Well, I figure I've kept you in suspense long enough. It's time to unveil the next chapter!

And again, with the usual junk:

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Square Enix, or anything. Though, I wish I did. Can you say, "CloudxLeon instead of Traverse Town?" Yeah, apparently, the guys over at Squenix can't. Boo. They suck.

Warning: This item may cause drowsiness. Do not take prior to operating heavy machinery. Oh, wait. Wrong thing. Erm…here we go. Ahem, this is a…aw, fuck it. If you don't know what I might be warning about by now, you have nothing to worry about.

Author's Notes: Yay! It's officially 2007! Okay, this time I have a good excuse for taking so friggin long to update. My dad just got remarried, and we moved into the town next to us, so things have been overall hectic lately. Sorry!

Oh, and, if you are curious, this was also going to be titled "Shit Hits The Fan, Part Deux." Ooh, marvel at the foreshadowing…

Anyways, on with the show!

Kingdom Hearts: Altered Promises

Chapter Eight: Hollow Bastion Part One

Kairi looked extremely hurt. In reality, this time, she had a right to. "Sora…" she called after him, as he dashed off to the portal which was quickly dissipating. With one last "Fuck you!" thrown over his shoulder, Sora dove, just barely making it into the portal. As he left, all was silent for a moment. Then, a great rumbling came. In a method that was much like the big fight from Traverse Town which had previously ensued, a great monster fell from the sky.

"Hoo boy, the shit's sure hit the fan now!" Cid shouted, as everyone but Kairi drew their weapons. Kairi, about to cry, ran off to a secluded corner, and did just that.

An hour later, the fight was over. The monster's head lay on the ground, separated from the rest of the body. Cloud was cradling Leon in his arms bridal-style, while Leon tried to catch his breath. Aerith was in Yuffie's arms, as Yuffie tried to find a way to support both of their weights. She failed miserably, and instead slumped to the ground. Merlin the Wizard, drained of all magic and energy, was literally napping on the battlefield. Honestly, sometimes the Wizard just didn't make too much sense.

Cid, meanwhile, stood over all of them, thinking quietly. He flicked his cigarette, and suddenly lifted an index finger. To normal people, this would have meant nothing other than "Hey look! I can lift my index finger!" However, after years in this "kill-or-be-killed" environment, the entire group had slowly grown accustomed to it meaning "quiet for a moment." Or, in Cid's case, "shut yer traps, I'm thinkin'."

"Do y'all hear that?" Cid whispered to his fellow fighters.

A silence was cast over the group, as they strained to hear what Cid was talking about. Sure enough, if they strained hard enough, they could make out Kairi talking with…someone else. This other someone had a soothing tone, and yet one who consciously paid attention to her tone would realize that the undertone was bubbling with malevolence.

"S…" Kairi stuttered, sniffling, "so you're saying…you can get Sora…back for me?"

"But of course, darling." The other said relaxingly. "I don't know if you ever found this out on this…island you told me about…" They found it odd how she stressed the word island. She obviously wasn't from Sora's hometown. "…but homosexuality is an easily curable disease."

Bullshit! They all simultaneously thought. Everyone they knew was fully aware and accepting of the fact that homosexuality is less of a disease and more of a trait. More importantly, there was no cure for it. No spell was known to man, no potion known to moogles, and no violent tactics known to Keyblade warriors could turn a gay man straight. Please! How technologically behind do you have to be to not know that?

Leon suddenly gasped. "Their Islands!" He said in a hushed, hurried whisper. Everyone turned their attention off of the two that were conversing elsewhere, and onto Leon.

"What about 'em?" Cid asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Aerith, remember when I asked you to leave with Yuffie? When Riku and Sora had just gotten here?" Aerith nodded, along with Yuffie, while Cid and Cloud just kind of pretended like they understood. "Well, I told Riku about Hollow Bastion, and Riku was astonished. They barely had any technology at all over on these Destiny Islands of theirs apparently."

"Are you shittin' me?" Cid asked incredulously. He flicked his cigarette, and said, "Damn, no wonder this dumb bitch Kai-whatever is falling for this witch's tricks."

