Aredek raced back to headquarters. He needed to get there, he needed to be there. There was so much that needed to be explained, and it was finally time to take a stand.

"AREDEK!" Arimana called after him. She was in a huge blur of emotions now – fear, confusion. Aredek had told her that he loved her. What was he supposed to feel? The same way? She'd never thought about it before. She didn't think she had time to think about it now. "DON'T YOU RUN AWAY NOW!"

Aredek shook his head. He had expected her mood to take a swing for the better when he dropped the bomb. Not so much in reality. All he could hope for, though, was that he got home before anything happened. He needed to make sure that they were safe.

The group sat in the aftermath of learning about the little girl named Axxela. Before they could give any comments, however, they all heard a sudden crash. "What was that?" Alroc called, shooting up.

Slay and Lexa exchanged glances. It was time to take charge. Sensing that Slay was in no way able to fight, it was up to her. "Alroc, Selena, Kalua!" she called. "Come with me downstairs – let's go investigate." She nodded at Slay. "Take Lexa and Aoen to Ailmus. We need to protect him – that's their endgame. Okay?"

"What if it's them?" Aoen asked with a quiver in her voice.

Alay put on a brave face. "Then we'll stop them!"

The four raced downstairs, while Slay grabbed Aoen and, with Lexa, they hurried up to Ailmus.

Alroc notched an arrow on the way down with a grim face. "At least it's a nice night for it," he called. He was the first to leap into the meeting room. Naturally, he was the first one to be encased in a giant block of ice.

"ALROC!" Selena screeched. Alroc just didn't move, the same expression on his face.

"Come out to play!" came a shrill voice.

'Vexen,' Kalua mouthed to Alay. They were taking shelter behind the walls, deciding to not charge in. That strategy had obviously failed them.

"Crazy scientist," came an expressionless tone. "If we are to defeat them, we are to crush them."

Kalua's big, sea-green eyes began to tear up for a split second. Saïx. Her brother. This would not go well. She locked eyes with Alay, who nodded, and then… "CHARGE!" Kalua belted out.

She drew several sheets of paper out from her messenger bag and formed a sharp guang dao – a type of Chinese spear – and went straight for Saïx, who unfortunately saw it coming. He swept his claymore at her and she was barely able to avoid its reach.

Meanwhile, Alay's voodoo doll transformed into a plushie version of Vexen. While she was working on making it into a life-sized replica, Selena was busy swatting at Vexen with her fighting fans, but they weren't making much of an impact due to his shield.

"My, my, my!" Vexen cackled. "You fools seem to be missing a few screws! You see, I only came to lend you a hand!"

"Bloody hell you did!" Selena bellowed furiously, wanting him to pay for harming Alroc. She had grown close to him, and wasn't about to let him go. "You release my friend, or else, I don't give a damn what happens to you!"

Vexen rolled his eyes. "Your insincerity is comforting." He quickly slashed out at her with his shield and managed to scrape her arm.

"SELENA, just a little more!" Alay cried, working furiously on her puppet.

Before Selena could even get an assessment of her wound, Vexen charged in again. His bangs danced in his face, framing a devilish grin. "Oh ho! So it's a fight you want. Very good—I shall take you on!" And with that he lunged in at Selena again.

She raised a hand to deflect his blow, but the shield was too strong, and, regrettably, too sharp. It sliced right through her skin, and Selena's hand limply fell to the ground, and blood began to pour out.

"AHHHH!" Selena screeched, collapsing, kneeling on the ground, clinging onto her stump of an arm.

"NO!" Alay bellowed. She stood up next to the full-sized voodoo version of Vexen and shouted, "Blizzard!"

Voodoo-Vexen shot out two blasts of Blizzard magic, and although Vexen dodged, the attacks weren't aimed at him – one covered Selena's stump, and the other her decapitated hand.

Alay put a hand on her friend's shoulder as Vexen smirked. "Take it, go upstairs – we'll try to fix it later. Tell them we need reinforcements something desperate."

The tears were streaming down her face now. She didn't move.

"Did you hear me?"

