I'm alive! And I brought cake. Okay, I'm sorry this chapter took so long for me to cough up. See, I got sick, real bad a few days ago, and I had to stop producton for a while, and then, while sick in bed, I got some new ideas, thus making this chapter slightly longer. But in advance, I apologize for any possible quality deterioration.

Another possible factor could be the other two fics I'm making. One's a crossover, the other's AU, and both are long and more 'serious' than this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rubik's cube. Obviously, Rubik owns it.

Rubik = Riku + b = ?

Xion Gives Advice (It Works)

After ten minutes of Repliku's incessant nagging and cleaning the kitchen up, Ventus, Xion and Roxas gathered into the living room to wait for the pizza. Repliku decided that, at the moment, he didn't want to be disturbed by any form of noise or faux ninjutsu, so at the soonest possible time, he snuck off to his room and proceeded to finish his sudoku puzzle book. The three didn't mind at all.

Seeing that Xion and Ventus wanted to pass the time in the strangest ways imaginable (quoting movies, in this case), he made a very good decision.

"Xion!" Ventus's voice thundered through the halls, causing the tremble of a vase nearby. "Where's my Keyblade armor?"

"What?" Xion yelled in response. Though it seemed to be unnecessary since they were in the same room, the yelling was an important part of what they were doing.

"Where, is, my, Keyblade, armor?" Ventus bellowed. Roxas held his laughter in. These two and their faces were cracking him up, but they were so focused in their task that he would feel terrible after doing it. Feel.

"I, uh, put it away!"

"Where?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"I need it!"

"Uh-uh! Don't you think about runnin' off doin' no derrin'-do! We've been planning th... thi...thi... Bwafhahaha!" Xion burst into uncontrollable laughter and rolled on the bed, overcome by the absurdity of what she and Ven were saying. That, and yelling was rather fun. "Ahahaha! Oh man, I can't do it anymore... Hoo..."

Ventus tried to slow down his own laughter. "Okay... no more... of that..."

Roxas watched the two try to settle down. "You guys sounded ridiculous."

"H-Hey!" Ventus weakly said, dazed by laughing. "That's what you'd sound like if you tried it!"

"Yeah, if I tried it. Anyway, is the pizza here yet? We've been waiting for two hours."

"Oh yeah, the pizza!" Ventus sprang up. "I was so wrapped up in our time-killer that I forgot about it!"

Xion breathed deeply, calming herself. "That's not the only thing you forgot."

"Yeah?" Ventus challenged.

"We still haven't found Ciel," Xion reminded them.

"I'm sure he's fine," Roxas said. "He knows where to find us."

At that moment, the doorbell's ding-dong resounded into the room that the trio were lounging in. "If that's Ciel, I'm giving Roxas ten munny," Xion casually commented.

"It can only be Ciel, so have your munny pouch ready," Roxas hopped over to the front door, which, due to the 'architecture' of the station, was on the ceiling. He pressed a switch to slide it open, revealing a humanoid Heartless with a physical resemblance to Sora.

"Hey, Ciel," Ventus greeted from the sofa. "Where have you been? It's been hours."

"I went to check on the pizza," Ciel answered. Roxas gestured for him to enter. The Heartless shrunk to Shadow size and scampered down the stairs and next to Xion, resting his head on her lap. The black-haired replica took it as a silent request to scratch his head, and she warmly obliged.

"Y'know, darkness is fluffy," she off-handedly stated.

Ignoring Xion's statement, Ventus crouched over to the Shadow to inquire futher. "So, I hear you checked on the pizza."

Ciel's answer was soft, but not too much so. "Yup."

"Do you know anything about the tomato sauce in the kitchen?"

Ciel's antenna twitched. "Tomato sauce?"

"Yeah," Ventus said. "We figured it would be about pizza in some way or another, since there's tomato sauce on pizza."

"Well, I didn't know – "

The ding-dong of the door bell cut Ciel's sentence, as well as Roxas's "I'll get it!"

"If it's not Ciel, I'm giving you twenty more munny!" Xion announced.

The young Nobody slid the door open, revealing a young man with a thick build, whose face was obscured by some kind of black helmet. He wore a black and red bodysuit with some kind of skirt-thing strapped over it. Roxas was slighty intimidated, and tensed preparing himself for a fight that may ensue.

