Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the OCs.

"Slightly Damned" – talking

"Rebirth" – thinking

"[Obey]" – Mysterious Cloaked Figure talking

Attack! – Special attack in use

*Sound* - Sound effect

-break-

(Opening theme 1, "Harukaze" by Scandal)

Chapter 8: Storming the Castle, A Tragic Fall

Radiant Garden

"Alright you four, understand the task?" Neo questioned them again, just to be sure. Currently, they were headed towards the gates of the castle, intending to infiltrate the castle.

"Yeah. You make a distraction, while we go in and take Maleficent out of the picture. Standard espionage mission," Shun simply said in a neutral tone. They walked a little further, before Neo stuck his hand out, signaling them to stop. Looking towards where Neo was looking, they saw a gigantic army of Heartless, all of which were the higher level ones, such as Invisibles, Defenders, and even a few boss-level Heartless such as Guard Armors and even a Behemoth.

"Wow. Looks like Maleficent gathered a real welcoming party. Of course, she must have lost more screws from her head if she thinks this could slow you down," Max mused.

"You're right there. However, the fact remains that these are likely here to buy her more time. I'll send the signal, and while we clear out these Heartless, you four get into the castle. Once we're done here, we'll join you soon enough," Neo ordered.

"You sure? Wouldn't it be better if I stick around? I AM called the Black Devastator for a reason," Shun said, though the unhappy look on his face made it clear that he would rather not stick around.

"Dedicated and logical as always, huh? Thomas would be proud of you," Neo smiled, at which Shun simply turned away, though a small smile did grace his lips at hearing that. "While it's true your style of fighting would help, but as it is now, we have enough members to deal with this. You know how Maleficent it. Heck, you're one of the few Rebirths who is… 'lucky' enough to have tangled with Maleficent as often as you do. Ironically, this means that amongst you four, you have the best idea what she might do, and therefore you're one of our best choices to send in," Neo smiled. "If this mission is gonna work, we need someone with your experience. That's why for this mission, I'm appointing you as the official leader."

Shun wanted to argue, to say that it would be better if he stayed and helped. However, the circumstances made it so that arguing would only waste time. "Alright. I'll do it."

"Good. Get ready…cause here we go!" Neo said, before raising his hands and gathering both light and darkness in them, before firing 2 simultaneous shots. At his signal, a small army of around 30 or so people sprang out of the surroundings, comprised mostly of Keybladers, judging by the armor. "Go!" Neo shouted to the four of them, before he dashed forward and entered the fray.

"Alright guys, you heard him! Let's move!" Shun ordered, at which the four of them ran forward.

The battle may have just started, but it was brutal all the same, with the odds clearly in favor of their side. While the Heartless may have had overwhelming numbers on their side, the Keybladers and Rebirths made up with sheer skill and power, allowing them to take out Heartless by the dozens. In this chaotic cauldron, it was easy for Shun and his team to slip through relatively unnoticed, since the Heartless were having their 'hands' full with the Rebirths and Keybladers that were beating them to a pulp. "Almost there!" Shun shouted as they approached the castle. However, suddenly the castle started breaking away from the ground and floated upward. "What the-?! Oh no you don't! Sakido, grab Umi! Max, you're with me!" he ordered, before summoning a gun with a grappling hook. Taking aim, he quickly shot it, before getting pulled along by the line.

"Don't forget about us!" Max said, before grabbing on to his legs, getting pulled along as well, while Sakido grabbed Umi's shoulders and took to the sky. At the same time, Shun triggered the reeling mechanism, pulling him and Max up to the castle.

Landing not far from the gates, the four of them looked up; they saw that Radiant Garden Castle had been twisted back to its state when it had been known as Hollow Bastion. "Looks like Maleficent has been redecorating," Umi chuckled slightly. Nobody responded to that, so they just started walking towards the castle door. However, before they could get to the door, several creatures rose out of the ground. There were 12 in total, with 6 of them being vaguely dog-shaped black masses, while the other 6 were humanoid shadow-like creatures with whip-like arms that looked sharp at the tips. All these creatures bore the mark of an Unwritten, but the difference was that the letter on the symbol was an F.

"More Unwritten?" Sakido mused, noticing the symbols.

"Yeah, but look at the letter. F means these guys are the weakest of the weak," Max pointed out, remembering what Neo had told them before they began the mission.

"Weakest or not, it would be good to not underestimate them. Either way, we might as well test out these upgraded UniTs," Shun mused as he pulled out his UniT. Earlier, after the meeting at Ansem's study, Ansem had taken their UniTs and upgraded them to allow them to scan Unwritten in order to either gain data on new species, or bring up existing data left over from the last war against the Stillborns and their Unwritten. "Let's see here…Creeper: Class F Unwritten. A null element that fights with its elongating appendages. It has a similar ability to the Heartless species: Shadow. Threat rank: 2," he read after scanning the dog-like Unwritten, before turning to scan the humanoid ones. "Trooper: Class F Unwritten. Also a null element that fights with elongating appendages, only these are a little more dangerous as they can do more than just a straight lengthening, so if the Creepers are spears, then these guys are whips. Threat rank: 2. Small fries, all of them."

The moment he said that, all the Unwritten lashed out at them with their appendages, but the four of them easily dodged the attack. "Let's not waste too much time dealing with them. Sakido, if you would?" Shun said, to which Sakido nodded. "Alright," she said, before charging up a lightning spell, and releasing it. The spell hit the line of Unwritten, destroying them instantly.

"Wanting to delay us is one thing, but Maleficent must have finally lost the last of her marbles if she thinks sending in these Class Fs will stop us. Then again, this might just be to make us let our guard down while the stronger Unwritten are waiting inside. Well, if nothing else, only the boss-classes have that annoying requirement of destroying the emblem before they fall," Shun huffed as the four of them made their way to the gate. Naturally, when they got to the gate, it was locked. Too bad for the gate, Shun had other ideas. "Knock knock," he grinned, before opening fire on the gate. The gate itself was enchanted to be unbreakable, but its hinges were not, so the barrage of gunfire and missiles completely blasted it off its hinges.

The moment the door was blasted open, miasma poured out, but Umi quickly stepped in "Purify!" she called out, focusing her spiritual energy and cleansing the miasma. With the air safe again, they quickly steeped in. Inside, the castle had been converted back to the way it was while it was under Maleficent's command, complete with the thorn-themed designs all over the wall. "Maleficent really needs to learn how to redecorate better. This interior is so gloomy. Not to mention creepy," Umi huffed, not liking the interior one bit.