Selena looked at her with tears in her eyes, her face – everywhere. "I heard you. But I'm not letting Alroc down. And I'm going to make this SOB pay for what he did to me."

"That's… admirable," Alay said, pulling her friend up. The two faced the Chilly Academic together.

Vexen cackled. "How could you be humbled by someone of such limited significance? You fools. You soon shall perish!"

As he raced towards them, his shield raised, the Voodoo-Vexen landed in-between them. He grasped the real Vexen's shield, ripped it from his hand, and tossed it aside.

Vexen whimpered cowardly then.

Carnage reigned, meanwhile, between Kalua and Saïx.

"HOW COULD YOU DARE TO COME HERE, INTO MY HOME, ATTACK MY FRIENDS, YOU WORTHLESS BASTARD!" she screeched, throwing hit after hit onto her former brother's claymore but to limited effect.

Saïx yawned and swung at her again with his claymore, catching her and sending her spiraling into the air.

She winced at a sharp burst of pain coming from her leg. She tried to scramble to her feet but fell down, instead trying to desperately crawl away. Saïx descended upon her. "Are you angry? Do you hate me?"

He raised Lunatic and dove in for the kill.

The procession finally arrived at a big, shabby-looking building. Ridge grinned and spread his arms wide open. "Well, girls, welcome to our humble abode!"

Maya and Zana eyed the building; Rani, who had recently awakened, yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Honestly, sugar," Maya began, "This doesn't seem like much."

Castor and Ridge smiled at each other. "Well, I've teched the place up a bit," Castor admitted. "Inside is one of the finest military bases ever built – heck, ever dreamed of, brought to life!"

Zana shrugged. "This is all very nice. But before we rest, I would like to get the conversation out of the way." She fixed Ridge with a cold, stern gaze. "Number VII and I will converse with you and the flame-haired woman, who I take to be your second-in-command. It is best if we got the awkward moments done with first."

Seeming to assume that this meeting excluded her, Rani angrily called, "Hey! Little miss Ice Queen, I'm here too! I'm part of this! I'd like to give a right piece of my mind to this bastard too!" (For some reason, I've always pictured Rani with a Scottish accent o.O)

Before Zana could fire back, Blaze stepped forward. "Castor would be more than happy to give you a tour, wouldn't you, Castor?"

Castor flashed Rani a flirty smile and wink. "That I would, madam Blaze. Let me show you the sights."

Castor led Rani and the other soldiers into a dilapidated door. Stepping in revealed it to be anything but – sheik walls, shining white floors and walls with all sorts of machines and wires running all over the place. Rani noticed tons of soldiers milling about, tending wounds or playing cards.

One of the card-players stepped forward and smiled smoothly. "So Castor, who's the pretty lady you picked up?"

The others laughed; clearly this was something he did often. "Back off, Manji," he began with a smirk, "This here is Rani! She's only visiting, though. I'm here to give her a tour of the facilities."

"Is she taken? Because if she's not, I'd be happy to do the taking," Manji said with a wink. His green bangs fell into his face, though, leaving the effect a bit lessened.

"No thanks," Rani began, rolling her eyes, "I've had my share of conceited bastards for this lifetime. Try me in the afterlife."

As Manji walked back over to his friends, Rani could hear things to the effect of, "BURN!"

"So," Castor began, "That was Manji, our resident pig." They continued to walk through the halls. "There's the mess hall… barracks… infirmary…"

A disheveled-looking woman came up to Castor with red eyes matching messy red hair. "Castor, when's the next grief meeting?"

He smiled at her. "Soon, Carol. Probably two days."

As Carol walked away from them, Rani asked, "Grief group? What for?"

Castor seemed to ignore the question, though, and Rani, for once, let the subject drop. They continued on the tour, Castor pointing out several locations and explaining the significance of several machines. They eventually climbed a rather long staircase and came out on the roof of the building; Castor led the way over to the railing and they stood, looking at the city below, the wind blowing in their hair.

"It's for people who've lost family to the war," he said, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"What? What're you on about?" Rani asked, confused. Her long, black hair billowed in the wind.