They all quieted, and simultaneously, their attention all turned to the conversation. Apparently, though, it was just ending.

"Come, child," the woman said, "we shall discuss this in my castle."

Pause. "Y-you have a (sniffle) castle?" Kairi asked pathetically.

"Indeed." The woman said. Leon had to give this woman credit, she may have been evil, but she had a nice vocabulary.

"O-okay…I guess I'll go with you…Maleficient, right?"

"Yes."

The group heard a dark portal sound, as Maleficient and Kairi teleported away. The group looked at one another, thinking along the same lines. Put it this way- what they thought couldn't be said on national television without getting bleeped. It may or may not begin with "mother…"

"Maleficient…"Aerith and Cloud said at once.

"Not good…" Yuffie whispered. Leon just shook his head.

"Oh God. If Maleficient tears apart those three…God knows what's going to happen."

"Wait!" Cloud shouted. He then smiled broadly, proudly. He sure had been doing that a lot since he had been reunited with Leon. And skipping. He had done his share of skipping, sometimes while singing. Anyways, back on topic. Cloud continued, "What if we follow them? Cid could probably use one of the gummi ships!"

"That's possible," Cid said, "though it would take a while to prepare,"

"That's fine, just get it ready as soon as possible," Aerith said determinedly. Sometimes, she could get more commanding than the toughest existing sergeant.

"B-but wait! Where is Maleficient?" Yuffie asked.

"Probably her home," Leon returned.

"Yeah," Cloud said, taking random refuge in Leon's arms, "Hollow Bastion."

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Riku and Sora stumbled out of the dark portal, Sora falling face-first into the ground. "Man, does the awkward transition of that ever let up?" he complained.

Riku chuckled. "Hey, look who's still standing up." He motioned towards himself.

Sora brought his arms up to his shoulders and push-uped his way to a full standing position. He walked over to Riku, and play-punched him in the arm. "Hey, don't be so air-o-gint!"

Riku smiled. Just like so long ago. "I still think you made that word up," Riku joked, ruffling Sora's hair. Sora just pouted, and tried to fix his hair which, ironically, due to the large amount of gel put in it, had not changed at all.

Riku's smile stayed. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"

Sora smiled at him. They locked eyes. For as long as Riku could remember, he had loved Sora's eyes. Ever since Riku was six, and he had seen Sora for the first time, Riku had loved the boy's eyes. Blue. Blue like the sky. Riku reminisced back to the first time they met. It had been so…so simple, so clean, so pure, so wonderful. Sora, then five, had waltzed right up to Riku, and said, "hi! If I give you a cookie, will you be my friend?"

Riku had been slightly taken aback by how forward this approach was. Before that, everyone had somewhat isolated themselves. And yet, here was this kid, coming up to him out of nowhere, and offering him a cookie for his friendship. Obviously, this kid was something else, something new, something different, something extraordinary. He then had made a promise to himself, to always keep Sora by his side, no matter what.

But back to the matters at hand. Riku looked around, confused, not knowing where he was. The place they were in now consisted of a series of stone steps leading up to a platform that just stopped. In the distance, he could faintly make out a castle with the Heartless emblem on it. Something told him this wasn't going to be a fun world. They were surrounded by waterfalls, though the water seemed solid, almost as if one could walk on it. Floating sporadically above the surface were bubbles, about half the size of the both of them. It was really aesthetically pleasing.

They both heard sounds at the top of the ledge. One sounded deep and scratchy, almost like a tiger's angered growl. The other sounded feminine, yet it had an extremely masculine undertone, almost to the point of bordering on menacing. Riku and Sora looked at each other and, immediately recognizing that this must mean trouble, they immediately jumped from ledge to ledge, trying to get up there. As soon as they got up to the ledge, they were shocked at the scene they saw.

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"Awright! We're all ready to git the hell out of here!" Cid proclaimed loud enough for anyone who cared to listen to hear.

Yuffie bounced happily, high-fiving Aerith, while Leon and Cloud shared a celebratory kiss.

"We're off to Hollow Bastion!" Yuffie said excitedly.

Aerith looked at Cid in curiosity. "Are you sure we should go there? I hear there's a lot of trouble with Heartless around there."

