Last time found our heroes fighting off a dozen undead monsters known as Wamphyri. Realizing the true danger threatening The Castle of Dreams, our heroes were nonetheless determined that Cinderella's anniversary ball should go on as scheduled. Meanwhile, the E-Branch team caught a glimpse of the plan of the undead abominations and took measures to stop the creatures, in which the twins and some of the group infiltrated the ball, where they met with our heroes. The vampires attacked the ball, intent on turning Cinderella into a Wamohyri and corrupting the world. The combined effort of the Keyblade Wielders and the E-Branch group foiled the insidious plot, and now the two groups of heroes have joined forces to rid the world of the undead menace.

Meanwhile, Ansem and Quistis arrived back on Radiant Garden, with the later hoping to reunite with her old teammate Squall Lionhart, otherwise known as Leon. To say that the reunion wasn't a happy one would be an understatement. 'Nuff said, on with the show!

Chapter 4: Into the Nest

"So, you guys are from a parallel Earth," said Sora, "and you came here to fight the Wamphyri."

"That's it in a nutshell," said Reina.

After Sora and the others changed back into their normal attire, they went with the twins, Guy and Cassie, to the E-Branch HQ in the abandoned warehouse, where the rest of the team was already waiting for them, having a brief report of the battle at the space elevator for Guy. Sora and the rest of our heroes had already told the E-Branch group a general summary of who they were, their battles against The Heartless and Nobodies, and their nightmarish encounter with Dmitry Frenzcy on Metamore, and now were listening to Reina, Rita, Guy and Cassie tell their story.

"What exactly is E-Branch about?" Riku asked.

"It's quite a story actually," said Guy, "it was stared back in the Cold War, when our world was split between capitalism and communism and both sides were just about ready to annihilate each other in nuclear war. But unknown to the majority of the world, a secret war was being waged between psychic spies.

"The Soviet Union employed espers in what they called ESPinoage, a special branch of the KGB, to not only spy on the western powers, but also for all sorts of covert operations ranging from planting subversive propaganda in the west to assassination.

"Being the subject of the paranormal, almost none of the western powers took the threat seriously and ESPinoage was well on the way of dominating the world with its espers, assuming they could have gotten through the communistic red tape and inner party intrigue, not to mention that the Soviet espers didn't like each other that much.

"Only the United Kingdom employed their own espers, creating E-Branch to counter ESPinoage. Not only were there espers with a wide variety of abilities brought in, but also normal humans trained in covert operations; British Secret Service and Royal Marines for starters. As the secret cold war went on, more and more western powers began employing their own espers, while espers and special ops from other countries joined with E-Branch; CIA, Navy Seals, Green Barrettes, Israeli Commandos, GSG9 and so on. I myself am a reserve officer in the RAF, like my grandfather whom fought in the Battle of Brittan, while also trained in Nepal with the Gurkhas, whom fought in Burma and elsewhere in Southeast Asia in WW2, like my other grandfather."

"What is a Gurkha?" Tess asked.

"Commandos trained to be ruthless killers," said an annoyed Rita.

"It's more than that," said Guy, "we have our own code of honor. We fight for that honor and to earn glory on the field of battle, and are prepared to fight to the death if needed."

"Like the French Foreign Legion," said Kairi.

"Sort of," said Guy. "But if it came down to a fight between the two groups, the Gurkha's could easily take down the Foreign Legion guys."

"So you've got espers and special ops persons," said Riku. He then looked at the twins, "and you two are more than exceptional."

"Guilty as charged," said Reina, "my sister and I, we're kind of a mystery, even to ourselves."

"We fell into the world about a year ago," said Rita, "with no memory of who we really are or where we came from. You've seen our powers, well, they're a mystery too."

"We've had a lot of people try to cure our amnesia," said Reina, "but after a year of therapy and so on, no dice."

"That's horrible," said Sora, "not knowing who you really are and where you came from."

"I know the feeling," said Tess, "I don't have amnesia but…I was adopted and so far, I've been unable to figure out my real origins."

"Now that sucks," said Rita.

"You know," said Naminé, "I do have power over memories. When this mess with the Wamphyri is taken care of, I can try to cure your amnesia."

"You'd do that for us?" Reina asked.

"But we barely know you," said Rita, "why should you help us?"

"because we're friends," said Kairi, "and friends help each other out."

"And what do you want in return?" Rita asked cautiously.

"Oh come on, sister of mine," said Reina, "they could solve all our questions."

"At what price?" Rita asked, "for all we know they could be waiting for the chance to take advantage of us."

"You really need to learn to trust people more," said Reina, "I know that Sora and the others are our friends," she then winked, "if you can't trust your own flesh and blood, whom can you trust?"

At that Rita smiled, "you know, I hate it when you're right." She and Reina then hugged, "I do trust you, more than anything else in existence. If you say these guys are the good guys, then they are the good guys."

"Glad to know," said Reina. With that the two of them kissed passionately.