"Maybe that's the idea. To scare away any visitors," Sakido commented, earning a chuckle from the others. "Do you know where we're supposed to go?" she asked, turning to Shun.

"Not exactly, but I have a pretty good idea where we should go," he answered as he walked up the stairs and towards a doorway at the back, with a door that looked like it had the Heartless crest on it. Unsurprisingly, there was a magical barrier on the door, which would have taken a while to unlock due to the pieces of the key being scattered. Too bad Shun was NOT in the mood for those kinds of games.

*Kabooom!*

The door was blaster apart, as Maleficent's ancient magic was rendered completely obsolete in the face of Shun's use of modern warfare…

"Assuming she's planning something big with her magic, I remember reading up the perfect spot for something like that. I don't remember the exact way, but we should be able to find it if we keep looking, and if nothing else, backup is on its way," Shun said over his shoulder.

"Lead the way, Sempai," Umi nodded as they followed him in. Making their way to the area known as the Lift Stop, normally they would have had to take the various lifts due to the barriers that filled the rooms. Fortunately, they had a way around this. "Kai!" Umi called out as she threw her paper charms, each of them filled with her spiritual power, all of which made short work of the magical barriers.

"Alright! Now that Umi's taken care of the barriers, I'll scout out the nearby rooms. Just give me 10 seconds," Max grinned.

"Wait! There could be-!" Shun tried to say, but Max had already dashed forward and quickly became a blur. "Traps…" he finished futilely with a sigh. "…moron…"

Just as Max promised, he was back in 10 second. Too bad he wasn't alone. "I went through several rooms, and all of them were dead ends. Also, I've got company!" he quickly said, as a horde of Unwritten burst out of the rooms, clearly chasing him.

"…What I'm wondering is why you led them back to us?" Sakido dead panned, only to sigh in aggravation as her only reply was a sheepish laugh from Max.

Shun sighed as he face palmed at the sight. "Too late now. We'll deal with them first, then we find another way," Shun quickly said, whipping out a handgun and his UniT, before scanning each of the Unwritten AND blasting them at the same time. "Let's see...Heat Wisp: Class E Unwritten. While not particularly strong, its small size makes it hard to hit. Primary attack is a standard fireball, though they can be charged for a rapid-fire attack," he read as he scanned the small, bat-like creature that seemed to carry a flame with its legs, before shifting focus. "Gel Octo: Class E Unwritten. Its body is mostly made out of water, making it resistant to physical attacks, but vulnerable to energy attack. Its primary attack is its tentacles that elongate to grab enemies, before electrocuting them. It can also fire globs of electrically charged water. Rather troublesome for a low rank enemy," he read, whilst shooting several blue octopi-like creatures, the said Gel Octos, only for his shots to go right through them, narrowly missing Max who had happened to be standing behind them ("Hey! Watch it!" Max shouted in indignation). "And last, we have…Shade Ghost: Class E Unwritten. Its body can shift from being tangible to being intangible at will, though the process is a little gradual, and leaves it vulnerable for a few split seconds. Its primary attacks are its claws that it uses for a standard scratch attack, and the poisonous smoke it can breathe out. A little less annoying than a Gel Octo, but still rather annoying with its intangibility," he finished, scanning the Unwritten that looked like generic white, sheet-like, ghosts, albeit with 'cloth' that acted like small stubby 'arms'. All of the Unwritten… didn't seem like much of a threat, both because of their low rank/power level, and also because of their rather… cartoony appearance. However, experience had taught him, Umi, and Max to never underestimate an opponent based on how they looked, and Sakido wasn't the type to do so either thanks to her time in Hell, so needless to say, the four of them had no intentions of giving their enemies any chances to get the better of them.

The first to attack, were the Heat Wisps, which attacked by flinging the fireballs they carried, all of which went together to form a decent wave of fire. Snapping into action, Max zipped in front of the attack, and countered with a slash from his sword, releasing a wave of flame, that intercepted the incoming wave, followed by Sakido who casted a Hurricane Gust, blowing the remaining fire away, and scattering the Heat Wisps. Seemingly at the sight of what happened to the Heat Wisps, the Gel Octos flew forward, several of them already ready to lash out with electrically charged tentacles, only for them to be hit with bullets, which didn't do any actual damage, at least until their bodies were suddenly filled with mud, which not only made them more solid, but also messed with their ability to generate electricity. "Hit them now!" Shun ordered, to which the others were happy to oblige. "Heat Wave!" Max called out, unleashing the wave shaped flame from earlier, which dried out the mud that was mixed in their bodies, solidifying them. "Now die!" Sakido growled, as she blasted them with a strong blast of lightning, blasting their bodies to pieces.

"Alright! Next is-Gah!" Max started, but was cut short when he felt a pair of claws dig into his back. Nearby, Sakido felt the same thing, as a pair of Shade Ghosts had snuck up on them when they had attacked the Gel Octos, and as they had been invisible at the time, neither Shun nor Umi had noticed them until it was too late to avoid them.

"Umi, you take care of them. I'll distract the Unwritten for now," Shun ordered, pulling out a pair of handguns, before pulling out several clips of bullets from his cloak, and loading 2 of them into the guns, before firing on the Shade Ghosts. Reacting to this, they quickly turned intangible and started to fade out of view. However, when the bullets hit, they visibly reacted to them, writhing as they actually felt the bullets. "Anti-spirit rounds," Shun grinned. "I may only have a few of them, since they're one of the few forms of ammo I can't make, but they're sure worth stocking up," he chuckled as he reloaded, leaving only 4 clips left. The Shade Ghosts roared angrily in response, before charging towards him with their claws raised, only to receive a bullet through the head for each of them, destroying them.

Quickly dismissing the handguns, Shun pulled out his machine gun again, and aimed it at the last few remaining Unwritten, the Heat Wisps. "Now hold still and I promise this will only hurt-" he was about to say as he took aim, only for a strong gust of wind to blow from behind him, scattering the Heat Wisps, followed by a rush of movement, before all of them were cleanly bisected and faded away. "Well that was quick. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, since other than the poison, those were just flesh wounds to us Rebirths," he idly commented as he turned around. Sure enough, Sakido and Max were already back on their feet, Umi having successfully extracted the poison from their systems, while their own natural healing had taken care of the scratches they had received. "Now that those Unwritten have been taken care of, I believe you said that all these paths are dead ends, right?"