"Exactly," Leon said, looking up from Cloud, who was still contentedly in Leon's strong arms. "I'm not entirely convinced Kairi and, if they made it, Sora and Riku would survive up there. That's why we need to go and help them."

"Exactly. We can't be losin' no Saviors of Worlds, now can we? So git yo ass in the Gummi Ship, pronto."

As they boarded the train, Cloud couldn't help but get a little bit nervous. He had the worst feeling, somewhere deep in the pit of his stomach, that the shit was about to hit the fan.

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The wild, ferocious beast limped towards the thirteen-year-old redhead, clutching his chest, growling fiercely. He reached out his paw, almost asking for her to stop. She didn't. She merely slightly giggled, then slashed him once more with her oh-so-feminine-looking Keyblade. He fell to his knees with a loud grunt.

"This thing really packs a punch," she told herself happily. She then turned to the animal in front of her, frowning in disgust. "You …what could lead you to the illusion that you could defeat me, anyways?"

"I…I came here…" the beast gasped out, "to see Belle. I will, even if it kills me!" He growled the last part with an intimidating amount of rage.

"Really…well, we'll just have to see about that!" She lifted the Keyblade, about to deliver a final blow, when-

"Kairi!" Two boys called out, rushing up. Riku and Sora got to the top platform, to find Kairi, about to find Kairi. Kairi caught their eyes and, without a moment's hesitation, shoved the wounded beast out of the way. An evil grin grew on Kairi's face. "So, you've decided to show up. About damn time."

Sora and Riku glared. "What's gotten into you, Kai?" Riku asked. He then shouted, "We used to be friends! What did I-no, we do to break that friendship?"

Kairi glared at him. "Don't try to play the victim, Riku. You stole what I should be back on Destiny Islands, holding in my arms, while you sulk God-knows-where. And now look where we are. All because you had to covet what was mine." Sora was pretty sure Riku's attraction to Sora hadn't caused the cataclysmic turn-of-events that had occurred on that final night on the Islands, but he let it slide.

"I love him. I have never loved you, Kairi," Sora firmly said, with more strength and valor than he knew he had. "Back off. You have no right to be angry at Riku for what you have failed to be." Namely, male.

"Sora," her voice took on a tender, motherly, honey-like tone that neither boy fell for, "your love with Riku isn't right. You've always been one to do the right thing, to follow what would be morally correct, haven't you? Are you really going to trash your morals and further more, your reputation, just for…"

"For my best friend? For the love of my life? If you really knew me, Kairi, you'd know that the answer is an obvious 'yes.'" Sora shot back.

"Besides, you arbitrarily attacked this…erm, animal?" Riku motioned in question to the hurt being, who merely grunted and nodded. "Animal. You shouldn't be casting stones about what's right and what isn't."

Kairi's stare at Riku could have come straight from the depths of hell themselves. "Oh, like you're one to talk, you faggot!"

"Hey!" Sora said with just as much emotion. "Nobody talks to Riku like that, you…you…YOU BITCH!"

All was silent. Anyone that knew Sora knew that he almost always donned his cheery smile, his upbeat attitude, thereby making him immune to cursing at people. One would have to get him extremely angry for him to utter the tamest of curses. For him to shout, "YOU BITCH…" that was basically unheard of.

Kairi, after this elongated moment of silence, turned to Riku calmly, and said, "Now, see, you've got him worked up. Tsk, tsk. You are a really bad boyfriend, Ri-kun."

"Really?" Riku asked condescendingly, his eyes narrowing to slits, as he decided that he's had enough of this. It was time this insanity ended. "Well, we'll just see about that!" Without really knowing what he was doing, he took a step backwards with his right foot. The muscles in his hands tensed and shook, as a ball of energy, not unlike the ones on the tips of their KeyBlades, formulated in his hand. In the blink of an eye, he shot the orb in Kairi's direction. Kairi put a hand up, in a sad attempt to block the orb.

Then, a loud, deep voice boomed from nowhere, "The girl goes nowhere."