"Um…" said a dumbstruck Sora as he, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Roxas and Naminé looked at the twins with confounded expressions.

"Oh, they've got a thing between them," said Cassie.

"Twin lovers," said Tess, "how about that?"

"I have to see it to believe it," said Aiden.

"You'd better believe it, little boy," said Rita, "'cause this is all you're going to see."

"I never implied anything," said Aiden.

"She's a little sensitive," said Cassie.

"I can see that," said Aiden, "and what's your story?"

"You said you can talk to the dead," said Riku, "how does that work?"

"It's quite the story," said Cassie, "I was just an ordinary London girl, well on the fast track to fashion, fame and glory, when this…this golden dart, came out of nowhere and hit me in the head. I was unconscious for three days and when I woke up, I had the power to speak with the dead."

"Golden dart?" Sora asked.

"This kinda sounds familiar," said Kairi.

"You've encountered the golden dart before?" Cassie asked.

"We saw this golden energy that contained the essence of a man," said Riku, "a man whom gave everything he had to fight evil; Harry Keogh."

"That's where the dart came from!" said Cassie, "Harry Keogh was a Necroscope, an esper with the power to hear the lingering minds of the dead. Keogh used his power, his Deadspeak, along with other powers, to combat Wamphyri and other evils and when he finally died, his essence shattered into countless fragments, each fragment containing a shared portion of his memories and powers. I got his knowledge of Wamphyri and his Deadspeak. You encountered a fragment of the Keogh essence, so what powers do you have?"

"We briefly gained the power to use the Mobiüs continuum," said Kairi, "any mortal realm was open to us, but we only had the power for two days before it wore off."

"The power to use the primal darkness to go anywhere," said Cassie, "I'm jealous."

"But how does talking to the dead work?" Sora asked.

"It's quite simple actually," said Cassie, "when we die, the body decays and the soul moves on to the afterlife, while the mind, our thoughts and memories, our consciousness, remains in existence, usually near where the body died. These thoughts and memories don't remain static but continue to evolve; even in death, we keep thinking. Writers pen fantastic stories and artists create canvases and sculptures that stir the heart, while scientists and philosophers take their research and philosophies to new heights and beyond.

"Now, one thing to remember is that normally, each departed mind is an island to itself, unable to interact with the living or other dead. But when Harry Keogh began speaking with the minds of the dead, The Great Majority, they found that they can talk to each other, sharing their works and ideas, while past loves and families were reunited in eternity.

"And Keogh, he was loved most of all among The Great Majority because he was the only human on his world whom could convey the works of the dead to the living, and I've done the same thing since becoming a Necroscope; I've published the works of the dead under pseudonyms and helped console the grieving living."

"You've got the most awesome power," said Aiden, "bringing the dead back to life has been a dark obsession to many a fallen Alchemist on my world, while many more have dedicated their lives to learning the secrets of the dead, all ending in horrific results. But what you can do is on a whole other level."

"You sound like talking to the dead is part of necromancy," said Naminé.

"Actually, necromancy is another psychic power," said Cassie, "one most foul. While a Necroscope makes friends with the dead, and the dead can ignore the Necroscope if they choose to, a Necromancer steals the secrets of the dead by desecrating and mutilating dead bodies. They rip the muscles and organs apart and splinter the bones, cracking and tearing the knowledge from the dead, and it hurts."

"How can it hurt if they're dead?" Sora asked.

"It hurts them because the consciousness of the dead is still linked to their bodies," said Cassie, "exactly how it works, I don't know, but a Necromancer is a degenerate violator with no qualm about murdering the living in order to torture them in death."

"That's awful," said Kairi.

"Which is why E-Branch has a standing policy of shooting a confirmed Necromancer on sight," said Guy, "but that's beside the point."

"We've got Wamphyri to hunt," said Rita. She then looked at the other espers on the team, "so, any idea where their nest is?"

One of the espers then handed Rita a map of the towns' sewer system with one area circled with red ink.

"Where did you get that?" Riku asked.

"It's part remote viewing and freewriting," said Reina, "and partly stolen from the town hall records department."

"This is where we think the Wamphyri have their nest," said Guy as he pointed at the part of the map circled in red.

"How sure are you that that's where they are?" Aiden asked.

"98.6% sure," said Guy, "which would be perfectly fine if this were a thermometer."

"Unfortunately there's still a lot of area in which the vampires could be hiding," said Cassie, "and where they could have set up god knows what kind of defenses."

"They could have loaded those tunnels with enough booby-traps to kill an army," said Tess.

"Then we'll have to be careful," said Guy.

"But not too careful," said Reina, "if we go too slow, the vampires could have even more time to get ready for us, or worse, escape."

"And we can't let even a single Wamphyri escape," said Reina in a grim tone, her face set with determination, "or else it will bite another human and start the dark cycle all over again."

"You hate them, don't you," said Kairi.

"What's not to hate about Wamphyri?" Rita asked, "they re evil, pure and simple and cannot be reasoned with. They take all that is good and pure in a human and twist it to their own corrupt desires, and believe me, you don't want to know how horrible they can be once they go to work on you."

