Chapter 14: Imbeciles and rejection

"Mr Zero, it's nice to finally speak with you. Perhaps next time we'll meet in person, hmm?"

"Soon Mr One, soon. How did your mission go?"

"Very well. I've already tracked down THAT specific item you mentioned earlier."

"Your mission was to find the nine tail Jinchuriki, not the…"

"Mr Two and Miss C have already located him. The shinobi known as Naruto Uzumaki."

"Yes, you told me about him." Mr Zero spoke in a gruff business like voice. Slicking his hair back, Mr Zero continued to speak. "That's why I tasked you with his capture. You're the only one of us who knows him."

"I understand how you must be annoyed, but trust me. It's better if Miss B and I stay out of this." Mr One spoke in a strange drawn out, relaxed voice. You know how productive he can be when he wants to."

"Fine. Do it your way. All I ask for is results. If you've found it then bring it to me."

"It will be my pleasure."

*CZZZZZZZZZZZ* The hologram of Mr One disappeared with static and the holo-pad turned off. Mr Zero slicked back his hair once more and lit up a cigar. Upon sticking it in his mouth he sighed.

"What a bother. Why do I have to deal with these imbeciles? I make a bet that Breeze doesn't have to deal with any of the sort."

"Aaaachooo!" Tobi sneezed. "Hey, hey Breeze? What's this thingy do?" Tobi pointed at the large black screen.

"It is a monitor. I can use it do precisely that. If I need to check up on something or someone, I can use it to instantly find the information that I need."

"Oooh! Sounds neat! Can Tobi use it?"

"No."

"Awwww! Why not!"

"Shut up!" Deidara shouted. "Tobi, do you have a death warrant? You weren't hired to play around with all of the tech."

"But…" Tobi tried to reply.

"I'm not being teamed up with you for a second time just to get annoyed by you again!"

"Tobi thinks that Antlers needs to fix his grammar!"

"There is nothing wrong with my grammar! And stop calling me Antlers, my codename is Atlas. Besides we can use our actual names when we're in the Citadel!"

"Enough!" Breeze stood up. "The Citadel is not a place for childish bickering!" Both Tobi and Deidara fell silent. After a short pause, Breeze sat back down in his throne and looked around the room. The monitor room was bland. A large stone room with pillars at the sides and a monitor at the back, which the throne faced. "Mr Zero and the rest of his organization could already be making their move on one of the artefacts needed to power the ark. We cannot allow him to succeed. Deidara…"

"Yes."

"You no longer have to watch over Roxas. That task has been given to another. The process will go much more swiftly when Roxas gets to… Reminisce."

"I understand."

"Your job is now to intercept one of Mr Zero's agents before he makes his move."

"Done. C'mon Tobi, we've got work to do."

"Awwww! But we only just got here Deidara Senpai!" Tobi exclaimed.

"Just shut up and come along!"

"Fine, but we have to stop at a dumpling shop on the way!"

"We haven't got time!"

"Deidara, I'm ashamed of you. You must always have time for dumplings!"

"Tobi, you're getting on my nerves!" Deidara shouted. Breeze craned his head around the corner of his throne in order to watch them leave.

'What imbeciles.' He thought to himself.

Roxas made his way towards the usual spot, where his gang hangs out. Everything felt different now. After all, a lot has happened in the previous weeks. New people and old friends have shown up. The sky has begun to turn purple for some reason and most importantly… Roxas put a hand to his chest.

*Thump thump, thump thump.* Roxas felt strange feeling the beat of his newfound heart. Nobodies do not have hearts as they are what is left after the original owner of the body, along with his/her heart, becomes a heartless. Due to his inexperience with its constant thumping, Roxas felt a little ill. It was making him feel sick, the same kind of sick that you get if you're in a car that's been travelling along a very long and bumpy road. He stopped walking for a second and put his right hand out onto the nearest wall. He bent over and cringed. It was almost painful to have a heart beating away inside his body. In hopes that he would get used to its beating, Roxas pushed on to the usual spot, trying to keep his mind off his heart. However, it wasn't just the fact that he wasn't used to the heart that made him feel sick…

"His body is going to attempt to reject it." Riptide swung his arm backwards and forwards in a playful manner. "I don't know any of the sciency stuff and I can't even begin to imagine how my colleague worked it out… but it's a fact. Nobodies aren't supposed to have hearts. They simply exist because the form left after a heartless transformation begins to animate of its own accord. We can't survive with a heart so our bodies reject them unless it's that of the original owner."