"Yeah, I ran through all the rooms this lift stop connects to, and each of them led to a dead end," Max confirmed.

"In that case, how are we going to find Maleficent?" Sakido questioned.

Shun just frowned, before pulling out his gun and smirked. "Well…normally I wouldn't do this, since this IS Ansem's castle, but assuming Maleficent used her magic to alter this place, it should turn back to normal once she's been dealt with. With that in mind…" he loaded one of his custom bullets (this one affectionately dubbed "Boom Bullet"), and fired at a wall, blowing a hole through it. "I say we keep blowing holes until we find the place, and I know just where we should go," he said before shooting upward.

"So we go up?" Umi asked, earning a nod. "Okay then," was the reply…before the three of them flew up the hole Shun had made (Max used his bike, Umi made water platforms, and Sakido used her wings).

There was an awkward pause as Shun realized something quite important… "Hey! What about me?! I can't fly! Especially now that my Aero Slider is scrap!"

"Whoops. Our mistake," Sakido said, though the expression she had told him she was enjoying the look he had on his face, before flying back down and lifting him up by the arm. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, as other than several Heartless (most of them being Darkballs, with a few Wyverns) and the odd Unwritten (all of them were F rank), there was nothing that impeded their progress meaning that their path (or whenever Shun decided to make a new path) remained relatively unobstructed.

"Man, what's with the security here? We've been blowing holes through the walls left right and center, and Maleficent has barely even put up a fight," Max commented.

"…maybe that's exactly what she wants us to think. Considering how easy it's been, maybe she WANTS us to lower our guard," Sakido suggested.

"Uh…good point…" Max conceded, scratching the back of his head.

"Not likely," Shun cut in, earning surprised looks, before he clarified. "Maleficent may be proud, and not to mention overconfident, but she's no fool. If anything, I think she may be focusing her energy on something. Whatever it is, it can't be good if she can't even use enough power for better defenses," he finished. None of his teammates liked the idea he had just said, but if one thing was certain, it was that they were not letting their guards down for even a moment.

-break-

Meanwhile, at the Grand Hall, Maleficent was deep in concentration as she held her hands over the Hollow Drive. Muttering an incantation, she let dark energy flow over and around the Hollow Drive. Next to her, Maria and Sephora were also muttering some sort of incantation as they too were pooling their energy into the Hollow Drive, causing it to spark and flash as though it were trying to resist them.

"[How goes the extraction?]" came the voice of the Mysterious Cloaked Figure as he seemed to suddenly phase into the room.

"We are making excellent progress. I estimate that we'll have finished fully extracting the Hollow Drive in little less than an hour," Sephora answered.

"[Very good. However, I suggest you three pick up the pace. Even with the thousands of Heartless we've sent out to buy time, they're of little trouble to the Rebirths, especially against HIM]" he cautioned. The moment he mentioned that, Maleficent visibly stiffened.

"Very well, we shall try to speed things up…as much as possible," Maria nodded. "In the mean time, perhaps we should prepare a little…welcoming for them when they get here," she suggested, right as her smile turned into a slasher smile.

"My…and here I thought you would never say anything useful. Guess I was wrong," Maleficent chuckled, enjoying the sight of Maria's eyebrow twitching in annoyance. "Very well, I have the perfect Unwritten for the job," she finished as she waved her staff, before going back to work. Behind her, the shadows reformed, revealing the silhouette of a giant web…

-break-

"Just how tall IS this castle? It feels like we've been climbing for a long time now!" Sakido couldn't help but voice her annoyance. True enough, all of them had lost track of how many floors they had climbed after Shun had blown a new hole for them to go through, and with how few enemies had been appearing, their relatively uneventful path had become mind numbingly boring AND the sound of Shun blowing holes into the castle was starting to grate on her nerves.

"No clue. I've never had a reason to really explore this place, nor have I ever really wanted to. I only know the general layout, since I HAVE visited this place, and even then I took an elevator. Either way, I'm positive we're going the right way, so we'll get there when we get there," Shun stated nonchalantly as he aimed and blew ANOTHER hole. "…hey Sakido, it's your lucky day, cause here we are," he said, as true enough, the room they were now in was a darkly lit room that looked like some kind of dark chapel. "This place, the Castle Chapel, is the best place to gather large amounts of power. I don't know why, but places like this, be they holy or not, have a particular air that supports magic, especially large scale spells."

"But…nobody is here. Shouldn't she be here?" Max asked, having both never actually come here before, nor having any significant understanding of magic.

"No, but she must be nearby. I can feel it too…this place…it's perfect for spell casting, so much so that you could even draw power from this room even if you were in a nearby room," Umi confirmed.

"She's right. Just being here…I feel like I'd be able to make my magic even stronger than before," Sakido agreed.

"Whatever the case, for now be on your guard. Knowing Maleficent, she's probably set up a nasty surprise for us," Shun cautioned, before dismissing his rocket launcher, and switching it with a pair of revolver handguns, followed by loading them with several of his custom bullets.

"Right!" was the unanimous response, as Umi pulled out her flute, Max pulled out a broad sword, and even Sakido pulled out the makeshift Dragonium spear, just for extra insurance.

"Okay everyone, perimeter formation. Umi, you cover our backs. Max, you're with me in the front. Sakido, you're with Umi," Shun ordered.

"Roger/Ryokai," Max and Umi nodded, while Sakido just looked confused. "Huh?"

"Its fine, Sakido-san. Just do what I do," Umi said, before grabbing her arm and pulling her along.

"H-hey!" Sakido protested, before she found that the four of them were now back to back.

"This is a defensive formation, with the basic idea being that we all look out for enemies and basically watch each other's backs," Max explained.