A force-field developed in front of Kairi, effectively reflecting the orb of light. Footsteps were heard behind Sora and Riku. They turned around, not after seeing Kairi grin, as if familiar with the person behind them. Before either could react, the man had swept Sora off of his feet and dragged him, bridal-style, over to Sora. Kairi grinned triumphantly as the man threw Sora down on the ground roughly. Sora tried to get up and run back to Riku, but he was restrained by a black creature, much like a far stronger version of the Shadow Heartless.

Kairi turned to Riku. "Know this. I always, no matter what, get what I want."

Riku looked positively heartbroken. "But…" His eyes darted to the man who had kidnapped Sora right in front of Riku's eyes. He was tall, taller than any of the teenagers were, just as tall as the almost-forgotten wounded beast who sat off to the side, watching this tense scene unfold. Riku could not discern any facial features about him, nor anything that was remarkable about him. Hell, he couldn't even tell if the figure was male or just a very masculine female. Riku just assumed it was male.

As if Riku looking at him (it) was some sort of cue, the being brought his hand up, and concentrated on it. "It's time we add insult to injury." He growled. Without further warning, the KeyBlade in Riku's hand disappeared with a beam of light, reappearing in the man's hand. The man handed the blade to Kairi, who merely chuckled, and muttered, "Maleficient was right."

"But…that's impossible! The KeyBlade is MINE! Sora is MINE!" Riku shouted in desperation.

"Yours?" Kairi laughed a sharp laugh. "You were just the delivery boy." With that, the man in the brown cloak led Kairi off. Just before reaching the edge of the cliff, she raised a hand, effortlessly stopping the man in the brown cloak from moving. She then laid her palm out flat in front of the man. He dug around, as if this was some sort of known cue, in his cloak, pulling something out of his cloak.

The man was holding a wooden sword, like the ones that Riku and Sora used to duel with back on the Islands. Back when things weren't like this. Back when his existence meant something. Those were his favorite times. And now look at the three of them. Kairi had resorted to kidnapping Sora, taking him from Riku.

The man threw the wooden sword on the ground in front of Riku, as Riku slowly dropped to his knees. "Here, go play hero with this." Kairi said sardonically. With that, Kairi walked forward, the mysterious man following close behind, and they boarded a lift, which carried the two up in the direction of the looming castle that lay ahead.

Riku's gaze fell to the floor. He was…alone. It's not like the feeling was unfamiliar to the boy. After all that had occurred in Monstro, he should have been used to the concept of going solo. However, something was…off this time. Maybe it was the heartbreaking factor that he thought he would have Sora by his side for eternity, only to get shafted and robbed of the adolescent.

Riku's hands shook violently. He sprung to his feet, grabbing the wooden sword swiftly. "It's not fair, damn it!" he shouted, swinging the sword at nothing in particular. "Sora was MINE! I was far more than a delivery boy! He loved me! Kairi had no right to take him!" Without further warning, he ran to the lift that had just taken and boarded it.

Riku breathed heavily, tired, angered. He was so overcome with emotion, he hardly noticed that there was a large being right behind him. "So…" it growled, causing him to jump slightly, "it seems like your heart has led you to the truth." Riku smiled slightly, nodding. It was certainly tall, Riku guessed it was about seven feet tall. It was coated in brown fur. It had dark brown eyes that were seemingly cold and apathetic, but if one looked hard enough, they could find a light that never went out, a motivation to live, a spark that gets it through their days.

"Who…are you?" Riku asked, slightly intimidated, but the key word in that is 'slightly.'

The thing grunted. "No time for formalities, call me Beast."

Riku was silent for a second. "Riku."

The Beast looked at him strangely, then, understanding, he looked straight ahead. "You fight for the girl, no?"

Riku looked awkwardly at him. "Erm…sure…that works."

The Beast looked at him. "The boy?" Riku gave a sheepish smile. "No worries. To each his own, I think," the Beast growled. "I came to fight for Belle." Riku could only assume that this was a lover of some kind to the Beast. Lord only knows how he has a mate. Riku immediately kicked himself in his head. That was cruel. Oh well.

The Beast, completely oblivious to what was going on inside Riku's head, continued. "I am not going home. I either get Belle or die. I suggest you do the same." He looked at Riku, who nodded firmly. That had been Riku's plan, anyway.