"I'm not sure I believe you." Olette said. "This all sounds way too farfetched. Are you sure that you don't need to see a shrink or something?"

"I'm sure! Look, do you want to help Roxas or not?"

Those words rang in Olette's head. Of course she wanted to help Roxas, but she could have never believed a mysterious man who broke into her house. At least she wouldn't have if he hadn't shown her himself. All she could be certain of is that Roxas was going through some tough times and she has to be there for him. She nodded.

"Then I'll do just that." She proclaimed.

"Do what?" Hayner asked. Olette turned to face him.

"Huh?"

"Oh, spacing out as usual, I see." Hayner grinned.

"I'm not spacing out, I'm just thinking about something."

"Oh. Well spill it."

"Wha?"

"What were you thinking about?"

"None of your business."

"Why not."

"Because it isn't."

"That's not a very good answer!" Hayner stated. Pence was just sitting at his spot, eating potato chips and watching the two argue. Their faces were getting ever closer with each comment.

"Uh guys…" He said.

"Not now!" Hayner stuck his hand out. "I think I'm going to need a better answer than that."

"Who says I'm going to give you one?!" Olette exclaimed.

"Uh… Guys…"

"Shh." Olette put her finger to his lips.

"I say so!" Hayner said.

"No one cares about what you say should happen!" Olette explained.

"Oh yeah, then why I'm I this gang's leader?"

"You are not our…"

"GUYS!" Pence shouted.

"WHAT!" The two shouted. They turned their heads to face him and their cheeks rubbed together. Pence lifted his arm and pointed towards the entrance. Hayner and Olette drew their heads back and stared at the opening. Roxas stood there, his arm slung around Kabuto's neck. He didn't look good.

"Roxas!" Olette immediately took him from Kabuto and rested him on the couch. Roxas face was red and his eyelids were a near purple colour. Both of his eyes looked blood shot and apart from the redness he was extremely pale. He breathed irregularly in short inhales and exhales of different lengths. Olette put her palm on his forehead. "He's burning up." She said. Kabuto gently pushed her to the side and grabbed Roxas' head and trousers. He then placed the boy in a position where he was lying on his back.

"I found him like this on my way to the library. He was crouching down by a wall and holding his chest." Kabuto explained.

"Hey, what's wrong with Roxas?" Hayner asked. He looked very surprised at the state his friend was in.

"You're a doctor right, do you know what's up with him?" Pence asked.

"First off…" Kabuto began. The others listened in closely. "I'm not a doctor." The three proceeded to sweat drop. "But I can tell what it is from the symptoms. It seems like he's having trouble with his heart." Kabuto checked Roxas' pulse. "He should be fine, but it's something that needs to be looked on. We should probably get him to a hospital. A local practitioner just won't do. After all, I'm smarter than most of those guys." He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose so that light reflected off the lenses.

"No one cares how smart you are!" Olette exclaimed. "If we need to get him to a hospital then we should get him to a hospital." She pushed Kabuto out of the way.

"Wow now. Hold your horses, it's nothing critical. I just think he needs to be checked up on by a professional. We have as much time as we need."

"But…"

"It's fine." Roxas said faintly. Everyone's gaze turned to him. "The pain is almost gone now. I just feel a little weird is all…" His eyes were barely open. He felt like he was about to fall asleep. Hayner stared at him then turned to face Kabuto. "So he has heart problems?"

"Yeah, looks that way." Kabuto said. It looks like it's been getting progressively worse. It probably only started to make an impact yesterday. It's pretty sudden, these things." Kabuto smiled. "He'll be fine in no time though." Hayner breathed out heavily.