"Nice to see you again, Ventus," he said. His voice was somewhat deep and sinister, as well as slightly familiar.

Roxas blinked in confusion, shortly forgetting his battle-readiness. "I'm not Ventus."

"You're not?" The masked boy chuckled. "So then who are you? You look too much like him to be somebody else."

"I'm a Nobody," Roxas said.

"Ventus's?" the boy guessed. "He can't have a Nobody."

"Sora's," Roxas answered back.

"Hey, Roxas!" Xion called, joining him at the door. "So who've we got – Whoa." She examined him. "Another dude in a man-skirt. Is it a fad now or what?"

The masked boy took cautious a step back, as if shocked by what he saw. "What? Two Venti?" He found it odd that one would sound like a girl.

"Venti?" Xion said. "What's a Venti?"

"The plural form of Ventus," the boy said. Roxas and Xion blinked, not quite grasping his point. He sighed. "You know, like octopus and octopi?" The duo's expression's remained clueless. "Come on. It's simple verbal communication. How could you not know this?" The duo were silent, and if he could read their minds, he would see a nauseatingly realistic picture of an unamused crab. "Never mind."

"If it's so simple, why don't we know about it?" Roxas asked.

The masked boy shook his head. "Drop the subject, man, just drop it."

"Actually, I understood what he said after the word plural," Xion said, "but I've wanted to look at someone that way for a long time. I take it you need to see Ven?" She pointed behind her with her thumb. "He's in there with the Shadow. Say, you look kinda familiar."

"Somebody called?" Ventus jumped into the crowd of three and spontaneously wrung his arms over the Roxas and Xion's necks. He took note of the boy at the door. "Oh, hey, Vanitas."

"Vanitas!" Xion suddenly said, snapping her fingers. "I remember now! It's a surprise seeing you around here! We're having pizza. Wanna join us?"

"You're offering a stranger pizza?" Roxas asked disbelievingly.

"I don't see why not."

"Three of them?" uttered the confused boy, mostly to himself. "How?"

"Oh, right, he's clueless." Xion extended her hand. "Name's Xion. With an X. Also known as 'No. i,' But i don't wanna use that name. Roxas, go introduce yourself."

"I'm Roxas," he said, "Sora's Nobody. Due to reasons extremely convoluted, I look like Ven. And Sora. It's complicated."

At that point, the second Ventus began to take another form to the boy – a girl with short black hair. That certainly made more sense than a Ventus with a girl's voice. Now, as to why he saw her like that, he had no idea.

"You know, you can take your mask off now," Ventus said. "We all know what you look like. except Roxas. He's new here."

"Why are you guys being so friendly to me?" Vanitas asked. "Didn't I try to kill you?"

"Just me," Ventus said. "And you failed. So I'm clearly the superior one. There's no reason for me to treat you badly. And besides, you can't use your Keyblade here."

"I put your friends in danger," Vanitas reminded him. "Still okay with me?"

"Hey, I can't do anything about that," Ventus reasoned. "So I thought we'd call it a truce for now."

Vanitas sighed. "Okay, then, a truce."

"Good. Now take the mask off. The air in here isn't toxic."

The rounded surface of Vanitas's helmet melted off, slowly giving hints of what his face looked like until it was clear to the three that his face and hair were just like Sora's, only the eyes were yellow instead of blue, and the golden brown was replaced with a nighttime black. As far as expressions went, Vanitas's were much darker and intimidating, which posed quite a distiction from Sora's bright ones.

Thesight was somehow innerving to Roxas, who inched back a bit. "Whoa, dude, that is creepy."

Vanitas was unamused. "The melting helmet or the face?"

"The face," Roxas answered. "I'm pretty sure faces like yours are supposed to be nice and happy, not evil and brooding."

"I could say the samething about you," Vanitas said. "I guess it won't be that hard telling you and Ventus apart."

"But I'm not evil!" Roxas retorted.

"You're still a lot less happy go lucky than Sora. Hardly any difference."

"Okay, that's abough out of you two." Xion said, waving a hand between their faces. "Back to the more important matter, do you have pizza, by any chance?"

"What?" Ventus suddenly yelled. "Why would Vanitas have – "

"Oh yeah," Vanitas muttered, cutting Ventus off. "I do, actually. Made 'em myself."

"How many?" Xion eagerly asked.