"The grief group," Castor began to explain. "Tons of us… almost every single person here… we've all lost someone to this war. A spouse… parents… siblings… It's not always easy to get over, you know? So I… I'm like a grief counselor to them. Help them get over it."

When they'd first met, Rani had seen Castor as a strong fighter with a sense of humor. Now he was revealing this whole new side to him – a relatable side. She saw that his humor – probably Manji's humor as well – were just tools to cope with it. Her hotheadedness… it was much the same. She found herself relating with him.

"Hey, I know how you feel. Those Organization bastards, they took my brother away from me. It's like that for a lot of us Order members. My brother, Fred… he was like a twin to me, you know? And they just freaking killed him, just killed him like that."

Castor was silent for a few seconds. He motioned her over to the other side of the roof, and she noticed a large garden with all sorts of plants and flowers growing in it.

"What is it?" she asked quietly. The serenity of it all was somewhat calming. Whereas she normally was hotheaded beyond belief, here she could just relax and be in a safe place.

"It's a memorial garden," Castor explained. He knelt to the ground. "We plant flowers in memory of our loved ones."

Rani read off some of the index cards used to indicate names:

R.I.P. James and Lily, killed in Halloween of last year.

Tonks, Remus – We'll always remember you.

Sirius, Alastor, Florean, Tom, Peter, Hedwig – from your last family. Manji ~

It seemed surreal that so many people could've lost so many of their family members. She glanced over at where Castor was kneeling and saw him silently weeping into his hands. The card on some white roses read: Colin, I'll keep fighting for you every day. You won't have died in vain. I'll honor you – Castor.

"They… they took him. Right from me. We were just trying to escape, and the gambler in a black cloak… called it 'calculating an unprecedented risk, a worthy gamble' – killed my brother Colin. He was much too young to be fighting, mind you… I couldn't handle it. Ridge's army was where I fit in. They were a home to me. And now… I fight for Colin every day."

Castor was full blown weeping now. Rani put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and pulled him up, and the two embraced.

"Castor, I know how you feel. Those bitches… they will pay. Especially the gambler. He ruined me much in the same way. He's as bad as they come, trying to judge his wrongdoings as 'risks that need to be gambled.' The absolute worst kind. But we're going to avenge Colin, Fred – all of those who perished because of those bastards."

Castor pulled away and wiped his eyes. "I know this isn't right. Here I am, fighting for him, and yet even thinking about my brother turns me into a train wreck."

"It's all right. We've all been there. We all know the feeling."

Castor attempted a grin at her. "Thanks. They do grief counseling at your Order?"

Rani snorted. "As if. Most of them don't speak nothing about nothing about the past – it's all about the future with us. It felt nice to kind of get it off my chest, y'know? And with someone who really understands, too."

The two just stared at each other for a few seconds. Then Castor smiled shrewdly and said, "War's horrible, you know. Never know how long you have until it's too late."

"Oh yes," Rani continued. "It's horrible. We could die at any given moment! It's tragic!"

And then they leaned in and kissed. Castor's first since the invasion. Rani's first in general. Sparks flew.

And then the explosion went off, and real sparks flew.

Kalua fixed her brother with a stern gaze as he swung down to kill her, not wanting him to think she was scared. That was the only reason she saw Aredek fly through the air and knock into Saïx, sending him crashing into the wall.

He turned to her and grinned. "Need a hand?"

On the other side, the Voodoo-Vexen hoisted the real Vexen into the air and threw him with a brute force, sending him flying – and screeching 'AIYEEEEEE!' – into Saïx, who had just risen.

"Aredek!" Alay squealed as she and Selena regrouped with him and Kalua. "You're back! Just in time, too!"

Saïx helped Vexen to his feet, smirking. "If I had a heart, this would be where I die of laughter. You forget your anger at that pitiful rat bastard as soon as he comes rushing back to your side."

Kalua had intended to screech at him, but Selena got there first. "You will NOT speak to Aredek in that manner!"

Vexen laughed shrilly as Saïx replied, "I'll call that thing whatever I please."

At that moment, Arimana came rushing in, yelling, "AREDEK!"