"It's more than that," said Kairi, "you hate Wamphyri, but more than just as an overall evil. You've got a personal grudge against them."

"You guessed," said Rita as her hand went to her pocket and touched her locket, "yeah, I can tell that you're kinda like an esper."

"My guess is that she's an empath," said Reina.

"I'm an esper?" Kairi asked, "I always thought it was just magic."

"In a way it's both," said Cassie, "much as one would say that telepathy is both a magical and a psychic ability."

:So, our mindspeaking is both magical and psychic: said Sora with his mind.

:Bingo!: said a grinning Reina.

:But don't think you can take a look into our private thoughts: said Rita, :I catch you trespassing in my head or my sister's, I'll shave you.:

"You'll shave us?" Aiden asked as his hand went to his face, "I haven't started growing a beard yet."

"I meant I'll take off something of yours," said Rita, "something that you'll greatly miss."

"She means she'll castrate you," said Reina. She then glared at her twin, "which isn't going to happen. You really need to relax around boys."

"Why is it that you don't like boys?" Tess asked, "I'm just curious."

"I just don't, that's all!" Rita said stubbornly as she crossed her arms.

"It's personal, so just leave it at that," said Reina, "now, about these Wamphyri, we need to come up with a plan."

"I have a plan," said Aiden, "it involved a lot of fire spells and flame throwers for those whom don't have magic."

"A good suggestion," said Guy, "but I've got one that's a bit more well thought out." He then outlined a plan that involved some of the special ops and espers taking the lead of the group, said espers would then sense out any traps the enemy had set up.

"We'll also be on the lookout or any Warriors or Flyers," said Cassie.

"What are those?" Sora asked.

"That's right," said Cassie, "you've only encountered a weakened Lord and just now know of Thralls. Alright, here's the short version. Wamphyri aren't just vampires; they have a structured hierarchy.

"At the bottom are Thralls; humans turned into vampires via a bite, scratch or sharing bodily fluids, meaning that if a Wamphyri even so much as kisses you, you'll eventually turn into a Thrall. The change could take as long as weeks, though if you die because of your wounds the change is much more quicker, it just is, leading you to rise as an undead monster within a few hours of expiring. All in all you'll suffer gradually increasing pains and your intelligence will go down. I personally take it as a godsend that Thralls are so dumb, makes them easier to destroy.

"Above Thralls are Lieutenants, which are much smarter, stronger, faster and have more elaborate mental and physical powers, while inside them is the real vampire, the parasitic leach. The bite of a Lieutenant creates Thralls. Then you have Lords, which are vastly more intelligent and powerful. They can compel the weak minded to doing their bidding via hypnosis, as well as change their physical shape. They also have a leach, the real vampire behind the madness, though a Lieutenant's leach isn't as developed or disgusting as one in a Lord."

"We know all that from our fight with Dmitri," said Riku, while Tess shuddered at the memory of the Wamphyri's red snake-like creature.

"Then you know just how dangerous they can be," said Guy, "A Lord's bite creates Lieutenants, but they can also make another Lord. Each Wamphyri Lord, specifically the undead parasite that is the real vampire, produces once during its life cycle an 'egg.' This egg is then placed on a human and is absorbed into the victims' body and over the course of a few months, or as little as a few weeks, matures into a full parasite, thereby turning the poor human into the stuff of nightmares with not only all the powers and abilities of a Wamphyri Lord, but also the memories of the Lord whom created the egg, thereby propagating that Lords' 'family.'"

"These Wamphyri were created by one Lord, or should I say Lady, that we tried and failed to destroy," said Cassie.

"Zerlina Frenzcy," said Rita, her voice full of hate as she gripped her locket, "we should have made sure that she was destroyed, we should have made sure."

"So she's the one you hate," said Kairi.

"Yes," said Rita, "I hate everything about Zerlina."

"What did she do to you to make you hate her so?" Namine asked.

"It's what she did to the both of us," said Reina, her eyes also burning with hate. "She…Zerlina…she…"

"Zerlina has the power to mask her self from our espers," said Cassie, "Normally a Wamphyri puts out an incredible amount of resonating energy that can be detected easily enough, but Zerlina's always been stronger than she seems. When we first encounter her, she had us completely fooled to believing that she was human."

"She did more than convince us that she was human," said Guy, "she befriended the twins."

"We thought she was just a regular, normal girl our age," said Reina, "that she just wanted to be our friend."

"But she played us like fools," said Rita, "and right when we least expected it, she betrayed us."

"She killed a lot of the people we had come to know as our friends," said Reina, "and turned most of them into Thralls to do her bidding. She can do both, make Thralls and Lieutenants. She did that, and she laughed at us."

"She said that she was never our friend," spat Rita, "that we were merely pawns in one of her games, her sick, twisted, sadistic games. She said that she befriended us only to betray us later, that our pain of that betrayal was what she was after, that she found it delightful that we suffered because of her."