"I made three, but I could've made a fourth if Ciel hadn't spilled the sauce." Vanitas opened a dark corridor. "Meet me in the kitchen." He stepped in and closed it.

"To the kitchen!" Ventus ran back inside on his own.

Roxas stuck around, as well as Xion. He held his palm out. "So, where's the munny?"

"Here's the thirty I owe ya." Xion dumped a gold orb in Roxas's palm. "What are you gonna use it for?"

"...Oh."

Xion took a bow and walked away victoriously.

All of Roxas's suspicion of Vanitas seemed to just fly away someplace after he saw, smelled, and tasted the pizzas he made. The thickness of the cheese varied across the surface on just the right spots, where the pepperoni's spice would even the flavor. The tomato sauce, despite being mostly uderneath the rest of the ingredients, seemed to top off the perfect flavor. It didn't matter to him that they could've been poisoned.

And as a bonus, Ciel and Ventus even persuaded him to make a few more. And now they had the opportunity to watch how such a blessing came upon them.

Well, at the moment, it was just Roxas. Xion had to check something in her room, which, everyone knew, had evolved from a regular hotel suite to a bizarre, white laboratory. Repliku accompanied her out of worry for his rubik's cube, which he had left in her room for reasons unknown. Ciel accidentally used too much hot sauce on a slice he was eating, and ran away in a panic. Only Vanitas accompanied Roxas, so besides the eating noises, and the stirring sounds, it was pretty quiet.

It seemed Vanitas was making something, but it didn't seem like it was for the pizza. Roxas felt compelled to ask. "What are you making?"

"Spaghetti sauce," Vanitas said with a shrug. "My style."

"Okay." It was only then that Roxas realized how awkward Vanitas looked wearing an apron over a skin-tight suit like his. "Do you know how weird you look right now?"

In reply, Vanitas's helmet solidified, and he continued to cut various meats in a professional manner.

Okay, I'll stop talking, Roxas thought. He continued to watch Vanitas cook, seeing him take another can of tomato sauce from the counter.

Vanitas shook it, finding that it was a little more heavy than usual, though the cover was already opened, suggesting that it had already been used. He shrugged and poured it into the pot anyway.

And he immediately regretted it. The instant the red liquid made contact with the mixture, the sauces began to swirl by themselves, and they bubbled furiously, releasing puffs of steam that took the shape of a skull and crossbones. Vanitas quickly lidded the pot, stepping away as it toiled and troubled on its own.

Roxas, too, inched away from the pot after stashing the pizzas in a safe corner. He sniffed the air for disturbances, finding a faint scent that he considered a poisonous stink. He pulled part of his shirt up to cover his nose. "What's that smell?"

A sniffing sound was heard through Vanitas's mask. "I don't smell anything."

"You're wearing a mask."

"Oh. Right." Vanitas considered deactivating the mask, then changed his mind. "Y'know, I don't really wanna smell what you're smelling anyway."

"Fine."

The pot's rumbling slowed until it rested on the stove like regular cookware. Roxas deemed it safe to return to his seat, but to the blond's surprise, Vanitas didn't move. The blond just stared for a moment, pondering his stillness, but his thought was interrupted by the grumble of the pot. The lid flew off and landed right on Vanitas's helmet, landing on the floor with a clang that made Roxas jump. The boy in black wasn't fazed.

"Did that hurt?" Roxas asked out of curiosity.

"Nah." Vanitas calmly put the lid back on. At the same time, the kitchen door swung open, allowing Repliku and Xion to step in.

"Hey guys, we're back!" Repliku said, cube in hand. "Apparently, Xion broke it twi – Ugh!" His hand flew to his nose while his face wrinkled in disgust. "What is the smell?"

"I don't smell anything," Roxas said. "I used to, but it faded."

Repliku looked at Vanitas accusingly. "It smells like... agh, Xion!"

"Huh?" Xion responded.

"It smells like Xion?" Vanitas said.

"No!" Repliku turned back to his fellow replica. "Xion, go describe a smell for me!"

"Say what?"

"A bad smell. Go describe one."

"Oh. Okay, let's see." Xion paused in thought. "It smells like someone brought a farting goat in with a cart full of old laundry, killed it with a knife made of hard, spoiled cheese, and put its bleeding corpse on display over a pile of onions and garlic."