"Man, you had me there. I thought he had a heart attack or something!" Hayner started to laugh. "I guess I was just paranoid." Suddenly, he felt a full force punch smack into his face and he flew backwards.

"This isn't anything to laugh about!" Olette shouted. She turned back to Roxas. He had fallen asleep. 'It's really happening isn't it? All those things that man told me. They must have been true. If so, then I better do as he said.'

"What's gotten into her?" Pence asked Hayner.

"I dunno." Hayner replied quietly. "She's a complete phycho."

"I can hear you, y'know!" Olette turned around and pointed at the two boys. Her eyes were near satanic. It sent shivers down their spines.

Hayner made his way home with Pence at his side. The two walked casually as they made conversation out of the day's events. Not that it was an eventful day other than Roxas' heart problems.

"Hey, Pence, you think that Roxas' gonna be ok?" Hayner asked. He put his hands behind his head and looked up at the beaming sun.

"Yeah, he's going to pull through. Besides, didn't Kabuto say that it wasn't anything serious?"

"He did, didn't he?"

"I guess you really are paranoid."

"Yeah. I'm just worried about him. Roxas is the strongest one of us. I didn't expect him to be so suddenly ill. I mean Roxas is always…"

"Woah, woah, woah! Roxas has been under the weather a lot. We all get sick…" Pence stepped in front of his friend. "This is no different. Roxas'll be back to normal in no time." Pence smiled. Hayner took his hands from behind his head and crossed them.

"Roxas?" Hayner began walking again. "Since when has he ever been normal?" The distance between Hayner and Pence grew.

"What do you mean by that?" Pence asked. After a little pause, he ran towards his friend. "Hey, wait for me!"

'Damn it Roxas. What's up with you lately?' Hayner stuck his hands back behind his head. 'First you start dating Olette, and then you pull this on us. You're really starting to freak me out.' He scrunched his face up.

"Why are you looking like that?" Pence asked. Hayner instantly straightened out his face as much as he could.

"Looking like what?" Hayner asked.

"You were making a sort of funny face." Pence gestured with his hands. "Like you were thinking really hard about something."

"You're losing it." Hayner replied almost instantly. Pence turned to face the path before them.

"Whatever. Let's just wait 'til the morning to see if Roxas gets better. We can't have him getting sick before the first exam."

"Are you kidding me? Olette's the one who'd hate to miss an exam."

"She'd never miss an exam. If she had to, she would come into the exam half-dead."

"Aaaachooo!" Olette sneezed. Roxas slowly turned his head to face her. He was still lying on the couch.

"Did you say something?" Roxas asked in a faint, slurred voice. He sounded like he had just woken up (which he had).

"No." Olette replied as she rubbed her nose. "Just some over used joke."

"Oh." Roxas said as he turned his head back to face upwards. He kept his gaze on Olette though. "If you say so." Olette placed a hand on his chest and looked into his eyes. Roxas was entranced by her beautiful emerald eyes.

"You're sick." Olette said.

"You don't… say." Roxas tried to joke about it. However, he had hardly any energy left to speak as it was. He cracked a smile and Olette smiled back. "I thought that I was supposed to go to see a doctor." He said.

"No, you're fine. Kabuto said so himself." Olette looked at the entrance to the back alley. Kabuto had left when Hayner and Pence did. "You just need to rest a bit." She stroked his head. Roxas closed his eyes. He felt like a million butterflies were lifting him up. He could almost ignore the pain caused by his heart. Just before he fell asleep once more, Roxas smiled a wide smile. Olette continued to stroke his hair for a few minutes. All was silent. Silent and peaceful. Olette's mind however… was chaos. Having to take on such a responsibility on a whim that what the man said was true. Actually, it was less of a whim and more of a 'seeing is believing moment.' "That man, he… He's like you." Olette looked down at the sleeping Roxas. He looked so peaceful. "I'll look after you. It doesn't matter if you're a nobody or a human. You are Roxas. You are the one I care about most."