Saïx took a step back and Vexen nearly peed himself. "Saïx, I'm not one for physical labor, but if getting dirty calls for it, it's understandable. On the other hand, I have no wishes to go on a suicide mission!" He quickly disappeared into a Corridor of Darkness.

Saïx sighed. "As much as I hate to agree with that spineless coward of a scientist, he is right in this manner. Suicide will not bring about our goals." He fixed Aredek with a stern glance. "We will be coming at full force next time. Surrendering the boy would be much easier, and pointless blood would not have to be shed."

Aredek spat at him. "Never, you pitiful rat bastard."

"So be it," Saïx smirked, disappearing into the Corridor as it evaporated.

"Where were you?" Alay asked, the realization of Aredek's disappearance and the Organization's assault finally sinking in.

"Tell her, Aredek!" Arimana screeched, laughing hollowly. Then she noticed Selena's predicament. "And OHMYGOD, Selena! What happened to… your… hand!"

Selena tried to smile through the tears. "A minor incident. Nothing horrible. What's the plan, Aredek?"

Aredek turned towards the frozen Alroc. "How… Alroc…"

Alay waved it off. "I have it. Unfreeze!" she commanded, and the Voodoo-Vexen shot out a Blizzard that unfroze Alroc, melting away the ice.

"Aredek!" he exclaimed.

Aredek shook his head. "Go upstairs. Get Slay, Lexa, Ailmus, Maya, Rani, Aoen, and Zana, and bring them down here now."

Alroc hesitated for a second, and then nodded and ran.

"Aredek," Kalua began, "Maya, Rani, and Zana aren't here."

"Um… then where… where are they?" Aredek asked, anger in his voice.

"They kind of ran into the city," Kalua answered, a slight grin crossing her round face.

"WHAT?" Aredek shouted out.

"Calm yourself!" Arimana exclaimed, cradling Selena. "Can't you see that Selena is hurt? We need to help her!"

"WE WILL!" Aredek exclaimed, turning on her. "I can't deal with this all now. I AM HAVING AN OVERLOAD. CUT ME A BREAK, PLEASE. You think I don't care? I DO. But calm yourself first. There's so much I need to tell all of you – and I mean all of you."

It was at that second Slay, Lexa, Aoen, and Ailmus walked in, led by Alroc. "What's going on, Aredek?" Alroc asked eagerly.

Aredek looked around at all of his comrades. "I've got a plan. An endgame to counter the Organization's endgame," he began to explain.

This news was reacted to with cheers from the others. "But first off," he continued, "We need to all be together. And not just the ones missing," he began, fixing Slay with a gaze. "We need an army -"

"Ridge's army? Slay told us all. And about Axxela as well."

Aredek took this as an inward victory. "Awesome, guys. But that's not exactly what I meant. I meant an army of all of us. Our Order, Ridge's army – anyone. For this endgame to work, we need to gather up everyone we can possibly muster." He turned to Slay. "And that's why I'd like you to get your students."

"My students?" Slay asked, shocked. Aredek had always supported her guild. He hadn't ever really seen eye-to-eye with her students, however, and was likely never to. It was a big step if he was asking for their help. "You want them?"

"No, I need them," he said, looking out at all of them. "And, as I recall, one of them has healing properties. Take Selena with you, and Kalua as back-up. Any arguments?"

"Will they be able to fix my hand?" Selena asked in a whisper.

"I hope so," Aredek smiled back. "Now go guys, and hurry! Meet us at the safehouse"

Before they left, Slay met his eyes. "It's good to have our leader back."

"Now, Aoen, Ailmus, Lexa, Alay, Arimana – We need to protect Ailmus. Alay, lead your motley crew over to the safehouse."

Arimana rolled her eyes, upset over the argument. "Why should we listen to you? All of the secrets?"

"Now's not the time for this," Lexa argued, pulling Arimana away. "We need to protect Ailmus." She locked eyes with Aredek. "Alay and I will protect them. Go, find the others. We'll do what we can."

"Ailmus is going to be a good boy on the road trip!" Ailmus exclaimed.

"YAY! Road trips are very fun!" Aoen agreed. "Bobo and I will be on our best behavior!"