They reached the top, and, without further warning, they jumped off, and started attacking all Heartless that appeared. Riku felt himself welling up with rage, slowly, surely. Suddenly, he just burst. He let out a long, continuous scream. And then…

I believe the correct term is "going apeshit."

Riku "went apeshit" on the Heartless.

Unveiling new powers and untapped strengths all at once, he swung blindly at the Heartless that were there, plus the variety of those that would appear. For the ones that were, in essence, floating balls of darkness, he used standard ground attacks. For the Heartless in suits of armor, Riku would use jumping attacks, to get past the giant shields with snapping jaws the monsters carried. For the fiends that were airborne, Riku summoned balls of blue energy, and hurled it at the beings.

Before long, without a terribly large exertion of force, all was quiet outside the colossal castle. Riku, panting heavily, could only stare in awe at his body, wondering where all that power had come from. He looked at the Beast confusedly, hoping for a satisfactory response to the question…

"What…the hell was that?" he asked as they walked into the castle.

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Ansem's Report V

We all have an equal balance of light and dark inside of us. In most cases, one is kept in check by the other, causing us not to be reckless, irrational, or downright savages. This is why most of us can live in relative harmony, and not fly off the handle.

One would be surprised as to how simply this balance can be disrupted.

What we just saw come out of Riku, the more sadomasochistic, bloodthirsty, pain-craving side of him that just burst through the shell that is Riku, was released due to a mixture of rage, exhaustion, and hormones. It hurts to lose a lover, I know for a fa I would be willing to bet. Some would mourn the loss of a lover, but Riku has never been one for gloom. He was incensed when Sora was taken from him. When this was combined with the overall exhaustion he felt from all the stress that had come down on him at once, and the fact that he's going through puberty, and hormones are constantly raging insidee He unveiled powers that he never knew he hadHe unveiledhar of him, saying he's a force to be reckoned with is the understatement of the century.

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They pushed their way through the large castle doors. Inside was a massive room. The ceiling almost seemed to stretch up for eternity. A small fountain stood in between two flights of stairs, both leading to a floor with two doors. Riku didn't have time to stop and take in the beauty of the place he was in, because right in front of him, stood…

"Kairi!"

There Kairi stood, alongside her stood the man in the black hood. He was holding out an arm, blocking Sora effortlessly from escaping where he stood, which was behind the figure. Kairi stared at Riku with a cold sneer on her face. "Look at you, Riku. Look at the weak being you've become. Now that I've stolen the KeyBlade, and now that I've stolen your man, what are you?"

"I'm not as weak as you think," Riku practically whispered, requiting Kairi's cold gaze. "The man with nothing but a strong heart will always overpower the person with everything including a weak heart, or worse yet, without a heart."

Kairi stare turned colder, which Riku, up until that point, had thought would have been impossible. However, he was proven wrong. "Oh, is that so? Well, then take THIS!" With that, she hurled the Keyblade, spinning so fast it looked like an eternally twirling vortex, towards Riku's head. Riku nonchalantly caught it. In a trice, the tables had turned. Kairi gaped and watched as Riku simply flicked his wrist, bringing the Keyblade down to his side, all while smirking, gratified by the success of his actions.

While Kairi ogled the sight she just witnessed, she hardly noticed as Sora walked slowly walked behind her, and

Whack!

Kairi fell to the ground, clutching her back. Sora ran over to Riku, the man in the black coat behind Kairi looking on in total shock. How the hell could that kid move so fast? Oh well, no matter. He tapped Kairi on the shoulder, and told her that he had to go attend to…other matters. She nodded her understanding, and he walked out of the room. Meanwhile, Riku and Sora were in front of her, Keyblades drawn.

It was here that Kairi faced a decision. So as to not make the explanation too prolix, I shall condense it into two options:

Option A: Fight for her life, two-against-one.

Option B: Turn her tail around and run for her life.

Without further thought she drew her Keyblade, wheeled around in a successful 180, and ran the other way, shouting over her shoulder, "you haven't seen the last of me!"

As she ran, Riku and Sora simply stood there. "Should we follow her?" asked Sora curiously.

