7


November 4, 2010

Dear Diary,

I just found out that my best friends are even more amazing than I originally thought. What I'm about to write is almost too hard to believe, but… they have powers. Powers that no human being should ever have. However, it doesn't really matter to me if they're weird or unsafe or whatever. They're still my friends, and I'll stand by them forever.

I had a talk with Roxas today. He told me about this project that made them special. He called it APEX. He also said that they weren't safe here, that the people who experimented on them are trying to get rid of him. I told him that everything would be ok, but for some reason, I have a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something bad is going to happen soon. Very soon.

Oh, and I wonder if Roxas is related to Ven. They look almost exactly alike, it's not even funny. Well, it kind of is, but still, you know what I mean. I'll have to ask him sometime.

- Naminé


The stands were filled with cheering spectators as the fourth quarter was drawing to a close. There had been a good turnout for Homecoming, and the school had made a lot of money that night. Naminé sat in the upper deck with Olette and Roxas, enjoying the evening and the game. She turned her attention from the grinning Roxas back to the court. The Twilight Town Acadamy Paladins were down by two points against the Hollow Bastian Wolverines. The Paladins had the ball, and a boy named Chris was taking the ball down the court. He passed the ball to Bill, the leading scorer on the team. Bill went up for a shot, but he was stopped short by a tall guy on the other team who blocked the shot. There was only 20 seconds left on the clock, and the Paladins needed to get the ball back. The Paladin coach called for a timeout, and the gameplay paused for a little bit. Naminé turned to Roxas.

"Great game, huh?"she asked.

Roxas nodded. "Yeah, it's the best game I've seen in my entire life!"

"Why didn't you go out for basketball?" asked Naminé.

Roxas grinned. "Hey, just because we are superhumans doesn't mean that we're good at sports."

Namine giggled. The referee blew his whistle, and Naminé turned back to the game. Almost immediately, the Paladins stole the ball. They dribbled down the court and passed amongst themselves. They seemed to be unable to do anything but pass. Finally, with three seconds left on the clock. Chris chucked the ball out to the half court line where a short kid named Vince was standing. Vince took one look at the clock and shot the ball. It sailed through the air and landed cleanly in the hoop just before the buzzer went off. The crowd exploded into cheers and whoops as the lower deck of the stands stormed the court. Four of the players hoisted Vince up onto their shoulders and carried him out of the gym.

Naminé was jumping up and down, cheering. She turned and hugged Roxas, who immediately went stiff. She then realized what she was doing and quickly let go, blushing. Roxas looked at her and grinned.


Riku and Sora could hear the cheers and loud noises of celebration all the way to the football field. The two boys were setting up their "contraption", a five-barreled fireworks launcher that they had built with their bare hands.

"You really think this thing's gonna work?" Sora asked Riku, who was attaching the last launching tube to the base.

Riku nodded. "I think so. This is going to be the best After Party ever."

Sora looked back up at the stars and smiled. It was beautiful out here. He wished Kairi was with him right now. That would've been the only thing that would have made him happier.

Riku waved his hand in front of Sora's face, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Hey, are you going to help me with this, or be a lazy bum while I do all the work?"

Sora grinned and stood up. "Only Kairi can call me a lazy bum."

"Uh-huh."Riku smirked knowingly. "Well, if you could get the fireworks out of the trunk of my car, I would be very thankful."

Sora nodded and headed for the parking lot. This was going to be the best night of his life.


Jack Fredericks slipped the bulletproof vest on over his suit. He didn't know why he needed it. They were just kids after all.

Or did the REPO team have a really hard time from telling friend from foe? He doubted it.

He climbed into the back of the armored personal carrier that held REPO Team One, callsign Sigma. The Sigma team members were checking their gear and loading their weapons as the vehicles pulled out of the Langley parking lot. Teams Two and Three were right behind them.

"So this is a basic snatch n' grab, right, Boss?" the Sigma team leader, Sigma One, asked.

Fredericks nodded. "They want them alive, so I don't want any live rounds."

"You hear that, ladies? No live rounds!" shouted Sigma One over the radio. Multiple groans erupted as the men started pulling their magazines out of their weapons to switch the ammunition. Fredericks gulped. These guys were downright ruthless.


Namine chatted with Olette as they walked out of the school building, Roxas following them from behind. They had just made it to the edge of the front lawn to join the rest of the crowd when they heard an explosion overhead. Naminé looked up and saw the splash of color of the fireworks. The crowd burst into cheers as more fireworks exploded.

Roxas stood beside Naminé and watched the fireworks. After several minutes, Naminé jumped slightly as she felt a hand gently grab hers. She turned and blushed when she saw that it was Roxas. The blond boy looked at her and smiled. Naminé smiled back, and they both turned their eyes skyward as the fireworks continued to explode in flashes of different colors of light.

After the fireworks ended, Roxas let go of her hand and just stood there. He then became aware of the rumbling of engines and turned towards the road. He noticed three large vans rolling down the driveway. The parking lot lights reflected off of the letters on the sides of the vans. His heart stopped.

L.S.T.

He immediately dug into his pocket and fished around for his cell phone. His hands trembled as he dialed Riku's number. It rang twice before the silver head answered. "Hello?"

"They've found us."

Riku instantly understood what he meant. "Crap. Be right there. Get those people out of there, Roxas."

Roxas nodded. "I will." He hung up and put his phone away. He looked back at the parking lot and saw that the doors on the vans were open, and the soldiers were already headed towards their position. He was about to yell when he saw a few of the men throw some small tube-like objects towards the crowd. They landed in the grass. The tops of the grenades blew off, and a white, smoke-like substance started wafting through the air.

