Twenty-first chapter… wow, this is good. I'm sorry if I'm so evil. I had been listening to Holy Thunderforce and Emerald Sword while doing the last chapter. And so, I really got that mean and diabolical. Ahahaha. Anyways, I hope I didn't leave you guys hanging by your spleen or appendix on my last update because that's not cool. Hehe. So here we go. Have a happy reading as always!

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Narration: Sora is able to defeat Luxord although not kill him. But in the end, Luxord is still killed by Axel as the blonde Nobody does a wrong turn on the eighth floor.

However, despite the fact Sora forces Luxord to flee, he still has not reclaimed his friend yet. To make matters worse, Demyx arrives and takes the playing card Roxas is trapped in. Can Sora save his Nobody this time? And what about Riku? Will he finally meet face to face with Sora only to crush him?

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"Nice of you to not keep me waiting! So are we going to start?" Demyx smiles as Sora finally arrives at the next floor.

"Where's Roxas?"

"Roxas? Who's Roxas? Oh, right... Roxas. Over there stuck in one of Luxord's card." Demyx points to the other end of the room.

"Who's Luxord?"

"Oh, forget who's Luxord. Just look over there," Demyx sighs.

Sora looks over to where the Nobody is pointing and sees the playing card Roxas is in is being held by several of Demyx's water forms.

"Let him go! He has nothing to do with this!"

"But he has… besides, now that Larxene's gone, I have to eliminate him along with you!" Demyx summons his sitar.

"I don't remember you being this aggressive before." Sora goes into his battle stance.

"Let's just say that I'm a lot more aggressive than you think I am!"

"No, you're not. You've always run away from our encounters before."

"Well, you shouldn't judge people by their looks or by what they do." Demyx snaps his fingers and all of his water forms proceed to break the playing card Roxas is in.

Sora tries to go and help Roxas but he is hit by a ball of water.

"Going somewhere? You're going to have to deal with me before you go help him!" Demyx starts playing his sitar and a huge pillar of water erupts from the ground in front of Sora, nearly hitting him.

"Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking to you? I'm going to let you through unless you beat me… which in this case I don't think so."

Before Sora can answer, he hears the sound of cardboard ripping apart.

He looks back at Roxas and stares in helplessness and horror as Demyx's water forms rip the playing card apart with Roxas's mouth wide open screaming for his life. However, as he is trapped in the card, no sound escapes from his mouth.

Demyx grins. "You still want to play or should our little hero give up while he's already behind?"

"I'm not going to forgive you for this!" Sora says angrily as he faces Demyx.

"Enlighten me then!" Demyx commands his existing water forms to attack Sora.

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Suddenly, the castle shakes. Marluxia and Zexion stagger to keep their balance while Riku, completely caught off-guard, falls on the floor.

However, he breaks his fall with his right arm.

Soon, the tremor subsides.

Riku gets back up and faces Zexion and Marluxia. "What just happened?"

"Demyx…" Zexion mutters and turns to Marluxia. "Is no more…"

"Hmm… it seems as if Sora is not leaving us any chance to proceed." Marluxia continues to keep his composure. He is neither surprised nor scared that within a few more fights the keyblade master will be coming for Riku.

"Let me fight him!" Riku cries out.

"Are you sure you want to face him now?" Marluxia asks earnestly.

"I have a score to settle with him."

"Very well… you may go and fight him. However, you need to prove to us one last time that you will do anything for us."

"Sure. What is it? I'll do whatever you guys want me to do… as long as I finish Sora with my own two hands."

Marluxia seems pleased after hearing this but he still continues on to his request. "We need you to take out some treacherous redhead who's roaming around the castle. You wouldn't want him to get to Sora first, now would you?"

"Certainly not." Riku opens up a Corridor of Darkness and disappears into it.

"Wow, Marluxia… you really do intend to make good use of the boy." Zexion puts his hand on Marluxia's shoulder. "But what if we still can't control him? In his heart, I can still sense that feeling of his pumping forever as strong as before." Zexion is sounding slightly worried and doubtful of their plan's success.

"Don't worry, Zexion. As far as I know, we can always take them out anytime we want to. So Riku better be careful not to let that emotion get the best of him." Marluxia smirks.

"Should I tell Saix that he's next?" Zexion asks before he is about to leave.

"Go ahead. Seeing Demyx and Luxord haven't bought us enough time after Larxene fell, he better put up more of a challenge."

Then, Zexion disappears into a Corridor of Darkness.

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"No! Not again! Not this way!" Demyx stumbles backwards before falling flat on the floor.

The sitar on his right hand disappears.

"Man, you got to cut me some slack!" He slowly gets up and faces Sora, slowly starting to fade. "You're taking this way too seriously!"

"I think you guys should just give up," Sora tells Demyx.

"Oh no. We're not giving up yet. The fun has just begun Sora… or at least it's going to end soon. And trust me, we're going to like every one bit of it." The musician puts on a dark smile on his face.

"Where's Riku?"

"You never learn, do you? I'm not just going to accept defeat and tell you. Well then, as we always say, be a good kiddo!" Then, Demyx finally disappears into the darkness.

Then, another portal appears in front of Sora.

However, he does not enter it yet. He goes over to where Roxas's card was ripped in half. The card has rapidly disintegrated into dust but amidst all that there is a hint of red which captures Sora's attention.

He takes it out. It looks like the same Valentine's Day card he had given to Riku.

After opening and reading its contents, he sees a piece of paper taped at the back of the card.

It reads:

Sora, by the time you have read this, I know I will have been eliminated by then as I have committed treachery to this order of Nobodies under Marluxia's control. This is one of your most important memories of your days loving Riku. I'm sorry if I pried too deep in your head and took this out but I know you'll need this sooner or later. Promise. Roxas…

Wondering about the Roxas who wrote it, Sora takes off the note, crumples it and throws it aside. Then, he just puts the card in his pocket and walks into the portal.

And upon emerging out of it, he is greeted by a blue-haired man with an X-shaped scar on his forehead.

"I see that you have taken down over one-half of my superiors… I am not pleased." Saix summons out his claymore.

"What have you done to Riku?" Sora pulls out his keyblade.

"Riku? I haven't done anything to him. But I'm sure you want to see him right now, don't you?"

"Of course, I do!"

"Hmm… then that's too bad because you have reached the end of the line, kid."

"Then, I'd have to get through you!" Sora gets into his stance.

"Very well. If you insist, silly child. Remember, the power of the moon is still on my side."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'll find out… as soon as you're finished!" Saix leaps up with his claymore and readies to bash Sora's head with it.

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Oh no! I just killed Roxas! Waaaaaaahhhh! Demyx too! I feel like my heart's going to break into tiny bite-sized pieces! I'm just so evil! But anyways, where's Axel now? Isn't he on the eighth floor too? Well, let's find out on the next chapter. Leave a review for me, pretty please? Thanks!