Riku shook his head and smiled. "Nah," he said, putting his hands over his head and locking them comfortably, "she'll be back." He turned to Sora, a concerned look on his face. "Are you all right?"

Sora grinned and nodded. He moved a little closer to Riku, putting his arms around the boy. "I missed you," he whispered quietly.

Riku laughed. "Oh yes, dear Sora. That five minutes away from you…I about KILLED myself!" He slid his finger down his cheek, symbolizing a teardrop.

Sora punched him in the arm. "Shut up, meanie." He pouted. Riku smiled, and gently kissed the pout, trying to tenderly eradicate the negativity. Sora giggled, and kissed back, deepening it by allowing his tongue to flirt with Riku's lower lip. Riku moaned, but quickly pulled away as crashing sounds were heard in the distance.

Riku smiled. "Let's save the whole making out thing for somewhere where we're not constantly in grave danger. Now, come on." With that, he took Sora's hand, and towed him up the stairs and into the next room, Sora stumbling just behind him.

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The man in the black cloak stepped forward slowly, as if to emphasize the importance of each step. Finally, I can pull back this damn hood. God, it could get hot in there.

With that, he brought his hands slowly to his hood, and removed it. He let his lengthy, complicatedly hair, which had previously been tucked into his cloak, flow naturally. It was long, silvery-white, and, in his own opinion, quite striking. The hair flowed down to his shoulder-blades, while hairs stuck out above his ears on either side, spiking back. This he used hair gel for, and did it on purpose. It looked badass, almost…villain-y.

The rest of him hardly looked average, either. He had a muscular, tan, very masculine build to him. His jaw was square-ish looking, his ears large, his eyes orange. He wore a black and dark blue cloak, with a white bustier underneath. This was his secret shame that he was constantly ridiculed for- he just couldn't seem to leave the house without wearing something that belonged on a female. Oh well, back to the description. He wore blue pants, and long, pointed, black boots. He had the tattoo of the Heartless symbol, which was a black, elegant-looking heart broken into four small segments, printed on his chest. His name was Ansem.

Ansem walked up the time-consumingly large flight of stairs to get to the top. The room he was in was peculiar. At the base, it had seven blue coffins with blue flames in torches surrounding these. As one proceeded into the room, they would encounter a flight of stairs, which led to a platform, then there were two flights of stairs that led up to the top platform, which had a variety of ominous-looking machinery. There were other levels to the room, but one would have to be able to fly to reach those. Up another flight of stairs was what appeared to be a heart-shaped portal.

As Ansem reached the top, he turned and, with the ever-so-rare for him smile, proclaimed loudly, "O purest of hearts, reveal to me the Keyhole!"

The women in six of the seven coffins (the seventh one being empty), had the area around their hearts light up. As the light gathered energy, all six simultaneously shot a beam, creating a cone above the base of the room. Ansem smiled expectantly, but the smile faded after about twenty seconds when nothing past that happened. He then scowled in thought.

The Keyhole remains incomplete. A princess of heart still sleeps. But who? Who could-

Ansem's face lit up in discovery. "The girl…"

"What do you want?" came the sassy reply from directly behind him. Slightly surprised, Ansem turned, only to face Kairi.

Ansem smiled. "Sora and Riku beat you, eh?"

Kairi snorted. "More like out-smarted me. You were there, you saw the majority of what happened. All you missed was me running. Like a coward." She looked down as she said the last part, ashamed of her actions.

"You know, there is a way to become more powerful." Ansem hinted, a smirk pulling his face.

"Tell me."

"I must warn you first," Ansem said, maintaining the tone of someone who is about to share their deepest, darkest secret with a best friend, "how you perceive your friends is dependant on your own heart. Are you sure you won't just…accept the love your friends share for each other?"

Kairi glared at him, as if Ansem was the SoraxRiku love, in person form. "Absolutely not." She drew her feminine keyblade, the yellow one with flowers and overall euphoria-causing objects, though she was in anything but a joyful mood. "Kairi changes for nobody. Not even my be- my EX best-friend and EX lover. Besides, he'll come full circle back to me, even if I have to make him come around."

