4


The Shinra-made MH-53 Pave Low helicopter thundered through the cloudy night sky. Aaron Newman looked back from his position at the right turret to get a look at his cargo. Four teens, each wearing a dark cloak, sat in the bay, their hoods up, completely silent. He didn't know much about them, only that they were supposed to drop them off at a place called "The World That Never Was," a city created by refugees who had fled their war-torn countries. The dark city was the closest thing to a safe haven that these people had, and it needed to stay that way.

The headset in his helmet crackled to life, and the pilot, Matt Gregson, had to shout over the roar of the engines. "All right, ETA's a minute thirty! Brief 'em on the mission, Rookie!"

Aaron grinned. Rookie. Looks like that one's sticking. He walked to the front of the bay and raised his arms. The four boys looked at him.

"Ok, listen up!" Aaron shouted. "You've got an HVT on your hands! Guy's name's Xemnas, a.k.a. The Superior. He's a local mob boss and drug kingpin, and tonight, you guys are shutting down his operation. We'll be putting you down a few miles outside the city, so you'll have to do some hiking!" He noticed the kids look at each other. "Hey, do you want a riot to break out because a bunch of people scarred by war see a military chopper flying over Downtown? Didn't think so! As I was saying, we'll put you down, then the best way into the underground hideout is through the sewers, located just outside the city limits. Go in, get Xemnas, who will from now on be referred to as X-Ray, and get back to the LZ! We'll pick you up at 2200 hours!" He looked at his watch. "That gives you three hours!"

"We're at the drop zone, preparing to unload the cargo!" the pilots voice came on over the intercom. Aaron looked at the teens. "You good?" They nodded, and Aaron turned back to the cockpit and gave them a thumbs up. Gregson returned the sign and hit a button on the control panel. The left door slid open and two ropes were deployed. A green light came on. Aaron grinned as the four teens fast-roped down to the ground and headed for the city.

I love my job.


"Clear left."

"Clear right."

"Got our six."

Roxas nodded at Hayner. "All right, move up."

Riku, Sora, Hayner, and Roxas had just made it to the outskirts of the city. Roxas checked his watch. 2022 hours. They were making good time.

His ear piece crackled and Axel's voice came in. "You guys at the city yet?"

"Yep."

"Ok, go east about twenty yards and look to your left. There should be a drainage pipe leading to the city's sewers."

Roxas did as he was told and soon came upon a metal pipe with a rusty drain cover on it. "Found it."

He kneeled down and pulled out a flashlight. He searched the cover for any screws. He sighed in defeat when he found none.

He looked back at his crew. "Well, no screws. Looks like it's welded on pretty well. I don't know how to get it off, but if I think we can –"

Riku walked up, gripped the bars of the cover, and ripped it clean off without breaking a sweat. He tossed the rusty piece of metal into a nearby bush. "You were saying?"

Roxas grunted. "Whatever works. I'm not complaining." He then started to climb into the pipe.

"Hold on!" exclaimed Sora. The three boys looked at him. "We need to cover our scent, plus the sewers reek." A thin, transparent bubble surrounded each team. "This way we'll keep our stench and the fresh air in with us." Hayner nodded while Riku climbed into the pipe, followed by Roxas. They crawled about fifty feet before the pipe dropped out onto a service platform. The sewage flowed freely since it had rained the previous night.

Roxas looked back at Sora. "Good thinking with the bubbles." Sora beamed with joy at being complemented.


Forty-five minutes later, the boys had exited the disgusting part of the sewers via a hidden door that led to many winding passageways that made up the secret hideout. Roxas was walking down one of said passages when something caught his eye. An unopened envelope was lying on the ground. He picked it up and saw that the address had been washed away. He opened the envelope, and inside he found a soggy letter and a photograph of a man with shoulder length blond hair carrying a small boy on his shoulders. The boy had spiky blond hair and bright blue eyes. Roxas gasped in shock.