Kalua slapped her forehead. "This'll be one heck of a road trip. Take care of yourselves, boys, okay?"

And that just left Alroc and Aredek. "Alroc, listen, I know things have been pretty tough lately, and things are moving really fast, and -"

Alroc silenced him with a friendly smile and a hand on his shoulder. "You don't need to explain anything to me. I have trust in your judgment. These people, Ridge and Axxela – Slay may not like them, but you have faith in your friends. And although I haven't had the exact privilege of meeting Slay's apprentices, they come on high reputation from her. So whatever this endgame happens to be, I have the utmost faith in you that we will be able to pull it off. You've never let me down before, and I have no reason to believe that you will now."

Aredek grinned. "Thanks buddy. Now let's go find our renegade members."

"Zana isn't exactly thrilled with you lately."

"I thought she'd feel that way."

"You know where they are?"

"I believe that I do."

"Arimana's furious. You told her you loved her, didn't you?"

"Always one step ahead of me, buddy."

The two friends raced out of headquarters, but Aredek grabbed Alroc's arm to stop him from going any further. "Hold on."

He kicked over a rock that was near the entrance. There was a button under it. "What's that for?"

Aredek answered by pushing it with his foot. The entire headquarters – the place that they'd all called home for so long, the place they spent so much time together – exploded. Detonated. However you want to put it. When the smoke faded, it was gone.

Alroc's jaw dropped. Aredek only grinned and said, "Well, let's go now, why don't we?"

Blaze, Zana, Maya, and Ridge all filed into his office. He had important papers all over the place and official-looking documents scattered everywhere. Before the actual discussions began, Ridge pushed a button to activate the building's intercom and spoke into the speaker. "Will Hermione please come to my office?"

A few seconds later, a girl with bushy brown hair walked into the office. "Yes, sir?"

"A protective bubble, please. We don't want the others eavesdropping."

"Yes, sir," she answered, and then left the office.

Maya fixed Ridge with a puzzled look. "Who was that?"

"One of our soldiers," Blaze explained. "Protective bubbles and whatnot. Her specialty. We use her as a kind of voice box so the others can't hear what we say in here."

"Speaking of what we're saying in here," Zana began, "I'd prefer if we skipped the formalities and got right down to it. We'd like to hear the story of you and Aredek, and we'd like to hear it now. Then we'd like to hear you attempt to persuade us to join your ranks. Then we will make a decision, and whatever it is, we will accept your offer of hospitality until we are certain of our health. At that point we will return home. Understand?"

Ridge nodded. "A girl that knows what she wants. No arguments there. Miss Ice Queen, as your friends seem to call you, where should I start? At the point where I did meet Aredek, or the point where it would start to affect you?"

"The very beginning, if you don't mind. I'm sure that it'll all tie in eventually."

"Well, it's actually rather complicated. It started off as me, Aredek, and our other friend. That guy – he's the guy you should be focusing on. All-powerful, unstoppable – shame he had to perish."

Zana was mildly taken aback. "Another guy? You mean… there was a trio?"

"Of course! Aredek and I were just a bunch of kids at first. There's no way that we would've been anything without him, just a bunch of wannabe vigilantes. You see, he had a Keyblade."

"I've heard that those are quite rare. They only bestow themselves on certain individuals."

"That would be correct. He did deserve it. Although he was powerful and whatnot, he didn't like being in the main focus of things. He liked staying in the background – helping out, influencing everything else, but at the same time staying hidden. He was a real Keyblade master."

"So who was he? How did he perish? What does he have anything to do with any of this at all?"

"He's the person who drew us together. Basically he has everything to do with all of this. I wouldn't be here, Aredek wouldn't be here without him. He drew us together."

Zana didn't get the chance to ask another question due to a certain person arriving at the entrance and bellowing, "RIDGE! WHERE ARE THEY?"

Ridge smirked. "That would be your leader here." He nodded at Blaze. "She'll escort you to him. I'll be down shortly; I have some matters to discuss with Hermione. Send her in on your way out, why don't you?"

Blaze nodded. "Let's go, ladies!" Neither of them moved, however.