Ansem smirked. Raging fool. "In that case, open your body to darkness, become darkness itself."

"But…I don't know how to do that." Kairi said quietly.

Ansem's smirk grew. I correct myself. Innocent raging fool. "It's quite simple, really." Ansem continued, as he summoned a Shadow Heartless. "Now then, drop your weapon, and beckon for the shadow to come to you."

As the processions continued, Ansem could only stand their grinning. Victory is upon us, my fellow being of darkness, he said to the Shadow.

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Riku and Sora ran up the long flight of stairs, both wondering if the stairs really had to be so lengthy. Couldn't the builders have made this more convenient? They imagined that many people used to walk up these stairs, so couldn't they make the stairs a little more simplistic?

No matter. They reached the top, and saw Kairi, her back turned to them. "Sora…" she said calmly, her voice perfectly in sync with a much deeper one, which Riku and Sora couldn't find the source of.

"Kairi, where's the man you were with?" Sora asked.

"I will ask you one final time," she continued, as if nothing else was happening.

"Answer him, damn it!" Riku cried.

"Will you be my boyfriend, through thick and thin, for better or for wose, from here through eternity?"

Sora had evolved over the course of the journey. In the beginning, he had always placed the feelings of others over his own desires. But things had changed drastically such that he now felt the power within to say…

"Unless you're harboring a dick under that mini-skirt, the answer is no."

Riku snorted, stifling laughter. Kairi looked down the ground in dismay, hurt by once again feeling rejection. "Very well," she said slowly. With that, she extended her right hand. Tufts of darkness enshrouded it, and out of the black abyss came a blade. It was jet black, pointed at the end, red on the handle. Next to it's tip was a black rose with five of its petals missing, three still intact.

"Is that…?" Riku began.

"Yes," Kairi finished, smirking satisfactorily, "a KeyBlade. But unlike yours, this holds the power to unlock people's hearts." Kairi held her delicate hands up to the sky, while continuing. "Allow me to demonstrate…behold!" Without further warning, she hurled the KeyBlade towards Sora's chest. Sora brought his key up, in an attempt to block it.

This time around, however, he was just a half-second too late.

The key struck him solidly in the chest. Kairi grinned malevolently, while Riku shouted, "Sora!" Yet he stood paralyzed by fear.

Sora, as if in slow motion, fell to the floor. Seven balls of light emitted from his chest. Six of them went to the coffins at the base of the room, and at chest level of the occupants inside the coffins, it sparkled. The seventh floated over to Riku, and after orbiting him once, it slipped under the skin protecting his heart.

As if he had been waiting for this as some kind of cue, he sprung into action. He dove to catch Sora as he fell, but just as Sora was about to fall into his arms, Sora burst into countless little balls of light, and they rose up to the heavens, disappearing through the high ceiling of the room.

After a moment of silence, Riku asked the inevitable rhetorical question. "Sora? Are you really…no…I won't let him go!"

Riku glared at Kairi, who was chuckling softly, madly, like a serial killer saying that, in retrospect, they regretted nothing. "Poor boy. Now that Sora is gone, forever falling in the world of darkness, never again to see the light, so are you blinded by your past ignorance. You are alone in this world now. After all, who did you have besides that boy?"

Riku looked to the ground in desperation. He knew she was right. Sora was all Riku had left. The boy was Riku's ambition, his motivation to keep holding on, keep playing the twisted game called life. What now? There was really only one thing left to do.

A rumble started in Riku's lungs, working it's way up his windpipe, and being released through his mouth in the form of a long, continuous scream. His two hands disappeared. One was engulfed in light, one in darkness. From the two lights, or lack thereof, came two KeyBlades. One was his normal KeyBlade, the other was new, much lighter in color. It resembled a sword, but it had what looked like golden and brilliant white cobwebs around the base. Near the tip, there was a heart with three sharp palm leaf-shaped prongs sticking out from it.

Riku thought nothing of it, and instead sprung for Kairi, attacking her maliciously. Not in any particular form of attack, mind you. He swing rather blindly. Left, right, left, right, back and forth until he tasted blood. Pain was of no importance to him. This bitch had to pay for Sora.

