As predicted, the entire encampment seemed to have disappeared, and already screams and gunshots echoed through the area, Demyx would have to work quickly. He took stock of the area- most of the cabins he'd seen earlier were in truth only half-finished, it seemed the majority of the populace still lived in tents. Well, that could make things easier to get in and out of quickly.

The man he was after... some guy named Radcliffe, was supposed to be the governor of the area. With that in mind, Demyx strode to the most elegant looking tent, conveniently set right in the middle of the encampment. Without so much as a sound, he threw the flap open and peered inside. It didn't seem anyone was there, until he took stock of some poor, scrawny fellow cowering beneath a table.

Disappointed, the water elemental 'humph'ed, but the noise grabbed the man's attention and he screeched something awful.

"A SAVAGE! THERE'S A SAVAGE IN HERE!"

Demyx winced, shutting one eye against the noise. The man continued to scream, but just as the Nobody was about to go in the tent and do something, the heavy sound of boots slapping through mud sounded.

"Get away from my things, you monster!" a voice bellowed. The Nocturne barely had time to turn around and take stock of what was barreling at him when something impacted with the left side of his chest, knocking him backwards a step. If he'd had a heart, Demyx would be dead. As it was, he just started laughing, taking the large man by surprise.

"Monster? You don't know anything about monsters," he stated, righting himself and dusting his coat off. The grin was gone from his lips, but the empty hollowness of his eyes remained.

"What- what kind of trickery is this savage? And how do you speak English?" the man demanded, sputtering.

"I don't even know what a savage is, or how you're referring to them," Demyx answered, stepping towards the man. The large man dropped the gun and gave ground.

"Your hair! Looks just like theirs!" the accusation was shaky.

The Nobody's eyes rolled up, an attempt to look at the stray strands of hair that usually brushed his forehead. He reached up and grabbed one, tugging at it lightly. It was then everything fell into place: a couple of the barely clothed men with spears that had ambushed him earlier had parts of their hair shaved just short enough to stick up, as well. They must have been the 'savages'.

Demyx looked back at his attacker and grinned, deeply unsettling the man. "So it does."

"Then..." Radcliffe gasped. "You must be here to... to eat my heart like those little black creatures!"

Another laugh from the Nocturne, and he shrugged. "Well, not like the Heartless- I don't actually eat hearts. You see, Mr. Governor, I'm a Nobody."

"Well you must certainly be as I've never seen or heard of you before," Radcliffe replied, snorting indignantly. His wits and pride were starting to return.

"You don't understand, Mr. Governor," Demyx began, again walking towards his quarry. Radcliffe gave ground, but this time shouts were sounding from on the hill. Someone had noticed what was happening in the camp. "Nobodies don't eat hearts. The little black Heartless creatures don't really either. They steal them from you, using the darkness in your heart to spawn more of them." Radcliffe hit a tent and stumbled, falling quite embarrassingly on his rear. "Nobodies are different. We're the bodies and minds left over when the heart leaves. Do you understand yet? That's why hitting me in the chest didn't kill me. I don't have a heart to pierce. You, however, do. And since you have one to pierce..." a snap of his fingers, and several Heartless appeared around Demyx. "You also have one to steal. Come join us, Mr. Governor." The grin reappeared as he stared down his nose at the completely terrified man, cold, sea-green eyes flashing with something that could only be called wicked. "It's ever so much fun. Without a heart and without emotions you can't feel guilty if you make someone have... an accident."

The Heartless descended upon Radcliffe in an angry black swarm. The smile still playing across his face, Demyx called his Dancers back and set them to work against the small crowd of men that had come back to the camp. More gunshots and screams sounded, this time much closer, and the water elementalist smirked, rolling his head back a little bit to let himself enjoy the macabre symphony sounding all around him.

A sharp pain at his ankle grabbed Demyx's attention, and he looked down to see a tiny dog, its mouth firmly wrapped around his appendage. He frowned and kicked his foot, trying to shoo it. It snarled and held on. Finally, he reached down and plucked the silly creature from his leg, bringing it up to face level and looking blankly at it. The dog whined, then growled, snapping at his face. The Nocturne summoned as much anger from the swirling dark depths as he could, twisting it onto his face through his preferred grin. The look seemed to work, the dog going instantly rigid, eyes rolling up into its head.

Demyx tossed the nuisance away accordingly, before returning to watch his intended victim.

Radcliffe's heart was barely able to shine through a writhing, bulging black mass that seemed to have attached to it. It seethed, twitching and making strange noises. This was going to be a relatively powerful heartless, a good thing meaning his Nobody would also be powerful. Speaking of Nobody... Demyx looked down to watch the human body lying on the ground beneath him twist and bend, sculpting itself into its final form. Hair became spiked, skin turned the usual shade of grayish white the lesser Nobodies usually exhibited. A pity his heart was strong enough to let him keep a human form. This all amused Demyx, the process of turning into the Heartless/Nobody combination was always so grotesque and very amusing.