"Awwww, how sweet!" Archangel swayed backwards and forwards. "So she's really the one who gave him the heart?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Riptide leaned back on a wall. "He got his heart because he's finally split off from Sora. He's now on the verge of becoming a human, but he can't."

"Because he's a nobody?"

"Yeah."

"So how come we can't have hearts?"

"It's… complicated." Riptide kicked off the wall.

"Well I don't think that it's fair!" Archangel grabbed his arm. Riptide turned to face towards her. They were both wearing their hoods up. "I know Roxas is a special case. But we're connected to him. I can feel it. So why does this girl get to go through the process with him?"

"She doesn't. Olette just helps him through. Because she has the most connection to his heart, she is the one most suitable to help him out." Riptide said. Archangel cocked her head, showing her lack of knowledge on the subject.

"Huh?" She moved her head closer to Riptide. "Wha?" Riptide shoved her hand off his arm.

"Do you even know what the process is?" He asked. Archangel shook her head. "I see." Riptide sighed. "Well it's a little too complicated to explain, so I'll give you a brief explanation. Roxas got a heart and it's made up of the connections he has made without Sora…" Archangel nodded and listened on. "Of all those connections, Olette is the strongest. We need her to guide his heart and make sure it stays intact. We need the tear to bring out his light and we gotta bring up some past connections to help connect his new heart to his body which is used to a past as a nobody, where he had different connections to his new ones. You got that all memorized." Riptide tapped his head.

"So that's where we come in?"

"Exactly. You catch on fast." Riptide patted her head and she in turn patted his hand away.

"So, after all of that… what happens to Roxas? And more importantly, what will happen to us? I don't even know how were supposed to reconnect with him."

"Reconnect? We're always connected to him, though not directly as we aren't actually…" Riptide stopped mid-sentence to think about something. C'mon, we've got work to do.

"Work? I thought that I was finally going to the citadel."

"No. We have to encourage to tear." Riptide began to walk but stopped and turned his head. "Oh, by the way… Atlas has gone to the other universe with Reaver, so you're my new partner."

"It's about time. I was fed up of working with Greif. You're the only one who I ever get anything done with."

"Yeah, I know. Greif is… a little weird. I don't really trust him." Riptide began to walk again. Archangel was in tail. "Probably why he's with Wolf now. Pretty much everyone has changed partners except for Breeze and Phantom."

"I've never actually heard Phantom talk." Archangel admitted.

"Neither have I. Breeze sure does know how to pick 'em."

Roxas made his way home, feeling much healthier than before. Olette had already left for home and it was getting late.

"How weird. I didn't think that it'd be that bad. I guess that it's going to take a while before I get used to this." He strided in wide paces of differing lengths. "Olette sure was nice to take care of me like that. I can't believe that I was such a cry-baby. Everything was fine; I was just under the weather." Roxas looked up at the sky and smiled. The orange was once again swallowing the Azure sky. Both sides looked beautiful and especially so where the colours met. "I don't think I'd mind that much if Olette took charge. After all, she does know best. Plus I kinda like being in her care." Roxas smiled. Suddenly this smile turned into a grimace. Roxas fell to his knees and clutched his chest. "Gah!" The pain was even more intense than before. He breathed heavily and tried to ignore the pain, but it was too hard. A sharp tingling sensation shot throughout his body as the pain in his chest intensified. Roxas heart was being rejected.

Little later than I wanted to bring it out. Oh well. So are you beginning to understand things, or have you been mindfudged (I say fudge to avoid swearing). You're following... good. So here's a list of all the noted members so far (with their new partners): Breeze (the leader) and Phantom, Altlas and Reaver, Riptide and Archangel, Wolf and Greif. Take a wild guess who each of them are (plus Mr.0 through 5 and Miss A through F). There may be more baddie characters in future but I think that I'll get on with the story first. If you have any questions about something you don't understand, just ask. I'd be pleased to answer. See you in the next chapter. Sayunara!