"I see…" Sakido muttered, once again caught off guard at how…differently things operated here. Back in Hell, while Demons did work in teams at times, the fact never changed that it was basically every Demon for his/her self, with MANY of her so-called 'comrades' being more than willing to push each other into the fire if it meant saving their own skins. Yet, ever since she had (unofficially) been inducted into Shun's little group, she quickly found that unlike in Hell, she didn't feel like she always had to be on guard. If anything, despite their…eccentric personalities, her new comrades were…nice. Shun, while sometimes being inconsiderate, still looked out for her well-being, even going out of his way just to help her out; Umi, despite seeming like a ditz and being rather naïve fool at times, was actually an easy person to talk to and even made her feel…comfortable, and maybe even happy just knowing that she now had someone who would listen; Max…while she hadn't really got to know him, and despite his tendency to act without thinking, she felt a strong sense of loyalty from him, like he was someone who would never betray those he calls his friends no matter what. In short, despite the fact that she may not really trust them just yet, they were not only a far cry from what she had to deal with in Hell, but when she thought about it, she realized that she…liked feeling this way.

By now the four of them had moved to the center of the room, when Sakido noticed something, not around them, but on the floor. "What's this?" she thought, as she noticed what looked like a pattern resembling what she once learned was the nest of a creature called a 'spider' on the floor. Looking closely, she noticed that the pattern covered the entire floor, and that it wasn't a design, but rather a…shadow…

Gulping slightly at the implication, she looked up… "I think I just spotted that 'nasty surprise' Maleficent left for us," she deadpanned, catching their attention, before they too looked up…and paled.

On the ceiling was a gigantic spider web, and on the web was one of the biggest spiders they had ever seen, which promptly jumped down, intending to squash them.

"Scatter!" Shun shouted, as the four of them bolted in opposite directions, causing the spider to land on empty ground. Now that the creature was on the ground, they could get a decent look at it. Despite it's clearly arachnid features, this spider seemed rather metallic in appearance, with razor sharp tips on all 8 of its legs, which also seemed to have armor on them. The creature was colored a mixture of jet black around the abdomen and deep purple around the head, fangs, and legs. Speaking of the head, while it DID look like a regular spider, it had an armored carapace on it to protect it, something spiders normally shouldn't have. Every question they had about the creature was answered as it reared up and let out a roar, revealing a certain symbol on this under belly: the Unwritten symbol, this one featuring a capital C on the symbol.

"An Unwritten! Class C at that!" Shun said, before pulling out his UniT and scanning. Unfortunately… "No data?!" well, so much for that idea…

Ignoring his outburst, the Unwritten attempted to strike him with its razor sharp legs, but he quickly blocked it with his barrier. "Watch out, this things strong! Stronger than the other class C we encountered!" he warned, having felt the blow even through the barrier.

The four of them quickly surrounded it, but in response, it immediately shot a strand of pitch black webbing, and was promptly pulled back up to its web. The moment it touched the web, a field appeared around it like shadowy waves, while its body glowed a sickly purple as it seemed to become sharper in appearance.

"You're not getting away!" Max growled as he jumped up with his sword ready. Once he reached the Unwritten, he swung the sword, only for it to impact the Unwritten with a clang, but otherwise no effect.

"It hardened itself! Get away from it!" Shun shouted.

Not about to argue, Max immediately jumped away, but the Unwritten turned to face him, opening its jaws, and fired what looked like more shadow webbing, but this time it was mixed with metallic webbing that looked VERY sharp.

"Watch out!" Sakido shouted as she casted a bolt of Lightning, intercepting the webbing and allowing Max to get away.

"Thank, Sakido! I owe you one!" he said.

"Just try not to get yourself killed! It's difficult enough with these things pulling out all sorts of tricks!" she retorted, to which he just gave a thumbs up.

"Let me try!" Umi said, before pulling out an Ofuda. "Akuryo Taisan!" she called out as she threw the paper, which impacted against the barrier, breaking it. However, the barrier quickly regenerated.

"Okay, so all we need is proper timing to make this work…" Shun muttered, before clenching his fist, and opening it to reveal one of his custom bullets, only this one glowed a bright orange color. He then loaded it into his Thompson Contender. "Umi, dispel the barrier again! I'll take care of the rest.

"H-Hai! Akuryo Taisan!" Umi responded, throwing another Ofuda at the Unwritten.

"Explosion Shoot!" Shun declared as he aimed and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew through the air, and went through the barrier right before it could close again, resulting in a big explosion inside the barrier.

The Unwritten roared in pain as the explosion both damaged it, as well as making it fall to the ground, its web destroyed, and due to it being dazed it landed on its back, exposing its emblem as well as its weak point.

"It's down! Finish it now!" Shun shouted, knowing that they couldn't afford to give this thing a chance to recover. Wasting no time, the four of them opened fire with their attacks on the emblem, badly damaging the Unwritten. However, before they could finish it, it managed to flip back onto its 'feet'. Acting quickly, it shot another web upwards, intending to rebuild its web.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakido growled, before she chased after it, her Dragonium spear charged with lightning, before stabbing it into the emblem on the Unwritten. Unfortunately, while it did pierce through, it wasn't deep enough, nor did it cause enough damage to finish the job.

The Unwritten screeched in pain, before its legs moved, intending to impale her. Seeing this, her eyes widened, as she was in no position to escape and on reflex, she snapped her eyes shut. However, the pain never came, as instead she heard several clangs.

Opening her eyes, she saw that the legs had been stopped as Shun, Umi, and Max had blocked the legs that were closing in, with Shun stopping four of the legs with his barrier, Umi parrying two of them with her Keyblade, and Max stopping the remaining two legs with the armored side of his Galatine.

"Sakido-san, don't give up!" Umi yelled.

"We'll deal with the legs! You just focus on piercing through!" Shun grunted as he fought to keep the four legs from getting through, though it wasn't easy as the points where the legs connected with his barrier began to distort

"While you're at it, I'll lend you this!" Max added, before tossing her his broad sword. "Use that to help you pierce through!" he said with his usual grin despite the armor on the Galatine also beginning to distort.

Sakido couldn't help but blink in surprise at this, as she was once again reminded about how different things were now. Looking towards Shun and Umi, she was even more surprised to see that despite the situation, both of them also had reassuring smiles on their faces. "That's right… This isn't Hell's Army. I don't need to only rely on myself anymore, and more importantly… I'm not alone anymore…" she thought, a small smile appearing on her muzzle as for the briefest moment, the realization made her feel happier than she had ever felt in years. However, reality quickly came back to her, before her features became determined. Reaffirming her grip on the spear, as well as grasping the broad sword Max had given her, she focused as much of her magic into them, causing them to spark and flash as lightning danced around them. Using her wings to push herself forward, she plunged the spear deeper into the emblem, causing the Unwritten to screech in pain as it tried harder to impale them with its legs, but her teammates held fast, not budging an inch.