"No offense, sugar, but me and the little honey over here are getting rather mighty curious about this Keyblade-master-man," Maya explained. "We'd rather he finished his story before we visited our leader."

"Number I can wait for us. We are owed an explanation, and I intend to get it," Zana replied.

Ridge smiled and waved his hands. "Talk to him. I'm sure he's worried sick! Please, go."

Blaze ignited her hands in fire. "I'm not afraid to use force to have you ladies leave this office. Now, for the last time, let's go. Sir Ridge requests you to go talk to Aredek."

Maya and Zana glanced at each other. "We will comply to your request, sir Ridge," Zana told him sarcastically, "But we intend to come back."

"Wouldn't have it any other way, Ice Queen!" Ridge called after her.

As they left the office, Blaze tapped Hermione and told her, "Sir Ridge requests your presence. I think it might be a Code Four."

Hermione nodded in that same lazy way that she seemed to do everything. "No problem, madam Blaze."

"Now let's go, ladies!" Blaze said cheerfully, although one of her hands was still ignited. On their way down, they noticed Castor and Rani passing by and entering a long staircase. "Roof," Blaze explained, and in no time they trio had gotten to the bottom.

Aredek and Alroc were there to greet them. "Where's Rani?" Alroc asked, glancing around.

"The roof," Blaze said, shaking off the question. She extended a hand to Alroc. "I'm Blaze, pleased to meet you. Judging from the description I have of you, I'd hazard a guess that you're Alroc?"

Alroc shook her hand, a puzzled expression on his face. "Yes, that's me. Blaze… now why does that sound so familiar?"

Aredek was having a stare-down with Zana while Maya looked on nervously. "I explicitly asked you not to venture into the city," he began. "You didn't bother to wonder why I said that."

"Because you obviously didn't trust us enough to think that we'd be able to handle the truth," Zana stated calmly.

Noticing the daggers in Aredek's eyes, Maya shook her head. "Now calm down, sugar."

Aredek wasn't hearing any of it, though. "Oh, I don't trust you? Right. One of the earliest members of my group who I've never lied to, who I'd sell everything I had to. Who I've done everything for. You're just really picking a fight here, Zana. I've had a very rough day."

"So have we, Number I. We encountered two members of the Organization. And if it's a fight you think I'm picking," she said, summoning her armor, "I'd be most obliged to provide you with it."

Aredek shrugged, summoning his spear. "Let's begin, then," he said. And then he pushed Zana back several feet with a gust of wind.

Zana, in turn, shot forward and grasped Aredek's throat with her armored hand, slowly choking and freezing him.

"ZANA!" Alroc exclaimed as Aredek's throat turned blue. His slicked black hair shuddered as he quickly notched an arrow at Zana and shot it, catching her in her hand and forcing her to let go of Aredek.

Aredek took this opportunity to lunge forward and stab at Zana with his spear, catching her in the right calf. The armor prevented it from making a gash on her, but she still kneeled down from the pain.

"So that's how you want to play?" Zana asked with a devilish grin and a fierce fire in her eyes. Neither Aredek nor Alroc had ever seen her act like this before and it was somewhat unnerving.

She shot back up rapidly and shot a fast Blizzard magic at both Aredek and Alroc, who quickly Dodge Rolled out of the way. Alroc knelt on one knee and notched another arrow, catching Zana in her shoulder; it was somehow able to find a chink in the armor and stick into her skin.

"AAH!" she screeched in pain. Aredek shot forward and pushed a strong blast of wind at her, sending her flying into the building where she crumpled down to the ground.

Alroc notched another arrow and Aredek prepared to advance when Maya shook her head. "NO! THIS IS ENOUGH!"

Aredek and Alroc turned to face her. "THE THREE OF YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! We are all supposed to be a team. Killing each other is not going to solve anything! Now you boys go help her up! I can't believe this!"

Aredek and Alroc harbored guilty expressions. "You're right, Maya," Aredek acknowledged, ashamed of himself.

"We were senseless," Alroc agreed.