"Exactly," Repliku approved.

"But I don't smell a thing," Xion added with a smile.

Repliku pointed at the pot. "Whatever, get that poison out of here. Why does it even smell like that?"

"Vanitas poured some kind of red thing in the pot, and it threw a tantrum," Roxas explained.

"Oh!" Xion suddenly began to laugh in an embarrased manner. "Was it heavy? The thing you poured."

"Sorta," Vanitas said.

"Did it come from a can?"

"Yeah." Vanitas looked at the can from which the substance came from. "Why?"

She began to slip her Organization gloves on. "Well, in one of my tests – "

"Oh no..." A feeling of deep dread fell over Repliku.

" – in one of my tests, I tried to create a recipe for a Meteor spell panel, so I needed to make some liquid ankharite."

Repliku elbowed Xion in the gut. "You put liquid ankharite in the kitchen? Don't you know how dangerous ankharite is?"

"Ouch..." Xion rubbed her abused abdomen. "Well, it was safe while no one could cook." She turned to Vanitas. "I'm not blaming you, Van."

Vanitas shrugged. "I wouldn't really care."

"How did you even make it a liquid in the first place?" Repliku demanded.

"I just needed some darkness, some light, and a neodymium-doped yttrium crystal for energy. But my room blew up three times in the process. Ankharite is some really dangerous stuff," Xion said, as if it were just another thing in her life. Which it was, for them.

"And yet you play with it." Repliku shook his head like a disappointed father. "You should know better than that, Xion."

"Yeah, well, I was bored." Xion quickly stood over the metal pot. "Lemme see that mixture."

The strange substance in the pot glowed with a hot red aura, and the steam that rose from it seemed to spiral around, probably thanks to the sheer destructive radiation of the ankharite. The soup bubbled and churned angrily, and the smell that Repliku was complaining about was finally noticeable to Xion. Besides that, it looked like regular spaghetti sauce, only a bit more spicy.

Roxas came beside her and joined her examination. "Wow. That doesn't look edible anymore."

"We gotta get this thing out of here, guys," Xion decided.

"How?" Repliku asked. "Everything is Sora's heart is closed in. There's nowhere to put it without blowing something up."

"Well, have you tried dropping it off the top?" Vanitas suggested.

"That seems like a sensible solution," Xion said.

"What if it destroys Sora's heart in the process?" Repliku asked.

"Then we'll throw it really, really far away," Roxas answered.

"And who will throw it so far?" Repliku asked.

"I can build a pot thrower," Xion said. "Just gimme five – "

"No gadgets, Xion," Repliku and Roxas said in unison. They then gave each other disturbed glances.

"Okay," Xion conceded. "Maybe... we can whack it across?"

"I'm good with whacking it," Roxas agreed. He felt that hitting things could solve problems sometimes, though he didn't know where the feeling came from.

"Okay, so here's the plan," Xion started. "We transfer the deadly sauce into a tight, solid container, bring it to the top of the station, then we make Roxas whack it with... something. As long as it's not a stick."

"Aw, man!" Roxas whined.

"Okay, so I'll bring the pot up," Vanitas said. "You guys'll have to bring the container up yourselves." He silenty lifted the pot off the stove and used a dark corridor to go up to the top of the station. It beat the stairs, anyway.

"Okay, see ya!" Xion turned to the other two. "Roxas, you go find something to whack the sauce with. Repliku, go find Ven and Ciel."

Roxas and Repliku found no problem with their tasks, so they nodded simultaneously, and then gave each other disturbed looks once again. Repliku awkwardly turned away and opened a dark corridor as Roxas watched with interest. Xion then opened one of her own, and was about to step in.

"Hold on," Roxas said.

Xion stopped mid-step. "What's up?"

"I, uh, played the game you told me to play," he said, with a hint of hesitation. The topic was sensitive, at least, to him.

"Oh," Xion muttered, and retracted her foot from the dark corridor, closing it after. She didn't quite know what to say, even if she was the one who told him to play in the first place. "So, do you remember anything about me?" She doubted it.

"N-No, but... I am learning about you. I'm trying to remember, really. It's just kinda hard to feel what I felt back there when it's just a screen, you know? There are so many missing things, and..." His voice trailed off while his gaze lingered away from his companion.