It was like looking at a spitting image of yourself ten years ago.

Roxas flipped the picture over to see if there was any writing on the back, but, to his dismay, none could be found. He then preceded to read what was left of the note.

June 7, 2000

My dearest nephew,

I apologize for not coming to see your graduation play. Do not be mistaken, I do believe that graduating from kindergarten in a very important event. Unfortunately, I had some urgent work that needed to be taken care of. If you don't understand, your parents do, so ask them. Maybe they can explain it better than I. Know that I am very proud of you, Ventus, and that I love you like my own son.

Your loving uncle,

Ansem

Roxas folded up the letter and put it in his pocket. Ansem… Where have I heard that name before? Just then, Sora peeked around the corner. "We found a door."

Roxas jogged over to the brunette and followed him to the area where Riku and Hayner were staring at some odd markings on the wall. A keypad was situated on the handle. Riku nodded toward it. "Looks like we're on the right track."

Hayner was mumbling to himself, looking at the rows of blocks and the few that were colored. He finally nodded in understanding and punched 6421 on the keypad. The light turned green.

Sora stared at him in amazement. "How did you know that code?"

"It's actually kind of simple," Hayner replied. "You just have to know a little bit about the person that you are dealing with. For instance, Xemnas likes puzzles. Now, most normal people don't know that, so he thought it would be safe to put the password in a puzzle." Hayner pointed at the six rows of blocks. "When Xemnas first started his business, he lived in a six-floored apartment building." He then pointed to the fourth row of blocks, which were painted white. "He also lived on the fourth floor." He then pointed to three different blocks scattered throughout the puzzle, two light blue and one pink. "He and his two brothers got a gang together, and his sister started supplying him with the drugs he sold." He pointed to each color respectively as he said this. "Alphabetically, blue comes before pink, so therefore the code is 6-4-2-1." Hayner looked at the confused and astonished boys looking back at him. "Like I said, not that hard."

Riku blinked a few times, and then opened the door. He jumped back into the hall just in time before a hail of gunfire came rocketing through the doorframe.

"Sora, divert the bullets back now!" Roxas shouted from where he had taken shelter. Sora nodded and gripped the air around the bullets. He stopped them, twisted them around, and sent them hurtling back into the room. There were a few cries of pain, and then silence.

Riku lead the others into the room and immediately kicked down a steel door, crushing the henchman waiting on the other side. Immediately, Sora put up a shield of air to protect them from the incoming onslaught of bullets. Roxas whipped his arm out and blinded everyone in the room with a flash of light. Taking advantage of this, Riku went around the room and started knocking people out while Hayner ran to disable their means of communication.

After taking care of the situation in the room and grabbing a few of the guns, the group headed for the finely polished wooden door. Sora knocked a couple times.

"Enter."

Roxas opened the door and saw a man sitting in a comfy desk chair. He fired a bullet right next to the man's face. The man picked up a golden box, caught the bullet, and closed the lid. He tucked the box into his suit jacket. "Well gentleman," he said, looking up, "If I can even call you that. You look like a bunch of hooligans off the street with those jackets." Roxas, Sora, and Hayner stood silent as Riku held up a pair of zip cuffs. Xemnas chuckled. "I suppose you intend to arrest me. Come and try."


Xemnas' pitiful resistence lasted a whole five seconds before Riku had him on the ground and secured for delivery. They dragged the defeated drug lord and mob boss through the sewers, messing up his suit and hair. When the pave low finally arrived at 2200 hours, he was happy to be leaving that forsaken place that he had come to hate in a half an hour.

Axel looked back at the filthy messed up man. "Nice to see you again, Fluffy!" He laughed as Xemnas growled back at him.

The boys exchanged a simultaneous fist pound after they had sat down. Roxas just turned and stared out of one of the windows.

Just another day at the office.


Again, anything that doesn't belong to me…. Doesn' t belong to me. Simple as that. Reviews are cool, but not required. Enjoy your life, people.