"She thought that her betrayal would leave us devastated and wrecked at heart," said Reina, "but instead, we got mad and fought back. We destroyed the vampires she created and we chased after Zerlina and the others in her sick 'family.' We found the other vampires easily enough. Zerlina, now, she was a horse of a different color."

"An undead horse of a different color," said Rita.

"That's one of Zerlina's quirks," said Cassie, "She sees herself as a mother, that the vampires she creates are her children. She only loves her 'children,' and seeks to enlarge her family, and murder as many humans as possible."

"But we stopped her from destroying our world," said Rita, "we wiped out her entire family, except for Zerlina."

"We thought we had her dead to rights," said Reina, "but she got away, and now she's here in the realms of light, which she seeks to turn to darkness. But we won't let that happen."

"Zerlina escaped from us before," said Rita, "now we have another chance to stop her once and for all. This time we will destroy her, or die trying."

"Oh come on," said Kairi, "martyring yourself won't do anything."

"If we have to die to ensure that Zerlina's evil is stopped for good then yes," said Reina, "we'll gladly die. It's our fault she got away the first time. We made a mistake, so now it's time to correct that mistake."

"Well, we'll help you," said Sora, "we've already fought together to save Cinderella, we might as go all the way and stop the Wamphyri for good."

"You don't have to do that," said Rita, "this is our responsibility, our problem."

"You think it's just your problem?" Riku asked.

"You think you can handle it?" Reina asked.

"Weren't you paying attention to what happened at the ball?" Aiden asked, "we cleaned those vampire's clocks."

"And we killed a Wamphryi Lord already," said Tess, "sure, Dmitri wasn't very strong, and we did have a lot of help, but Zerlina can't be that much stronger, right?"

"Trust me," said Guy, "Zerlina is unlike anything you've ever seen before. Not only does she have all the powers of a regular vampire; strength, speed and near invincibility, as well as hypnosis and mid control, she can also change her appearance at will, shifting from normal appearing human to a nightmare come to life."

"If that wasn't enough," said Rita, "she's also immune to garlic and silver only hurts her, the same for sunlight, it only hurts her. But her greatest power is illusion."

"That's how she got away from us," said Reina, "she made us think we had her steaked through the heart, her head cut off and burned to a cinder, with combination of gasoline, kerosene and lighter fluid."

"We thought she was gone," said Rita, "but she got away, so now we've got another chance to finish her once and for all."

"Well, you're not doing it alone," said Kairi, "Zerlina brought her evil to the realms, and as Keyblade Wielders, it's our job to stop evil in it's tracks, no matter what."

"We became allies the second we fought together at the ball," said Aiden, "and we won't take no for an answer."

"Face it," said Sora to the twins, "we're either doing this together, or not at all."

At that Rita sighed with reluctant acceptance, "alright, we'll do it together, but I don't have to like it!"

"Then we're in agreement," said Guy, "we'll work together to defeat the Wamphyri."

"But my sister and I get to kill Zerlina, said Reina, "she hurt us too much to let her be destroyed by anyone else."

"She will die by our hands," said Rita, "I don't know how we're going to kill her, but we will. And anyone who tries to get in our way," she held up her balled fist, "get's it, got it?"

"We get it," said Sora, Riku, Kairi, Aiden, Tess, Roxas and Namine all at the same time.

"All defense preparations are complete, Maestor Anton," said one of the Thralls. He then showed Anton a holographic map of the nest and the surrounding tunnel system. The tunnels were spotted with various colored dots that indicated different types of booby-traps.

"The reds are laser traps," said the Thralls, "the orange ones are crushing traps, the yellows are mines, the blues are spikes, the greens are acid projectors and the purple ones are poison gas traps. The human fools will never even get close to us."

"Excellent," said Anton as he rotated the hologram map to view the traps from different directions, "every access to the nest has been covered. Now, what about our exit strategy?"

"The escape tunnel," said the Thrall as a new tunnel was shown on the map, one highlighted in white, "ever since the nest was established, we've been digging this tunnel in the event of an emergency. Now that our safety has been compromised, we're digging nonstop. Our target is this," the map then changed to show an overlay of the city above, with a large building highlighted in white, "an empty warehouse. We're expected to reach it well before dawn. In the event the enemy breaches the nest, we can make an end run through the tunnel, which will be mined. Should our enemies pursue us through the tunnel, we can detonate the mines and destroy them once we're through the tunnel."

"Outstanding," said Anton, yet he knew there would be no exit strategy for his fellow Wamphyri. Zerlina had ordered him to fight to the death, and if he dies, then so does the Thralls.

Just then another Thrall ran up to Anton, "motion sensors have detected humans approaching the nest, Maestor Anton!"

The holographic map then zoomed in on one of the tunnels and showed multiple pink dots moving towards the nest, "the pink dots are humans, Maestor Anton."