Xion sensed his uneasiness and decided to lighten the mood a bit. "Yeah, I know, right? Man, the screen is so tiny. And all they got are text boxes. At least you can imagined their voices. But hey, it's what they got. What can you do?"

It seemed to work. "Haha, yeah. But, anyway, besides that..." He scratched his head to calm himself. He still didn't know how to act around her. "Well, you know those dark portal things you guys create?"

"The dark corridors?" Xion opened one up. "Are these what you meant?"

"Yeah. In the game, I could make those, but – " He held a hand out and tried to make one, but he merely shifted the air. "Well, I can't now. So I was gonna ask..." He scratched his head again.

"Sure, I can teach you," Xion said. "But not now."

Roxas smiled. "Uh, thanks!"

Xion made a motion to step inside, but paused again mid-step. "Why don't you come with me? To get an idea of what it's like?"

Roxas crossed his arms. "Aren't there side effects to that or something? It already looks pretty... sinister."

"Side ef – Oh. Right. Too much exposure to the darkness is... not healthy. I forgot. Thanks for reminding me." She paused, debating something in her mind. "Roxas, do you have a heart?"

"I...I dunno," he answered. "I can't... just look inside. But I – "

"Okay, that's enough," Xion said. She's heard it all before. "I'm not sure if you do, Roxas, but I don't want to put you in danger of the darkness just for some portal."

"But what about you?"

"I guess I've exposed myself to it a couple times," she nonchalantly supposed, hiding her worry. "But I haven't see anything worth worry happen to me, so it's okay... For now. I hope."

Roxas still worried, though. "Are you still gonna use it?"

Xion chuckled lightly to herself. "I don't know if I even have a heart yet, Roxas. I mean, I figured; if Vexen could create artificial hearts, then why go through the trouble of helping the rest of the Organization?"

"Yeah... You're right." Roxas remembered their other replica friend. "What about Repliku? He says he has a heart."

"We don't know if he does or if it's just another mistake." Xion thought he did. He was pretty emotional sometimes. "But he could probably keep it under control anyways. Or so his ego says."

"Alright," Roxas said. "Teach me anyway. Just lend me your coat when I need it."

"Can do," Xion agreed. "I'm gonna go in one more time. Just once couldn't hurt, right?" She took Roxas's shrug as an approval and walked in, closing it behind her.

Roxas watched the darkness dissipate. He dropped the thought of Xion being in danger for a moment, and looked around the room. "The kitchen might have a few things to whack pots with."

Vanitas tapped his foot impatiently. Why, they seemed to be somewhat late. Okay, not just somewhat – make it very late. Vanitas had already stolen Xion's Organization coat in the meantime, put it on, and then learned that it conveniently changed the size and shape to fit the one wearing it. Now, he was just watching the spiral of steam rise from the pot, which was just about the most exciting thing he'd done in the past three minutes.

He'd stared at it for so long that it had almost become hypnotic, and if it weren't for his awareness, he wouldn't have noticed the new company that decided to silently join him.

"So..." Vanitas casually began. "You're a Heartless."

"Yep," replied the Shadow. "And you are a...?"

"I'm..." Vanitas never really thought about that. He just knew he was 'Vanitas', and that's all he thought about, in his whole life. It never occurred to him that he could've been something along the league of a Heartless. But he had a heart, and he never really 'succumbed' to the darkness. Rather, the darkness succumbed to him. He shrugged. "...a different kind of person, I guess."

"I see," said the Shadow. Vanitas chuckled at his voice. Which one – his own or the Shadow's? There was no difference. That's why he chuckled. "Your name?"

"Vanitas," he said with a shrug. "You?"

"Ciel," answered the Shadow. A hint of embarrassment was evident in his voice. "They named me."

"I could tell," Vanitas said. "I don't think Heartless normally have names."

"Abominations like us aren't meant to have names," Ciel said softly. "I somehow got a sense of humanity. Guess Sora's that special."

Vanitas smirked. "I can't take you seriously with that form. Change into a human, like I saw you do in the kitchen."

The Heartless obeyed and surrounded himself with wisps of darkness to shift into a humanoid Heartless. By the time he finished, he seemed to be about the same size as Vanitas, but he wore a tattered black cloak, wearing the hood in such a way that his eyes were hidden. Vanitas couldn't tell if he made gloves or not, but from the look of the lower part of Ciel's face, his skin was nearly as black as the cloak, just a bit grayer. "This is as close to human as I can get."