As the two went forward to go help Zana, a huge explosion detonated inside of the building. A huge, fiery, destructive, catastrophic explosion that ended up sending part of it flying off and crashing down onto the ground. And on top of Zana.

"ZANA!" Alroc, Aredek, and Maya shouted out in unison, running towards the pile of rubble that now contained her.

"NO! RIDGE! RIDGE!" Blaze cried, huge tears forming in her eyes. "YOU CANNOT BE DEAD! RIDGE! NO!"

Selena, Kalua, and Slay rushed through the night towards Slay's dojo. A trio of Dancer Nobodies appeared in their path; Slay's auburn, shoulder-length hair flowed as she shot out three powerful jabs, taking out each one. Kalua raced past, cradling Selena's frozen hand, and Selena held her frozen stub in her good hand.

"Make a sharp right, now!" Slay commanded, and the motley crew turned abruptly to see a rundown building with mold on all of the corners. They stopped short.

"So, uh, is this your dojo or the trash heap?" Kalua chuckled.

Slay rolled her eyes. "It's the front for my dojo. That's why they've never been able to find me."

"Because your dojo is hidden behind the dump?"

"No, stupid, because my dojo is the dump."

"…Oh."

"Let's just get inside and try to fix my little predicament," Selena said. "I really want to just get my entire body back."

"Yeah, you could really use a hand!" Kalua said, laughing. "Get it? Hand?" she chuckled, pointing to the frozen hand encased in the ice.

Selena and Slay just glared at her.

"Too soon?"

Ignoring her, Selena followed Slay into the dilapidated door and saw three people exercising and working out with some punching dummies and punching bags. Upon noticing Slay's presence, they all filed into a straight line, and Kalua and Selena were able to get a clear look at them.

All of them were wearing black robes, and first off was an average-heighted, brawny thirteen-year-old with blond hair, green eyes, and peach skin. He had a black karate belt on with metallic knuckles on his fingers and a keyboard strapped to his back.

The second one of them was a muscled seventeen-year-old with shaggy green hair, brown eyes, and dark skin. His belt was green with a sheath attached to it and he was carrying a backpack.

The third one was the only girl. She looked about seventeen as well, and was somewhat tall with long, thick, shining black hair. She had thin lips, dark, heavy-lidded eyes, a strong jaw, light skin, and brown eyes. She held a short knife made of silver, sharpened to a point, in each hand.

"Ozamu! Hugo! Bellatrix!" Slay called, yelling out each of their names in order. "We have a very serious issue here! That is the issue of Selena's hand. We have frozen both the stump and the hand. Ozamu, tell me that there's something you can do for her!"

Ozamu stepped forward. "Selena, is it? Here's a chair… sit in it… now let me see. Hmmm… this does seem rather… bad… oh… well, I see."

"What's the deal, doc?" Kalua asked sarcastically.

"Well, good news first! We can fix her hand!"

"OHEMGEE!" Selena exclaimed. "Seriously? Thank you!"

"Wait," Ozamu interrupted. "There's bad news. I can regrow the bones for your hand. But I can't actually reattach the hand. Normally, freezing the skin is good to preserve the cells. But whatever was used to sever the hand killed the cells on contact. No possible way to fix it. We can regrow the bones and muscles automatically, but it could take some time for the skin itself to regrow." He handed Selena a glove. "You'll need this to cover it. It'll give your fragile hand bones more support."

Selena smiled. "Thank you, Ozamu. Let's melt off this ice cube first."

Slay nodded at Hugo and Bellatrix. "You two take Kalua to the rest room. I'll wait here with them. As soon as she has her bones back, we'll talk."

Bellatrix nodded. "Alrighty then, right this way, Kalua!"

As Bellatrix led the way, Hugo shook hands with Kalua. "Sup? I'm Hugo. The resident expert specialist!"

Kalua rolled her eyes. "Real impressive."

As soon as they were filed into the room, Bellatrix turned on Kalua. "What's going on? Why has Slay brought you here? What's going on?"

"Well, honestly, we don't even know," Kalua explained. "Our leader just stormed in and was like all 'BLAH BLAH BLAH I'M AREDEK AND WE NEED AN ARMY BLAH BLAH BLAH'. So now we're here. 'Cuz we figured that you guys would be part of that army."