"I figured that out for myself, thank you very much," said an annoyed Anton, "I see they're approaching a set of mines. Are these simple explosives or more elaborate mines?"

"I'm sure those mines are claymore mines," said one of the Thralls.

"Smashing," said a grinning Anton, "let them be perforated."

"Remind me why we're about to walk head-on into a claymore minefield?" Riku asked.

"Because we know where the mines are," said Guy, "and we have the means to deactivate them from a distance," he held up a remote-like device, "thanks to a combination of precognition, far sight and technology."

"So we can turn the traps off as we come to them," said Sora, "cool."

"It's going to get really hot before too long," said Reina as she summoned a fireball, while some of the special ops and espers hefted flamethrowers.

One of the espers held up a hand to signal the group to stop, then pointed at a poorly concealed claymore mine.

"They didn't even try to camouflage it," said Guy, "stupid, stupid vampires," he held out his remote and pressed a series of buttons, "there, the mine and all those within 100 meters have been deactivated. I'll deactivate more as we get to them."

"But don't think we can relax," said Cassie, "the enemy could have more than booby-traps set for us."

"But we can still talk," said Riku, "you guys never told us about Wamphyri Warriors and Flyers are."

"Well," said Guy, "Wamphyri Warriors are that, vampires specially bread for death and destruction. They're huge monstrosities that can shift from humanoid to just about anything, and they are completely obedient to the ones that created them, and they're pretty damn hard to kill."

"The same goes for Flyers," said Cassie, "they're basically giant, living airfoils that a Wamphyri Lord or Lieutenant can fly around on."

"Let's just hope we don't run into any of those," said Riku, "ordinary vampires are enough."

Just then one of the special ops signaled to Guy, whom then smiled.

"What happened?" Sora asked.

"We've hacked into their computer system," said Cassie, "we're now attempting to disable their survelance."

"Now we've got the drop on them," said a grinning Reina.

"And apparently they also have an escape tunnel dug," said Guy.

"We won't give them a chance to use it," said Rita, "let's move!" with that they all ran forward, ready to battle the undead.

"Will someone please explain to me," said an irked Anton, "why every single booby-trap the fools have run into have suddenly deactivated?"

"I…I do not know, Maestor Anton," said one of the Thralls.

"Imbecile!" snapped Anton. "I should burn you myself, for all the good you are!"

Just then another Thrall ran up to Anton, "our security system has been hacked, Maestor Anton!"

"What!" exclaimed Anton. It was then that the hologram map of the tunnels was replaced by static.

"The escape tunnel!" said one of the Thralls, "it's our only chance!"

"No!" spat Anton, "we are not running away! Mother Zerlina has ordered us to fight to the finish!"

"You never told us that!" shouted another Thrall.

"Well, she told me," said Anton, "the mother will not accept our cowardliness. If we run, she will hunt us down and destroy us like vermin, so there will be no running, not now, not ever."

Just then there came the sound of fighting from further up the tunnel, followed by the sound of screaming Wamphyri, then the sound of sudden fires igniting.

"Right now, running seems like a very good idea," said one of the Thralls.

"I'll kill anyone who runs," said Anton, "is that understood?"

Just then there was another Wamphyri scream and another fire igniting, this one much closer, the tunnel walls reflected the light of the flames.

Then our heroes and allies burst into the chamber, "evening all!" said an eagerly grinning Reina, "what's cooking?"

"Your souls by the time we're done with you!" shouted Anton. He then gestured to the Thralls, all 24 remaining, "kill them!"

"Gee, twenty four undead geeks," said Rita as the Thralls moved to attack, "I'm so scared, I'm shaking."

"How ever will we survive?" Reina asked sarcastically, "oh well, immortality's overrated."

"Let's rock this house!" said Rita. He then delivered a double roundhouse hick to the heads to two vampires, snapping their necks, then punched a third in the head, also breaking its neck.

Meanwhile, Reina was launching fireballs that homed in on the other Thralls, setting them on fire, then she burned the ones her twin disabled.

Within seconds the nest was filled with choking smoke, but Reina cast an air refreshing spell that removed the smoke before our heroes asphyxiated.

"You took out all those vamps by yourselves," said an impress Tess.

"We've had practice," said Rita. She and Reina then glared at Anton, "now, about you. Where's Zerlina?" The twins, the E-Branch operatives and our heroes then slowly closed in on the Wamphyri Lieutenant.

"You think I'll betray the mother?" Anton asked, realizing that he was being backed into a corner yet willing to keep fighting, "she whom endowed upon me life beyond life? She whom welcomed me among the apex predators?"

"Oh, you're a predator alright," said Cassie, "you strike fear among the living and the dearly departed," she closed her eyes, "I can hear them, the dead of this world, they know what you can do and what you'll do to them. They cannot rest until you are destroyed!"

"You mean…?" Aiden asked.

"That's right," said Cassie as she glared at Anton, "this abomination is a Necromancer! He violates the dead to learn their secrets!"

"And why shouldn't I take the secrets of the dead?" Anton asked, "they're just that, dead! They don't need them anymore."