"What happened to the awesome spiky hair?"

Ciel pulled his hood off, revealing that a hairstyle identical to Vanitas's can somehow stay compressed under a hood. He wasn't surprised; his helmet had a similar job.

"You only say it's awesome because you have it," Ciel pointed out.

"My hair is so awesome that the hero of worlds eventually grows into it."

Ciel laughed. What Vanitas said was true, so he couldn't argue about that.

"Hey, guys!"

The voice came from behind them. Vanitas and Ciel turned their heads, to find Xion, Repliku, and Ven come out of the door. Xion had some sort of steel cylinder in her arms, which Vanitas assumed was the container she mentioned before coming here. It looked like it could survive being thrown off a cliff, and it was clearly heavy, seeing as Xion stumbled around as she walked.

"Hey," Vanitas said. He pointed at the cylinder. "That's the thing for the sauce, right? We're gonna put it in there?"

Xion set it down with a heavy thud that made the floor rumble. It was a wonder she could carry it. Catching her breath, she answered, "Yeah... this is.. the thing..." She collapsed onto the floor with a tired sigh.

Vanitas calmly walked to the cylinder in order to inspect it. The design was simple; just a can with a lid locked in place by a series of latches and clamps. He tried lifting it. It seemed to be about three times heavier than the pot of sauce, a little taller than the pot, and it was still empty. Again, he wondered how she could carry it around. Sending it off the roof by whacking it would be a feat that Vanitas doubted was possible.

"So, guys, how's this gonna go down?" he asked.

Xion raised an index finger. "Ven, Repliku, could you tell him?"

Ventus shrugged. "Okay." He joined Vanitas next to the container, and examined the various locks and latches. "So, we're supposed to get this thing open and pour that stuff – " He pointed at the pot. " – into it. Then Roxas is gonna knock it off the station."

"That's it?" Vanitas thought the plan was a bit simple.

"Yeah, of course," Ventus said. "What did you think we were gonna do?"

"Well, I thought since it was so heavy, we would have some sort of thing lift it. I can't toss the thing up."

"We'll figure something out. Now lets get started."

Ventus fumbled around the locks, trying to figure out how to open them. It took three minutes of strange metallic noises for Xion to walk over and assist him. It took twenty seconds for her to realize that she forgot how to do it, and ask Repliku to get the instruction manual for the container. When he returned, he realized that they were in the wrong language, and promptly went back to find the right one. Once they finished, Vanitas told them that they took exactly seven minutes, sixteen seconds just to get the container open.

Vanitas then took the pot and carefully poured the contents out of the pot, being extra careful not to spill any on himself. Such a mistake would destroy everything in sight or possibly give Sora a stomach ache. Once they finished, they closed it up tightly, this time taking only two minutes.

Repliku gazed at their finished work, which didn't look any different from when they started out. "Now what?"

"Now," Xion started, "we wait for Roxas to come out."

"Why don't we just push it off the edge?" Vanitas asked. Before he could get his answer, the door opened, revealing Roxas, who held a metal bar in one hand.

"Sorry I'm late!" he said, thinking it sufficed as a greeting. "I got lost. Again."

"No prob, Roxas," Xion told him. "Now go whack the thing."

"Gotcha." The young Nobody positioned himself next to the container, holding the bar like one would with a golf club. He tapped it a few times, and swung –

– only to cause his arms to comically vibrate over the impact, slighty dazing himself.

Repliku scoffed. "I knew that wouldn't work."

"It looks like it hurt Roxas more than it did the thing," Ciel said.

"What's your next plan, o brilliant leader?" Vanitas asked the smaller Replica.

Xion hummed in thought. "When in doubt... give it a good smack?"

"What?" Repliku went so far as to take a step back in surprise. Everyone but him thought it was a bit of an exaggeration. "We just did that! And it failed! Epicly!"

"Yeah, duh, he hit it with a stick, which I told him not to," Xion answered. "We need something more sturdy. ...Like a Keyblade."

"We can't use Keyblades," Ventus said, the umbrella situation in mind. "Last time we tried, we used umbrellas."

"True," Xion admitted.