The match continued on as normal. Once Kairi began to retaliate, the two forces seemed equal. The tables turned, however, when he tried to hit her over the head, but was blocked. Simultaneously, he swing for the leg with the darker KeyBlade, slicing the leg perfectly. She let her guard down for a second to aid the now bleeding leg, which turned out to be a big mistake, as Riku raised the lighter KeyBlade, and…

SLASH!

Kairi's dark KeyBlade fell to the floor, and she dropped to her knees, her upper half following suit. She supported herself up with her hands.

Riku was about to deliver the final blow, when he stopped, straightened up, and walked forward. Riku picked up Kairi's dropped blade.

"Thank you, Kairi."

Kairi lifted her head in shock after he spoke these words. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"Thank you for everything you've done to get in the way of Sora's and my relationship. It really put things into new perspective, y'know?"

He held the blade out, tip away from himself.

I realized that…" Riku chuckled and continued, "being alone is a bitch. But…" Riku flipped the blade to face his chest. "Riku won't be alone. Not anymore."

Without further warning, he thrust the tip into his chest. Kairi's eyes widened as she watched this.

"The power…to unlock…hearts…huh?" Riku gasped, smiling. I…wonder…what has…been…unlocked…" With that, he fell to the ground. Light and darkness both emitted from his corpse, and when they cleared, the body was gone.

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Secret Ansem's Report VI

A boy forever in the realm of light. A boy on the road to dawn. A fallen angel. A newly born being with a sever identity crisis, and the protective being who is to look after him. Two lovers living the relationship dream, and two who will soon be. A broken secret lover, turning to fighting to alleviate the pain. A man enshrouded in mystery. And finally, two beings who should never be taken lightly. Two organizations, and the people caught in between, in short. How will they all bind together to complete this twisted tale?

They say nobody knows the true heroes until the end of the tale.

They also say not every princess of heart is a princess.

I believe it is high time for an intervention.

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Yeah, that's it. Damn, it took me four months to write this. I apologize. This chapter, I promise to get my ass in gear and not take longer than three months.

As my apology for taking so long, I have included a small segment. Has anyone seen the Red Stripe commercials? No? Well, then go to and type in "Hooray Beer!" Watch a few of them, just to get the feel for the format. Anyways, this segment is based off of those. It's special because it's the first BL thing I ever wrote. And…action!

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This is much like the epilogue of Kingdom Hearts II, where Sora, Riku, and Kairi receive a letter from the King. The scene starts out with just Sora and Riku sitting on the island which once staged the optional Riku fights in the very beginning of the first KH. Both Sora and Riku are lightly sipping Red Stripe beer throughout the scene. They are staring off into the sunset, about a foot away from each other.

Sora: So, nothing's changed, huh?

Riku: Nope. Nothing will.

Sora: Sips, then states to think, then turns to Riku. Riku?

Riku: Yeah?

Sora: I want to tell you a secret that I've been holding since I was about eleven. If you don't feel the same, can you just forget I said anything?

Riku: Sets the bottle down and leans in, interested. Absolutely.

Sora: Pause. I love you, Riku.

Riku: Pause, then happily. I love you too, Sora!

They lean in to kiss each other, then the camera goes off of them and on to Kairi, who has just emerged from the Seaside Shack.

Kairi: Hey, you g-

She pauses and gasps. The slow version of "Simple and Clean" starts to play as Sora and Riku make out. Sora is sprawled across Riku's lap, and Riku's hand gropes Sora. Sora slowly drops the bottle of beer in his left hand, and the KeyBlade in his right. Riku stops for a second, and they stare at each other for a while romantically, then go back to kissing each other. Camera goes back to Kairi, as she starts to cry.

Kairi: No…

She glances up, and is startled to see a man in the Organization's outfit. The man pulls down the hood of his robe. It is the guy from the Red Stripe commercials.

Red Stripe man: Boo Kairi! Hooray Beer!

As he says this, the words appear in big white lettering. Then a bottle of Red Stripe appears. In the background, we can see Sora and Riku still making out, only with their shirts off this time.

Red Stripe man: Drink responsibly.

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XD I don't even know.