"But they still feel pain!" snapped Cassie, "you rip and tear and break and crumble the dead down to their bare essence and their minds feel everything! It's agony for them! You know this, and you enjoy it!"

"Yes!" said Anton in a vicious tone, "I enjoy violating the dead. Just as I will enjoy violating you after you are dead. I will tear out your secrets." he looked at Reina and Rita, "except for you two. You I will keep alive for the mother to finish off. She has a bone to pick with you."

"Likewise," said Reina, "so were is the undead bitch?"

"Where you'll never find her," said Anton.

"She isn't here," said one of the espers, "the Lieutenant is the only Wamphyri left on this world."

"I won't be alone for long!" said Anton. His body then began to change; he grew two feet taller, while his neck elongated and his teeth grew even sharper. His limbs also elongated and his claws grew sharper too, while 6 inch spikes erupted from his body.

"Enjoy your last moments of life, foolish humans!" said Anton, "for soon, you shall be just like me, undead!"

"We'll see about that!" shouted one of the special ops as he leveled a crossbow and fired. The bolt hit Anton in the chest but missed the heart by a millimeter.

Anton pulled the bolt out and snapped it in half, "my turn!" he shouted. He then aimed his left wrist at the special ops and shot a spike, hitting the special ops in the eye. He fell to the ground dead as a doornail.

Our heroes and allies shouted in shock and denial at the sudden death of one of their own.

"One down," said a viciously grinning Anton. He then aimed his wrists at Sora and Kairi, "you're next!"

"Denied!" shouted one of the espers as he shot a psychic bolt at Anton. The psychic force slammed into the Wamphyri and forced him off balance. He nearly fell over.

Another special ops ran forward with an axe raised. Anton then regained his balance and backhanded the special ops in the face, breaking his neck and imbedding another spike in the head.

"That's two!" said Anton.

"There won't be a third!" shouted Sora. He then shot several Fireballs at Anton, whom dodged them all, before retaliating by shooting several spikes at Sora. He blocked them with his Keyblade, but then had to dodge a swipe of Anton's claws as the Wamphyri lunged at him.

Sora then brought up his Keyblade to block another claw swipe, but then had to roll out of the way as Anton spat a glob of green liquid at him. The liquid hit the ground and melted through.

"He can spit acid!" exclaimed Kairi as Anton turned his attentions on her, dodging claws and spikes.

"We really need to get a better handle of Wamphyri powers," said Cassie as she aimed her crossbow at Anton and fired. The bolt hit but again missed the heart.

"You'll know them soon enough!" shouted Anton as he rushed at Cassie.

Guy got in front with his knife raised. He pulled Cassie out of the way, while slicing his knife at Anton, cutting through the Wamphyri's left hand.

"Now that was uncalled for," said Anton as he stared at his severed hand. He then held up his left arm and before everyone's eyes, pseudo flesh grew out of the stump and a new hand formed.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Aiden. He then aimed his Keyblade at the ground beneath Anton and transmuted it into spikes, impaling the feet of the undead monster. Yet Anton pulled himself from the spikes and the wounds healed themselves within seconds.

"At this rate he'll kill us before we kill him!" shouted Aiden, while Tess went invisible. But then Anton shot several spikes at empty air, forcing Tess to become visible again as she dodged the spikes.

"Alright, that's enough!" shouted Reina, "get ready for the pain!" she then crossed her arms and began charging up a spell.

"Everyone duck!" shouted Rita. Not wanting to argue, our heroes and allies ducked, just as Rita released her magic in the form of a green wave that slammed into Anton, breaking the spines and several of his bones.

"You bitch!" shouted Anton, "I'll kill you! Just you wait until I heal!" but after a few seconds his broken bones were still broken, "I'm not healing, why am I not healing?"

"I used an anti-healing spell," said Reina, "some would consider it dark magic, but only if its used to kill. This was just to stop you from recovering."

"Which leaves us to finish you off!" said Rita as she and her twin powered up their fire attacks.

"Likewise!" said Roxas as he and Sora prepared to cast fire spells as well.

"You think you can defeat me!" exclaimed Anton, "I'm not finished yet!" He then pulled out a flash grenade and threw it at the ground. It went off and our heroes were momentarily blinded. Anton then ran for the escape tunnel.

"Don't let him get away!" shouted Rita as our heroes struggled to recover their sight.

But then they heard a series of explosions from deep inside the escape tunnel. It soon collapsed before Anton could reach it.

"We hacked into the mines in the tunnel as well," said Guy.

"I'm still not finished yet!" shouted Anton as he pulled out another flash grenade and threw it to the ground, blinding our heroes once again.

This time Anton ran for the side chamber where the crystal ball lay.

"Mother Zerlina!" shouted Anton as he grabbed the crystal ball, which glowed and then showed the eyes of the Wamphyri Lady, "my Thralls have all been destroyed and I am severely wounded! Help me! Please! The enemy, they are indeed both Keyblade Wielders and from E-Branch! They mean to destroy me! Please, help me!"