"We'll maybe you guys can use them," Ciel said. "Back then, Roxas was using the Keyblade, and he didn't know how to use Xion's yet, so there was no way you could access them."

Vanitas crossed his arms. "So what you're saying is that we can use a Keyblade as long as Sora's not?"

"It's a possibility." Ciel shrugged. "I say we give it a try."

"It works."

Five heads turned to Roxas, who waved a curved purple Keyblade around to show everyone.

"I don't know what kind of Keyblade this is, but it's a Keyblade."

"Hey, I've seen that one before!" Ventus rushed over like an excited five-year old and looked at the Keyblade. "This is the one Mickey used whe he saved me. Remember that, Vanitas?"

"I'd rather not, thanks."

Ventus pretended he never brought it up. "Anyway, I think it's called the Star Seeker."

Roxas then voiced what everyone else in the area was thinking, "Who's Mickey?"

"He's a Keyblade wielder, like me."

"I knew that." Roxas held the Keyblade up. "You already told us he used this thing, so obviously he had one."

Ventus saw his point. "Well, that's all I knew about him. I hardly saw him again after that, and we didn't talk much."

Vanitas stepped between them, "Okay, okay, that's not important. Roxas, just go whack the thing so we can get this over with."

"Alright, alright." Roxas once again positioned himsef next to the container, bending a little lower due to the Star Seeker's shortness compared to the steel bar. He pulled it back and swung as hard as he could.

Surprisingly, the container flew quite a distance away, and eventually disappeared into the murk of the water. The six of them walked over to the edge of the station to watch it.

Roxas squinted, trying to find any final hint of the container, and then gave up. "...Now what?"

"Look up there, Roxas." Xion pointed upwards.

The container was sinking down the same way everyone else did when they arrived.

The six of them silenty watch the metal container gracefully land onto the stained glass of the station.

"So we can't rid of it?" Ciel asked.

Vanitas stepped behind him. "Only one way to find out." Without warning or hesitation, he put his hands on Ventus's back and quickly pushed him off the edge, all while keeping a bored face.

"Ven!" Repliku made a motion to jump and get Ventus, but Xion held him back. After a moment of eye contact, she let go and looked up to where the metal container was found.

And there was Ven, sinking along the same path as the container. He looked half-asleep, and began to fall head-first downwards. The other five winced as his head collided with the container's thick, steel lid.

"Ouch," Vanitas commented, watching Ventus rub his head.

"Well, that confirms it," Ciel said, rather boredly. It was understandable, since, as a Heartless, he had no emotions to empathize with. "We can't get rid of the spaghetti sauce."

"That's just wonderful," Repliku said. "What do we do with it? It's pretty much a nuke made of meat and tomatoes."

"I have an idea," Xion said, "but I gotta ask the expert first. Ciel, if we break the glass on the sides, will there be any damage to Sora's heart?"

"Yes, and any damage to a heart, no matter how minimal, had a possibility of being fatal," Ciel said, taking the tone of a strict doctor.

"Okay, the idea's a bust." Xion approached the container. "We'll just have to stash it at the bottom of the station."

"That's boring," Vanitas commented.

"Yes, it's snore-inducing, but it's effective. Now how will I pick it up?"

"You don't have to," Vanitas said. He faced his palm to the container and engulfed it in darkness, sending it to the lowest floor of the station, and far away from them.

"That was boring, too, but effective," Xion said, nodding. "...I never want the solutions to be like that ever again."

"Speaking of stuff that isn't boring," Ventus chirped, "wanna go jump off a cliff?"

"I think I'll pass," Repliku answered, only to get his arm in an iron grip.

"You change your mind," Vanitas told him. "Let's jump."

Led by a guy in a man-skirt and a reluctant pretty-boy, the group of six ran to the edge of the cliff and jumped. One wore a goofy grin, one smirked, one pretended to disapprove, two shared identical smiles, and the last of them was beginning to change his mind about jumping. Either way, they'd all end up in the same place.

At least, that's what they thought. What actually happened was far different.

The plot thickens! No, not really. So, was that any good at all?

Oh, and another thing. I have nine days of summer vacation left. That means that soon, things are gonna slow down. Luckily, I have those other two stories, and whatever comes into mind.

I can't keep up the every-ten-days schedule, but I'll see if I could make it fifteen days or something. Depends on the length.

Thanks once again for your continued support.