The crowd immediately reacted to the tear gas, running around in panic and confusion and screaming in fear. Roxas immediately cupped his hand over Naminé's mouth and nose and quickly led her inside the school, fighting back the tears as he went. When they got inside, he sat her down on a chair in the lobby. "Stay here,"he said. "And whatever happens, don't come outside." He then ran out the front doors, leaving Naminé staring after him, worried.

The mayhem was still going on. The crowd had mostly dispersed and was pouring into the building. Roxas saw Riku and Sora running toward him. He also saw Olette and Kairi heading towards the school building. Just before the two boys met up with him, a loud boom and a bright light filled his vision. Roxas instantly dropped to his knees, clutching his ears and squeezing his eyes shut. When the ringing in his ears stopped, he opened his eyes to see a soldier running towards him. Fire licked at his fingertips, and his hand connected with the man's unprotected upper torso. The man dropped to the ground, howling in pain. Roxas turned around and dodged a punch from charging gunman. He launched out at the man's back, sending him sprawling onto the hard sidewalk.

A small blue energy ball soared by his face. He saw several gunmen shooting at him, the stun bullets flying around him and leaving singe marks on the structures behind him. He turned and started running towards the school courtyard where Sora was launching the enemy back with his air manipulation. He ducked as a guy was sent flying over his head and slid behind a low wall next to Sora.

"Where's Riku?"He yelled. Roxas turned and gasped as he saw a couple of the soldiers run into the builing. Several seconds later, three of the men were thrown back through the doorway that they had entered. Roxas looked back at Sora. "I'm guessing he's inside!" he yelled to the brown haired boy. The brunette nodded and sent another guy flying into a tree, knocking him unconscious.

Hayner came flying out of the gym and slid to a stop next to Sora. "What'd I miss?"

Roxas pointed at the school. "There's at least a five hundred people in there, there's at least sixty guys out here, and the six of us have to get out of here!"

Hayner nodded. "I'm on it!" He dashed out at lightning fast speed. A few of the soldiers started firing after Hayner, but the blond was too quick for them. Roxas was busy watching the spectacle when a blur of black shot past him, soared over the low wall, and headed right for the soldiers. The lights glanced off of the humongous blade that the figure held in his hands. The soldiers noticed him too late as the black-haired swordsman started slashing through the lines, incapacitating two to three men per swipe.

Roxas could faintly hear over the gunfire a man shouting "Reinforcements! Reinforcements now!"


"Reinforcements! Reinforcements now!"

Fredericks switched the channel on the radio. He clicked it on. "HQ, this is Fredericks. Need backup at TTA, over."

There was silence for a few seconds. Then the radio crackled to life. "Copy that. Sigma's Five, Six, Seven, and Eight are en route. E.T.A. is seven minutes."

"Roger that, Fredericks out." He set the radio back on the console and sighed. All this for six kids. Crazy stuff.


Riku finished off the rest of the men inside. He ran out, barring the doors before he left, and joined up with Roxas and Sora. He recognized the sophomore history teacher running around among the enemy with an object in his hands. He crouched next to Roxas, who was watching him in amazement.

"He's insane!" shouted Riku.

"He's incredible!" replied Roxas.

Riku noticed that object in his hands was a sword. He too began to see how skilled the man was with the weapon as the history teacher, Zack Fair, continued to slice his way through the men.

The one man onslaught was too much. "FALL BACK!" shouted a man who appeared to be a commander. "FALL BACK!" The lines of soldiers immediately retreated to a safer position, leaving the groaning injured men behind. Zack appeared a bit winded, but not much, and immediately started pursuing them.

"Forget the kids! Get that guy!" the commander shouted. The gunmen opened fire. Zack slowed down and slashed through the bolts, blocking them when possible. All of a sudden, his guard dropped and he grunted in pain as a stray bolt hit him in the leg. It was all the REPO division needed. Just as the reinforcements arrived, the remaining men opened fire on the unprotected one man army. Zack yelled in pain as the blasts pelted him repeatedly, causing him to fall to the ground, stunned.

"NO!" Naminé yelled. She had exited the building to check on her friends and saw her surrogate uncle fall. She started running toward the sight, but Roxas grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "They'll get you too!" he shouted. Naminé looked at her friend, then back at Zack, tears in her eyes. Roxas grabbed her arm. "We have to get out of here!"

Sora, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, and Hayner, who had just gotten away from his pursuers, headed one of the buses that had been pulled up to get the people away from the school. They hopped on the last bus and rode it to safety. Roxas held Naminé as she cried. He looked up to see Olette and Kairi head back to where Sora and Riku were sitting. He looked back at the mourning blond. There was nothing he could say. He could only comfort her, nothing more.


Zack's vision blurred as he looked around at the soldiers standing around him. He tried to clear his vision by blinking his eyes, but to no avail. The leader of one of the teams walked up. He looked at Zack, then keyed his comms link. "HQ, this is Sigma One. We couldn't get the kids," he hesitated. "but we've got a familiar face here. One of those Shinra freaks from the lab raid two years ago." There was silence, and then the man nodded. "Roger that. Sigma One, out." He turned the comms link off, and then kicked Zack in the ribs. Zack grimaced in pain. Sigma One grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him up. Zack couldn't stand on his numb legs and dropped to his knees. Sigma One grabbed the top of his head and forced Zack to look him in the eye. "All right, Hero." He sneered. "You're going to come with us to make the world a better place!" The soldiers started laughing as two of the men grabbed Zack's arms and dragged him toward the open doors on the back of the van.


There's some action for ya. Hopefully, it doesn't make anybody mad or anything. Reviews: appreciated but not necessary as always.