But then a pulse of dark magic shot out from the crystal ball, hitting Anton with the force of a train and knocking him against the back wall, while Zerlina's eyes burned with disappointed rage, "you are a failure, Anton, and I have no tolerance for failure!"

"Mother," said a shocked Anton, "please, do not abandon me!"

"Perhaps your brother and sister will prove to be better offspring than you were, Anton," said Zerlina, "goodbye, I shall miss you, but I've already washed my hands of you." With that the crystal ball shattered into countless tiny pieces.

Just then Reina, Rita and Sora burst into the side room, "no more tricks, vampire!' shouted Reina. With that she, her twin and Sora unleashed their fire attacks on Anton, but he rolled out of the way and got past them and ran back into the main chamber of the nest. He then started for the main tunnel.

But Aiden got to the entrance of the main tunnel first and held out his Keyblade. With a flash of alchemic energy, his Keyblade was transformed into an elaborately crafted crossbow.

"I almost forgot I could do this," said Aiden as he picked up a crossbow bolt and transmuted the steel head into silver, loaded it into the crossbow and aimed at Anton. The vampire tired to get away but Aiden pulled the trigger, the bolt flying true and hitting the undead abomination in the heart.

With a mute grunt of pain, Anton fell to the ground. He thrashed about and struggled to get back up, but the bolt in his heart had sapped him of his strength.

"I'd give my eyeteeth to be able to do that with my Keyblade," said Tess to Aiden as he loaded another transmuted bolt into his crossbow.

"I'd teach you the alchemic formula," said Aiden, "but I doubt it'd make any sense to you."

"We'll talk later," said Kairi.

"Well, look at this," said Rita as she and Reina stood over the weakened Anton, "shoe's on the other foot now."

"How does it feel to be completely helpless?" Reina asked, "like a human about to be killed by one of you bastards."

"You think…killing me…will solve…your problems?" Anton gasped, "your troubles…are just beginning. My brother and…sister will…avenge me. And even if…you defeat them…there's still…the mother. Zerlina will…rip you…apart and devour…your souls!"

"Not if we rip her apart first," said Reina.

"In the meantime," she looked at Sora and the others, "will someone please cut this asshole's head off already?"

"With pleasure," said Riku as he stepped forward.

"Wait," said Cassie. She walked up to Anton, "you said you have a brother and a sister. I'm willing to guess that they're Wamphyri Lieutenants, like you. Where are they?"

"Where you'll…never find them!" spat Anton.

"Dwarf Woodlands and The Enchanted Dominion," said Sora, "they've had murders and disappearances just like on this world."

"So there's more Wamphyri in the realms of light," said Guy, "no matter, we'll find them and put them down, all of them."

"Just one more thing," said Rita to Anton, "where's Zerlina?"

"Screw you, bitch!" spat Anton.

"Screw this," said Riku as he swung his Keyblade down, cutting off Anton's head. From the exposed neck emerged a long, red, eyeless snake-like creature that had a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.

"That's the real vampire," said Cassie, "the undead leach."

"Then let's exterminate this pest," said Rita. She and her sister their powers to burn all of Anton to ashes, while Reina cast her air refreshing spell to counter the smoke.

"And that's that," said Reina "it's over." She looked at one of the espers, "it is over, right?"

"I'm not sensing any more Wamphyri," said the esper, This word is free of the undead."

"And at peace," said a smiling Cassie, "the dearly departed are all sighing with relief with the destruction of the vampires."

"Meanwhile our problems are just getting started," said Guy as he looked at the two fallen special ops, "we need to take care of them," he walked over to the fallen ones and removed a set of dog tags from each of them, then motioned to one of the remaining special ops to turn his flamethrower on the corpses, incinerating them before they could rise as new Thralls.

"Hazard of fighting evil," said Guy as he pocketed the dog tags, "they knew the job was dangerous when they took it, we all did." he looked at Sora and the others, "if you have a problem with this, know that it's how we do things at E-Branch."

"Who said we had a problem?" Sora asked, "sure, it's horrible that we lost some friends tonight and that we had to destroy them before they became vampires, but hey, you can't win them all."

"Even if we win a whole lot of the time," said Kairi, "but that doesn't mean we have to put up with it from now on. There's got to be a way to save someone infected by a Wamphyri, I mean someone still alive who's been infected."

"There is no cure," Cassie insisted, "our science and occult research have found no cure to the infection. Once bitten, you're a gonner."

"Your science and magic may not have a cure," said Namine, "but that doesn't mean our science and magic can't cut it."

"If there's a way," said, "said Kairi, "if there is a cure, we'll find it."

"In the meantime," said Sora, "we've got at least two more worlds to free of Wamphyri, maybe more."

"Zerlina's still out there," said Reina, "we can't go home until we've finished her for good."

"So we might as well fully team up with you guys," said Rita, "considering that we don't have a ride."