"That's right…" Sakido thought with a gentle smile as she continued to push forward. "Everything is different now. How things were back then mean nothing now. My old life…is gone now. It disappeared the moment I died, and became something new when I was reborn. This is my life now, and even if I still have to fight, I'm…not alone. I have true comrades now, and more importantly, I have…friends…" she thought, and despite herself, a small tear managed to escape her eyes, before she raised the broad sword. "Do us all a favor, and DIE!" she shouted, before she rammed the sword into the emblem, right next to where the spear was still embedded. The force of both weapons, amplified by the lightning pierced through the emblem, burying deeply into the Unwritten and disrupting its source of power. The Unwritten screeched in pain once more, before in frantically tried to break through the three Rebirths that had been blocking it. However, it was all for naught, as the Unwritten gave off one last defiant screech, before its body faded away.

-break-

"…guess that's as far as the Shadow Spinner goes," Maria mused, having sensed the Unwritten's demise.

"Such a shame too. As it is now, we're short enough on high level Unwritten, let alone originals like that one. Doesn't help either that our current abilities can only produce C Class Unwritten at most," Sephora nodded.

"No matter. It did what it was meant to do, and bought us the time we needed," Maleficent stated nonchalantly, as the energy surrounding the Hollow Drive dissipated, and the Hollow Drive itself seemed to dull.

"[Excellent. Now then, prepare to abandon this world! Once the Hollow Drive is removed, this world will quickly begin to fall apart, and therefore it has served its purpose!]" The cloaked figure ordered.

"Actually, I have a better idea…" Maleficent smirked, before a blast of magic sent both Sephora and Maria flying away, landing near the cloaked figure.

"[Oh? What pray tell is this, Maleficent?]" he asked, though from the tone of his voice, it was clear that he wasn't surprised in the slightest.

"Simple really. For all your talk about 'slaying a God', all I really cared about was the promise of power, and what power this is. The power to rewrite reality at the palm of my hands…why with this I could easily rule over all worlds!" she laughed, before giving the three of them a cruel smirk. "It's a shame, since all this couldn't have been possible without you, but I have no use for you three anymore."

"[Is that so?]" the cloaked figure asked, amusement evident in his tone. "[Funny. That's exactly what I was about to say to you]"

(A/N: Warning: The following scenes after this are going to be rather violent. Therefore, should you feel uncomfortable, please skip ahead to the next Author's Note)

Just as he said that, Maleficent felt a sudden shift, before pain erupted through her gut. Gasping, she looked down and saw a knife lodged in her gut. A knife that hadn't been there a second ago. Turning back towards the cloaked figure, her eyes widened when she saw that there were two more people with them. Both of them looked like young men. The first looked to be in his early twenties, with short silvery blond hair that was well kept. He was well dressed in a brown Victorian style suit (vest, shirt, long pants, gloves, and elegant shoes) that gave him the appearance of a noble out of the Victorian Age. On his face was a monocle that concealed his left eye, though his right eye was perfectly visible, revealing a purple eye, and in his hand was a silver pocket watch. The second person looked very different from the first, as while the first looked like the epitome of refinement, the other was a man clad in a dirty brown cloak with an old and worn black bodysuit underneath. The lower half of his face was concealed by a portion of his cloak, though the rest of his head could be seen, revealing dark tanned skin, red eyes, and wild black hair which gave him to looks of some kind of traveler.

"Right on time," the noble mused, while fiddling with his pocket watch.

"The target is in position. Shall we proceed?" the traveler coldly asked.

Chuckling slightly, the cloaked figure stepped forward. "[Ah yes. Chrono. Stigma. Excellent timing]" he chuckled, addressing the noble and the traveler respectively before turning to Maleficent. "[Truly, of all the people I have met, you are the greatest fool of them all, Maleficent]" he mocked. "[All the time when you thought you were using us, it never once occurred to you that it was actually the other way around, but I digress. After all, I shouldn't expect any better from a crusty old relic like you! You, who has tried and failed to conquer the worlds for decades, yet never once have you really learned, or bothered to try learning from your mistakes. In the end, you are nothing more than an old relic, an obsolete witch who just doesn't accept that her era has ended]"

"You…" Maleficent seethed, before she swung her staff, ignoring the pain in her gut. "Insolent whelp!" she roared, intending to roast them alive. However, she never got the chance. The moment she moved, Sephora's hand moved in a blur, before she felt something pierce her near the neck, causing her to suddenly feel numb, followed by another blur of movement before she completely lost the feel of her right arm.

"I'm worthless, eh? We'll see about that once I'm through with you," Maria chuckled as she suddenly stood behind her, a wicked looking scythe that was taller than she was held in her hands. As she spoke, the serene smile on her face had morphed into a slasher smile so wide and sadistic that it looked like something out of a Demon's nightmares.

As her staff clanged uselessly on the ground, Maleficent saw, much to her horror, that her hand was still clutching it, to which her fear was confirmed when she saw the bloody stump that used to be her lower right arm. She wanted to scream, but from the numbness her body was feeling thanks to the poisons coating the needle Sephora had thrown, she couldn't even utter a gasp.

"Leader," Maria started, looking towards the mysterious cloaked figure. "May I?"

"[Yes you may. We have no further use for her, so you may do as you please]" he said, and at that moment, if one looked closely, one would see the glowing red eyes that shone from underneath the hood.

"Excellent," Maria giggled with glee, before she kicked Maleficent in the back, knocking her over. As the girl loomed over Maleficent, the poisons that numbed her throat finally wore off, but by that time it was too late for Maleficent, and for the first time since she could remember, Maleficent knew utter terror.

-break-

The four Rebirths stood before the door leading to the chamber Maleficent was in. However, just before they could try to open the door, a bloodcurdling scream that seemed to carry unimaginable pain and torment was heard from within the chamber…and a few more followed…

"…we still have to go in there, don't we?" Max deadpanned as they looked at each other.

"Eeyup," Shun said as he nodded almost dumbly.

"You sure? Cause I don't like the sound of that scream…" Umi shivered. While never let it be said that Umi, or Max, or any of the Rebirths for that matter, were cowards, but after what they had just heard, their common sense was telling them to just walk away. Too bad their duties dictate that they ignore said common sense.

