Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the copyrighted material here; they belong to respective owners and are being used in a non-profit manner. In short, don't sue.

In The Last Chapter:

"Now, who wants to go first?"

In Vexen's Lab:

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Me! Pick me! Please Vexen, pick me!" cried Demyx as he flailed his arms around trying to get the older blond's attention.

"Marluxia," Vexen drawled, blatantly ignoring Demyx as he did his best to get Vexen's attention. "You seem eager to begin your mission. Here, take this file on The World of Sorrow and partner yourself with Xaldin."

"Awww, but Xaldin is such a drag! I mean, all he ever does is thro-" Whined Marluxia but was cut off abruptly by a glare from Xaldin who had been leaning on a chair in the back of the lab. The whirlwind lancer was not pleased by Vexen's choice of partnering him with the pink haired man either, but at least he had the common courtesy of not complaining about it loudly. "I wouldn't be complaining if I were you, cotton candy man. It might just get you skewered when you're not looking." Xaldin growled.

"Alright, alright! Jeez, nobody can take being criticized anymore…" Marluxia muttered as he and Xaldin trudged out of the room and towards the Gummi port.

"Next up is…" Began Vexen.

"ME! PICK ME VEXEN! PLEASE, PICK ME!" Yelled Demyx who was being restrained by Xigbar. Barely. Xigbar had a mildly irritated look on his face as he dodged Demyx's wildly waving hands one of which narrowly missed knocking his eyepatch off his face.

"Settle down now, kiddo. You'll get picked eventually." He said in an attempt to calm down the younger man.

"Zexion, you already know where you're going. Take your file and go. Please." Vexen said, rubbing his temple.

With a forlorn look on his face, Zexion walked to the Gummi port, leaving behind a daydreaming Axel. 'Twit.' He thought.

"And now, Xigbar and Demyx, your assignment is the world of Atlantica. Good luck." He handed Xigbar his file in one hand, the other holding Demyx to his side in order for the young blond not to run and hurt himself on the way to the Gummi port. "Thanks." He said and walked off, lugging Demyx with him.

Vexen sighed as he shuffled to his desk. "Dear god… What are we getting ourselves into?" He collapsed into a chair with a huff and stared at the ceiling. "I just hope… that things go smoothly…"

"Oi." Came a soft voice suddenly, startling Vexen from his musings. Looking around, he saw to blond heads bobbing from a portal that hadn't been there before.

"Sorry we're late. Larxene couldn't hurry up so…" trailed off Roxas, casting a look at a short woman that stood a little ways behind him. Larxene glared up at him, twirling one of her throwing knives in the air.

"Ah ha ha…yes, I see." Chuckled Vexen more out of fear than mirth, "Here is your file on The Flawed Land. Take care." He handed off their files and watched them walk out to the gummi port.

"Hnnngh…" groaned Vexen, slamming his head on his desk. "What was the Superior thinking?"

At the Gummi Port

Demyx stood gasping for breath. He had freed himself from Xigbar's grasp and run all the way to the entrance of the Gummi Port, stopping only to catch his breath and look around. From what he saw, two of the Gummis had already departed meaning that the rest of the members had already left to begin their missions. "Awww, man!" Demyx groaned as he made his way to a run-down gummi. "They took all the good ones and now we're stuck with this piece of crap." He gave the Gummi a kick for emphasis but ended up stubbing his own foot. "Shit!" He sat and massaged his foot in an attempt to relieve the pain.

"Now that wasn't very nice, now was it?"Came a sarcastic. "You could have hurt the poor Gummi ship and then it'd never run."

Demyx only glared from his spot on the ground.

"Hey, don't look at me that way! I wasn't the one who decided to kick a two ton Gummi ship." He smirked as he boarded the Gummi. "Now get on so we can get this show on the road, Squirt. I don't wanna sit here all day."

Grumbling about weird old guys and their grouchy moods, Demyx climbed into the Gummi and sat in the back of the ship, slouching into a seat.

"Kids." Mumbled Xigbar as he initiated the guidance system. "Can't live with them, can't live without 'em."

The Gummi ship took off.

"Axel will you STOP FIDGETING." Growled a very peeved Zexion who was mulling over the file given to them by Vexen.

"Awww, but Zex! Im bored!" Whined Axel from his contorted position on the floor of the gummi ship. He had been rolling around on the floor of the ship for the past hour and a half out of sheer boredom and nothing better to do. He picked himself up and trudged over next to Zexion. "I mean, flying is boring. Having nothing to do is boring. Even YOU'RE boring, Zexy."

"Call me that one more time Axel, and so help me, I will entrench you so far into an illusion of the Superior naked that you'll be comatose for a month! Do you hear me?" Zexion hissed, irritation clearly flashing in his eyes, making their usual deep gray glow to a steely glint.

"Ok, ok!" Said Axel, hands in the air as a sign of surrender as he backed himself up to set in one of the seats that were next to the controls. "How long till we get to this world anyways?"

"About twenty more minutes." Muttered Zexion. He was poring over notes that could be beneficial to their mission, and at the same time might not. Finding this new keyblade wielder sounded easy at first glance. However, it was much more difficult than they had first imagined. Zexion hoped that they found this person quickly, wishing to get back to Castle Oblivion and back to his studies.

*Ten minutes - until landing- destination is in sight* Said the electronic voice of the gummi ship autopilot.

"Great! Finally time for some action!" Grinned Axel, rubbing his hands together in glee.

"Axel, you twit. If you so much as set one thing on fire on this world, we'll be found out for sure. So please refrain from your usual stupidity and act logical for a second. We're here on a mission to find a person who will play an integral part to the Superiors plans. Try and restrain yourself as much as possible and help." Zexion strapped himself into the captain's seat and removed the autopilot.

The gummi soared grew closer and closer to the world. Close enough to see swirls of mist clinging to the tops of very modern looking buildings. Slowing their decent, Zexion spotted a clearing in between two buildings. The gummi ship landed a few paces from one, in what seemed to be a deserted empty lot. The space around the lot was deserted, not a soul in sight. The air was chilled, carrying not a sound. The only thing heard was the sound of the crunching gravel as the ship touched down and its inhabitants climbed out.

Axel whistled. " Nice place. Seems really… interesting." The tall buildings, sky scrapers, were illuminated in a way that caused everything to look sinister. The shadows at their bases seemed to writhe with life, their inky depths still yet contorting with motions and hidden creatures.

"Yes, yes it does." Murmured Zexion. "Stay close Axel. The World of Illusion is never what it seems. Nothing is what it is. Everything is something else, which you would least expect. The World of Illusion… is a death trap for those without the eyes to see through it."