When it was finally all over, two strange creatures emerged. The Nobody was tall, a good foot more so than the man it had once been, but proportioned near the same. A large, round chest that narrowed down into a tiny pair of legs. The arms were bulky and long, fingertips caressing the ground with every twitching motion it made. There were other peculiarities. The waist of the creature was incredibly thin, looking much like only a few layers of flesh wrapped around the spine. The man's once long black hair was now more of an incredibly spiky mane- though the ridiculous pink bows Radcliffe once wore still remained. It has no facial features whatsoever, with an oblong, egg-shaped head. The symbol of the Nobodies adorned both its shoulders.

The Heartless was similar in shape, though it was bent over so it had to walk on all fours. It was also black in color, lacking the symbol of the Heartless anywhere on it due to its being pure bred, and part of the mane had twisted back from its head to form a pair of sinister, curved horns. The tips of the horns glowed red and were burning.

"Aww..." Demyx sighed. "A fire element. Why can they never be water?" He opened a portal behind himself and motioned for the Nobody to follow- the Heartless turned and bounded off towards the fighting to harvest some more hearts, and he let it go. His orders were to take the Nobody, not the Heartless. The Nobody fluttered ahead of Demyx and into the portal in the strange way the lesser Nobodies had of flying- the strange undulating motion they used as though they were swimming through the air. A moment later, all that was left in the camp was one very frightened, very confused personal attendant.

-

The portal led to just outside Xemnas' 'office' as it were. It was more like a room he usually sat in and plotted with Saix and occasionally the others of the original six members. It was also the room they went when missions were complete.

Demyx knocked on the door, he'd learned that lesson a while ago. A moment of silence passed before the Superior's voice sounded calmly, informing him he could come in. Without a word, the water elemental stepped into the room, the Nobody tailing at his heels.

"That was certainly quick," Xemnas said, looking from Demyx to the lesser Nobody looming behind him.

"A blunder which worked in my favor," the Nocturne replied simply. The Superior met his eyes, but only for a scant second before the orange orbs slid fluidly away- as though the eye contact itself was accidental. Demyx smirked. People only usually did that when they were afraid.

"Well, then let's have that Nobody... and you may take the rest of the day off," Xemnas stated, watching the creature behind the water elemental with more interest.

Demyx bowed slightly before turning and leaving through a portal, showing up soon after near the doors to their various rooms. It was then his vision swam and he stumbled into the wall, the impact jarring the left side of him and causing him to bite his lip against the pain.

A voice materialized through the ringing in his ears, though at first he couldn't tell what it was saying. Eyes slowly opened, and he caught a glimpse of an indistinguishable blob of green and red before his mind cleared somewhat and his eyes focused on the quite distinct face of Axel.

"Dem! Hey!" the words now made sense. "You alright? Anyone left in there?" Axel waved his hand in front of Demyx's face, and the water elemental slapped it out of the way angrily.

"I'm fine..." he grunted, trying to regain his posture.

"... so you collapse into walls all the time? Am I imagining it, or is there a gaping wound over your heart void?" Axel replied leaning down to get a better look. Demyx tried to back up, but his mind was still foggy, reactions still slowed. Before he knew it, Axel's hand was on the zipper to his coat.

"W-wait! Don't!" the water elemental pleaded, closing his eyes against the constriction in his chest. He tried to pry Axel's hand off, but his own hands were shaking and weak.

"Don't what? I just want to see how bad this looks and if you should get some help for it," the redhead replied, knocking Demyx's hand away and opening the front of the coat.

Not many things surprised Axel, he could think of four, maybe five instances where he'd been truly surprised. What he saw now counted as one of those times.

"Dear... Christ... alright, who convinced you it would be a good idea to go body surfing in a lot full of broken glass?" he asked, crossing his arms and trying to look completely serious and not let his jaw fall open.

"That's not what it is and you know it," Demyx hissed in response, leaning more heavily against the wall.

"What I really want to know..." Axel began as he pulled the coat open far enough to survey the entirety of what he had recently dubbed 'the battlefield'. "Is why you let her do all of this."

"She likes it and I have the pain tolerance of a cow?" the water elemental offered.

"Oh really?" the redhead challenged, jabbing his finger into the flesh just above the bullet hole. Demyx yelled and his knees went weak as the burning pain shot through his whole body.

"I hate you..." was the Nocturne's growled response through labored breathing after the pain had subsided. Axel smirked; his point had been proven.

"I see someone already has a claim over your heart when you get it back," the taller man teased, jerking his head at the very obvious 'XII' shaped scar scrawled across the upper left side of Demyx's chest. The bullet hole had managed to wedge itself between the 'X' and the first 'I'. "That scar's not going to go away."

"I know! That's why it's there," Demyx shot back, shoving himself off the wall and slowly making his way towards his room.

"Someone gets cranky when they're injured and tired..." Axel teased again. "And now you get to be lonely as your mistress is out being Heartless Population Control again."

"You really are a snarky bastard, you know that?"

"And you're a pompous asshole."

"At least I'm getting laid," the Nocturne replied, but found his legs giving out again as another wave of pain surged through him, though rather than hitting the ground, Axel caught him.

"Alright, you win this one," the redhead laughed, pulling Demyx's arm around his shoulders and helping him walk. "Jeez you're heavy..."