"Yes, we have to. So we'd better just get this over with," he deadpanned.

Sakido on the other hand, was both confused and a little apprehensive. Confused since due to her more sensitive ears, she was able to recognize the voice despite the high pitch, therefore her ears were telling her that it was Maleficent, and while the sound of that bitch screaming bloody murder was practically music to her ears, she was apprehensive due to the fact that she had only ever heard that kind of screaming in Hell…from those who had been deemed deserving of the absolute worst torments…

Steeling themselves, they bravely pushed open the door, prepared for whatever horror awaited them on the other side. The four of them stepped through…and the sight that greeted them soon caused Umi and Max to run to their own separate corners as they emptied out their stomachs. Even Shun, despite the many things he had seen, couldn't help but bring his hand to his mouth in a silent gasp at the grizzly scene. Only Sakido was relatively unaffected, but only because she had seen things like this often enough in Hell.

Laying on the floor, was Maleficent, or rather…what was left of her. She looked like she had gotten into a fight and lost against a meat grinder, lawn mower, paper shredder, a chainsaw, and a taffy puller all rolled into one considering how her clearly lifeless body was covered in cuts, was missing several limbs, with said limbs looking like someone had decided that just chopping them off wasn't enough and had decided to continue beating and cutting them after they had been chopped off (or the more disturbing thought: someone had decided to beat and cut them apart first, THEN chop off her limbs), and the fact that some part of her remains looked like someone had grabbed hold and pulled…

"…I'm confused. Should I be offering her condolence despite everything seeing as 'painful end' is an extreme understatement here, or should I be dancing on her remains for all the crap she's done?" Shun deadpanned, honestly conflicted. On one hand, as much as he hated Maleficent, he never wished THIS on her. On the other hand, considering what she's done over the years, this might have been her long overdue karmic retribution.

"I've got a better idea! You should join her!" came a creepily cheery voice. Looking up, they barely managed to dodge as a woman dressed like a scientist with a wicked looking scythe carved into the spot they had occupied a few seconds ago.

(Insert ? ? ? intro theme: Boss Intro from Megaman 8)

"Who are you?!" Shun demanded, pointing his guns at her. She just chuckled in response, before grabbing her lab coat and pulling it off. Once it was free from her body, her clothes changed into something completely different. She was now dressed in a blue long dress, white stockings, and high heeled shoes. On her head was a white headband that had a white ruffled style that kept her long blonde hair in check, giving her the appearance that somewhat resembled a gothic Lolita.

"Me? I told Maleficent that my 'name' was Maria Night. However, since that hag is out of the picture, I suppose I could give you my real name…" she chuckled as she hefted her scythe. "You may call me… Nightmare," she chuckled, before saying, "You don't need to introduce yourselves. After all, really soon you're going to end up like…her," she said, before pulling out something from behind her, and what it was made them recoil (scream in horror in Umi's case). It was Maleficent's severed head, her face contorted in pain, and her mouth hanging open in a silent scream, a testament of her horrifying end. So gruesome was the sight that even Shun couldn't help but pity the witch.

(A/N: Gruesome descriptions end here. The story will go back to its T-rating after this point)

"Why…?" Umi chocked out.

"Hm? Did you say something?" Nightmare asked nonchalantly, before tossing Maleficent's head aside.

"Why did you do that?!" she demanded, the horror in her eyes now replaced with a look of anger and disgust. "Maleficent was a horrible person, but even then…even she didn't deserve what you did to her! She may have deserved to die after everything she did, but not like this!"

"Why? I'll tell you why! Because I could and I wanted to!" Nightmare shot back, the look on her face beyond psychotic. "She pissed me off, and I simply showed her what I do to people who piss me off! As to why I killed her like this? Cause I enjoyed it!" she laughed, before her expression turned blissful. "Oh, you should have seen it! The terror in her eyes, her screams, her pain and anguish, they were THE BEST I've heard in a while!" she said in a disturbingly dreamy tone, before laughing her head off again. At this point, all of them, even Sakido glared at this…monster before them. Heck, she was even starting to wonder if this woman was really one of the Demons of Hell (particularly the more psychotic ones like that fire Demon Iratu often hung out with), that had escaped, cause her behavior would have made her right at home amongst the Demons in Hell.

"You're sick!" Max spat in disgust.

"Agreed. I don't care who you think you are, but as far as I can see, you're nothing but a rabid dog! And rabid dogs need to be put down!" Shun agreed, feeling nothing but disgust for this…THING before them.

"Is that so? Oh well, that's fine. I WAS going to kill you anyway," she chuckled.

(Change music to "Boss Battle Theme" from Megaman X5)

"Die!" Nightmare shouted as she lunged at them and swung her scythe in a wide arc. However, instead of just a slash, a dark colored shockwave flew through the air.

"I don't think so!" Umi shouted, before throwing an ofuda. However, the ofuda burned to ashes the moment it touched the shockwave, forcing them to dodge.

"Holy power? Did you really think that would have worked?!" Nightmare shouted, before lunging at her, intending to take her head. However, before she could get the chance, Max had already summoned his Galatine, and promptly rammed into Nightmare, sending her flying away.

"You are seriously pissing me off!" she growled, just as Max was about to ram into her again. Seeing this, she smirked, before her eyes glowed and a dark aura appeared.

Suddenly, before Max's eyes, the view changed and in Nightmare's place was a middle aged man with short black hair, wearing a familiar outfit. "Dad?" he gasped at the image of his adoptive father, before he realized what he was about to do. "No!" he shouted before turning the steering, narrowly avoiding him, but at the cost of ramming into a pillar, throwing him off his bike. Groaning slightly, he tried to get up, only for something so suddenly stab him in the back.

"Aww, isn't that sweet. The big bad biker still loves his papa," Nightmare taunted, before pulling her Scythe back, ready to cut his head off. The idea was cut short when she was shot in the chest by a bullet.

"You forgot about us. So, what cheap shot did you use on Max? Let me guess, the old turn into someone important to him? If yes, then that's just low," Shun deadpanned, his gun still smoking.