"Oh, okay, sure, we'll just sign up for some random army for some random assignment for some random reason. Makes total sense," Hugo replied sarcastically.

"Aredek said that it would be our endgame against the Organization," Kalua mentioned in passing.

Hugo and Bellatrix stood frozen. "Like… a final plan? To finally end them?" Bellatrix asked in a state of disbelief.

"Yep. Exactly like that."

"Okay, we're soooo in then!" Hugo exclaimed.

"GUYS!" Slay exclaimed from outside. "WE HAVE A SITUATION!"

The three raced out of the room to find Selena – with a new gloved hand – battling several Dusk Nobodies with some help from Ozamu. Slay was handling a Sorcerer.

"They've uncovered our location!" she exclaimed. "We need to escape. NOW. Before they call in their superiors."

"Let's go!" Bellatrix exclaimed, racing in and stabbing – and taking down – two Dusks. Hugo grabbed a boomerang from his backpack, tossed it, and knocked several Dusks to the ground. Kalua descended upon them with a sword she created from her tote bag and took them out.

Just as another swarm of Nobodies flooded into the dojo, and Slay realized how outnumbered they were. "TACTICAL RETREAT!" she cried out.

"What?" Bellatrix called. "Retreat? That word isn't in my vocabulary! We aren't spineless cowards! We are here to fight!" Right then another wave of Nobodies flooded in. "On second thought, I agree!"

The six raced out of the dojo, taking out as many Dusks as they could on their way out; the Nobody that Slay had been fighting against was limping loosely along. As soon as they were all out, Slay kicked over a rock and there was a button under it. She pushed it with her foot…. And nothing happened.

"What's that supposed to do…" Hugo asked curiously.

Slay sighed. "Hold up." She pushed it again, and the dojo exploded. Detonated. Burned to the ground, taking all of the Nobodies with it.

The six just stood and watched the burnt remains.

"Now what?" Ozamu pondered.

"Now, we venture to the safehouse!" Slay ordered, and the six raced on.

"Is Ailmus there yet?" Ailmus wondered.

"Are we there yet?" Aoen wondered.

"Please be quiet!" Lexa groaned.

Alay looked around. "Where'd Arimana go?"

Lexa shrugged. "Probably went after Aredek and Alroc. Where else? She's so pissed off at him she'd rather go and bite his head off then protect Ailmus."

"That's real nice of her."

"Totally."

"Is Ailmus there yet NOW?" Ailmus wondered loudly. "Ailmus wants to get to the safehouse so the Organization will not take Ailmus and use Ailmus to kill all of Ailmus' friends and home!"

"Aoen doesn't want to be killed by Ailmus!" Aoen agreed.

Lexa groaned. "Not another one talking in third person!"

"Our job sucks," Alay whined. "We better get to the safehouse soon, because if we don't, I'm going to kill them before the Organization does."

The scene was utter chaos. Up on the roof, two figures bloodied and injured. Were they alive? Had they perished? In the bottom, one distraught woman had to be restrained by another as two young men rushed into the wreckage. Their friend was buried beneath – had she perished as well? Another woman descends upon the scene with anger in mind, and seeing the wreckage, rushes onto the scene to help. She doesn't even reach the wreckage before breaking down crying. And nothing can be told of the horrors that lay inside the building – the countless dead bodies. What kind of horrible people could've caused such wreckage and destruction?

So, I'm sorry for another massively late update. But at least I was finally able to get it out! YEAH! And I think that some questions might've been answered, some new characters were thrown in, a lot of drama has erupted, more questions were raised, and whatnot! And the ROMANCE!

I had tons of Harry Potter references hidden in this chapter. Because I love it sososososososo much and can't believe that it's over :( And yes, you have seen the Keyblade Master somewhere in the story before!

And opinion so far on Castor, Manji, Hermione, Ozamu, Hugo, and Bellatrix? On Castor and Rani being paired together? On the ongoing drama in the Order? On Selena's predicament?

Sorry if things felt a bit rushed here :/