moan answered him and bright, cat-green eyes slitted open, staring up at him dazedly.

"Kadaj?" Riku whispered as a soft strained noise escaped Kadaj's lips. A soft smile curving them upward.

"B-brother...?" Kadaj whispered, "I-I dreamed I s-saw Mother..." Exhaused by that small speech his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell unconscious once again.