"That and more," Nightmare chuckled, before writing the word 'heal' on her chest, healing the wound instantly, much to their surprise. Getting back on her feet, she lunged again with a wide swing of her scythe, forcing the Rebirths to scatter, before setting her sights on the airborne Sakido and tracing the words: 'gravity' and 'null'. Jumping towards the walls, she promptly started running up them and on the ceiling as she homed in on her target.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakido growled, as she spread her arms, before bringing them forward and blasting Nightmare with a Hurricane Gust.

"You…" she growled in annoyance, right before Max rammed into her again, followed by a high pressured blast of water from Umi. "You people…are REALLY PISSING ME OFF!"

"Tell that to someone who cares," Shun snorted, pulling out his Luminous Shooter and aiming.

Nightmare saw this and grinned, before the dark aura from earlier appeared again. This time, the view before Shun shifted, and before he realized it, he was no longer in Radiant Garden, but rather in a town in the middle of a desert and before him was an all too familiar boy, his eyes burning with tears while they looked at him with intense hate while he pointed the gun in his hands at Shun. "This is…" he gasped, recognizing the scene. This was the moment he first became a Rebirth. The moment of his initial death. The look of the child's eyes so full of hate and the memories they brought back were enough to make him tremble, but the logical side of his mind quickly returned and urged him to shoot, reminding him that something similar had happened to Max. The result was a hasty pulling of the trigger, yet it was done while his aim was off.

Nightmare grinned insanely as she tried (again) to chop off her target's head. However, at that moment Shun fired, and while the shot missed, the fact that it grazed Nightmare's side was enough to send her spiraling off course. "This. Is. Annoying!" she grumbled from her position.

"I agree! I say we end this now!" Sakido growled. "Let's finish her!"

"Right!" came the replies from Max, Umi, and Shun, before the four of them charged up their attacks (Umi summoned her Keyblade and pooled as much spiritual power as she could into it, Max revved up his Galatine whilst initiating the blasters built into it, Shun loaded a Hyper Bullet into his Thompson, and Sakido charged up another Lightning spell).

"Sacred Saber!" Umi declared, swinging her Keyblade.

"Heat Shot!" Max declared, triggering the firing mechanism.

"Hyper Burst!" Shun declared, pulling the trigger, while Sakido wordlessly launched her spell.

Seeing the four oncoming attack, Nightmare only grinned. "Is that all? Try this!" she said, before he scythe morphed. Before it looked like a wicked scythe made out of metal, but once the words left her mouth, the scythe turned pitch black, before several eyes and mouths opened all over the scythe's form. Opening wide, the mouths began to scream, before the scythe's blade folded backward, turning the scythe into a sort of spear or glaive. "Deal with this! Midnight Screech!" Nightmare cackled, before throwing her weapon. It flew through the air, before a writhing mass of tentacles covered in the same eyes and mouths burst forth (screaming all the way), forming a massive lance/spear, which impacted the combined attacks. The two forces clashed for a moment, before the unthinkable happened. Little by little, Nightmare's attack began eating away at the combined attack and slowly gained ground.

"B-Bakana…" Umi gasped at the sight.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Max said incredulously.

"That's impossible!" Sakido agreed.

"Don't let up! If we add more power to our attacks, we should be able to push back!" Shun quickly ordered, earning nods in response as the four of them did just that. Pooling more power into their attacks, the clash quickly became a see-saw battle that raged on for a few more minutes, before the energy build up became too much, resulting in a massive explosion.

"Now!" Sakido thought, as the moment the explosion happened, she charged up and fired another Lightning spell that went through the explosion, straight for its target.

"Oh dear…" Nightmare managed to blink, before the attack hit her, and added with the force from the explosion, she was sent flying across the room before colliding painfully with a pillar. "I'll get her for this!" she mentally swore as she waited for the pretty birdies to stop flying around her head.

(Battle theme end)

While the explosion happened, nobody noticed the Mysterious Cloaked Figure standing in the shadows, the Hollow Drive floating nearby. "[This game has gone on long enough. Radiant Garden has served its purpose, and now the rest of the Hollow Drives await]" he said, before grabbing the Hollow Drive and encasing it in a swirling globe of black and white energy.

-break-

Outside the castle, in the nearby canyon, the battle between the Rebirths and Keyblade wielders against the Heartless raged on. From the very beginning it was little challenge, as the Rebirths and Keybladers cut down Heartless by the thousands. However, what they didn't expect was that every now and then, for every Heartless cut down, 5 more appeared. Fortunately, they were destroying more Heartless than there were Heartless being replaced, and as a result, they were slowly but surely defeating the army. However, in the middle of the fight, everyone's attention was drawn to a light that had suddenly shone from one of the towers in the castle, and right after that, the ground began to shake as cracks began to appear everywhere. At that moment, the Rebirth marks on every Rebirth present began to glow as the horrible truth was revealed to them. "Everyone, Radiant Garden is beginning to fall apart! Evacuate the people in the town now! I'll deal with the remaining Heartless!" Neo ordered, his voice amplified using magic, allowing him to be heard throughout the battlefield.

Not willing to argue, all the combatants on the field immediately broke off from their battles and made way for the town to carry out his orders. Meanwhile, Neo who was now alone against a couple of thousand Heartless simply smirked, as now that he was alone, he had no fear of friendly fire. Crossing his arms over his chest, he then spread them out, and a pair of wings suddenly grew from his back, with the left wing being black and the right wing being white. Taking to the skies, his wings began to glow with power, before he opened both his hands, light energy began to gather in his right hand, while dark energy began to gather in his left hand. "Light and Darkness are simply two sides of the same coin! Gaze upon the power of this truth!" he declared, before merging the two energies together and forming it into a grey sphere of energy roughly the size of a basketball. "Chaos Liberation!" he called out, before thrusting his hands forward, firing an intense beam of energy that enveloped the entire army of Heartless, destroying each and every one of them instantly. With that done, he quickly set his sights on the castle, which was also beginning to crumble as the world shook, breaking apart from the loss of that which kept its existence stable.

-break-

The explosion had thrown everyone off their feet, while the smoke obscured the room. "Is everyone alright?" Shun coughed as he shakily got back on his feet.

"We're okay," Max said as he picked up his Galatine which was damaged in the fight and sending it back to its subspace pocket, while Umi was using him to help her stand up, having used up a lot of her power in that last attack.

"I'll live," Sakido muttered dryly as she placed a hand over her left wing, having injured it when the force of the explosion knocked her back, causing her to land on her left wing.