"I'm not heavy, you're just a twig," Demyx said with a similar laugh.

"Well excuse me for not having a swimmer's build like some people."

"You could if you actually... you know... swam."

"No way. Aquaphobia, my friend. Couldn't convince me to go within ten feet of water deeper than my knees."

Demyx laughed again, he'd gone back to how he usually was much to Axel's relief. "Well then, I'm gonna have to drag you to Atlantica sometime. Since phobias sort of require a heart to generate the fear that makes it so hard to do something."

"You do that, and I'll reopen that bullet wound," Axel threatened as they stepped into Demyx's room, and traveled about halfway to the bed before Axel ducked under Demyx's arm and backed up. "Well, this is where the Help Express lets off. If you can't make it to your own bed, you're a hopeless case. If this hole in your back is any indication, the bullet's gone all the way through. You should be fine."

"Since when are you the doctor, Axel?" Demyx asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Since Zexion ate it against Sora's friend," Axel sighed, turning for the door. He seemed to droop. "If you need anything... get it yourself. I need to go check on Roxas."

"There's something bothering you?"

"Nothing much. Roxas has been... uneasy lately since news of us meeting his... yeah. I think... nevermind," the Flurry said, waving his hand in the air and leaving before Demyx could ask what it was.

Demyx sighed and trudged to his bed, tossing his coat to the side before collapsing on the covers. Axel was right; he was tired, injured, and cranky, and wouldn't his luck have it that absolutely no position was very comfortable to fall asleep in. This would be a long night.

-

Why did she always get sent to where it was raining?

Once again, Larxene found herself in some random world that was dumping rain on everyone and everything, and no one was around. Well, no one except the Heartless, but even they were smart enough to have sought shelter by now. Her hair had lost its shape and instead was plastered to her skull and dripping down her neck and shoulders. She'd put her hood up after the fight was over- a Heartless had knocked it off- but her hair was still soaking and uncomfortable.

She had to wonder for a moment as to just why there was no one here- the place was like a tourist trap set inside a tourist trap. She'd seen these strange shops here, too, the exact same franchise and everything every damn block. Not to mention every building here was somehow tied into a hotel.

The rain stopped, as though someone had simply willed it away, and Larxene pulled her hood down. Well, there was one thing she couldn't exactly complain about; the rain was at least warm. The problem was that it started and stopped raining for absolutely no reason and for no determined amount of time, and it didn't even need clouds in the sky to do it, either. This place must've been a nightmare for weathermen, even more so than The World That Never Was.

She took a sharp turn and walked down another avenue, and yes, there was another of those stupid franchise stores there, too. The ocean was this way, she could tell by the neat line of palm trees peeking appearing at the end of the street above a short building that formerly belonged to beach patrol.

No, this wasn't the way she probably should have gone. She wasn't looking for the beach, she was supposed to be looking for some little kid and offing as many Heartless as she could. And yes, she had made up the second part of the objective. This was going to be hopeless. This place was some sort of awful maze of a city, she wonder how it had ever become a tourist trap at all. You couldn't even find your way around to get anywhere.

She reached the end of the block, and a shadow jumped out at her, but before it could even form into any sort of Heartless, she had already punted it into the wall of the Beach Patrol building, and watched in satisfaction as it dissolved into darkness upon impact.

Of course, the ever-predictable weather decided now would be the perfect time to start dumping rain again, and within a few seconds, Larxene's hair was once more completely and utterly soaked. She grumbled and continued trekking towards the ocean, wondering why the hell weather hated her so much. Here she was, soaked by warm rain, standing in front of the ocean, on some half-destroyed, abandoned world.

Then something skittered in front of her. She looked to its retreating form, and found something akin to a blue dog. Her eyebrows furrowed, when something ran into her from behind, knocking her into the sand with a "Watch out old lady!"

Larxene felt her hackles rise, and she snarled something, about ready to chase down that stupid kid and her stupid dog, when she noticed the two of them were fleeing into the city, and some sort of strange alarm was going off.

Somehow, her sixth sense instructed her to look towards the ocean, and she did, only to find the ocean seemed to be draining. Of course, then she noticed the growing mass way out in the distance.

The rain stopped again, and Larxene groaned. The siren was a tsunami warning. The ocean wasn't draining, it was rising.

"I hate this place..."

-

A/N: I completed this chapter while chewing on the face of a rat. :watches people flee:

For those of you left over, that last part was really fun to write. I'm not going to make you guess, though you probably already have. Yes, Larxene is in Hawaii. If you've ever been to Honolulu, then you'd know what I said about those stupid ABC Stores and hotels is entirely true, as is the fact it randomly starts raining. I love Hawaii dearly, but jeez it's a weird place.

I think I kept Demyx in bastardy Nobody mode for too long talking with Axel... but I'm unrepentant.

Anyway, I told you I'd get it out soon! XD

And... like everyone guessed right for the guess thing, so :hands out cookies: I'll have to make it harder next time. xp

Keep reviewing my lovely people of loving... love.

By the way, the rat in my mouth is rubber.