"You thought there would be vampires on only one world here in the realms of light?" Roxas asked.

"Of course not!" said Cassie.

"Then how were you supposed to go to other worlds?" Sora asked, "can you open your own portals?"

"Ah, no," said Rita, "we can only open a return portal to our own world."

"Then how were you supposed to get around in the realms of light?" Kairi asked, "what, were you going to hitchhike or something?"

"We never really thought this part of the mission out," said Reina in a slightly sheepish tone.

"Well, you won't be hitchhiking, not on our watch," said Sora, "you can ride with us in our ship, The Star Child."

"Reminds me of A Space Odyssey," muttered one of the espers.

A short time later our heroes and allies emerged from beneath the underground and up into the streets of the town, just as dawn was breaking over the world.

"At least the nightmare is over for this world," said Cassie.

"The real nightmare will be over soon enough," said Riku.

Just then Cinderella and Robert ran up to the group, "what happened?" Robert asked franticly.

"Well, in a nutshell," said Tess, "the Wamphyri are all burned out."

"There won't be any more murders or dissapearences," said Kairi, "it's over."

"But not for us," said Riku.

"There are other worlds being attacked by the Wamphyri," said Sora, "so we've got to go after them."

"Do you really have to go so soon?" Cinderella asked.

"The sooner we get to the next world," said Aiden, "the sooner we can stop the vampires from killing any more people."

"And from making more vampires," said Rita, "so we've got to go, now."

"We can't go yet," said Reina, "there's someone I want to talk to first."

"Who?" Rita asked.

But then Reina saw someone walking up the street, "oh, wait, there she is! Penny! Penny Dubois!"

The woman approaching was indeed the dress shop keeper, Penny Dubois. She then saw Reina and walked up to her, "oh, it's you from yesterday. How was the ball?"

"Both wonderful and dreadful," said Reina.

"We were attacked by vampires," said Tess, "but we destroyed them in retaliation."

"Oh, alright," said Penny, "it must have been horrific. I'd help if I could have, but I'm just a weather witch."

"You're a very talented weather witch, Ms. Dubois," said Cinderella, "quite a few of the ladies at the ball were commenting on what Reina and Tess wore, on how elegant, tasteful and overall lovely their gowns were."

"Really?" Penny asked eagerly.

"Indeed," said Cinderella, "they were so pleased, I was pestered with questions of where the dresses came from. If you would give me your contact information, I'll be sure to forward it to everyone who asked."

"You will?" Penny asked in an even more eager tone, while munny signs appeared in her eyes. "Princess! This is fantastic! I'll do everything in my power to make everyone who comes into my shop a satisfied customer! All for the beauty and art of the dress!"

"I'm sure you will," said a smiling Cinderella.

"They'll be alright," said Kairi, "so, let's get going already."

"I prefer the usual," said Aiden as he pressed his wrists, "alright, let's do this!"

After saying goodbye to Cinderella, Robert and Penny, our heroes and allies returned to the space elevator, rode it up to the orbital platform, paid the docking fee and boarded The Star Child.

"It's a good thing that Gummy ships are bigger on the inside," said Sora.

"And that they have spells that allow them to have additional rooms installed," said Namine.

"And additional bathrooms," said Aiden.

"Now that everyone's settled in," said Riku as the ship powered up and went through a preflight check, "all we need to do is figure our who does the cooking?"

"Did you say cooking!" Rita asked happily, "I happen to be a prodigy with a grill and a fryer."

"And I'm a wizard at baking an steaming," said Reina, "but don't ask me to do any laundry." she suddenly looked sheepish, "I broke the last washing machine I used."

"And I'm terrible with a needle and thread," said Rita in a slightly ashamed tone, "and between the two of us, we're total klutzes at cleaning."

"It's alright," said Kairi, "we'll work out the chores later."

"We're cleared of the docking ring and are leaving orbit," said Riku, "which world should we go to next?"

"The nearest one is Dwarf Woodlands," said Kairi, "the home of Snow White."

"Then that's where we'll go," said Sora, "set course for Dwarf Woodlands."

"You might want to brace yourselves," said Tess to Cassie, Guy and the twins, "hyperspace travel can be a little rough for first timers."

"It's unpleasantly like being drunk," said Aiden.

"What's so unpleasant about being drunk?" Reina asked.

Our heroes were all about to say, 'ask a glass of water,' when the ship jumped into hyperspace, causing the twins, Cassie and Guy, as well as the rest of the E-Branch team to turn green in the face and nearly throw up.

"That's what's unpleasant about it," said Sora.

…Someplace Dark…

"So," said Zerlina, "the twins are indeed involved, and they've dragged the Keyblade Wielders into our little feud. All the better for me. They will all become part of my family, those who survived, and after I'm done playing with them that is."

The end of chapter 4.

Next chapter finds our heroes and allies arriving at the hole of Snow White, wile over at Radiant Garden, Ansem is forced to confront a ghost of his past. Reviews will be rewarded with cake and pie. See you then!