"Did we get her?" Umi asked hopefully.

"Let's not get our hopes up just yet," Shun said with a frown as he readied his guns again. The next few seconds were tense as they watched the smoke dissipate slowly, while the room continued to shake and crumble.

"That's quite enough," came Neo's voice as he flew into the room, his wings vanishing the moment he landed.

"Hey Neo, what's going on here? I mean, sure we probably did quite a bit of damage, but why is everything shaking like the worlds falling apart?" Max asked, as they had all noticed how badly the tremors were.

"That's because Radiant Garden really IS falling apart. I don't know what happened, but something is causing this world to break apart. The others are already helping the people evacuate, and I'm here to do the same to you four, so come on!" he said, before opening a large portal. "While Umi dispelled the barrier, I must warn you that the leftover effects will make going through the portal a little harder than normal."

They were about to step through, when a roar caught their attention. Turning to the source, they saw several large fists breaking through the floor as a pair of Solid Devils climbed into the room.

"You go ahead first! I'll hold them off!" Shun ordered, knowing Neo would not be able to help as he had to keep the portal open.

"But Shun-!" Max tried to protest, but Shun cut him off.

"Just go!" Shun shouted.

"Max, hurry! Sempai's buying us time!" Umi urged, and despite not liking that they were practically abandoning him, she had faith in Shun's skill. As such, she quickly stepped through, wincing as the portal tried to resist her before she ultimately managed to get through.

Next, Max began to step through. However, while he was midway through, he noticed one of the Solid Devils about to strike Shun from behind while he was preoccupied with another Solid Devil. "Shun! Look out!" he shouted, unable to help as he was too far in the portal to easily get out.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakido growled, as she blocked the attack with her makeshift spear. The force behind the blow was so strong, that while Sakido managed to hold her ground, the spear snapped in half. Taking advantage of the opening, Sakido charged her claws with electricity and plunged them into the Solid Devil's emblem before ripping it apart, causing the Solid Devil to roar in pain as it faded away.

"Thanks for the assist, Sakido!" Shun said as he blew a hole through the emblem of the Solid Devil he was fighting, destroying it. "Now go on ahead, I'll be right behind you."

"Alright," Sakido nodded as the two of them headed for the portal, just as Neo stepped through, now supporting the portal from the inside as it had been becoming unstable.

"Hurry up you two! I don't know how long this portal or this world will last!" he warned. However, just before the two of them got to the portal, a certain voice cut in.

"Hold it right there! We've got some unfinished business to attend to!" Nightmare shouted as she picked herself out of the rubble, her scythe already ready as she set her sights on Sakido. "Payback time! Midnight Screech!" she called out, hurling the scythe.

Sakido stood there, frozen in shock as for the second time, her life flashed before her eyes at the sight of the weapon hurling towards her, too fast to dodge. "No…it can't end now! Not like this…" she thought desperately, her mind going several miles per second. However, her thoughts were cut short when she heard Shun yell "Watch out!" before he pushed her out of the way. What happened next felt like it happened in slow motion. Shun had pushed her out of harm's way…only to put himself in its way. As she tumbled into the portal, she saw the attack meant for her hit Shun in the chest, easily piercing through in a shower of blood as Shun was dragged along by the momentum. However, as Shun was sent flying, he pulled out another Hyper Bullet from his cloak and loaded it, aimed, then fired, all in the span of a second. Nightmare didn't even get the chance to speak as she was hit by the attack which completely obliterated her body. At the same time, Shun hit the ground, the momentum having worn off, only to bounce and roll right out of the hole in the wall and down to the unforgiving stone bellow.

The feeling of her body being pulled through the portal no longer registered to Sakido, as the image of Shun's death was burned into her mind. Her body felt numb, before she started to tremble, the image of Shun being impaled by the scythe that had been meant for her suddenly mixing with her memories of the last time she saw her father, followed by the rush of the memories she had of the last week since Shun had taken her under his wing, and despite herself, she felt tears run down her cheeks. "Shuuunn!" she screamed in anguish as she was pulled through the portal, the realization that the person who had treated her so kindly and without her realizing it, had become her friend, was gone…

-break-

(Ending theme 1, "Itsumo" OST Transformers: Galaxy Force)

*music*

As the music starts, we see a shot of the sky, as snow falls down to the ground

Kimi no kokoro ni aru shinjitsu… Kimi no egao de yume wa kagayaku…

The scene changes to show a shot of Sakido from behind, as she is standing inside a cave as she watches the heavy rain outside.

Kimi no karada ni nemuru yuuki… Me no mae no kabe mo nante koto nai

The scene changes again to show Sakido walking through a barren wasteland as a strong wind and heavy rain pelt against her, while she walks against it, holding her side as though injured…

Bokura deatta imi mo wakaru yo. Sukoshi mimi o sumaseba…

Sakido begins to sway slightly, before the scene then shows a close up of her, as something starts glowing from within her gown and on her wrists, revealing them to be her Sun Pendant and Darius' feathers respectively, before the glow envelops the screen.

Ashita ga yondeiru Ima sugu iku yo. Ryoute o tsubasa ni kaete…

The scene changes to show Sakido's shocked expression, as she has suddenly been turned back into her childhood self, before she sees visions of her family, starting with baby Buwaro, who smiles at her while holding up his little paws, followed by an image of young Iratu who is grinning playfully at her, before finally Darius appears, whilst holding out his hand towards her with a gentle smile on his face

Dare ni mo makenai sa ikinuku koto ga

Young Sakido's face blooms with joy as she runs towards them, but just as she is about to reach them, the screen is enveloped in a bright light

Bokura o kaeteiku

The scene changes to show Sakido lying on the ground on a field of grass as her eyes open, before she looks towards the image of Darius which fades away, revealing Shun who is kneeling next to her, holding his hand out to her while he smiles gently

Koete tsuyoku nareru…

Sakido blinks in surprise, before her features soften considerably and a warm smile appears on her face as she takes Shun's hand and slowly stands up

*music*

Once Sakido is back on her feet, Shun walks towards the screen, beckoning her to follow. Sakido smiles gently, before she follows him. The scene then shifts to show Sakido from behind, walking towards Shun, Umi, and Max who are standing alongside a shadowed figure, with the Trailblazer in the background.

(theme end)

-break-

Author's note: