AN: Chapter 10 is up. Read and review guys.

Disclaimer: I doth not owneth the Kingdom hearts and Legend of Zelda franchises.

Chapter 10: Something different, something new.

The interior of Hollow Bastion was infested with monsters of all kinds, Vanitas' grin inched wider as he spied a skullatula dangling from a thread. Lifting Void gear, he was about to power up a dark inferno but Riku stopped him.

"Wait Vanitas, there shouldn't be creatures from Hyrule here; there is something off about this."

"I don't care, since they're all going to die anyway, stand outside and let me do my job!" an annoyed Vanitas replied.

"No, I'm coming with you, I need to investigate and report this matter back to Yen Sid" Riku informed him.

Vanitas agreed.

Since the stare Riku gave him left no room for argument and Soul eater did not look too friendly, plus Riku was like Sora.

In other words, strong enough to leave him in a coma for a few days but unlike Sora he was not shy about doing it.

Finally powering up the blaze, Vanitas let it loose into the room and watched the world burn. Smirking, he tore into the horde with brutal glee. All Riku could see was a whirlwind of black and red carving a path of destruction. At times he wondered how on earth he ended up so different from his brothers. Probably because of the influence of darkness, Vanitas should be rewarded for not giving in and joining the other side. Shrugging Riku also set to work, getting rid of heartless and deku babas.

"That was extremely boring" Vanitas declared once they completely cleared Hollow Bastion.

Riku's eyebrows were furrowed in deep thought. He knew the multitudes of monsters were set as a distraction, but where was Maleficent? Both he and Vanitas searched the place high and low but there was no sign of the corrupted fay, her signature dark energy seemed to have faded into oblivion.

Gliding silently, Maleficent regarded her two opponents. She mused that the silver haired one was the bigger problem and the other male, now he was interesting; he boarded upon a fine line between giving into the darkness inside him and desperately holding on to the light that hurt him. Deciding to manipulate the youth's mind into joining her she made her presence known. Unfortunately for her, the plan backfired as soon Vanitas spun around and eyed her with such malice it put her to shame.

Unheeding Riku's warnings, Vanitas launched himself at the fairy and brought Void gear down in strike; to the immense surprise of Riku and Vanitas, she managed to stop the key-blade with her bare hands. Also the key-blade had failed to injure her. Smiling gracefully (or as graceful as an evil fairy can be) at Vanitas she offered him a proposition:

"Join me lad and we can get rid of all the light in this world and all other worlds, you won't have to be harmed anymore. The world will be a safe haven for us, we will not live under the tyranny of light."

Vanitas faltered.

"Don't lis-" Riku began.

"Shut up you, useless pawn" He jeered "you think I'm going to sit, listen and become your loyal dog just because you asked me nicely? Get real, I'm going to finish you off so Sora can take those annoying twins off my back. Besides I heard your recycled speech from some old man who was ended off years ago."

If possible, Maleficent look regretful. "I see, well then this is goodbye"

Riku shuddered, that sounded something a lover would say.

With outstanding strength, the fairy clutched Vanitas' throat and began strangling him with one hand. Seeing Riku leaping up to help him, she summoned several heartless to keep him busy. Gazing at her victim's face, she felt a sadistic satisfaction at his contorted expression as he gasped for air. Sora, who valued his family and friends above his own life, will be able to feel exactly how she felt after he defeated her and took everything that mattered away. Ridiculed, master less and reduced to nothing she often wished to die.

Letting Vanitas go, she watched him crumple listlessly to the ground and was about to depart when Vanitas started chuckling and rasping from his position on the floor. Supporting himself with his key-blade he got up slowly and raised his face, the expression on it was absolutely maniacal.

"You…are…pathetic" he managed in between gulps of air.

Maleficent shot back: "For someone who can hardly stand, you speak rather haughtily."

"We'll see who's the one standing after I'm done with you"

Saying this he lunged and disappeared right in front of Maleficent, materializing behind her he sliced her and then teleported away someplace else before the fay could turn around. Running around her in a circle, Vanitas stopped abruptly, holding his key-blade in front him and sporting a crazy grin he charged at her ceaselessly. Maleficent for her part did not do a thing. She absorbed the attacks like a sponge and kept an eye on Riku, spawning monsters every time he killed them off. Directing her attention back to her opponent, she realized that he had vanished once again and was no doubt coming from the back. His attack pattern was easy to read; now all she had to do was dodge his most lethal assaults and tire both of them out.

Riku's vision was obscured by black. Once it cleared, the enemies before him were all gone and standing in their place was a disgruntled Vanitas.

"I can't seem to damage her, she's absorbing my attacks" Vanitas informed Riku.

"So…you're admitting you need help?" Riku teased.

"Stop jibing, or I'll shave you bald, you won't have any fans to fawn over your stupid hair any longer"

"How does Sora keep up with you?" the key-blade master sighed.

But youth was already gone.

Switching key-blades, Riku examined Way to dawn; feeling satisfied with its weight and firm grip, he set his sight on the duel between Vanitas and Maleficent on the platform above him. Sora's brother was acting as decoy. Formulating a plan that consisted of dodging and killing, he leapt up and joined the fray.

And immediately regretted his decision.

For someone whose strikes were not working, Vanitas seemed pretty passionate to bring the fairy down. His fighting style was now erratic and most probably had little consideration for friend or foe. Riku took a step back as Void gear whizzed past his face and then ducked as the blade came hurtling back to its owner. Then he had to side-step because Vanitas now hurled dark firagas in seemingly random directions, as none of them hit Maleficent. Now growing irritated, he weaved himself amidst a vortex of chaotic attacks and swept the fairy's head cleanly off, all this occurred so suddenly that when Vanitas looked into her lifeless face. He only saw a bewildered expression.

"You are absolutely ruthless" Vanitas commented.

Dismissing his key-blade with an utterly calm expression Riku stared at the dissolving form of the fay.

"Darkness is necessary Vanitas" he said "don't ever forget that. And our work here is done, so let's head back; do you want to visit your mom before you return to Hyrule?"

"….No"

"Fine, then to the Mysterious Tower we go"

"I don't want t-" began Vanitas but was duly ignored.

Link was having the time of his life. Sora wasn't present this morning for the meeting and Vanitas and Impa was still busy with the assignment Sora gave them. So having nothing to do, the knights went their separate ways. Currently, Link was in the palace courtyard practicing on the Spinner. To the twins beholding him from a distance, it looked like he was having way too much entertainment.

"I still didn't thank him for saving me" Roxas pointed out.

Ventus was too engrossed in watching Link ride his Spinner to pay any attention to him. Eyes sparkling with mirth he spoke:

"Say Roxas, why don't we go make friends with him? He seems like a really nice guy; and I can ask him for a turn on that thing."

Roxas was not pleased "Ventus no, we have an appearance to keep up, as much as it sucks we cannot….why am I speaking to myself?"

Giving up, he trudged forward to his brother, who stood in the middle of the enclosure and was shouting out Link's name. If big brother Sora saw this, he'd have a heart attack or a stroke.

Or both.

Link was marginally aware of someone calling for him. Disregarding the calls he focused on steering the gear in a complicated turn and then jumped from one wall to another in a fluid motion. Fortunately this also caused him to get a good look at the person who was yelling out his name. Nearly toppling off his Spinner due to shock, he jumped down, strode to them as quickly and dignifiedly as possible and knelt.

"I'm sorry for not coming earlier, I couldn't hear over the grating noise of my Spinner"

"First of all stand up, we don't really care about that, secondly, I…uh..didn't get to thank you for saving me in Arbiter's Grounds, so thank you. Thirdly, can we be friends?" Roxas rattled off with a slightly sheepish expression.

Link blinked slowly. "But I'm a commoner" he pronounced. The behavior of the twins was making him uncomfortable, they, who never spared him a glance, wanted to be friends with him.

"We don't really care about status and stuff, it's just a front we have to keep up because of big brother and his rank as an upper class noble. When no-one is around he is a bit like you Link. Kind and friendly to everyone." Saying this Ventus flashed him the cutest grin Link had ever seen.

"So you all remain aloof because you have to, not because you want to?" Link clarified

"YES!" the twins beamed.

"Vanitas too? His personality is a façade?"

"Um no, Vanitas was a prick right from the beginning but we still love him" Ventus replied.

"Don't breath a word about this to either of our big brothers, they will either expel or kill you depending on who. We're not allowed to do anything by ourselves, Sora sees to that religiously. It sounds cruel but its for our own good. We don't normally approach anyone but seeing that Sora never comes home anymore, it's a bit lonely." Roxas added bitterly.

Link got up and smiled "Don't worry, I promise not to tell. You can come to me anytime you like. And hopefully one day I can take you to my village in Ordona province, it's very different from Castle town, would you like to visit?"

They nodded vigorously.

Link chortled.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Ventus blurted out:

"Can I ride your spinner?"

About half an hour later, Link was having trouble balancing the twins on him. Ventus sat on his shoulders whilst Roxas clung on his back. Swaying on the Spinner, the twins threw all caution away as they whooped, cheered and teetered dangerously. Poor Link grasped Roxas tighter with one hand and stretched his other arm out to secure the younger twin. Relaxing his rigid stance slightly he let himself enjoy the rollercoaster jaunt. Hitting against a bumpy track, the device shot out and they cruised through the air. Complimentary to Link's panic attack, the twins shrieked in delight. Once the spinner skidded to a halt in a patch of grass, the three fell in a heap. Shooting up, Link immediately checked the laughing duo for any wounds or bruises, and was reassured significantly when he realized that they were perfectly okay.

Ventus sat up "That was cool! Let's do it again"

Roxas wholeheartedly approved.

And so, the trio spent a greater part of the day having fun.

As Vanitas arrived at the Mysterious Tower, he received a faceful of Impa. Despite the fact that they were more or less the same height, she seemed to tower over him.

"I do not appreciate being left alone while you go lollygagging Vanitas" she began. "Sora gave me a responsibility and I intend to carry it out fully"

"I was not lolly-whatevering, you can ask Riku over there, I finished my job. Maleficent is dead so my brother is probably going to lose his perfect wife pretty soon. We can all celebrate" he deadpanned.

"Care to elaborate what happened?" Impa questioned.

"There was a gala and everyone was invited, that includes monsters from Hyrule as well. I couldn't lay a scratch on that obnoxious fairy so Riku finished her off. End of story."

"You couldn't lay a scratch on her?"

"…I think you should get your priorities straight Impa, the more pressing matter here would be the presence of Hyrulian beasts in our world. The last time I checked this is not normal." Riku stepped in.

Impa had to concur that Riku had a point.

"I'll report all of this to master Sora, hopefully we can remedy this situation." Saying this Impa concluded the conversation.

"She expires; won't this put a dent in your magnificent plan?"

"You need to start seeing things deeper than the coffee colored skin of yours, but it is not your fault, you are hardwired to accomplish your goals through sheer power. I have a few tasks for you"

"I do no one's bidding" the man growled.

A sickly laughter echoed through the room.

"Oh but you have to do it, to get rid of that one fatal flaw of yours. It is preposterous to think that you failed to get rid of a child."

"He was blessed"

A crooked grin began forming on the elder's face

"And so are you."

AN: I think Riku and Vanitas make good fighting partners. The one going all battle-crazy whilst the other has to constantly tither him to a leash.

PS: It was fun writing this chapter.